I'm awaiting delivery of my M3LR and I'm confused about preconditioning, as the term seems to be used in both the context of cabin temp and battery. Where I live it goes significantly below freezing in the winter. My questions are:
1. Is "preconditioning" the cabin the same as heating the battery, the latter with the goal of reducing the "dots" (power and regen limit) on a cold start? Or are these different things that can be done independently?
2. The owner's manual (under Mobile App/Climate) says that "Using the mobile app to precondition Model 3 also warms the Battery as needed." But it may only take 5 minutes to warm the cabin in my garage (plugged in), but possibly much longer to warm the battery in a freezing environment. Having climate on for an hour seems wasteful. Is turning the climate on the only way to also warm the battery? (I think the answer is no, and that having the car charge will cause it to first heat the battery if needed).
3. If the answer to 2 is that charging will achieve battery warming, is the only way to warm the battery effectively prior to a known departure time to use an app/service? eg. if desired charge is 80%, instead set the limit to 75% overnight, then use TeslaFi or Stats app to schedule charging up to 80% an hour or so before departure?
Bonus question to avoid creating another thread: if I want to track total $ spent on Tesla at home (not just kW added to the battery, but total used), does Tesla supply this info or would I need to use TeslaFi or an app?
1. Is "preconditioning" the cabin the same as heating the battery, the latter with the goal of reducing the "dots" (power and regen limit) on a cold start? Or are these different things that can be done independently?
2. The owner's manual (under Mobile App/Climate) says that "Using the mobile app to precondition Model 3 also warms the Battery as needed." But it may only take 5 minutes to warm the cabin in my garage (plugged in), but possibly much longer to warm the battery in a freezing environment. Having climate on for an hour seems wasteful. Is turning the climate on the only way to also warm the battery? (I think the answer is no, and that having the car charge will cause it to first heat the battery if needed).
3. If the answer to 2 is that charging will achieve battery warming, is the only way to warm the battery effectively prior to a known departure time to use an app/service? eg. if desired charge is 80%, instead set the limit to 75% overnight, then use TeslaFi or Stats app to schedule charging up to 80% an hour or so before departure?
Bonus question to avoid creating another thread: if I want to track total $ spent on Tesla at home (not just kW added to the battery, but total used), does Tesla supply this info or would I need to use TeslaFi or an app?