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Big Snow Storm coming in NE USA! What to Do?

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Hey everyone. There is allegedly a BIG snowstorm coming to the North East part of the US on Wednesday. Getting upwards of 8-12”. Super cold! First since I’ve had my Model Y. I was wondering what the consensus says to do. My car lives outside in the driveway. No garage that is usable. I have a 240V charging setup outside that is great. Should I plug it in so I can be able to heat the cabin and precondition the car without losing too much charge to help melt snow etc or should I NOT plug it in? Should I expect the charging port door and door handles to freeze. I know the MY has a charge port heater now since a recent software update. I imagine the door handles HAVE TO freeze based on their design. What have others done? What are the pros and cons of both options for those in colder climates. Thanks.
 
You should definitely

(1) have it plugged in and be prepared to precondition much earlier than you normally would
(2) put the wind shield wipers into service mode so that they are in the ideal location on the windshield when preconditioning is underway
(3) Turn off the autofolding mirrors incase ice builds up around the area where they are moving.

If the door handles freeze, the manual instructs you to push on the opposite side of the handle from where you normally would to operate it. This will help wiggle the handle enough to free it from the ice.
 
i dont have my Y yet, can you just leave it in precondition mode 24/7 ? When the car is plugged in, is it automatically keeping itself warm or is there, in addition, another setting to turn on to make it do that?

As in make the car keep itself warm the whole time?
 
If you warm the interior 30 min before you leave so its 75 inside - some of the heat will make it through the windscreen and into the doors so the handles should pop out. You should go outside and remove snow from the door handle area - and see if the wipers are free. Removing excess snow from the windows will help the heat melt the rest of the window area. . . . you've done this before.


If there is only snow - and not snow, sleet, freezing rain and ice [also known as Connecticut crud] then you won't have any problems.
 
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i will have to look up what Gummi Pledge is. Thanks for the advice.
Agree with others have said - keep it plugged in, etc.

Here's a link to Gummi Pfledge: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004B8GTQG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The Tesla manual also recommends spraying the door handle spring with a silicon spray (like WD-40 Silicon, LiquiMetal Silicone, etc.) to help prevent water getting on the spring and freezing. The manual has instructions...and there are videos on YouTube on how to do this.
 
Agree with others have said - keep it plugged in, etc.

Here's a link to Gummi Pfledge: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004B8GTQG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

The Tesla manual also recommends spraying the door handle spring with a silicon spray (like WD-40 Silicon, LiquiMetal Silicone, etc.) to help prevent water getting on the spring and freezing. The manual has instructions...and there are videos on YouTube on how to do this.

I don’t see anything in the manual about using WD-40 on the door handles. Pg 80 has tips for cold weather driving such as turning off auto-fold mirrors and putting the wipers in service mode. I will Google videos but let me know if you can tell me if it’s in the manual as well. Thanks.
 
i dont have my Y yet, can you just leave it in precondition mode 24/7 ? When the car is plugged in, is it automatically keeping itself warm or is there, in addition, another setting to turn on to make it do that?

As in make the car keep itself warm the whole time?

if you leave it in precondition mode (basically HVAC on) it will be wasting lots of electricity. Kinda like plugging a space heater in on the back porch and letting it run.

if you need the car, turn on the heat 5-30 min before you need it. Depending on temperature (colder turn on earlier), ice (takes more time to melt), and desired range (if you will need lots of power for a trip, best to let inside and the battery warm up in shore power).

The car will automatically manage the battery and heat it if necessary. Best to be plugged in so there is unlimited power to do it.
 
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My S has lived outside for three years in plenty of Boston weather. I would NOT plug it in, rather charge to full before the storm and then unplug. You can then use the preconditioning the burn off some kWh in case power goes out which will defrost everything and get to work. The S is infamous for freezing the windows which an old credit card (or similar) run along the outside window base breaks the ice and lets it go down. The Y (I have one too) has defrosting design for door handles, windows and charge port unlike the S. I am curious to test it but wouldn't start putting chemicals on it. BTW looks like a south of the city storm and powder so probably a non issue for the car or power this time.
 
