Preconditioning - Am I Missing Something?

[RHinCT]

I see how I can schedule the car to be conditioned at a certain time every day, or every weekday. Is it possible to schedule it to just happen once? Is it possible to tell it to just do it NOW? And to let me know when it is ready?

I will be leaving in 20 or 30 minutes. The car is freezing. It seems logical that I should just be able to tell it to get ready without it happening every day.

Thanks!

 

[GtiMart]

Use the mobile app to start the climate if you only want it once, now.

 

[Sophias_dad]

I see how I can schedule the car to be conditioned at a certain time every day, or every weekday. Is it possible to schedule it to just happen once? Is it possible to tell it to just do it NOW? And to let me know when it is ready?

I will be leaving in 20 or 30 minutes. The car is freezing. It seems logical that I should just be able to tell it to get ready without it happening every day.

Thanks!

Yep, do it via the phone, and you can also setup the app to notify your phone when the car is warmed up, which is usually only like five minutes.

 

[Pianewman]

Does "climate" conditioning also fully warm the battery? If so, in sub-freezing temps, it would take longer than 5 minutes, right?

Confused.

 

[GtiMart]

"fully" warm is subjective. Last year it would warm the battery up to 20C and that was the point of full regen. This year it actively heats the battery to around 4C and continues circulating which might bring the battery to 5-6C. You get good regen now at that temperature, like ~50kW. Much less energy waste IMO.

EDIT: The "cabin is at desired temp" notification will pop as soon as the cabin is warm. The car will continue to keep the cabin warm and heat the battery up to 4C but you get the notification independent of battery temp.

 

[Pianewman]

Thanks GtiMart. What ambient temp are you referring to?

So, to "warm" to 4C, and a warm cabin, it only takes 5 minutes?

 

[GtiMart]

The 5 minutes referred to higher up is cabin temp. The battery takes time but it's not critical. Don't wait for it, just drive.

 

[xtofotx]

Does "climate" conditioning also fully warm the battery? If so, in sub-freezing temps, it would take longer than 5 minutes, right?

Confused.

Yes it does, if battery has to be warmed up. You can confrm it on the app when you see the three "bacon" next to the battery percentage.
Of course if temperature is way below 0C, it will take way more time than warming up the cabin.

 

[Pianewman]

When I "just drive", and it's 20f out, the loss of regen is noticeable, and efficiency is lousy. If I need range on a particular day, I'd rather use my house elec. than my Tesla elec. That's why I'm asking.
Thanks.

 

[TunaBug]

Yes it does, if battery has to be warmed up. You can confrm it on the app when you see the three "bacon" next to the battery percentage.
Of course if temperature is way below 0C, it will take way more time than warming up the cabin.

I don't see bacon next to a battery percentage. I assume the three red squiggles for seat warmers is the "bacon".

 

[xtofotx]

I don't see bacon next to a battery percentage. I assume the three red squiggles for seat warmers is the "bacon".

I was referring to these:

If you see them in the app after enabling climate, it means your battery is being warmed up.

 

[TunaBug]

I was referring to these:
View attachment 751842
If you see them in the app after enabling climate, it means your battery is being warmed up.

Well I'll be darned

I guess I have never looked at the top of the home screen after enabling climate. Thanks!

 

[RUK MINI]

When I "just drive", and it's 20f out, the loss of regen is noticeable, and efficiency is lousy. If I need range on a particular day, I'd rather use my house elec. than my Tesla elec. That's why I'm asking.
Thanks.

Good question. . I've thought about it too. . .here is where I netted out.

If, by not pre-conditioning the battery on a cold day, assume the consumption goes up by 150 W/mi (say from 300 to 450 W/mi). So, if you run errands for an hour and put on 15 miles in town, with no pre-conditioning of the battery, you have consumed additional 15 mi x 150 W/mi x 1hr = 2.25 kW-hr of energy (above your normal fully-conditioned battery.)

Pre-conditioning, I have heard, consumes 1.5 to 2 kW of power, when you plug into your wall. And could go on for 45 mins to 1hr depending on your garage temperature. This roughly translates to 1 to 2 kW-hr of energy.

So comparing the two numbers there is a small advantage in pre-conditioning but we are talking pennies of savings (1 kW-hr is roughly $0.18)

Would appreciate hearing from others if this line of thinking is sensible.

 

[GtiMart]

Conditioning the battery uses up to 6.5-7kW of energy from the motors (3-3.5kW for single motors). The thing is, the "algorithm" to heat the battery has changed over time, I'm not sure it consumes that energy constantly now. I need to run an errand soon, I'll try to check my car as it's parked outside at -15C.
What I've heard in general is that's it's never useful to fully condition the battery without being plugged, it's always a net negative. The positive side is gaining your regen so it's more of a driveability thing. When plugged in, you're still paying for the energy but at least it doesn't come out of your battery.

 

[Pianewman]

To clarify, I'm interested in pre-conditioning ONLY WHEN PLUGGED IN! I understand the trade-offs.

Thanks for a helpful thread, folks.

 

[jcanoe]

Last winter I would precondition for 30 minutes or longer before driving my 2020 LRMY but I would still start out with limited regenerative braking.

With the latest release I precondition for between 5 and 10 minutes (might take a bit longer as we move into the coldest winter months). I receive a notification from the Tesla app on my phone that the passenger cabin of my Model Y has reached the desired temperature (71F). I no longer see the bacon symbol indicating that the battery is being warmed. I have some regenerative braking when I start driving, not full regen but enough to be useful when driving.

The strange thing is sometimes I get the warning message that Regenerative braking has been reduced due to temperature when it is relatively warm, i.e. 50F (10C) and other times there is no message an the temperature is actually a bit lower. My Model Y is always parked inside my attached garage. The garage temperature is generally 10 degrees higher than the outside air temperature.

 

[GtiMart]

Here's some data from today at lunch. Captured (with scanmytesla) min battery temps, power consumed on front and rear motors and total power used (which also includes cabin heating). PTC heater, no heat pump. Outside temp was -14C. Temps in degrees C, energy in kW.

I did not have the cabin temp notification turned on so I don't have the exact time. When I checked the cabin temp (I think around 12:12-12:14) it was already at 21C. It doesn't take long. The last line is from when I got in the car and put it in drive without moving. Active battery heating stops then.

20 minutes at an average of 11kW means a consumption of 3.7kWh, that's significant energy.

EDIT: Important note: subject to change with software updates... it was different last year.

 

[RHinCT]

se the mobile app to start the climate if you only want it once, now.

Thanks. Yes, I see that is a way to make me warm without making it repeated. I was thinking more about conditioning the battery.

 

[RHinCT]

I was referring to these:

If you see them in the app after enabling climate, it means your battery is being warmed up.

Thanks! Learn something every day!

 

[RHinCT]

To clarify, I'm interested in pre-conditioning ONLY WHEN PLUGGED IN!

That was what thinking also.