Scheduled Precondition on Sick Day

[JayPaul]

I am not sure if I'm searching by the wrong set of words, but I haven't been able to find the answer to this question:

I have scheduled preconditioning set to Weekdays when I leave for work. My car sits in a semi temperature-controlled garage (never colder than 50 degrees). If I am sick, and do not go to work. Are there any negative issues with preconditioning then not driving the car? Other than the consumption of energy. I live in the NY area, so especially during the winter, want to leave for work with a preconditioned battery/heater.

Essentially, if I'm sick, and I forget to turn off the schedule and it runs without me going anywhere, am I harming anything?

 

[rwojo]

I measured 2.82 kWh of energy usage on my Emporia this morning while preconditioning a car in 28F weather. If the weather had been warmer, the energy usage would have been significantly lower. Unless this is something regular, I don't think it's worth it to adjust the schedule and risk forgetting to turn it back on.

 

[E90alex]

No issues other than wasting electricity

 

[JayPaul]

No issues other than wasting electricity

Thank you. I wish Tesla would have the app act like Apple's Wake Up Alarm, when you go to cancel the alarm, it asks you to change it for tomorrow only or chance the schedule. So, you don't have to go back in to turn it back on for the next day.

 

[JayPaul]

I measured 2.82 kWh of energy usage on my Emporia this morning while preconditioning a car in 28F weather. If the weather had been warmer, the energy usage would have been significantly lower. Unless this is something regular, I don't think it's worth it to adjust the schedule and risk forgetting to turn it back on.

Thanks. Yeah, not worried about wasting electricity, just if there is any harm that can come from preconditioning then not driving.

My max charge is set to 80% and have my TWC plugged in while it is in my garage up until I get in the car and drive out. So, when sick, it would just remain plugged in.

 

[ewoodrick]

If you are keeping the car in a garage, pre-conditioning really isn't going to get you much.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

Thank you. I wish Tesla would have the app act like Apple's Wake Up Alarm, when you go to cancel the alarm, it asks you to change it for tomorrow only or chance the schedule. So, you don't have to go back in to turn it back on for the next day.

Or Android Clock where you can pause an alarm for a given date range.

 

[Sophias_dad]

IMHO, there's no point at all in preconditioning in a 50F garage. When you start walking to your car in the morning, turn on the HVAC system and it'll be warm when you get there. If you're sick, you need to do nothing.

 

[E90alex]

IMHO, there's no point at all in preconditioning in a 50F garage. When you start walking to your car in the morning, turn on the HVAC system and it'll be warm when you get there. If you're sick, you need to do nothing.

Or just set the schedule in the app so it’s ready for when you leave? What you’re saying is doing the same thing except having to do it manually instead of automatically.

 

[Sophias_dad]

Or just set the schedule in the app so it’s ready for when you leave? What you’re saying is doing the same thing except having to do it manually instead of automatically.

Sure... In that case I say suck it up and hop into a 50F car that will be warm in two minutes.

Somewhere along the line the definition of preconditioning changed and I'm too lazy to learn the nuances and current state. It used to be that it only meant "turn on the heat" and now it seems to mean "turn on the heat and warm the battery", but I could well be wrong.

 

[E90alex]

Sure... In that case I say suck it up and hop into a 50F car that will be warm in two minutes.

Somewhere along the line the definition of preconditioning changed and I'm too lazy to learn the nuances and current state. It used to be that it only meant "turn on the heat" and now it seems to mean "turn on the heat and warm the battery", but I could well be wrong.

Turning on the heat will always start warming the battery as needed. There’s no way to turn on heat without warming the battery because the car controls all that.

There’s no need to overthink it. If you want the cabin warm when you get in then turn on the climate manually from the app or set the preconditioning schedule to do it automatically. Climate comfort is the main reason for preconditioning. Don’t worry about what the battery is doing.

 

[Regaj]

Preconditioning is never going to trigger active heating of the battery in a 50F environment. Only the cabin.

 

[E90alex]

Preconditioning is never going to trigger active heating of the battery in a 50F environment. Only the cabin.

Yeah, like I said the car will determine that as needed. Usually it will only try to warm the battery if it’s cold enough that regen is limited.

Point is, precondition to warm the cabin if you want it more comfortable. Don’t preoccupy yourself with what the car is doing with the battery.

I don’t understand why anyone would want to purposely not precondition in order to prevent preheating the battery. The battery will be heated as needed regardless. It’s just a matter of using house power while preconditioning or battery power while driving to do it.

 

[JayPaul]

I leave every morning at 5:20 am. I have a 17-month-old kid in his car seat. Yes, my car is garaged, and it doesn't drop below 50 degrees. But why would I manually warm up the cabin every morning, when there is a schedule feature?

I almost immediately go into FSD, and use Autopilot for most of my commute, going back into FSD when I get off the highway.

I want to ensure I am using regenerative braking as much as possible, so if the car decides it wants to precondition the battery, I want to let it, for that reason alone. It is also nice to not have my child sitting in a 50-degree car, even for a few minutes.

And yes, it remains plugged in while I'm loading my son in the car seat, until I walk around to the driver's side, right before I get in and drive off.

 

[Skidmark]

I don’t understand why anyone would want to purposely not precondition in order to prevent preheating the battery. The battery will be heated as needed regardless. It’s just a matter of using house power while preconditioning....

If I charge for free at work, why would I want to pay for the preconditioning at home?

 

[E90alex]

If I charge for free at work, why would I want to pay for the preconditioning at home?

If you charge for free at work then why are you charging at home?

 

[Sophias_dad]

If you charge for free at work then why are you charging at home?

You are implying you must have your car plugged in to precondition.

 

[E90alex]

You are implying you must have your car plugged in to precondition.

He said why would he pay for preconditioning at home. If he’s not plugging in at home then what is he paying for? The energy used by the battery to precondition would have come from the free work charging.

 

[TimTam]

Everyone who is responding with “why bother” lives in a place where it doesn’t get cold. I live in Michigan. I leave preconditioning on for weekdays except in the summer and I’ve never regretted it. The 25 cents or whatever it costs to come up to temperature in the garage is a price I’m willing to pay. Ymmv