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!!!

 

[bodosom]

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.

Is there some reason you replied to me rather than the person that said non-cabin heating would start?

 

[v8eater]

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!!!

I think you are overthinking this some.

Preconditioning is really for your comfort. On really cold days, you will get less regen and even reduced performance from a cold battery but thats it. Honestly, I don't worry about that at all. On a long trip, you can set the SC as your destination so it preheats the pack for faster charging.

Set the charge limit to 80% for daily use. You can go 90 but 80 is better for long term battery health.

 

[Benito1283]

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?

Yes, you can drive a freezing cold Tesla no problem. As you said, the regen will be limited or nonexistent, and your max power might be limited, but it will operate perfectly fine otherwise. Regen will gradually come back as you drive and the battery warms up. For short distances, it's probably more efficient to drive a cold car instead of preconditioning the cabin/battery, as the energy used to precondition would be more than energy saved/produced by a little extra regen. But totally fine if you prefer to.

 

[bodosom]

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.

Thanks. Since I don't want that behavior it's good to know it can happen.

 

[jcanoe]

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?

You don't have to actually be on a time of use (TOU) rate plan with an off-peak rate period, you just have to tell the Model Y's Scheduled Departure algorithm when to be done charging. The Tesla Scheduled Departure used to be hard coded for 0600 (local time) but now you can set the end of the off-peak period to be any time you want. At the completion of the charging period the battery will be between 10C and 20C. The battery is a large mass (nearly ~500kg) so it will stay warm for hours. You could set Scheduled Departure to always complete by 0700 and Schedule Departure Preconditioning to take place week days only so the Tesla Model Y's passenger cabin is at your preferred temperature when you want to leave in the A.M. The Tesla Model Y will start warming up the passenger cabin ~20 or more minutes before the Scheduled Departure time (depending on the outside temperature.) The Tesla Model Y does not have to be plugged in to use the Scheduled Departure Preconditioning feature (typically will use 2% of the battery to warm up the cabin if not plugged in.)

If you need to leave before the end of the charging session or before the scheduled departure preconditioning you can unplug and start driving at any time. The battery may not be fully charged and the cabin will be cold but will heat up in just a few minutes. You may see a blue snowflake next to the battery icon. The snow flake indicates that the battery is cold so power may be limited along with regenerative braking. When you shift from Park to Reverse or Drive you can see a string of dots on the power bar (I've named these dots Regen tears.) The colder the battery, the more dots you see and less regenerative braking is available. Up to 6 dots is barely noticeable; 7 to 10 dots is noticeable; more than 10 dots is very noticeable as to loss of regen. If you charge above 85% then regen can also be reduced so the combination of charging to 90% and cold temperatures will decimate your available regenerative braking until the battery has warmed a bit and you have used some of the battery charge.

 

[Volleyballmom]

Yes, you can drive a freezing cold Tesla no problem. As you said, the regen will be limited or nonexistent, and your max power might be limited, but it will operate perfectly fine otherwise. Regen will gradually come back as you drive and the battery warms up. For short distances, it's probably more efficient to drive a cold car instead of preconditioning the cabin/battery, as the energy used to precondition would be more than energy saved/produced by a little extra regen. But totally fine if you prefer to.

Great - this is exactly what I needed to know. Follow up ?: When we talk about regen being limited or nonexistent, this means I need to physically use the brake pedal to brake, instead of just taking my foot off the accelerator, correct? Is that the extent of it?

 

[Benito1283]

Great - this is exactly what I needed to know. Follow up ?: When we talk about regen being limited or nonexistent, this means I need to physically use the brake pedal to brake, instead of just taking my foot off the accelerator, correct? Is that the extent of it?

Yes exactly. Unless it's extremely cold, most likely you'll have some regen, it just won't be as forceful. You'll need to use the brake pedal as needed. It's very easy to get used to. It was a lot easier (and bothered me a lot less) than I anticipated. And knowing that it's doing what it needs to to protect the battery puts my mind at ease. Everything is working as it should, not to worry.

 

[jcanoe]

When regen is reduced due to low temperature, etc. I notice this when getting ready to make a turn. The Tesla vehicle does not slow as expected when I remove my foot from the accelerator pedal and I can enter the turn faster than I was intending, have to use the brake pedal to slow the Tesla vehicle.

