I’ve been sending my position to my server (with Traccar and GPSlogger) for years and I haven’t had any problems with the battery. It sends out the position every 5 seconds (excessive, I know!!! 🙈) and every 69 seconds when the battery is below 25% and only when it’s not connected to a WiFi network.

But I’m with you about the new Google tracking system. I haven’t had the chance to check: does it work like Apple and can track devices that have been turned off?