Charging during cold months

[lasperati]

My husband and I are new to ev’s. We’ve owned the model y for about six months. We live in northeast Ohio and of course cold temperatures are coming. I’ve read the owners manual and some of your posts about recommendations for cold weather charging, but I’m still a bit confused! We don’t drive the car every day or not very far on an average day so we haven’t been plugging it in daily.
Finally my questions:
If you plug it in daily and don’t drive it daily (especially when it’s cold), do you drop the charge limit? To what? We currently charge to 80%.
Is preconditioning for charging purposes or driving? I don’t see this option in the Tesla phone app.
Is turning on the Climate and Defrost the same as Preconditioning?

If I haven’t asked the right questions, I welcome those who have cold weather experience to respond!
Fretting in Northeast Ohio!!!

 

[essaunders]

My husband and I are new to ev’s. We’ve owned the model y for about six months. We live in northeast Ohio and of course cold temperatures are coming. I’ve read the owners manual and some of your posts about recommendations for cold weather charging, but I’m still a bit confused! We don’t drive the car every day or not very far on an average day so we haven’t been plugging it in daily.
Finally my questions:
If you plug it in daily and don’t drive it daily (especially when it’s cold), do you drop the charge limit? To what? We currently charge to 80%.
Is preconditioning for charging purposes or driving? I don’t see this option in the Tesla phone app.
Is turning on the Climate and Defrost the same as Preconditioning?

If I haven’t asked the right questions, I welcome those who have cold weather experience to respond!
Fretting in Northeast Ohio!!!

With a tesla - keep it plugged in when you can. Ideally to a 240V circuit.
with regards to the charge level: I've been mostly setting my limit to 70% as that covers all daily driving. I 'bump' to 80 or 90 for weekend trips (just have to remember to do that in time...)

I'll let someone else answer the preconditioning questions (as I've never used it having always parked in a garage)

 

[GtiMart]

A cold battery:
- might not charge until it's warm enough
- Might charge slowly at a supercharger until it's warm enough
- Might give you less or even no regen until it's warm enough. Regen is charging!
You won't break anything but you will have those side-effects. The only warning in the manual is to not leave the car for more than 24h at a time at less that -30C. Even here in Quebec City, we don't see this much.

The car is able to heat the battery when charging. If you precondition the cabin, the car might also heat the battery until it hits a target that the software chooses.
Turning on the climate from inside the car does not condition the battery.

Your choice of charging limit is independent. Go with a limit that makes you confortable, where you will not have range anxiety for your use. You can go crazy with battery longevity and read all the articles and posts around here if you are interested but it's not mandatory. The difference you'll make between keeping 50% and keeping 80% regularly is not big.

 

[MrJeep997]

I would not drop the charge limit, personally, as winter range is lower per percent charge. Then again, it doesn't sound like you go far.
Preconditioning is confusing but basically consider it preconditioning the battery for everything: being used or charging it. The battery likes to be warm to charge fast or go fast. If you do not precondition it will simply limit what you can do with it. You will not be able to go fast or charge fast until the battery warms up.
My good friend has had several Teslas here in the northeast and says just always leave it plugged in and let it do it's thing, it's smarter than most of us (me for sure!). Do setup a departure time in the app for days you know you have to go somewhere, even if it is just before you get a shower to go out. It also happens to nicely toast the car up before you get in.

 

[naD alseT]

Tesla has some good advice at Winter Driving Tips
Preconditioning is turning on the climate (to a warm temp) via the app, or in the car. If you are plugged in, you will consume shore power (power from the utility company and not the battery itself). Preconditioning will warm the cabin in 5 to 10 min or so, but it will take longer for the heat to reach the battery, so even though you precondition, you still might see the blue snowflake indicating that the battery is too cold to access all of it's stored energy (and regen braking may be limited). Also, if it's really cold out, the battery management system will keep the battery from getting too cold. If you are not plugged in, it must use battery energy to do this.
So, yes, leave it plugged in and 80% is a good state of charge (SoC) to use.
Note: While navigating to a super charger, you will see a message about the battery preconditioning for faster charging...that is different than the cabin preconditioning mentioned above.

 

[lasperati]

Thank you for your response. We also keep our car in the garage. I’ll drop down to 70% and plug in nightly.

 

[lasperati]

Thanks. All info greatly appreciated

 

[MrJeep997]

Note: While navigating to a super charger, you will see a message about the battery preconditioning for faster charging...that is different than the cabin preconditioning mentioned above.

From what I have read cabin preconditioning also preconditions the battery for use. Am I wrong?

 

[GtiMart]

Conditioning the cabin heats the battery to something like 14C now (was 20C last winter). Conditioning for a supercharger heats it higher to like 40C. That higher temp is only needed for fast charging

 

[jcanoe]

Preconditioning whether via the Tesla app or according to a set Scheduled Departure time will bring the passenger cabin to the desired temperature and can also turn on the heated steering wheel and/or heated seats in cold weather.

The Tesla Model Y's battery management system will warm the battery as required during preconditioning. Warming the passenger cabin does not slow down the Tesla Model Y being able to warm the battery pack. The battery pack will be warmed to 10C (50F) while charging; 20C (68F) while preconditioning or driving and ~46C (~115F) when Navigating to a Supercharger.

