Battery heater and 2017.50.x

[Xtek]

As per the new Tesla app update they mention being able to preheat your battery but not how.

That's because you can't force it on. If your car is cold enough and you start the auto climate control remotely after a minute or two it will kick on and show you the battery heat icon. However, this is no way to force it on.

There are new flags in the API that let the app know the battery heater is on. When it's on it really sucks juice. I had my UMC set to 40A at home and with the climate control and battery heater on I was getting 3 MPH charging rate while I'd normally get 26 MPH.

 

[lunitiks]

Does it turn on even if I don't enable cabin heating? (Must I worry about draining when my car's not plugged in - right now we got freezing outside for months.)

 

[Xtek]

Does it turn on even if I don't enable cabin heating? (Must I worry about draining when my car's not plugged in - right now we got freezing outside for months.)

It will but only enough to keep your battery from losing it's life. It isn't advised to store your car in extreme cold temps without being plugged in.

This feature specifically gets the battery up to optimum operating temp whereas the former is just a little bit.

 

[lunitiks]

That sucks. Got two EVs, one wall box and no garage. This means I get shorter range on (one of) my vehicles now, since I have to stay plugged in wih my MS more than before

 

[whitex]

I have the new app and .50.2 I firmware, it's been dropping below 32 lately, but I haven't seen the heater icon kick in on mine, and regen was still limited after cabin has been prepared. Only tried it a couple of times so far.

 

[ejames]

Folks ,

Just received the latest update with battery heating , seems you need range mode off for the icon to show up and the battery heater to work in the app . ;-)

 

[CUBldr97]

didn't see a battery icon on mine either

 

[whitex]

Folks ,

Just received the latest update with battery heating , seems you need range mode off for the icon to show up and the battery heater to work in the app . ;-)

I've never had range mode on on any of our Teslas. Still no battery heat icon on the P85D - haven't checked on S75D yet as we just got the new firmware.

 

[MSullivan]

If you have the updated firmware I think you just have to assume Tesla knows when to heat the battery and when not to.

 

[TrevTremaine]

I don't see the battery snowflake at all, even though it's currently -12C outside. I've started charging and as expected it's warming the battery pack first (drawing about 26A @ 250V as the battery heater starts the warm up) and zilch on the range. I also noticed that with AP2, the camera heater seems on all the time in order to keep it clear.

A question about pre-conditioning: does pre-conditioning actually do any preparation for warming the battery pack?

 

[croman]

It's -6F and no freezing icon. I don't think it works with 17.50.2.

 

[lunitiks]

It's -6F and no freezing icon. I don't think it works with 17.50.2.

I got -3 Celsius and battery heater icon, not plugged in. Drained 4 % of my battery while also preheating the cabin. AP1 2017.50.2

 

[Veritas1980]

I got -3 Celsius and battery heater icon, not plugged in. Drained 4 % of my battery while also preheating the cabin. AP1 2017.50.2

How long did you preheat and what did you set the temperature to?

 

[mandoskippy]

I have heard of some folks that needed to reinstall the mobile app to make things work. (Not sure if that helps).

I am sitting at -15 F right now, so knowing how this battery heater works, would be really nice.

Can you enable battery heat without cabin heat?

If not, how is this update different then what we had before?

I was under the impression that pre 2017.50, turning on cabin heat also preheated the battery, so what did this update actually do?

Will, when plugged in, the BMS keep the batteries warm enough to keep from dangerous levels? Is this automatic?

 

[boaterva]

So, this is supposed to keep the battery warm enough to not kill regen if you preheat the car, but how much is enough? The description talks about ‘preheat the cabin one hour’ which seems excessive, especially if you are going to use the seat heaters.

What a comms fail on Teslas part; even Electrek thought it was a button.....

Yeah, how is this different except that it shows you when the battery heat is on because it’s ‘cold’?

We really need the ‘battery preheat’ to be separate from ‘cabin preheat’, as we thought we were getting in the first place.

 

[lunitiks]

How long did you preheat and what did you set the temperature to?

Around 20 mins. 25*C. Rear window not melted...

 

[Veritas1980]

Around 20 mins. 25*C. Rear window not melted...

Then 4% is quite a lot on such a short time, I’ll definitely keep that in mind before using it. Thanks for the info.

 

[PatrickCH4313]

I got -3 Celsius and battery heater icon, not plugged in. Drained 4 % of my battery while also preheating the cabin. AP1 2017.50.2

Can you post a picture of the app with the battery heater icon. Thanks

 

[lunitiks]

Can you post a picture of the app with the battery heater icon. Thanks

Funny you asked, I actually grabbed a screenshot of it. Here ya go:

 

[Piney999]

I would love to learn more about this. I have been hunting for the snowflake since I got 50.2.... and can't find it.