I'm obsessed with "Power Off".. does it make any difference?

HankLloydRight · Apr 18, 2014

I'm still not used to getting out of the car without shutting it down, so I obsessively go to Controls--->Power Off when I park or leave the car. Of course, as soon as I open the door, it powers back up again, so now I'm opening the door, then powering off. Then things stay off as I leave/walk away.

I just like to know that everything is shut down and not consuming battery power, like the lights, dash, entertainment system, battery heat/cooling, and/or cabin heat or A/C. Because as soon as I open any door (even a rear door) all those things instantly power back up again, even if I'm just getting something out of the back seat. I know in the long run, I'm not saving all that much power, but if I don't "power off", how long after I walk away (or lock the car) does everything power off? Is it really marginal power consumption to start up all those systems, including heat or A/C? Does everything "power off" the same way when I lock the car with the FOB?

I know I'm a little nuts, but it still just feels so wierd to get out leaving everything on and walk off. Does anyone else obsess over powering off every time?

Thanks.

Ven Rala · Apr 18, 2014

My understanding is that the only reason to power off is when it is getting serviced, and that would be only based on what they were servicing. The car is in sleep mode when you walk away. "Powering off" would be like physically turning off the computer every time you step away from your desktop. The amount of energy you save is miniscule. I am sure there are more knowledgeable persons on the forum who can supply actual numbers. I've ahd the car for almost a year and put on over 20,000 miles and never once "powered off"

dsm363 · Apr 18, 2014

I really wouldn't worry about it. That takes away part of the joy of owning a car which is to just walk away and not worry about anything. You can turn on the power saving mode so the car will go to sleep after a short time.

scaesare · Apr 18, 2014

I think that might be a bit overdoing it.

While not terribly common, the car can opt to temperature condition the battery pack if need be. It also can download FE updates in the background while not in use. You can control it via the smartphone apps, etc...

Power-saving (in the displays menu) is sufficient.. otherwise the car is designed to continually monitor itself and is happiest if it can chat back with the mothership...

tezco · Apr 18, 2014

HankLloydRight said:
Does anyone else obsess over powering off every time?

Fortunately I have to remember to unlock the charge port since my J1772 adapter doesn't shout "Open Sesame" to the port door, so that's my little ritualistic routine. As you say, powering down the car is obsessive. In the days when we lost 5 or 6 kWh every night to software that couldn't sleep, it would have been nice to have that feature, but it isn't something to worry about now unless you smell something burning.

dirkhh · Apr 18, 2014

I'm guessing you are part of a very small minority, @HankLloydRight. What you are describing would take a big part of what I love about the car away.
What is so amazing about Tesla's engineering is how they tried to make things "no UI". Not "easy UI" or "simple UI" but "no UI".
You walk up to the car, it unlocks (and boots the computers if asleep). You sit down, put the foot on the break it turns on. You park, get out, it turns off. No UI. Brilliant.
I cannot tell you how many times I walked away from our second EV (a Leaf) and forgot to press the on/off button to turn it off and then forgot to lock the doors...

So just enjoy the ingenuity of engineering and don't worry about the tiny loss of electricity. You'll enjoy your car so much more this way.

MikeC · Apr 18, 2014

I think you're the only one. Probably wasting more energy sitting there navigating through the menus to power off than if you just got out of the car right away and let it go to sleep that much sooner.

ecarfan · Apr 18, 2014

HankLloydRight said:
I know I'm a little nuts, but it still just feels so wierd to get out leaving everything on and walk off. Does anyone else obsess over powering off every time?

I know it seems strange at first that the car is designed such that you just walk away from it while it is still "on", but you need to trust the designers. It will turn off. Don't obsess.

Blaze · Apr 18, 2014

dirkhh said:
I'm guessing you are part of a very small minority, @HankLloydRight. What you are describing would take a big part of what I love about the car away.
What is so amazing about Tesla's engineering is how they tried to make things "no UI". Not "easy UI" or "simple UI" but "no UI".
You walk up to the car, it unlocks (and boots the computers if asleep). You sit down, put the foot on the break it turns on. You park, get out, it turns off. No UI. Brilliant.
I cannot tell you how many times I walked away from our second EV (a Leaf) and forgot to press the on/off button to turn it off and then forgot to lock the doors...

So just enjoy the ingenuity of engineering and don't worry about the tiny loss of electricity. You'll enjoy your car so much more this way.

Great perspective. Thank you. I will enjoy and just walk away. Very cool.

HankLloydRight · Apr 19, 2014

Thanks, All.. I know it's just a change of habit that's needed, and I do appreciate all of the no-UI components and engineering of the car. But you have to admit, at first it is a really strange feeling to just put the car in park, get out and walk away without doing anything at all!

NigelM · Apr 19, 2014

We turn off the AC when exiting the car in our garage otherwise it keeps running for a minute or two and we end up with water on the garage floor (YMMV, think Florida humidity).

Btrflyl8e · Apr 19, 2014

That was the hardest thing to get comfortable with. I used to check the phone app as I walked away to make sure it locked itself. After a couple of weeks I no longer needed to check and just trusted the engineering. It takes maybe 30 seconds to turn off and lock after getting out, if that.

Ven Rala · Apr 19, 2014

Beauty of the Model s: auto parking brake when placed in park. No need for 'start' button. No need to press fob to lock car. They rethought all the useless extra steps we do with our old fashioned ICE cars.

The number of times I have left or almost left my wife's highlander hybrid running after getting out of the car. It is just as quiet as the Model S when in EV mode, so easy to forget it is on.

jerry33 · Apr 19, 2014

Power off is good for when you're sleeping in the car.

ZBB · Apr 19, 2014

NigelM said:
We turn off the AC when exiting the car in our garage otherwise it keeps running for a minute or two and we end up with water on the garage floor (YMMV, think Florida humidity).

Don't need to do that in AZ...

HankLloydRight · Apr 19, 2014

I guess for me it's like the light in the refrigerator -- does it really go off when you close the door?

andydoty · Apr 19, 2014

HankLloydRight said:
I guess for me it's like the light in the refrigerator -- does it really go off when you close the door?

Yep. Definitely a New Englander! I love this...

wycolo · Apr 19, 2014

> No need to press fob to lock car. [Ven Rala]

Unless your MS requires it.

If its a borrowed/loaner be sure to click the roof on the key once (in case anyone has forgotten how to manually LOCK an MS).

apacheguy · Apr 19, 2014

Ven Rala said:
"Powering off" would be like physically turning off the computer every time you step away from your desktop. The amount of energy you save is miniscule.

I don't think you save any energy actually, because it isn't shutting down the OS and completely powering down as your desktop would do. AFAIK, it simply turns the LCD display off, which the car does anyway as soon as you close the doors.

HankLloydRight · Apr 19, 2014

apacheguy said:
I don't think you save any energy actually, because it isn't shutting down the OS and completely powering down as your desktop would do. AFAIK, it simply turns the LCD display off, which the car does anyway as soon as you close the doors.

I'm sure it does a lot more than just turn the LCD screens off. The heat or A/C turn off, the entertainment system stops, and I can hear other systems shut down, etc. I am sure it's not powering off the computers because everything does wake up immediately upon re-entering the car (the LCD screens, the entertainment, and A/C all start up without delay).

I'm obsessed with "Power Off".. does it make any difference?

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