Just had my MY (my first EV) a couple months and so now is my first time driving it in cold weather. (The Tesla “dual motor” does seem to be SLIGHTLY better than my old Subaru’s AWD, happy to say.) Preconditioning battery and enhancing range is important, but Tesla’s info about preconditioning is somewhat vague. Winter Driving Tips
Apologies for the long post with so many questions. Please just answer/comment on what you feel like, referencing the question number. Thanks! (And I DID look at a lot of other posts before posting here.)
1) Is there no way to schedule departure time from the app? It would be handy since it takes time from my multi-unit bldg. to get to car from my apartment to set departure time on MY, and actual departure time can vary a lot from what was intended the day before, for a variety of factors. But if the car is plugged in and I’m not concerned about electricity costs, should I just schedule for the earliest likely departure? Generally, how soon in advance should one schedule departure? Probably varies with outside temp. My car is in an unheated big garage in the basement of a bldg.,, so in winter, generally warmer than outdoors fortunately.
2) Preconditioning when MY is plugged in, what CAN I do from the app (when I haven’t set a departure time in advance) – Should I just turn on heat and/or defrost? What would be a good interior temp to aim for to precondition the battery? Or is the question how many minutes in advance? (I don’t care about my comfort, or electricity costs, just battery range). Maybe the answer depends on outside temperature? Or should I just test by seeing how long it takes Y to get to desired temp, but then, what’s the desired temp for battery preconditioning?
3) Should I assume if I don’t care about cabin comfort and only about range, that I not precondition battery ever when not plugged in, except maybe when driving to a charging station or when it’s so cold I see the snowflake icon (something I’ve yet to see) and I'm worried about things like sensors, etc.? In other words, is it correct to assume that whatever energy goes to preconditioning the battery when car is unplugged will be not made up when driving? I am not concerned about cabin comfort nor about electricity cost, only range. That seems to be what Tesla indicates, but doesn’t say explicitly here.
4) The cold weather page also recommends “driving conservatively” to save battery usage. On a flat road with no wind, is there a speed considered most efficient? If so, what is it, just so I know what to aim for (as long as it’s safe for the conditions, of course) when I’m most concerned about battery consumption?
Apologies for the long post with so many questions. Please just answer/comment on what you feel like, referencing the question number. Thanks! (And I DID look at a lot of other posts before posting here.)
1) Is there no way to schedule departure time from the app? It would be handy since it takes time from my multi-unit bldg. to get to car from my apartment to set departure time on MY, and actual departure time can vary a lot from what was intended the day before, for a variety of factors. But if the car is plugged in and I’m not concerned about electricity costs, should I just schedule for the earliest likely departure? Generally, how soon in advance should one schedule departure? Probably varies with outside temp. My car is in an unheated big garage in the basement of a bldg.,, so in winter, generally warmer than outdoors fortunately.
2) Preconditioning when MY is plugged in, what CAN I do from the app (when I haven’t set a departure time in advance) – Should I just turn on heat and/or defrost? What would be a good interior temp to aim for to precondition the battery? Or is the question how many minutes in advance? (I don’t care about my comfort, or electricity costs, just battery range). Maybe the answer depends on outside temperature? Or should I just test by seeing how long it takes Y to get to desired temp, but then, what’s the desired temp for battery preconditioning?
3) Should I assume if I don’t care about cabin comfort and only about range, that I not precondition battery ever when not plugged in, except maybe when driving to a charging station or when it’s so cold I see the snowflake icon (something I’ve yet to see) and I'm worried about things like sensors, etc.? In other words, is it correct to assume that whatever energy goes to preconditioning the battery when car is unplugged will be not made up when driving? I am not concerned about cabin comfort nor about electricity cost, only range. That seems to be what Tesla indicates, but doesn’t say explicitly here.
4) The cold weather page also recommends “driving conservatively” to save battery usage. On a flat road with no wind, is there a speed considered most efficient? If so, what is it, just so I know what to aim for (as long as it’s safe for the conditions, of course) when I’m most concerned about battery consumption?