e-automobile.info

No Vampire Drain at the VW ID.3

Quick summary: my VW ID.3 was parked from January 20th to February 10th, 2025. During this time, the battery charge level dropped from 46 to 45 percent. That's only a very small loss.

Only very slight drop in battery charge after 3 weeks of parking.

The term vampire drain became known a few years ago, especially in connection with Teslas, as they allegedly could lose a noticeable amount of battery charge when they were idle. These vampires are things that consume power even when the car is just standing there. There are always such things, but the question is, of course, how high such idle consumption is.
On January 21, 2025, I had knee surgery, so I couldn't drive for quite a while. If the car is idle for a long time, it is advisable for the battery life to keep the battery level at roughly around 50 percent. In my case, it was 46 percent. During this time, the car was in the garage at an average temperature of around 5 degrees Celsius. In the following three weeks, the car was not moved, only opened three or four times to take things out. When opened, the car activates briefly and of course uses a little power. When it was last opened after a little over two weeks, the charge level indicator showed 45 percent, and it stayed there until the car was driven again for the first time on February 11. The loss was therefore about one percent of the charge level; it is a pity that there are no decimal places available to give a more precise value. Exactly one percent corresponds to 580 watt hours, which at my current electricity price costs around 17 euro cents. Given the inaccuracy, the real monetary loss corresponds to around 10 to 25 cents. That is a loss that can be tolerated quite easily and a really good value. So there were no sinister power suckers measurably at work in my ID.3.

Last change February 12. 2025

No responsibility is taken for the correctness of this information. The articles on this site about electromobility and different electric car models are based on personal experience and on current news. They are not sponsored or supported by the car manufacturers.

↑ up ↑