Scheduled Charging - daily setup

[catman44]

I am waiting for my M3 (current EDD is May/June, but who knows when...) and I am assessing my charging needs.

I have a some questions regarding what can one do in terms of scheduled charging in the APP. Can one schedule the charging to only happen between certain hours during the weekdays and also between different hours during the weekend? This is because over here the electricity cost significantly differ during the weekdays from during the weekend...

And also, having a scheduled charging, does the "maximum 80% charge" rule (or whatever is setup) still apply, right?

 

[Birdsfan]

I'm doing this from memory but I don't believe you can have a separate weekend schedule other than all week or week days. What do you mean by the 80% charging rule?

 

[catman44]

I'm doing this from memory but I don't believe you can have a separate weekend schedule other than all week or week days. What do you mean by the 80% charging rule?

Ahhh - too bad!

I know you can set up a limit to which it can charge, the maximum charge, like for example 80%. Does this rule still apply when you are in the scheduled charging mode?

 

[ATPMSD]

You have two options, you can select schedule charge or schedule departure, but not both.

If you set a Schedule Charge the car will start charging at the set time. For example, it you set it to 10 pm and plug the car in at say 8 pm, the car will not start to charge until 10 pm, it will then continue to charge until the car reaches the SOC you have set.

Schedule Departure has two settings, each with its own time. Off-peak charging (misleading name) tells the car what time you want it to finish charging. For example, if you set it to 5 AM and plug in the car at 8 PM, the car checks the available charge rate (does a small charge to get this), and it looks at the current SOC and the desired SOC. The car will then automatically start charging at a time so the car reaches the desired SOC at the time you have set (actually about 15-minutes prior.) The other option is pre-conditiining. If you choose this the car battery and cabin will be warmed or cooled so you are ready to go at the chosen time! Note that selecting schedule departure by itself does nothing. You must also select off-peak or preconditioning, or both.

 

[UncleCreepy]

Ahhh - too bad!

I know you can set up a limit to which it can charge, the maximum charge, like for example 80%. Does this rule still apply when you are in the scheduled charging mode?

It does. You can select anything between 50% and 100%.

 

[ATPMSD]

I know you can set up a limit to which it can charge, the maximum charge, like for example 80%. Does this rule still apply when you are in the scheduled charging mode?

Yes, it always applies. BTW, in the case of Schedule Departure you can select “All Week” or “Weekdays”

 

[catman44]

If you set a Schedule Charge the car will start charging at the set time. For example, it you set it to 10 pm and plug the car in at say 8 pm, the car will not start to charge until 10 pm, it will then continue to charge until the car reaches the SOC you have set.

Okay, so there is no way you can tell it to stop charging at a certain time, like having a Turn ON and a Turn Off Timer, regardless of SOC?

 

[cat7]

You have two options, you can select schedule charge or schedule departure, but not both.

If you set a Schedule Charge the car will start charging at the set time. For example, it you set it to 10 pm and plug the car in at say 8 pm, the car will not start to charge until 10 pm, it will then continue to charge until the car reaches the SOC you have set.

Schedule Departure has two settings, each with its own time. Off-peak charging (misleading name) tells the car what time you want it to finish charging. For example, if you set it to 5 AM and plug in the car at 8 PM, the car checks the available charge rate (does a small charge to get this), and it looks at the current SOC and the desired SOC. The car will then automatically start charging at a time so the car reaches the desired SOC at the time you have set (actually about 15-minutes prior.) The other option is pre-conditiining. If you choose this the car battery and cabin will be warmed or cooled so you are ready to go at the chosen time! Note that selecting schedule departure by itself does nothing. You must also select off-peak or preconditioning, or both.

To confirm though (I don't think it's clear from what you wrote), you can set both scheduled charge and schedule departure with pre-conditioning, that is exactly what I do (charge from 00:00, and pre-condition ready for me to leave at 07:15).

 

[ATPMSD]

To confirm though (I don't think it's clear from what you wrote), you can set both scheduled charge and schedule departure with pre-conditioning, that is exactly what I do (charge from 00:00, and pre-condition ready for me to leave at 07:15).

You can select schedule charge or schedule departure, but not both!

If you select scheduled departure, you can set different times for “Off-Peak Charge” and “Precondition.” I think this is what you are doing.

 

[ATPMSD]

Okay, so there is no way you can tell it to stop charging at a certain time, like having a Turn ON and a Turn Off Timer, regardless of SOC

Correct, this is not possible.

 

[ATPMSD]

Okay, so there is no way you can tell it to stop charging at a certain time, like having a Turn ON and a Turn Off Timer, regardless of SOC?

I need to add something here. This is not possible with the Tesla app. There are third party apps that will allow you to schedule in this way. I think Optiwatt is one of them, but I have no experience to offer (Charge your EV for less).

What are you trying to accomplished?

