How Much Battery Does the Tesla Defrost Feature Use in Winter?
One of the most frustrating issues during winter conditions is when your vehicle is covered in ice and snow, making it inaccessible or even unusable. Fortunately, Tesla developed a smart solution called Defrost that can be activated from their app. This feature allows you to warm up the cabin, melting all the snow and ice, making the car nice and cozy for you to drive.
However, we wondered how much energy the Defrost feature would consume if we tested it on the Model 3 Highland with an LFP battery. So, we had to do a test, and discovered some interesting insights.
[If you are a visual learner, watch the video below]:
**The Test**
We previously tested the LFP battery on our Model 3 Highland under neutral conditions with all of its features turned off, discovering that the car consumes about 0.2kWh of energy per hour it sleeps outside. If you want to see the full test, read our previous article:
This time, we wanted to see how the battery performs when the Defrost feature is activated. To make things even more interesting, we set all the seat heaters and the steering wheel heater to their maximum settings and covered the car in snow to simulate real-world winter conditions.
For monitoring, we used the S3XY App to track the battery's remaining capacity and the Low BUS Current data directly from the Battery Management System (BMS). We also placed a thermometer inside the cabin to see up to what temperature it would increase. To prevent the car from falling asleep during the test, we activated the Keep On feature.
**The Results**
With everything set up, we let the feature run for 2 hours, and here is the final data:
Initial Stats:
- SOC: 68%
- Remaining Capacity: 40.5 kWh
- Cabin Temperature: 7.3°C
Final Stats:
- SOC: 61%
- Remaining Capacity: 35.8 kWh
- Cabin Temperature: 41.8°C
After two hours, most of the snow melted, and the cabin felt warm as a sauna. The entire process consumed 4.7 kWh of energy, which equals around 7% charge loss. Based on the average electricity price in the EU, these 7% translate to a cost of €1.13.
Conclusion
The Defrost feature is a game-changer during challenging winter conditions. It quickly turns your car from a frozen ice piece to a warm and cozy vehicle. It can save you hustler of cleaning the car, but at a cost.
If you want to see what other tests we have prepared for you, subscribe to our YouTube channel or follow our blog!
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Anton Stoichkov
01/17/2025