Cold climate best practices

[thefortunes]

I live in Wisconsin where it gets COLD. I currently drive about 120 miles round trip daily.

My garage at home stays fairly warm, so this question is directed more at the 10-12 hours that the car is cold-soaking while I'm at the office.

I have the option to plug in (at 110v / 15a) at my office to “charge.” I don’t need to do this for range, but it certainly keeps me from getting to a lower SOC on the battery in this cold. As an added benefit the battery stays warmer so I have regen immediately instead of 20-30 miles into my commute home.

Is there a temperature at which I definitely should be plugging in to protect the battery? Is it better to keep the battery warm and the SOC at a higher level (55%-95% standard mode, vs. dropping down to around 15% by the end of the commute if I don’t charge at the office)?

Anything else I should know to keep the Roadster happy in this climate?

 

[bart513]

So glad you're asking the question. I park outside for about 10 hours and it's not as cold as Wisconsin but it's not unusual to be in the 20's and 30's in the winter. Curious to hear what other folks have to say.

 

[Vger]

Absolutely plug in. That way, you can draw shore power to warm up the battery AND the cabin before you head home. Otherwise, you will have a cold butt, white knuckles, and very limited regen braking! :wink:

You can use the smartphone app to start conditioning the car about 30 minutes before you leave.

 

[ModelS1079]

Ask Jerry33. He knows All.

 

[Vger]

Ooops, just noticed this is a Roadster post. We have both cars. Some of the comments still apply (charging late in the day will keep your battery warm and your regen functional). If you get an OVMS installed, you can turn on and monitor charging remotely, but of course there is no remote cabin pre-heating option for the Roadster.

 

[thefortunes]

Ooops, just noticed this is a Roadster post. We have both cars. Some of the comments still apply (charging late in the day will keep your battery warm and your regen functional). If you get an OVMS installed, you can turn on and monitor charging remotely, but of course there is no remote cabin pre-heating option for the Roadster.

I have an OVMS so I do watch the charging to ensure it is still active (popped a breaker here at the office once last week).

I also do typically pre-heat the cabin before I drive home...unfortunately it involves going out to the car about 10 minutes before I leave and turning the heat on. Not quite as elegant as the Model S with the app, but still effective :biggrin:.

 

[thefortunes]

FYI...I received the following email from a Tesla engineer:

"-First of all, sweet. Love to hear about Roadsters being used properly.

-You should always plug Roadsters into whatever power you have available, it's never a bad thing on its own.
-It's better to get more smaller cycles than a few larger cycles using the same amount of total energy.

-The only thing that's bad for the batteries in the cold is that they don't like to charge when they are below freezing (0C).
-If they are allowed to drop below freezing, the car will warm them up before allowing charging to happen, so you can't hurt them that way.
-That's why regen is limited if the car is left unplugged.

So basically, plug in, and the car will take care of itself! We have lots of happy Roadsters in Norway, so nothing special you need to worry about.

If you can find a more powerful outlet, go for that if you're not able to top up entirely while at the office. In the long run, those smaller cycles will help.”

 

[jordanthompson]

I heartily recommend you move south!

 

[Doug_G]

Difficult to do without emigrating...

 

[Botbldr45]

.....could try Toronto ...... If you could find it possible to back the Leafs!

 

[Doug_G]

No Maple Laughs for me. Besides, even Toronto gets winter - less of it to be sure, but sometimes nasty. My in-laws only got their power back on yesterday afternoon...

 

[Botbldr45]

No Maple Laughs for me. Besides, even Toronto gets winter - less of it to be sure, but sometimes nasty. My in-laws only got their power back on yesterday afternoon...

.........never mind :redface: ......