Scheduled Charging

[gnuarm]

I'm trying to use the scheduled departure through the app and it doesn't work. It appears simple, I set the time, 6:30 AM and click OK. The charge level is high enough it should start charging immediately. It doesn't start charging and if I go back into scheduled departure the set time has changed to 8:00 AM.

If I change the charge level so it will start shortly and enter the time for scheduled departure. I leave and wait a while. If I reenter scheduled departure, the time has reset again to 8:00 AM.

What am I doing wrong?

 

[avs007]

A little while ago I was trying to set it at a different location, and found that it wouldn't "keep" what I set unless I tapped either "Weekday" or "Everyday" even tho one was already selected... If I just hit the time and went back out and back in, it still had the old time... But if I hit one of the frequency buttons, it finally took. Not sure if that's your issue, but that was the only way I got it to keep the settings when I tried adding scheduled departure at another location

 

[spokey]

I have that problem when it happens to be off. If I turn it on, the time sticks every time.

 

[gnuarm]

I have that problem when it happens to be off. If I turn it on, the time sticks every time.

Turn what off? The charging? I tried that both ways.

 

[spokey]

Turn what off? The charging? I tried that both ways.

The Enable Scheduled Charging in the app. Not sure but you might have to be plugged in as well.

 

[ATPMSD]

You may be confusing two functions, 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.

Make sure the car software and the app are up to date (v 4.8.1 is the latest for the app)

 

[spokey]

I use scheduled charging for charging but then precondition for heat/AC. I generally have charging set to 8AM and then departure (i.e. preconditioning) varies according to my day. Probably no diff to just turning on the HVAC via the app but I generally know the night before and set it then.

 

[gnuarm]

The Enable Scheduled Charging in the app. Not sure but you might have to be plugged in as well.

In the app, I see an "item" in the list for "Schedule". I open that and am presented with two radio buttons, "Departure" and "Charge". You can only select one, and one is always selected.

With "Departure" selected, there is a field for the "Departure" time.

There are two on/off sliders for "Precondition" and "Off-Peak Charge". I leave both off.

Where is the "Enable Scheduled Charging" control in the app?

 

[ATPMSD]

In the app, I see an "item" in the list for "Schedule". I open that and am presented with two radio buttons, "Departure" and "Charge". You can only select one, and one is always selected.

With "Departure" selected, there is a field for the "Departure" time.

There are two on/off sliders for "Precondition" and "Off-Peak Charge". I leave both off.

Where is the "Enable Scheduled Charging" control in the app?

Please re-read post #6. Under Schedule -> Departure, if you select Depature and leave both sliders off nothing is selected.

“Enable scheduled charging” is in the app under Schedule -> Charge.

 

[spokey]

In my app, Charge is always displayed first. Maybe there is some combination of options that changes that but for me this is what I see when I tap schedule from the main menu.

Then in the Departure 'tab', I have the time I want to leave. Actually I tend to set it 15 minutes after my leave time as it seems to always notify me that the cabin temp is reached about 15 minutes early.

 

[gnuarm]

Please re-read post #6. Under Schedule -> Departure, if you select Depature and leave both sliders off nothing is selected.

The sliders are for options of preconditioning, which I don't want, and for off peak charging, which I don't want. If the only way to use the scheduled departure is to select one of these option, the app is broken by design.

“Enable scheduled charging” is in the app under Schedule -> Charge.

That's not what I'm using. My first post said,

I'm trying to use the scheduled departure through the app and it doesn't work.

This is the problem I have with Tesla. They take simple things and make them difficult. If I set a departure time, that means I'm asking the tool to calculate when to start the charging to reach my desired state of charge at the departure time. This is not related to preconditioning or off peak charging.

Actually, I just tested it with off-peak selected. That didn't work. It did not stop charging at the off-peak end time.

Actually, it's completely screwed up at this point. It only needs to charge for 2 hours to reach the charging limit, the departure time is for 6AM and it's charging now, 15 hours before the departure time.

