Battery heater icon

[Lickrob]

I saw an image on Facebook where a guy was warming up his model S and he had a battery heater icon in the top left. I have never seen that on my Model 3? It it not available on the 3?

 

[seadog]

27 degrees, blimey thats toasty and will eat through your battery (or electric) a bit.

 

[NorfolkMustard]

Model 3 doesn’t have a separate battery heater, but it does use the motors for the same effect. It’s automatically activated when you turn on climate remotely and the battery is cold enough.

 

[Adopado]

I saw an image on Facebook where a guy was warming up his model S and he had a battery heater icon in the top left. I have never seen that on my Model 3? It it not available on the 3?

View attachment 615628

Never seen that on the app with Model 3. It might be because the Model 3 doesn't have a battery heater as such so there is no separate battery heater being switched on ... our battery is heated via some clever jiggery pockery with the motor stators which achieves the same outcome without the dedicated battery heater hardware (so I'm led to believe).

 

[Bantam]

that screen shot is messing with my Nomophobia

 

[Lickrob]

27 degrees, blimey thats toasty and will eat through your battery (or electric) a bit.

Haha that’s the comment I think he kept getting on Facebook

 

[Lickrob]

Ok thanks looks like I’m not missing anything then. I did try turning on the climate on max and the blue battery icon did eventually disappear

 

[Adopado]

Ok thanks looks like I’m not missing anything then. I did try turning on the climate on max and the blue battery icon did eventually disappear

It doesn't need to be on max, it just needs to be on and the battery will be heated.

 

[drivingmrte5la]

that screen shot is messing with my Nomophobia

Immediately remembered what nomophobia was after opening the image

Edit: typo.

 

[Godsense]

It's odd they didn't add an icon for M3 however you can hear the front motor make a high pitch type noise when it's working to heat the battery

 

[ACarneiro]

It’s both motors.
Both stators draw around 3kW each (if I’m not mistaken. Might be 3.5) to heat up the coolant which then gets passed around the batteries.
It’s neat but does make me worry a bit about the longevity of the stator windings).

 

[hcdavis3]

It's odd they didn't add an icon for M3 however you can hear the front motor make a high pitch type noise when it's working to heat the battery

Could that be the sound I’m hearing after a short drive?

 

[Glan gluaisne]

It’s both motors.
Both stators draw around 3kW each (if I’m not mistaken. Might be 3.5) to heat up the coolant which then gets passed around the batteries.
It’s neat but does make me worry a bit about the longevity of the stator windings).

3 kW is a tiny amount of power, though. Each motor is rated at far more than that, IIRC, it's something like 190 kW for the rear motor, 120 kW for the front motor, or thereabouts. Those are peak ratings, but normally the motor continuous rating will be somewhere around 20% to 30% of the peak rating, so that still gives a continuous rating of at least 40 kW rear, 25 kW front.

As a cross check, using realistic continuous motor power when driving, then if driven at motorway speeds we know the car tends to use around 350 to 400 Wh/mile. Working backwards from there suggests that the combined motor power at motorway speeds must be around 26 kW. As the SR+ can happily cruise at motorway speeds without any problem, that suggests that the rear motor alone is capable of delivering at least 26 kW for hours on end.

 

[Godsense]

Could that be the sound I’m hearing after a short drive?

Not sure it's very distinctive. I've tested mine and it seems to wind down the stators if there were running when the seat detects your no longer there.

More likely to be the HVAC fan I think. This runs from if AC has been on in a Tesla attempt to reduce odour etc.

@ACarneiro yes indeed it is, I've found I tend to hear the front one more not sure if any reason other than being near the driver. 3.5 each max

 

[pow216]

With the motor running at 26kW I’d guess there would be way less than 3kW dissipated as heat in the motor.

 

[hcdavis3]

Not sure it's very distinctive. I've tested mine and it seems to wind down the stators if there were running when the seat detects your no longer there.

More likely to be the HVAC fan I think. This runs from if AC has been on in a Tesla attempt to reduce odour etc.

@ACarneiro yes indeed it is, I've found I tend to hear the front one more not sure if any reason other than being near the driver. 3.5 each max

Thanks. I don’t believe it’s the HVAC. I hear this noise when it’s in Hold, or Drive. As soon as I put my car in park it stops and what I think are the stator motors seem to labor a bit. I’m interested in any other thoughts as to what this might be.I found this. It’s a model X. Exactly the same stator sound and similar sound in drive or hold.
2021 Model X Long Range + Has Pedestrian Warning

 

[Glan gluaisne]

With the motor running at 26kW I’d guess there would be way less than 3kW dissipated as heat in the motor.

The motors will be around 90% efficient at a guess, might be as good as maybe 92% or so at peak efficiency. Normal waste heat would be around 2.6 kW when running at 26 kW, but in preconditioning mode the rotors aren't turning, so all the power in the stator coils will be just heating up the coolant, and so warming the battery pack.

 

[dobbers]

Tesla Bjorn on his recent trip has covered the way the 2021 Model 3 uses the motor stators to scavenge heat that works in conjunction with the heat pump - well worth a view on his channel.

 

[Acko1985]

So would it be worth putting the climate control on for 15 mins before driving? I jumped in mine yesterday and it was only after 30 mins the acceleration felt quick. Had around 70% battery too

 

[ACarneiro]

I would say so, especially if it’s plugged in. That way you can use mains power to warm the batteries.