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When you precondition the Model Y using the Tesla App to activate maximum defrost you have to press the front windshield defroster icon located in the lower right corner of the Climate Control settings. The windshield defroster icon will turn red when maximum defrost is activated.

It might be too late to pick one up for the coming storm but when I had my previous vehicles parked outside in winter I used a windshield snow and ice cover that covered the glass and tucked inside the front door jambs.
 
My S has lived outside for three years in plenty of Boston weather. I would NOT plug it in, rather charge to full before the storm and then unplug. You can then use the preconditioning the burn off some kWh in case power goes out which will defrost everything and get to work. The S is infamous for freezing the windows which an old credit card (or similar) run along the outside window base breaks the ice and lets it go down. The Y (I have one too) has defrosting design for door handles, windows and charge port unlike the S. I am curious to test it but wouldn't start putting chemicals on it. BTW looks like a south of the city storm and powder so probably a non issue for the car or power this time.

I'm a newbie here in all kinds of ways (haven't had my first winter with my MS yet), but doesn't the recommendation to "charge to full" run counter to Tesla's recommendation (to not charge to 100% and leave the car sitting) to help extend a Tesla battery's life?
 
Charging to 100% and leaving the Tesla fully charged overnight will not damage the battery. In the A.M. you would precondition for a half hour even up to an hour. This will use some of the battery charge.

Also, fully charge could just be sure to charge to your normal daily maximum charge. Don't forget to plug in and charge and then find that you have just 20% charge available in the A.M.

Plugging in overnight would be best but if you can't plug in or are concerned that the charge port might freeze then charge before the storm to at least 80% so you are ready.
 
Hey everyone. There is allegedly a BIG snowstorm coming to the North East part of the US on Wednesday. Getting upwards of 8-12”. Super cold! First since I’ve had my Model Y. I was wondering what the consensus says to do. My car lives outside in the driveway. No garage that is usable. I have a 240V charging setup outside that is great. Should I plug it in so I can be able to heat the cabin and precondition the car without losing too much charge to help melt snow etc or should I NOT plug it in? Should I expect the charging port door and door handles to freeze. I know the MY has a charge port heater now since a recent software update. I imagine the door handles HAVE TO freeze based on their design. What have others done? What are the pros and cons of both options for those in colder climates. Thanks.
Move?
 
My S has lived outside for three years in plenty of Boston weather. I would NOT plug it in, rather charge to full before the storm and then unplug. You can then use the preconditioning the burn off some kWh in case power goes out which will defrost everything and get to work. The S is infamous for freezing the windows which an old credit card (or similar) run along the outside window base breaks the ice and lets it go down. The Y (I have one too) has defrosting design for door handles, windows and charge port unlike the S. I am curious to test it but wouldn't start putting chemicals on it. BTW looks like a south of the city storm and powder so probably a non issue for the car or power this time.

can you explain why NOT plugging in is the right approach in this situation? I’m not sure what your reasoning is based on your response. Based on my understanding, following your routine will negatively impact the battery pack’s capacity over the long term.

Sure, Tesla’s don’t require being plugged in to weather such a storm... they will survive. However, I can guarantee you that the battery will benefit from being plugged in, especially during extreme conditions, hot or cold.
 
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Charging to 100% and leaving the Tesla fully charged overnight will not damage the battery. In the A.M. you would precondition for a half hour even up to an hour. This will use some of the battery charge.

I guess that depends on your definition of battery damage. Personally, I consider battery damage to include battery degradation.. which is certainly what you should expect whenever you charge a lithium battery to a full SoC unnecessarily. Considering that there’s plenty of evidence that proves lithium batteries benefit tremendously from cycling the battery as close to its nominal voltage as possible, which would be around 50% SoC, I can’t see why anyone would want to subject the battery to higher levels of stress/degradation than necessary.

It’s no different than choosing not to redline your ICE every time you drive it or not changing your oil as frequently as is necessary....both will increase the rate of degradation... which is why it is avoided.
 
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