 

[ATPMSD]

@gnuarm

Agree Tesla makes things too difficult and makes it worse with bad terminology! Since you are interested in the departure function note the following:

1. Ignore the schedule charge function, in fact turn "Enable Scheduled Charging" the slider off.
2. On the Schedule Departure page, you have two options that are totally independent:
   1. If you turn on the "Precondition" option, then the departure time above has meaning, otherwise it does not. If, for example, you want your car battery and temperature to be ready for a 6 am departure, set the time in the departure window to 6 am and your car will be ready for you at 6 am. You can enable this function for all week or just on weekdays.
   2. If you enable "Off-peak charge" you will see new options below. This is terribly named!!! If you turn this on and set a time in the "Off-Peak End Time" window below, the car will 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.). You can enable this function for all week or just on weekdays.

How this helps!

 

[spokey]

Actually your original post was complaining about the time problem. Do you still have that?

There are two things Tesla is trying to balance.
1 - the off-peak cost. I don't care as I don't have that but some people do. So the software will want to charge during that time.
2 - You have told the software a departure and a final SOC.

So it needs to balance those three pieces of data. As I tell it when to start charging, I don't have a lot of data points so below is a bit of speculation.

The software will have to make compromises. Let's say you plug in at 6AM, your off-peak ends at 7 and you need an 1 1/2 of charge. Presumably it will continue until 7:30 charging during peak as getting you to the SOC is a higher priority than saving kWH charges.

If you plug in at 10 PM with the above parameters it can decide to charge at any time as long as it gets done by 7 AM. If it charges from 10PM to 11:30 why would you care (assuming that is off-peak). The one thing I do think they fail at here is not being able to define when off-peak begins.

The reason I define my start time is because I'd like the battery to be ready to roll as close as possible to my departure. I know I get 28-32 mph. I also know my current and desired SOC so I just dial in the appropriate start time. I don't use 80% SOC in a given day so if one day is a little lower than my target and the next day is a little higher, that's OK by me.

 

[gnuarm]

In my app, Charge is always displayed first. Maybe there is some combination of options that changes that but for me this is what I see when I tap schedule from the main menu.


View attachment 803002


Then in the Departure 'tab', I have the time I want to leave. Actually I tend to set it 15 minutes after my leave time as it seems to always notify me that the cabin temp is reached about 15 minutes early.

View attachment 803005

This is what I'm talking about. What does the Charge start time have to do with departure time? The car needs to start charging at a time it calculates for the combination of current state of charge, state of charge limit setting and departure time.

If the Charge start time is used for the departure time tab, why is it in a different tab?

Yes, Tesla interfaces are always so simple and easy to use.

@gnuarm

Agree Tesla makes things too difficult and makes it worse with bad terminology! Since you are interested in the departure function note the following:

1. Ignore the schedule charge function, in fact turn "Enable Scheduled Charging" the slider off.
2. On the Schedule Departure page, you have two options that are totally independent:
   1. If you turn on the "Precondition" option, then the departure time above has meaning, otherwise it does not. If, for example, you want your car battery and temperature to be ready for a 6 am departure, set the time in the departure window to 6 am and your car will be ready for you at 6 am. You can enable this function for all week or just on weekdays.
   2. If you enable "Off-peak charge" you will see new options below. This is terribly named!!! If you turn this on and set a time in the "Off-Peak End Time" window below, the car will 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.). You can enable this function for all week or just on weekdays.

How this helps!

Ok, so I set the off-peak end time and the charging stopped at that time. Now, when will it come back on?

This is what I don't get. I set the departure time and the off-peak end time, but it started charging right away, why?

I don't get the need for having to set a off-peak end time when I'm trying to charge my car to be ready to go at a departure time. I also don't wish to precondition the battery or the cabin. I just want to charge the bloody battery!

 

[gnuarm]

Thanks for helping me understand this, even if it is counterintuitive.

