I picked up my new M3LR this week (first Tesla). Phenomenal car! One question. I set precondition to 9AM each day. On the weekends, I may not go out till the afternoon. As long as the car is plugged in, is there any problem running preconditioning/interior temperature for several hours?
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Preconditioning question
- Thread starter Morty E
- Start date
danarcha
Member
In my experience, preconditioning shuts off 20 minutes after the scheduled leave time. Also, there is a setting to precondition only on weekdays (M-F). So you can set it to precondition those days and not on weekends.
Shelburne
Member
Why waste the electricity? I've never set up an automatic preconditioning time. I usually have a good idea of when I'm going to use the car and start the preconditioning maybe 15-20 minutes beforehand.
ATPMSD
Active Member
If it is particularly cold or hot, I just use the app to turn on the HVAC before heading out. 5-minutes is usually fine.
If you count wear and tear on the car as using electricity from the main HV battery (thus putting more "miles" on it), then yes, there is additional wear and tear on the car by doing what you are doing.
You can just set it to not precondition on the weekends. Maybe you didn't notice that option since the car is new. There's very little reason to precondition in the summer though. I use it all the time in the winter (so amazing when it's -40°C outside and the car is already warm when you get in) but I disable it in the summer.
RayK
Active Member
I agree with the above. The caveat would be if you park outside in the sun, and typically leave work at a certain time, it can be nice to pre-condition the car to a comfortable temperature. May not be as big of an issue in Toronto, but letting it bake in the sun during the day can be a welcomed gust of cold air at the end of a long work day (especially if I'm on the work charger).
Agree preconditioning is most useful in the winter. Two days this week it was 35 degrees C and I made good use of the climate setting vs. setting for preconditioning. With car out in the sun, although it says the car is at the desired temperature within a couple of minutes, it's not really that comfortable. I find it needs at least 10 min to cool down from the cabin overheat threshold of 40 degrees C if not more. If climate is turned off, within another couple of minutes it's back up to 38 degrees. 2018, Tesla roof shade but no tint.
In the winter, preconditioning works for the cabin and the battery. If I had one wish, it would be to have a one time option vs. having to choose All Week or Weekdays. I occasionally end up preconditioning the day after I need it which obviously wastes energy and battery cycles.
In the winter, preconditioning works for the cabin and the battery. If I had one wish, it would be to have a one time option vs. having to choose All Week or Weekdays. I occasionally end up preconditioning the day after I need it which obviously wastes energy and battery cycles.
puffdaddy
Member
As a side note (since you have already decided to turn it off in the summer), I had mine set to precondition weekdays until recently. This is my first summer owning a Tesla, so I thought, why not have it desired temp year around? Well, I injured my arm at work and am off for several weeks. I didn't turn off precondition and so it ran every weekday morning (while in the garage) for several days. I then started noticing the mold/vinegar smell when the AC ran. I'm guessing not driving it after preconditioning caused excess moisture with no place to go. May be a coincidence why it started now, but I'm definitely not going to use precondition in the garage.