 

[DeltaOne]

Schedule Departure has two settings, each with its own time. Off-peak charging (misleading name) tells the car what time you want it to finish charging. For example, if you set it to 5 AM and plug in the car at 8 PM, the car checks the available charge rate (does a small charge to get this), and it looks at the current SOC and the desired SOC. The car will then automatically start charging at a time so the car reaches the desired SOC at the time you have set (actually about 15-minutes prior.) The other option is pre-conditiining. If you choose this the car battery and cabin will be warmed or cooled so you are ready to go at the chosen time! Note that selecting schedule departure by itself does nothing. You must also select off-peak or preconditioning, or both.

Off peak really means the time you want it to finish charging?!?! This is the first time I've read/heard this...but it makes perfect sense.

You may remember a recent discussion where you (I think it was you) said the car preconditions and will be ready to go 15 minutes early. I, and another poster, said our cars were ready 45 minutes prior. Now I think I know why the difference. A few months ago, having trouble getting Scheduled Departure to work, I stumbled on a fix...set the Off Peak to AFTER I want the car to be ready. I've been using 30 minutes. For example, set Scheduled Departure to 9 am, set off peak to 9:30 am. I get an alert at 8:15 am (45 minutes early) saying the preconditioning is done.

I've been thinking Off Peak was for folks that have variable electricity rates. I don't, we have the same rate 24x7x365.

Next time I think I'll set Scheduled Departure and Off Peak to the same time...and see if I get the precondition done alert 15 minutes prior.

 

[ATPMSD]

Off peak really means the time you want it to finish charging?!?!

Yes! Horribly misleading name.

BTW, by setting both “off peak” and “preconditioning” to the same time you also get the benefit of the battery being warmed from charging, thus requiring less energy to warm it for your departure.

 

[catman44]

I need to add something here. This is not possible with the Tesla app. There are third party apps that will allow you to schedule in this way. I think Optiwatt is one of them, but I have no experience to offer (Charge your EV for less).

What are you trying to accomplished?

I work from home so I don't have an early morning departure need. I drive maximum 400 miles per month!
However I am not comfortable with charging the car, in the garage, at night. I have a special situation, my wife is disabled and I want to avoid even the smallest risk of a fire while we are asleep (escaping it in time would be unlikely). So I would like the charging (Level 1) to stop at around 10 PM, regardless of the SOC.

 

[mangrove79]

Okay, so there is no way you can tell it to stop charging at a certain time, like having a Turn ON and a Turn Off Timer, regardless of SOC?

Yes to the first part and No to the second. As already explained, Scheduled Departure is "how you tell it to stop charging at a certain time". "Having a turn on and a turn off timer" is quite different from that, for example, set the turn on to 4 AM and turn off to 5 AM, you'll never likely reach any desired SOC. The option is not there to be foolproof.

It would be helpful if you can tell us how your provider's off-peak hours differ between weekdays and weekends. Maybe show us the rate schedule. I imagine there must be some overlaps. If you know the throughput, 32 miles/hour for me with 14-50 connector, and your typical miles needed, then it's a simple calculation of how many hours on average you need to charge per night. You'll just set your Scheduled Charge or Scheduled Departure accordingly.

 

[ATPMSD]

I work from home so I don't have an early morning departure need. I drive maximum 400 miles per month!
However I am not comfortable with charging the car, in the garage, at night. I have a special situation, my wife is disabled and I want to avoid even the smallest risk of a fire while we are asleep (escaping it in time would be unlikely). So I would like the charging (Level 1) to stop at around 10 PM, regardless of the SOC.

So if the car remains plugged in, you sort of still have a “small” risk as the car may cycle to charge the 12v battery. The only way to be ultra safe is to unplug.

The best way to deal with this is perhaps just too manage when you plug in. By knowing your charge rate, your starting SOC and your desired SOC you can determine how long you need to change, then be sure you plug in far enough ahead. In my case I have a walll connector and charge at about 10 kW, so I know if I need to add 30 kWh it will take 3-hours.

 

[ATPMSD]

So I would like the charging (Level 1) to stop at around 10 PM, regardless of the SOC.

Since you are using just a 120v outlet I guess you could get a “lamp” timer where you can set start and end times. Just get one that will support a 15A or 20A circuit, as appropriate.

 

[catman44]

Since you are using just a 120v outlet I guess you could get a “lamp” timer where you can set start and end times. Just get one that will support a 15A or 20A circuit, as appropriate.

Excellent Idea, thank you. Will try that. Even if I loose a little bit of charging speed, no problem. I will have the timer cut off the power between 10 pm and 7 am. The Tesla APP can handle the scheduling outside this window.

 

[cat7]

You can select schedule charge or schedule departure, but not both!

If you select scheduled departure, you can set different times for “Off-Peak Charge” and “Precondition.” I think this is what you are doing.

I have set both, and it works as expected. Screenshot attached from the app showing the setup, it's scheduled to charge at 0:00, and scheduled departure at 07:15 with preconditioning.

 

[ATPMSD]

I have set both, and it works as expected. Screenshot attached from the app showing the setup, it's scheduled to charge at 0:00, and scheduled departure at 07:15 with preconditioning.

View attachment 797628

Interesting. This looks like a sofware bug as you cannot set a "start charging time" to 0:00 - but maybe the app works differently in the UK versus the USA. I expect sooner or later you will get an update that will "fix" it. What version of the Tesla app are you running, the current version is 4.7.3?