LTE upgrade is on the way

[wk057]

Wow. Very interesting. Never seen this on my Sig MCU even after sitting days. Only the IC starts with the Tesla logo on mine. Perhaps this is why vampire drain is lower on the newer builds?

Dunno, I'll have to check my wife's P85 next time it sits for a bit and see if it's different than my P85D.

For sure if I leave the car alone now, and come back to it at say, 6AM, without first messing with the mobile app, it'll be in this deep sleep where both screens seem to boot from scratch, although it doesn't take as long as a manual reboot.

This is energy saving on, always connected off.

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This is not true. The MCU has 2 separate and distinct systems in it's housing; the CID (Center Display) and the Gateway. The Gateway is the what performs the logging function, and it runs FreeRTOS on a Freescale MPC5668G. The Debian-based CID can go to sleep or even totally shut down while the Gateway can stay awake.

Yeah, the gateway does the logging, but the MCU can't entirely shut down since it handles the wireless connectivity.

 

[Ingineer]

Yeah, the gateway does the logging, but the MCU can't entirely shut down since it handles the wireless connectivity.

From what I can tell you are correct, but it looks like there is an interrupt line on the Gateway that can be triggered by the modem. So even though they haven't implemented it, it appears as though the CID can suspend or shut down, and then the modem would let the Gateway know which could then start the CID. According to my measurements, the system pulls about 12W in sleep mode and almost double when fully awake. (Not including the Audio amp)

 

[Klaus]

In my experience (iPhones, not Model S - yet), LTE also connects much faster than 3G or 3-1/2G ever did.

 

[apacheguy]

From what I can tell you are correct, but it looks like there is an interrupt line on the Gateway that can be triggered by the modem. So even though they haven't implemented it, it appears as though the CID can suspend or shut down, and then the modem would let the Gateway know which could then start the CID. According to my measurements, the system pulls about 12W in sleep mode and almost double when fully awake. (Not including the Audio amp)

So where does the vampire drain come from? 12 W in sleep is sure a long way from matching the draw I observe. Body ECU? How much does that pull?

 

[Xenoilphobe]

I'll let you know tomorrow - left mine at Tysons Corner SC today for the install.. can't wait to pick it up!

 

[Ingineer]

So where does the vampire drain come from? 12 W in sleep is sure a long way from matching the draw I observe. Body ECU? How much does that pull?

The MCU B+ line is common to both the CID and the Gateway, so it's tough to tell what in there is drawing what. It's definitely not the body ECU. I suspect the Gateway and Cell modem are hot all the time, and the CID just suspends or goes into some kind of low power mode. 12W is substantial.

 

[apacheguy]

Most of us see slightly over 1 kWh/24 hours with all energy saving on... Still need to account for another ~0.7 kWh in energy.

 

[Ingineer]

Admittedly I have not done any long-term logging, just a series of spot checks. It's possible the system may enter a lower power state at some point, and may very depending on cell traffic. (I also keep "remain connected" checked, so mine will be higher) I also run VisibleTesla, so this may add to the usage or keep the system awake longer.

 

[kennybobby]

It looks like there are 3 or 4 cooling fans in the MCU--are they running all the time? ~6W each if running.

Nearly every control module throughout the vehicle is connected on a CAN bus, and they all have a 12V line for power, then voltage regulators onboard for 5V, 3.3V, etc. If there were only 30 control modules and each was only pulling 0.1 A, that would be 36W.

So no fans + 36W CAN + 12W sleep = 48W vampire ?

 

[Ingineer]

I don't think the cooling fans are running when the MCU is asleep. (And there are 3 in the MCU)

Keep in mind that when the car has to close the main contactors to recharge the lost power in the 12v battery, there are a lot of systems powered up for the duration, such as the water pumps, BMS, contactors themselves, etc. Also, this process is far from efficient, so there is a lot wasted.

 

[apacheguy]

Keep in mind that when the car has to close the main contactors to recharge the lost power in the 12v battery, there are a lot of systems powered up for the duration, such as the water pumps, BMS, contactors themselves, etc. Also, this process is far from efficient, so there is a lot wasted.

This is a great point. I've thought about it before and convinced myself that a large chunk of the drain is due to the car having to wake a bunch of subsystems to trickle charge the 12 V.

 

[Polly Wog]

Most of us see slightly over 1 kWh/24 hours with all energy saving on... Still need to account for another ~0.7 kWh in energy.