The Tesla Model Y uses the front and rear motor stators (the fixed windings of the motor) to generate heat.The heat from the stators warms the coolant in the motors before sending the warmed coolant to the battery pack.

The Tesla Mode Y uses a heat pump to warm the passenger cabin. The heat pump is able to draw heat from multiple sources including the warmed coolant coming from the battery pack. The heat pump can also draw heat from the outside air and the Tesla vehicle's computer systems.

In winter using Scheduled Departure - Charging before Preconditioning and driving can reduce your energy usage. Example: If you set up Scheduled Departure to always complete by 7:00 A.M. and you normally leave at 7:30 A.M. (Monday through Friday) then the battery will have been warmed to 10C (50F) during the charging. Preconditioning soon after charging completes will enable you to warm the passenger cabin and continue to warm the battery faster while using less energy than if you charged the night before and start preconditioning at 7:00 A.M. with a cold battery pack.

 

[Volleyballmom]

Preconditioning whether via the Tesla app or according to a set Scheduled Departure time will bring the passenger cabin to the desired temperature and can also turn on the heated steering wheel and/or heated seats in cold weather.

The Tesla Model Y's battery management system will warm the battery as required during preconditioning. Warming the passenger cabin does not slow down the Tesla Model Y being able to warm the battery pack. The battery pack will be warmed to 10C (50F) while charging; 20C (68F) while preconditioning or driving and ~46C (~115F) when Navigating to a Supercharger.

The Tesla Model Y uses the front and rear motor stators (the fixed windings of the motor) to generate heat.The heat from the stators warms the coolant in the motors before sending the warmed coolant to the battery pack.

The Tesla Mode Y uses a heat pump to warm the passenger cabin. The heat pump is able to draw heat from multiple sources including the warmed coolant coming from the battery pack. The heat pump can also draw heat from the outside air and the Tesla vehicle's computer systems.

In winter using Scheduled Departure - Charging before Preconditioning and driving can reduce your energy usage. Example: If you set up Scheduled Departure to always complete by 7:00 A.M. and you normally leave at 7:30 A.M. (Monday through Friday) then the battery will have been warmed to 10C (50F) during the charging. Preconditioning soon after charging completes will enable you to warm the passenger cabin and continue to warm the battery faster while using less energy than if you charged the night before and start preconditioning at 7:00 A.M. with a cold battery pack.

Can you clarify this last part? Are you saying that I can plug my MY to my wall connector at say 5 pm, but schedule charging to only start at say 3 am the next morning just before my scheduled departure so the preconditioning begins with a warmer battery? (Picking up my MY on Sat; still have much to learn/discover!)

 

[Benito1283]

Can you clarify this last part? Are you saying that I can plug my MY to my wall connector at say 5 pm, but schedule charging to only start at say 3 am the next morning just before my scheduled departure so the preconditioning begins with a warmer battery? (Picking up my MY on Sat; still have much to learn/discover!)

Yes. In the app, you can either set a scheduled departure time, or schedule a specific time for it to start charging. If you want the cabin preheated prior to departure, select that option (it will also preheat the battery if necessary). The scheduled departure is a little confusing in that you have to toggle on "Off-Peak Charge" to enable it. If you then click on the 'charge' tab, it will actually show you what time it will start charging, given what you have the charging current set at.

I've found that in cold weather (below 40F at night), the scheduled departure ends up completing about an hour after the actual scheduled departure. Perhaps it doesn't account for a drop in temp when it calculates when to start charging. If this happens, just move up your scheduled departure time accordingly. You may not have this issue with 240V charging.

 

[GOVA]

Preconditioning whether via the Tesla app or according to a set Scheduled Departure time will bring the passenger cabin to the desired temperature and can also turn on the heated steering wheel and/or heated seats in cold weather.

The Tesla Model Y's battery management system will warm the battery as required during preconditioning. Warming the passenger cabin does not slow down the Tesla Model Y being able to warm the battery pack. The battery pack will be warmed to 10C (50F) while charging; 20C (68F) while preconditioning or driving and ~46C (~115F) when Navigating to a Supercharger.

The Tesla Model Y uses the front and rear motor stators (the fixed windings of the motor) to generate heat.The heat from the stators warms the coolant in the motors before sending the warmed coolant to the battery pack.

The Tesla Mode Y uses a heat pump to warm the passenger cabin. The heat pump is able to draw heat from multiple sources including the warmed coolant coming from the battery pack. The heat pump can also draw heat from the outside air and the Tesla vehicle's computer systems.

In winter using Scheduled Departure - Charging before Preconditioning and driving can reduce your energy usage. Example: If you set up Scheduled Departure to always complete by 7:00 A.M. and you normally leave at 7:30 A.M. (Monday through Friday) then the battery will have been warmed to 10C (50F) during the charging. Preconditioning soon after charging completes will enable you to warm the passenger cabin and continue to warm the battery faster while using less energy than if you charged the night before and start preconditioning at 7:00 A.M. with a cold battery pack.

