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MY - Preconditioning & Driving for Best Battery Range

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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?
 
You are overthinking this. Press the 'fan' button in the app when you leave your apartment, and your car will be a nice temperature for you when you get to it. IMHO, unless you are embarking on a near-maximum-range trip, there's no need to do more. Even if you are, the battery will warm as you drive and give you back the range that you lost due to cold.

4) are you really trying to hypermile in a Tesla? Hop in the car, point it at a clear stretch of road, and stomp on the go pedal.

If you are thinking very hard about how to maximize range, you may have bought the wrong car, or you are overthinking it.

Tacoma doesn't get THAT cold, your car is indoors-ish, and you pay some of the lowest electricity rates in the nation.

(The rest of this is more a question for the masses)
Did I miss some giant announcement about preconditioning recently? I think in the past two weeks I've seen a dozen questions about how and when to precondition, what has happened to my car because I haven't been preconditioning, and so on, while in the previous year or two I saw hardly any.
 
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Agreed! I precondition long enough for my own comfort. If I’m about to embark on a long trip, i’ll precondition for up to 20 minutes while plugged in to warm the pack up so less energy has to go toward conditioning for supercharging.

The question seems to be coming up a lot recently because v11 is popping up a window about cold weather tips, one of which is preconditioning.
 
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1) If you leave at different times each day then you may want to manually turn on Climate Control via the Tesla app about 5 to 10 minutes before you plan to drive. Set cabin temperature to 71F or 72F and the Tesla app will notify you on your phone (or Apple Watch) when the desired cabin temperature has been reached. Tesla revised the battery preconditioning to save energy, does not fully warm the battery as in the past so you will see a often see blue snow flake.

2) From the app you can turn on the climate control (you can also set the desired cabin temperature.) If the Tesla vehicle is parked outdoors, covered in ice and snow you can turn on the defroster using the Tesla app, otherwise just tap the fan icon to turn on the Climate Control. You can't control whether or to what temperature preconditioning will warm the battery. The Tesla vehicle will determine if and how much to warm the battery. If charging, the battery will be warmed to ~39F before starting to charge.

3) As you drive the battery will continue to warm as drawing power from the battery as you drive will generate some heat. The excess heat can be used to help warm the cabin. Do not turn off the climate control as the windows can fog, create dangerous visibility issues for the driver. The only way that the energy used to precondition the Tesla vehicle when not plugged in would be recovered is if you start out at the top of a mountain each morning and descend into the valley below via regenerative braking.

4) Speed is one of the few things you can control that directly affects your driving efficiency. Wind, road conditions, traffic and elevation changes are usually not something you can control. Try and limit your highway speed to a maximum of 70 MPH. 65 MPH would be even better. Few are able or content to drive in the slow lane at 55 MPH but that will yield even better driving efficiency. Even when driving as conservatively (speed wise) as possible head winds, wet or snow covered roads will kill your efficiency for the trip.
 
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Thanks, jcanoe. I appreciate the helpful reply to my questions, rather than the first response that basically blew off my inquiry, made incorrect assumptions about where and in what climates I drive, ignored the fact that I said in my OP that electricity consumption doesn't matter, and suggested I'd perhaps bought the wrong car.
No, as of EVs available when I ordered last spring, I bought the right car. (An M3 would've been better except for their super-low clearance, while an X is just too big and expensive for me. And since Tesla has the best range, it was Tesla. At least then.)
No car is ideal in all one's driving conditions (unless you have a very boring life and only drive the same routes with the same amounts of passengers and stuff all the same, in the same basic climate.) I knew when I bought the MY that no EV (as of now) is ideal for all the winter ski and outdoor trips I do. So far, the MY has all been as least as good as I expected and I have zero regrets. Just trying to use it as best suits my needs.
Too bad this causes some to make incorrect assumptions and call others "overthinking" just because our needs are different than theirs.
 