I just got my Model S back, after enduring nearly a month while it was being shipped from Long Beach, CA to Maui, HI. I dropped it off July 20th with 209 Rated Miles. Energy saving on, always connected off, and I didn't even attempt to use the phone app until mid day on July 28. It had 192 Rated Miles. So, vampire drain consumed 17 miles in 8.5 days, or 2 miles per day or 600 Wh/day. Deep sleep is pretty efficient, relatively speaking. Anyway, I just wanted to provide a solid data point.

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And back on topic, my LTE upgrade hasn't worked out so well so far. The nav and cell function didn't work after the upgrade. I believe the antennas either didn't get connected properly or maybe crossed. Anyway, they're going to pull the MCU tomorrow and hopefully get it working.

 

[tom66]

I wonder what the purpose of the Cyclone IV on the Touchscreen PCB is. Perhaps it is used for driving the LCD panel.

 

[3s-a-charm]

Vancouver SC indicated that they can do the LTE upgrade, but said that it is not helping the 3G drop out problem. I wonder why?

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If you find that LTE solves the 3G drop out problem please let us know, since this seems to be a problem common to Canadian with 3G. I have not heard of Canadian MS with factory installed LTE performance yet.

I'm impatiently waiting to hear how someone elses Canadian LTE upgrade goes. I would love faster map refreshes, quicker Slacker loading from song-to-song, and improved connectivity of the app (seems to hang a lot).

Speaking of the App... sometimes the iPhone Tesla App is slow to load but the RegoApps one seems to connect much quicker. I use it daily especially to get the climate control going before jumping back in the car between appointments and the slow load times of the official app make it difficult to use.

Regardless... I will hold off until I know there are some improvements with the LTE upgrade in Canada.

 

[Xenoilphobe]

Got my car back yesterday from the LTE upgrade - very nice - it looks like they installed a new screen - when I got in the car it had vinyl laminated over the screen. Love the new connectivity speed and the refresh rate on the navigation. Unfortunately one of my 21's wheels had a hairline crack that would only trip the TPMS once the tires warmed up. Pulled them and installed by winter 19" wheels with the Primacy All Seasons. Then dropped the 21's off to get refurbished and PVD Black Chromed.

 

[bhuwan]

Got my car back yesterday from the LTE upgrade - very nice - it looks like they installed a new screen - when I got in the car it had vinyl laminated over the screen. Love the new connectivity speed and the refresh rate on the navigation. Unfortunately one of my 21's wheels had a hairline crack that would only trip the TPMS once the tires warmed up. Pulled them and installed by winter 19" wheels with the Primacy All Seasons. Then dropped the 21's off to get refurbished and PVD Black Chromed.

New screen!?!?

 

[Xenoilphobe]

I wish I had taken a picture of it - it was obviously new - maybe they damaged the original one when they removed it... either way it's very nice

 

[AmpedRealtor]

It was probably damaged. $500 won't buy you an MCU upgrade, unfortunately.

 

[JPP]

It was probably damaged. $500 won't buy you an MCU upgrade, unfortunately.

...try $5000...

 

[Mayhemm]

Building on this, I do believe that Elon specifically mentioned at some point that Ludicrous was independent of the capacity upgrade.

Interesting....since the pack upgrade is a prerequisite for Ludicrous Mode in the Design Studio. You'd think Tesla would want to limit the number of possible vehicle configurations (for easier publication of stats, etc)

Vancouver SC indicated that they can do the LTE upgrade, but said that it is not helping the 3G drop out problem. I wonder why?

I guess I need to be sending an e-mail to Vancouver and secure my place in line. I don't currently suffer from this "drop-out" problem but a part of me is concerned it could develop if they mess around with my antennae.

With regard to the LTE upgrade, Vancouver is now doing the upgrades and I was about to make an appointment but then it concerned me about travelling to the States. If it doesn't work in the States, that would make the upgrade not worth it to me since I go down south a lot. Has anyone in Canada with LTE taken their vehicle to the States? I doubt the service people will know the answer to this question since they just got in the upgrade kit but I will ask them too.

What makes you think it may not work in the US? The card is through a US network which roams to Canada. It would be bonkers if it didn't work in its own local zone.

Isn't it currently the case that Canadian cars can roam to the US, but US cars can't roam to Canada? I'd assume the new cars would behave the same way.