Lifetime average power usage starting to go up with heater use!

[timk225]

I've got 14,400 miles on my 3, and the lifetime power usage meter has been slowly dropping, it was down to 225 Wh/mile recently.

But now that I'm starting to use the heater, the power usage is going up, it was at 227 yesterday!

And I already notice the difference, having the heat on in the car sucks the battery down more quickly then using AC.

 

[Rogue one]

Yup, well documented that as the temperature goes down the power consumption increases significantly.

 

[TT97]

Easy fix, just migrate to the South for the winter.

 

[timk225]

Easy fix, just migrate to the South for the winter.

I'd love to move back to L.A., but I'm married now....

 

[mswlogo]

What else did you expect?

Lower regen due to cold battery will kick in too.

You won’t know your true average until you’ve driven a full year.

 

[israndy]

Do people move to seat heaters or just leave it set on 74° all winter? It seems too luxurious to be able to get heat out of the car as fast as I have been to not use the HVAC. My friends with ICE cars cannot believe how fast it blows hot air.

-Randy

 

[seattlite2004]

Do the S/X folks that have heated seats AND heated steering wheel still use the cabin heater?

 

[TJtv]

Do people move to seat heaters or just leave it set on 74° all winter? y

74? That's uncomfortably warm. Regardless I think the battery heater consumes much more power than the cabin heater(at least on model s/x), so you aren't really saving that much by being stingy with your in car climate.

 

[animorph]

We used the seat heaters a lot in the X last AZ "winter". That should be more energy efficient. But unless you need to conserve range, I'd just use the heater.

 

[eml2]

How do you turn off the cabin heater? I don't see a cabin heater on/off switch in my MX. There is only a A/C switch.

Or do you just turn off HVAC? However, without any fresh air circulating, the window may fog up.

 

[Rocky_H]

How do you turn off the cabin heater? I don't see a cabin heater on/off switch in my MX. There is only a A/C switch.

Or do you just turn off HVAC? However, without any fresh air circulating, the window may fog up.

There's not a button for OFF, but think back to older cars that have the "Three Dials & a Button" climate control. If you want the heater off, just turn the temperature all the way down to LO, but make sure the A/C is off, so it isn't actively trying to chill the interior. Then all it can be doing is blowing the outside air without heating it. But I would not bother going that hardcore in the winter. Just turn it down to 64 or something, and it will run the heat a little, but not as much.