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Apologies if my answers offended. Unless you are commuting 200+ miles a day, you shouldn't be thinking about range very much. If you ARE commuting 200+ miles a day, you should think about moving or changing jobs. I do realize sometimes this is not an option.

IMHO, you should treat a Tesla as similarly to an ICE car as you can. If you are stressing about preconditioning(or not), that's not very ICEy.
 
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Agreed! I precondition long enough for my own comfort. If I’m about to embark on a long trip, i’ll precondition for up to 20 minutes while plugged in to warm the pack up so less energy has to go toward conditioning for supercharging.

The question seems to be coming up a lot recently because v11 is popping up a window about cold weather tips, one of which is preconditioning.
I have a simple question which i can't get the answer to. If the car is not plugged in, is simply warming up the cabin via the app the same as preconditioning....? Or is preconditioning a requirement you have to perform before charging? I usually charge my car at 1:00 am...am I suppose to somehow precondition the battery before the charge time begins at 1:00 am in the morning?
 
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I have a simple question which i can't get the answer to. If the car is not plugged in, is simply warming up the cabin via the app the same as preconditioning....? Or is preconditioning a requirement you have to perform before charging? I usually charge my car at 1:00 am...am I suppose to somehow precondition the battery before the charge time begins at 1:00 am in the morning?

No, you don’t need to precondition prior to charging. Battery conditioning for charging happens automatically.
 
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No, you don’t need to precondition prior to charging. Battery conditioning for charging happens automatically.
Ok… how about this question. I’m sitting at home and want to perform a battery calibration on a 2021 M3 with 14,000 miles. I have my battery down to 8% and have a 240/ 60 amp line at my home. I normally charge to 80% and recently noticed it tops out at 77%.(weather has been cold the last two weeks). I have it set to charge to 100% for the calibration test.There is info that says prior to charging make sure car is warmed up and there is other info that says make sure your car is fully asleep. Talk about information overload! Any thoughts on who is right?
 
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Ok… how about this question. I’m sitting at home and want to perform a battery calibration on a 2021 M3 with 14,000 miles. I have my battery down to 8% and have a 240/ 60 amp line at my home. I normally charge to 80% and recently noticed it tops out at 77%.(weather has been cold the last two weeks). I have it set to charge to 100% for the calibration test.There is info that says prior to charging make sure car is warmed up and there is other info that says make sure your car is fully asleep. Talk about information overload! Any thoughts on who is right?

I would split the difference and warm it up to a reasonable temperature. Do this by turning on climate control from the app for twenty minutes, then charge the car to 95-100% and let it sit and sleep for several hours. But before you do that, let it sit and sleep at 8% for several hours.

I don't think this is going to make much of a difference, but it certainly won't hurt. I've noticed some weird charging behavior with recent software versions that occasionally result in the car under or overshooting your target, e.g. in my car, and 80% target will result in anywhere between 77% and 82%. No big deal, really.
 
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I would split the difference and warm it up to a reasonable temperature. Do this by turning on climate control from the app for twenty minutes, then charge the car to 95-100% and let it sit and sleep for several hours. But before you do that, let it sit and sleep at 8% for several hours.

I don't think this is going to make much of a difference, but it certainly won't hurt. I've noticed some weird charging behavior with recent software versions that occasionally result in the car under or overshooting your target, e.g. in my car, and 80% target will result in anywhere between 77% and 82%. No big deal, really.
Thanks for your input…. I was thinking along those same lines
 
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I would split the difference and warm it up to a reasonable temperature. Do this by turning on climate control from the app for twenty minutes, then charge the car to 95-100% and let it sit and sleep for several hours. But before you do that, let it sit and sleep at 8% for several hours.

I don't think this is going to make much of a difference, but it certainly won't hurt. I've noticed some weird charging behavior with recent software versions that occasionally result in the car under or overshooting your target, e.g. in my car, and 80% target will result in anywhere between 77% and 82%. No big deal, really.
….also, when preconditioning overnight, should the climate control in the car be set to auto??
 
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