Hey Tesla community, I have a quick question about pre-conditioning the battery on my Model Y. Do I need to do it every single time I drive the car, or just in the mornings? And what about on the weekends when I may go out at random times? I want to make sure I'm taking the best care of my battery and getting the most out of it. Any advice or guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!
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Tesla Battery Preconditioning: When, How, and Why You Should Do It
- Thread starter kelkel
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cteomd
Member
Oh, I have a strange setup: Plaid in the garage, plugged with the mobile charger to 220 V, id.4 with NACS adapter plugged at the Tesla Wall charger (limited to 40 A) in the driveway and the Model S with J 1772 adapter plugged with the id.4 mobile charger at 110 V also in the driveway
All this because of the outlet positions and cables length. But of course I can move them around just that now it seems the best option, don’t want to think when I’ll need to change the Jeep with another electric
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Did you have Sentry mode enabled while plugged in? People that use TeslaFi have seen the HV battery top off happen every hour when the car is NOT sleeping (Sentry Mode Enabled). Do you have any idea how long it took for the charge level to drop by 5%? Some time ago on the pre 2019 Model 3 vehicles it would wake up and top off after dropping around 3%; however, that may have changed. That said, the HV battery SOC could change by up to 10% due to the cell temps dropping significantly after being parked for hours/days. I have not seen where anyone has proved that the car will wake to warm the traction battery specifically to protect the traction battery at temps below -20F for more than 24 hours plugged in or not?? My current 2023 Model 3 HV battery SOC level will not drop (wake up to top off low voltage battery) until the car has typically been parked for 6+ days.
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andaconda
Active Member
I rarely use Sentry mode - never at home where I charge. In this sub-zero weather it will drop %5 in 24hours. But then again there are 30 degree outside temperature swings too. I suspect that the car knows its plugged in and that maybe it keeps the battery a little warmer. If its not plugged in is colder weather, it takes several days to drop %5. There was a portion that It was 25 ~ 35 below zero and I didn't have it plugged in during that time and it only dropped like 3or4%.
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You absolutely can precondition that battery manually by using the fan icon in the app. Preconditioning is just warming up (or cooling down) the battery. I do it for a few minutes every time I take the car out for the first time. Perhaps it's different than what the car does as you're approaching a Supercharger stop while navigating, but it's the same thing in concept. But you're correct in stating that you don't need to do it prior to L2 charging. The car might adjust the number of amps going into the car if it's REALLY cold, and as others have stated, the car won't let a charge session injure the battery under normal conditions. Tesla's thermal management is really good.
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E90alex
Active Member
The fan icon in the app is climate preconditioning. I use it every time I get into the car, but just for my own personal comfort.
It will only warm the battery if it’s below freezing, and even then only warm it to just above freezing. It will not actively warm the battery to optimal operating temperature.
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Model Y Owner's Manual | Tesla
Learn about the mobile app’s controls and settings, and how to use it to remotely connect to your vehicle.
www.tesla.com
"Using the mobile app to precondition Model Y also warms the Battery as needed. The mobile app will notify you once your vehicle has reached the desired preconditioning temperature."
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Yes, that is in agreement with what @E90alex said. It is warming just to a minimum reasonable use condition.
The completely different topic of very high heating for super fast Supercharger charging speed is something completely different, is a much higher temperature, but is also very unfortunately referred to by that same word.
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...as I noted in my post - "Perhaps it's different than what the car does as you're approaching a Supercharger stop while navigating, but it's the same thing in concept." So I think we are all saying the same thing.
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Preconditioning and Preconditioning for Supercharging are not even remotely the same.
Preconditioning:
Happens while the Tesla vehicle is parked. Initiated via the Tesla app or via the Scheduled Preconditioning function. Runs the climate control system and heat pump to warm (or cool down) the passenger cabin. In cold weather Preconditioning can also turn on the heated seats and steering wheel when these are set to Auto. Can be used to defrost the windows, cameras, charge port. Finally, the Tesla battery management system (BMS) may automatically perform some battery warming, via stator heating, for improved battery performance while driving. Separate from Preconditioning, if the battery is too cold to charge the BMS will automatically use stator heating to warm the battery just enough to be able to charge.
Preconditioning for Supercharging: Designed to provide the fastest, most efficient Supercharger charging session. Happens when a Supercharger has been entered as the destination in the Tesla Navigation system. Only active when the Tesla vehicle is being driven, not while parked. Preconditioning for Supercharging will warm the battery pack via stator heating until the optimal battery temperature (115F/45.5C) for Supercharging is reached. Does not affect the climate control system. May continue or start up after the Supercharging session has started if the optimal temperature has not been reached.
Preconditioning:
Happens while the Tesla vehicle is parked. Initiated via the Tesla app or via the Scheduled Preconditioning function. Runs the climate control system and heat pump to warm (or cool down) the passenger cabin. In cold weather Preconditioning can also turn on the heated seats and steering wheel when these are set to Auto. Can be used to defrost the windows, cameras, charge port. Finally, the Tesla battery management system (BMS) may automatically perform some battery warming, via stator heating, for improved battery performance while driving. Separate from Preconditioning, if the battery is too cold to charge the BMS will automatically use stator heating to warm the battery just enough to be able to charge.
