Scheduled Battery Preconditioning?

[Smitty79]

I have a 60 mile drive I take a few times a month. I leave first thing in the morning. I have always been amazed at how inefficient my 2019 Model 3 is at the start of the trip. Over the last month, during the drive, the car drops from about 335 Wh/mile to 270. I assumed that this reduction is from battery heating. This profile is maintained regardless of wind. The drive is reasonably flat.

Yesterday, I scheduled pre-conditioning to finish at my planned departure time. I was notified that cabin was at temperature 15 minutes before planned time. The profile was identical to my previous, not pre-conditioned, drive.

I see no evidence that the battery is preconditioning to maximize range. Am I missing something?

 

[GeorgeSymonds]

Not in my experience, preconditioning is just a timed version of you turning on the climate control before you leave to preheat the cabin. If the car decides the battery is too cold it will turn on the battery heater as part of that, but even then it doesn't try to get the battery to the optimal temperature, just warmer than a cold soaked battery.

I don't even find preconditioning delays charging so it finishes just before you leave unless other things are set.

 

[jrweiss98020]

Check the manual under Scheduled Departure (p. 155). AFAIK, preconditioning is automatic whenever you turn on the climate while charging. It may take more than 15 minutes, though, depending on the temprerature.

Do you have an uphill start on your trip?

 

[Smitty79]

Check the manual under Scheduled Departure (p. 155). AFAIK, preconditioning is automatic whenever you turn on the climate while charging. It may take more than 15 minutes, though, depending on the temprerature.

Do you have an uphill start on your trip?

First 20 miles is pretty flat. Does this mean that if I precondition for an hour before I want to leave, the battery will be warmer?

 

[jrweiss98020]

It should be. I don't know how long it takes to give a specific temperature rise, so start the preconditioning 30 or 45 minutes before departure, and go from there. You can get a sense of effectiveness from the length of the dottted portion of the regeneration line - shorter line = closer to ideal battery temp.

 

[GtiMart]

This type of thing changes with software versions. It was different this winter than last winter for example. Currently when you start cabin conditioning the car will heat the battery up to around 6C (42F) or so and will then just continue to circulate the coolant. The battery temp might raise a little bit more. Even if you give it 2h, it won't go much higher. At that temperature you get a good chunk of regen but not quite all of it, around 50kW out of 85kW max on my LR AWD.
As a comparison point, last year it would actively heat to around 20C (70F). For people like me that have harsh winters, conditioning my cabin cost way too much energy from my battery, say when leaving work. The current state heats just enough for regen to help.