 

[ATPMSD]

This is what I don't get. I set the departure time and the off-peak end time, but it started charging right away, why?

When you plug in the car it checks the available charge rate (does a small charge to get this). This is most likely what you are seeing. If this does not go off in a couple of minutes it ”should” mean there is not enough time for it to complete charge based on the SOC you have set by the time you have selected.

If you are still having an issue post of picture of the app’s schedule departure page with the settings you have.

I don't get the need for having to set a off-peak end time when I'm trying to charge my car to be ready to go at a departure time. I also don't wish to precondition the battery or the cabin. I just want to charge the bloody battery!

This is just a bad term! Just think of it as the time you want your car to be fully charged to the SOC you have set. The off-peak term means the of day when your power rate comes the off-peak rates e.g. charging after this times costs more.

If you are not using a “time-of-use” power plan with your electric utility, you can really ignore all of this and only use the precondition function if you find that useful.

Thanks for helping me understand this, even if it is counterintuitive.

No problem. Have a beer.

 

[gnuarm]

When you plug in the car it checks the available charge rate (does a small charge to get this). This is most likely what you are seeing. If this does not go off in a couple of minutes it ”should” mean there is not enough time for it to complete charge based on the SOC you have set by the time you have selected.

If you are still having an issue post of picture of the app’s schedule departure page with the settings you have.

Sure, one day when I have the time, I'll do that, but won't it look just like everyone else's?

This is just a bad term! Just think of it as the time you want your car to be fully charged to the SOC you have set. The off-peak term means the of day when your power rate comes the off-peak rates e.g. charging after this times costs more.

Not sure why you say this, Preconditioning is a thing where they heat the battery to get it to optimum operating temperature, but also warm the cabin. No?

If you are not using a “time-of-use” power plan with your electric utility, you can really ignore all of this and only use the precondition function if you find that useful.



No problem. Have a beer.

Can't, I'm driving. Besides, beer is not so good for breakfast. ;-)

 

[gnuarm]

I gave it another try today. I set the controls for preconditioning, so scheduled departure time. The car started charging and did not stop. The screen said it would charge for 8 hours, but the departure time was some 20 hours away. The charging did not stop. I stopped the charging manually, but left the settings in place. It did not resume charging at the time required.

 

[avs007]

I gave it another try today. I set the controls for preconditioning, so scheduled departure time. The car started charging and did not stop. The screen said it would charge for 8 hours, but the departure time was some 20 hours away. The charging did not stop. I stopped the charging manually, but left the settings in place. It did not resume charging at the time required.

Scheduled departure and scheduled charging are two different things... If you just set scheduled departure, the car will always start charging up to the charge limit as soon as you plug the car in... That has nothing to do with scheduled departure... Scheduled departure just means it will warm the cabin and the batteries by the time your set time elapses.

 

[gnuarm]

Scheduled departure and scheduled charging are two different things... If you just set scheduled departure, the car will always start charging up to the charge limit as soon as you plug the car in... That has nothing to do with scheduled departure... Scheduled departure just means it will warm the cabin and the batteries by the time your set time elapses.

So how do you set the car to charge so it is ready to drive (reached the set charging level) at a certain time???

Ok, I see what I was missing now. "Off-peak charging (misleading name) tells the car what time you want it to finish charging." So off-peak charging time has nothing to do with charging at off-peak rates. Or I should say it is an extremely limited off-peak charging control which can be used to control the end time of charging. That's what they should bloody call it, "Charging End Time".

This is not me. This interface is royally fudged. I've also gotten some "off target" advice.

"The off-peak term means the of day when your power rate comes the off-peak rates e.g. charging after this times costs more."

This was very unhelpful advice. This control has pretty much nothing to do with your peak rate timing, really. It is just the time the car should stop charging. That's why there is no setting for the beginning of off peak rates.

I will try it again tonight. I have another trip tomorrow. Even if I sound ungrateful, thanks to everyone for the help.