Phantom Drain

Tesla Phantom Drain: Causes, Diagnosis, and How to Fix It

You wake up, check your Tesla app, and your car lost 8 miles of range overnight. It was parked in your garage, plugged in to nothing, doing… what exactly?

This is phantom drain — one of the most common Tesla owner complaints. Here’s what’s actually happening, how to diagnose it, and a measured example from our own car that shows why the app can’t be trusted to tell you.

What Is Phantom Drain?

Phantom drain (also called vampire drain) is the gradual loss of battery charge when your Tesla is parked and not in use. Every Tesla experiences some level of it — the car’s computers never fully shut down. But “normal” is 1–3 miles per day. Anything beyond that deserves investigation.