[Shadow LI]

Just noticed today. Drove car 100 miles in 30 degree temp. Parked car in garage.
Left car. Locked automatically.
Heard humming sound that sounds like it is coming from where I presume battery is.
Sounds like a humming refrigerator. Stayed on for quite some time.
Changed its pitch when I inserted or removed charging cable.
Had car since September. Never heard this before.
Normal or should I be concerned?

 

[Bokonon]

Just noticed today. Drove car 100 miles in 30 degree temp. Parked car in garage.
Left car. Locked automatically.
Heard humming sound that sounds like it is coming from where I presume battery is.
Sounds like a humming refrigerator. Stayed on for quite some time.
Changed its pitch when I inserted or removed charging cable.
Had car since September. Never heard this before.
Normal or should I be concerned?

Completely normal. It's the main coolant pump that regulates the temperature of the battery and drivetrain components while driving and charging.

 

[TeslaMilton]

The car makes a variety of noises when it's parked and awake, so I wouldn't worry about it too much. There's a few systems in there doing "car things" that need doing, and once you hear it a few times it becomes normal. Mine often makes a bit of a whining noise when I first start charging, but that stops after a few minutes, and I often hear the car making various noises shortly after I've brought it home for the evening. Once it's done its thing it will go to sleep and be quiet.

 

[GKR]

Just noticed today. Drove car 100 miles in 30 degree temp. Parked car in garage.
Left car. Locked automatically.
Heard humming sound that sounds like it is coming from where I presume battery is.
Sounds like a humming refrigerator. Stayed on for quite some time.
Changed its pitch when I inserted or removed charging cable.
Had car since September. Never heard this before.
Normal or should I be concerned?

Tony,

Define "for quite some time". Under an hour is completely normal. But there are other threads with many people reporting the cars staying awake for 6-10 hours, or longer. Some see a correlation with the car being connected to Wi-Fi.

 

[Shadow LI]

Well.....given I never heard it before, 15 minutes seemed like a long time!

 

[Needsdecaf]

15 minutes isn't that long. You're good. Keep an eye on how long your car takes to go to sleep. There is a post HERE which some people notice the car is not sleeping when connected to WiFi.

And yes, it's the coolant pump.

 

[Shadow LI]

So this raises another question. In winter when the car is not in use, how much charge should be lost per hour? Talking about 30 degree northeast weather.
Ok dumb question: how do you define asleep?

 

[GKR]

So this raises another question. In winter when the car is not in use, how much charge should be lost per hour? Talking about 30 degree northeast weather.
Ok dumb question: how do you define asleep?

Tony,

I am in California and not sure about the battery management protocol for cold climates. For me, when the car is asleep, it is completely guiet. In this state, it looses only 2-3 miles of range in 24 hours. When the car is not sleeping, that is when it generates that humming sound, it loses about 1 mile per hour.

 

[PaulK]

The humming sounds the same as gas leaking out of the ICE that’s parked next to it.

That is, I hear some energy being used while parked in the garage. Here in N. California temps are mild - my garage rarely is found outside of the range of 52-75 degrees year round.

This time of year, it’s like 52-60 all the time.

Now I don’t know what I’m talking about, but allow me to talk out of my backside:

I fear that I get home and the car runs the pump to cool the battery down to (68?). Then in the morning it runs to warm it up to (68?).

If this is what is happening, my hope is the car would “learn” that at this geolocation the temp is always in a “safe” range and to widen its tolerance of temperature without running the pump.

I have had almost zero issues and have very few gripes with the Model 3, but the phantom (some call it vampire) drain (esp during winter) is at the top of my very short list.

 

[garsh]

The humming sounds the same as gas leaking out of the ICE that's parked next to it.

If there's gas leaking out of the car next to mine, then I make it a priority to move my car far, far away.

 

[Shadow LI]

12 hours and only 2 miles of drain. I’ll take it!

 

[PaulK]

12 hours and only 2 miles of drain. I'll take it!

That's good if typical. In my experience the overnight drain is highly variable.

Last night mine only lost 1 mile but typically it will lose 4-7 miles while parked in my garage overnight. It's 58 degrees in there now, which is typical.

But this thread is about the humming sound which is presumably the coolant pump regulating the battery temperature. It may be more productive if we could relate the amount of drain to how long the pump is running - to see if there's a correlation. Maybe mine is one of "those" that runs for 6 hours sometimes.