Perfect summary. This shuld be a best winter practices sticky.

 

[bodosom]

Preconditioning whether via the Tesla app or according to a set Scheduled Departure time will bring the passenger cabin to the desired temperature and can also turn on the heated steering wheel and/or heated seats in cold weather.

As far as I can tell Scheduled Departure doesn't turn on our seats/steering wheel.

 

[jcanoe]

Yes. In the app, you can either set a scheduled departure time, or schedule a specific time for it to start charging. If you want the cabin preheated prior to departure, select that option (it will also preheat the battery if necessary). The scheduled departure is a little confusing in that you have to toggle on "Off-Peak Charge" to enable it. If you then click on the 'charge' tab, it will actually show you what time it will start charging, given what you have the charging current set at.

I've found that in cold weather (below 40F at night), the scheduled departure ends up completing about an hour after the actual scheduled departure. Perhaps it doesn't account for a drop in temp when it calculates when to start charging. If this happens, just move up your scheduled departure time accordingly. You may not have this issue with 240V charging.

That is one of the shortcomings of 120V charging. In cold weather the Tesla vehicle may have to warm the battery during charging. As power is limited to 1.4kW (120V and 12A) on a standard 120V, 15A circuit most of the available power will be used to warm the battery and less power will be available to charge the battery during the battery warming period. This may throw off the Scheduled Departure calculation, the Tesla will not be fully charged by the time you need to leave. This would not happen when using any 240V charging as the power available to charge is, at a minimum, is double (2.8kW) all the way up to 11.5kW when charging at 240V and 48A.

 

[jcanoe]

As far as I can tell Scheduled Departure doesn't turn on our seats/steering wheel.

If you leave the seat heaters and/or steering wheel heater set to On when you park these will be activated when Scheduled Departure warms up the Tesla vehicle.

 

[jcanoe]

Can you clarify this last part? Are you saying that I can plug my MY to my wall connector at say 5 pm, but schedule charging to only start at say 3 am the next morning just before my scheduled departure so the preconditioning begins with a warmer battery? (Picking up my MY on Sat; still have much to learn/discover!)

Yes. Explore the Scheduled Charging settings from the Charging screen or from the Tesla app. Scheduled Charging sets a fixed time to start charging each evening. Alternately, Scheduled Departure will determine when to start charging so that charging will be completed before the end of the off-peak rate period (i.e. 0600). (Note that Scheduled Charging and Scheduled Departure (Charging) are mutually exclusive; you can only have the Tesla vehicle follow one of these settings.)

Separately you can set Scheduled Departure to also Precondition the Tesla vehicle at a set time (either week days or all week.) If you set Scheduled Departure to Precondition each week day for 0700 the Tesla vehicle will be warmed by the time you need to drive. (With the latest software, Tesla app you can now set a second Preconditioning time via the Tesla app so that the Tesla vehicle will be warmed prior to the start of your evening commute when parked at your work location.)

 

[DanDi58]

As far as I can tell Scheduled Departure doesn't turn on our seats/steering wheel.

Scheduled Charging is intended to prepare the car for driving at a certain time. It has nothing to do with heated seats or wheel. You wouldn't want them turned on in the summer, would you? As noted, you can just leave them turned on and they will warm up.

 

[Volleyballmom]

Yes. Explore the Scheduled Charging settings from the Charging screen or from the Tesla app. Scheduled Charging sets a fixed time to start charging each evening. Alternately, Scheduled Departure will determine when to start charging so that charging will be completed before the end of the off-peak rate period (i.e. 0600). (Note that Scheduled Charging and Scheduled Departure (Charging) are mutually exclusive; you can only have the Tesla vehicle follow one of these settings.)

Separately you can set Scheduled Departure to also Precondition the Tesla vehicle at a set time (either week days or all week.) If you set Scheduled Departure to Precondition each week day for 0700 the Tesla vehicle will be warmed by the time you need to drive. (With the latest software, Tesla app you can now set a second Preconditioning time via the Tesla app so that the Tesla vehicle will be warmed prior to the start of your evening commute when parked at your work location.)

Thanks. We don't have peak/off-peak rates in Quebec (probably cuz we're electricity rich and electricity is relative cheap). But we're also sub-zero temp rich so I'm trying to master cold weather best practices for my MY right off the bat. What about when you need to suddenly use your MY when it -25C and don't have time to precondition and preheat the car (such as in an emergency?) Can you just hop into a freezing cold MY and drive off? I understand that regen braking will be limited + range will be lessened. But will the vehicle operate normally otherwise?

 

[bodosom]

My husband and I are new to ev’s. We’ve owned the model y for about six months. We live in northeast Ohio and of course cold temperatures are coming. I’ve read the owners manual and some of your posts about recommendations for cold weather charging, but I’m still a bit confused! We don’t drive the car every day or not very far on an average day so we haven’t been plugging it in daily.

I've attached the results of a 07:30 Scheduled Departure. Our car is parked outside as the temperatures suggest. There's a sleep, a precharging idle, a post-charging idle and the actual charge. Note the slight range increase as the battery continues to heat.