 

[DanDi58]

Yes, you can drive a freezing cold Tesla no problem. As you said, the regen will be limited or nonexistent, and your max power might be limited, but it will operate perfectly fine otherwise. Regen will gradually come back as you drive and the battery warms up. For short distances, it's probably more efficient to drive a cold car instead of preconditioning the cabin/battery, as the energy used to precondition would be more than energy saved/produced by a little extra regen. But totally fine if you prefer to.

I did this today for the first time and it sucks to have to actually use the brake pedal! It was upper 30's and had to run out unexpectedly so didn't have a chance to precon the car. It worked perfectly fine and the cabin heats up much more quickly than doing this in an ICE car.

 

[Volleyballmom]

You don't have to actually be on a time of use (TOU) rate plan with an off-peak rate period, you just have to tell the Model Y's Scheduled Departure algorithm when to be done charging. The Tesla Scheduled Departure used to be hard coded for 0600 (local time) but now you can set the end of the off-peak period to be any time you want. At the completion of the charging period the battery will be between 10C and 20C. The battery is a large mass (nearly ~500kg) so it will stay warm for hours. You could set Scheduled Departure to always complete by 0700 and Schedule Departure Preconditioning to take place week days only so the Tesla Model Y's passenger cabin is at your preferred temperature when you want to leave in the A.M. The Tesla Model Y will start warming up the passenger cabin ~20 or more minutes before the Scheduled Departure time (depending on the outside temperature.) The Tesla Model Y does not have to be plugged in to use the Scheduled Departure Preconditioning feature (typically will use 2% of the battery to warm up the cabin if not plugged in.)

If you need to leave before the end of the charging session or before the scheduled departure preconditioning you can unplug and start driving at any time. The battery may not be fully charged and the cabin will be cold but will heat up in just a few minutes. You may see a blue snowflake next to the battery icon. The snow flake indicates that the battery is cold so power may be limited along with regenerative braking. When you shift from Park to Reverse or Drive you can see a string of dots on the power bar (I've named these dots Regen tears.) The colder the battery, the more dots you see and less regenerative braking is available. Up to 6 dots is barely noticeable; 7 to 10 dots is noticeable; more than 10 dots is very noticeable as to loss of regen. If you charge above 85% then regen can also be reduced so the combination of charging to 90% and cold temperatures will decimate your available regenerative braking until the battery has warmed a bit and you have used some of the battery charge.

I did this today for the first time and it sucks to have to actually use the brake pedal! It was upper 30's and had to run out unexpectedly so didn't have a chance to precon the car. It worked perfectly fine and the cabin heats up much more quickly than doing this in an ICE car.

That's great to know. From about mid-Nov to mid-March, we rarely if ever see days above 32F - and most are well below. The winter driving season is a big chunk of our year. I'm supposed to pick up my MY on Sat. so I won't have yet lost the ICE habit of using the brake pedal

 

[bodosom]

... (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.)

What release is required for this feature?

 

[DM 171950]

Great - this is exactly what I needed to know. Follow up ?: When we talk about regen being limited or nonexistent, this means I need to physically use the brake pedal to brake, instead of just taking my foot off the accelerator, correct? Is that the extent of it?

You can also take a look at the top of the screen, there is a grey line across the entire screen. The more dots you see on the far left, the less regen you have.

I had got six to seven dots this morning when I didn't precondition the car @ -5C and still had some regen braking.

 

[jcanoe]

What release is required for this feature?

I believe 2021.40.6.

 

[gregsly]

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?

I'm guessing that by now you already know that you can drive off in your freezing cold MY, and it will warm up as it can!

I've hopped in my M3 at around -15F when I forgot to precondition, and while it's not as pleasant as when warmed, but everything works, and honestly it works better than a lot of ICE cars I've tried to start in those temps.

 

[Volleyballmom]

I'm guessing that by now you already know that you can drive off in your freezing cold MY, and it will warm up as it can!

I've hopped in my M3 at around -15F when I forgot to precondition, and while it's not as pleasant as when warmed, but everything works, and honestly it works better than a lot of ICE cars I've tried to start in those temps.

Yup, we now have an entire season of winter driving under our belts and have learned that pre-conditioning is definitely the way to go when given the chance, but not a necessity, thankfully. I still don't feel as much grip on snowy/icy roads in my MYLR AWD as I do with my Subaru Forester with studded Hakka 9s, but as soon as I can find the right size studded tires for my MY, I think that will make a big difference. Aside from those rough driving conditions though, I love my MY.