Preconditioning for Supercharging: Designed to provide the fastest, most efficient Supercharger charging session. Happens when a Supercharger has been entered as the destination in the Tesla Navigation system. Only active when the Tesla vehicle is being driven, not while parked. Preconditioning for Supercharging will warm the battery pack via stator heating until the optimal battery temperature (115F/45.5C) for Supercharging is reached. Does not affect the climate control system. May continue or start up after the Supercharging session has started if the optimal temperature has not been reached.
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There is no option to precondition just the battery for Level 2 charging. The only option is to precondition the passenger cabin. Battery warming for improved driving happens automatically as required while preconditioning. Battery warming while charging will also be performed automatically anytime the battery temperature is colder than ~4.4C (approximately 40F.) In my experience after charging at Level 2 for an hour or 90 minutes, once charging has completed, if you then start preconditioning shortly after charging has been completed the Tesla Model Y may start to warm the battery for ~10 minutes or longer for improved driving. Battery warming may continue automatically as needed while you are driving depending on the battery temperature.
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Speaking of preconditioning, so as not to open a new topic...
With a new Model Y RWD BYD LFP, on my commute, I normally consume 23% one way, total ~60km (37 mi), ~45 minutes, ~200 Wh/km, at speeds of up to 125kmh (77MPH) averaging 90kmh ( 55mph ).
On the way back, I extended the trip by just 10km (6 mi) because I have a V4 nearby where I live, and used the schedule departure setting the V4 SC as the destination. It was supposed to be a 55 minutes trip (so 15min more because of the slower traffic on the way back).
Because I set the scheduled departing to a supercharger, the preconditioning of the battery started even before I drove off, even if I was almost 1h away from the charger, and it estimated I'll lose about 32% SOC until I get there instead of the typical 23-24%.
Of course preconditioning meant I was about to lose charge, but was scared a bit about the estimated double what it usually takes.
About halfway into the trip, the "preconditioning battery" notification disappeared and the avg Wh/km started to lower from where it was at 480 Wh/km!
Then, with about 5 minutes to go, the "preconditioning battery" notification reappeared.
In total it depleted 27% for this trip that normally would have taken 24%.
Is it normal for preconditioning to increase your consumption when it is so far away, or would it have been better in my case if I navigated to home and maybe 20-30 minutes before reaching the destination I changed my mind and routed to a supercharger instead?
For me it makes no sense to preheat battery when I'm 1h away, especially when OAT is ~12 deg. C.
Especially since, apparently, it preheated the battery for nothing at the departure, then halfway it let it cool, then it heated the battery again right before the end.
With a new Model Y RWD BYD LFP, on my commute, I normally consume 23% one way, total ~60km (37 mi), ~45 minutes, ~200 Wh/km, at speeds of up to 125kmh (77MPH) averaging 90kmh ( 55mph ).
On the way back, I extended the trip by just 10km (6 mi) because I have a V4 nearby where I live, and used the schedule departure setting the V4 SC as the destination. It was supposed to be a 55 minutes trip (so 15min more because of the slower traffic on the way back).
Because I set the scheduled departing to a supercharger, the preconditioning of the battery started even before I drove off, even if I was almost 1h away from the charger, and it estimated I'll lose about 32% SOC until I get there instead of the typical 23-24%.
Of course preconditioning meant I was about to lose charge, but was scared a bit about the estimated double what it usually takes.
About halfway into the trip, the "preconditioning battery" notification disappeared and the avg Wh/km started to lower from where it was at 480 Wh/km!
Then, with about 5 minutes to go, the "preconditioning battery" notification reappeared.
In total it depleted 27% for this trip that normally would have taken 24%.
Is it normal for preconditioning to increase your consumption when it is so far away, or would it have been better in my case if I navigated to home and maybe 20-30 minutes before reaching the destination I changed my mind and routed to a supercharger instead?
For me it makes no sense to preheat battery when I'm 1h away, especially when OAT is ~12 deg. C.
Especially since, apparently, it preheated the battery for nothing at the departure, then halfway it let it cool, then it heated the battery again right before the end.
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With Preconditioning for Supercharging your Tesla Model Y may start preconditioning when you are an hour away from the SC location. Tesla is all about maximizing use of the SC for fastest and most efficient charging sessions even if it means you use some additional energy (kWh) to help ensure that the battery is fully warmed for the SC session.
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Destiny1701
22’ M3LR ‘DrkNite’/ 22’ MYP BliueRocket
Same experience every time I precondition my MYP for SC. I start losing % as if a hemmorage just opened up. Sort of negates some of the advantage of faster charging and essentially costs more to top it up. Many times I just forgo setting the SC as a navigate spot and get there myself
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When Tesla first started preconditioning around 2019, my 2018 Model 3 would arrive with the battery cell temps around 90F (verified by SMT). A year plus later the arrival cell arrive temps were closer to 110F. I did not notice any significant change in charging times/speeds between the arrival temps. Before my car was rear ended and totaled, I would use SMT to arrive at around 90F for supercharging. This would typically require around 10 to 15 min of preconditioning prior to arriving at the SC. On a typical 20 min charging session 4kW of power was being sent to the rear motor stator. I was always somewhat dubious as to whether this was necessary. Via the service menu you can now turn off battery heating while SC, this was not possible a year back.
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