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Trying to charge and precondition the right way....help please!

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Hi all,
I'm trying to be smart about the preconditioning, etc.
We have the same electric rates here, but I'm trying to "game the system" (even as Tesla says to). Not sure I'm doing it right.
Let's say I want to leave week days at 8:15 a.m.

I have off peak set to 9 a.m., and let it know I want to precondition to leave at 8:15 a.m.
As far as I can tell, the car wil be smart enough to end the charge close to 8:15 a.m., have the cabin the right temperature, and here's the big one, have the batteries preconditioned.

I'm not sure that's happening. I do believe they are naturally getting warmer just from charging. I don't think the climate control is affecting them as I don't think they are being used for climate control when plugged in; I think that's coming from the house.

I'm also not sure the best to way get the batteries to precondition during the day, when I don't necessarily want it to be a daily occurrence. I don't see a simple (or any manual way) to "precondition the batteries."
In the warmer weather, I think that may not be an issue. When the temperatures were in the single digits here last week, I wanted everything "ready to go"

Lastly, if not plugged in, other than making the cabin warmer, is there any advantage to hitting precondition versus just hitting climate control? I do want the batteries to get warmed up, or is it actually more energy efficient to let them warm up while driving?

I appreciate any tips or guidance.
 
It is probably more energy efficient to drive and let the car warm up the batteries while driving. However, your driving range will be reduced, and it may be harder on battery longevity to do this. You decide whether it is better to use house current or the battery to warm the batteries. You decide if you want to try to keep the batteries warm, at an additional expense of wall current, or take a hit on range. Turning on the climate does help warm the batteries.
 
I appreciate any tips or guidance.

Don t worry about pre conditioning for battery usage at all, unless you are going on a trip where you expect to have to charge before you get home. It simply isnt necessary. Use pre conditioning to warm your cabin so you have a warm (now) or cool (in the summer) cabin, and dont worry about pre conditioning the battery.

It simply isnt necessary for trips where you will not need to charge before you come back home.
 
I don't see a simple (or any manual way) to "precondition the batteries."
Because that is never necessary. It doesn't do anything useful for the car at all.
It is probably more energy efficient to drive and let the car warm up the batteries while driving. However, your driving range will be reduced,
Yes.
and it may be harder on battery longevity to do this.
No.
Don t worry about pre conditioning for battery usage at all,
Yes.
 
It's different for the S & X than the 3 (and Y). The short version n is that the S & X have battery warmers that bring the temperature to the optimal temperature to charge

That still is only necessary if you will be going somewhere where you expect to need to charge before you come back home. If you are driving the car but will not need to charge while you are out, then there is no need to worry about warming the battery to make charging faster.
 
On a hot day, the model 3 will actually use the AC system to cool the batteries after charging because they get too hot.
Yes.
Ironically the S & X don't have a good battery cooling system.
WTF? That's false. The S and X do the exact same thing.
That, and the different chemistry of the batteries, is the reason why the 3 charges faster than the S & X.
Uh, no. The different battery chemistry and much thicker power cables are certainly factors in that. But your idea about an inability to cool the battery isn't, because it isn't true.
 
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It is probably more energy efficient to drive and let the car warm up the batteries while driving. However, your driving range will be reduced, and it may be harder on battery longevity to do this. You decide whether it is better to use house current or the battery to warm the batteries. You decide if you want to try to keep the batteries warm, at an additional expense of wall current, or take a hit on range. Turning on the climate does help warm the batteries.
thanks, and thanks for the links - i may have seen them before, but i'll review or re-review them!
 
Don t worry about pre conditioning for battery usage at all, unless you are going on a trip where you expect to have to charge before you get home. It simply isnt necessary. Use pre conditioning to warm your cabin so you have a warm (now) or cool (in the summer) cabin, and dont worry about pre conditioning the battery.

It simply isnt necessary for trips where you will not need to charge before you come back home.
thanks. I'm still learning. I THINK if I set a supercharger as a destination, the car will optimize the batteries for charging. If I just show up at one, it is my understanding the batteries may not be at the proper temperature and then the charging will take longer.
I sort of applied that to every day driving, but I guess that's not necessary. at a time that i plan to go on a trip where i'll charge to 100% (gasp!) I'd likely try to somehow, someway precondition my batteries to get every last erg out of them.
Wall current to me is less critical than car having more "gas" in the "tank."
I've only had the beast a few days and I still have tremendous range anxiety. even when I have to go 5 miles and I can go 200. That will lessen in time I am sure (and hope!) :)
thanks again!
 
That still is only necessary if you will be going somewhere where you expect to need to charge before you come back home. If you are driving the car but will not need to charge while you are out, then there is no need to worry about warming the battery to make charging faster.
thanks, but all things being equal, if it finishs charging about the time i want to leave, won't that "automagically" warm the batteries for my drive at no extra energy cost, versus charging the night before and letting them cool for hours? or do the cool batteries have maybe less capacity at first, but same efficiency as warm, and when they warm up more energy becomes available? i think if cool, i'll have that blue section, and maybe reduced regenerative. thanks again!
 
thanks, but all things being equal, if it finishs charging about the time i want to leave, won't that "automagically" warm the batteries for my drive at no extra energy cost, versus charging the night before and letting them cool for hours? or do the cool batteries have maybe less capacity at first, but same efficiency as warm, and when they warm up more energy becomes available? i think if cool, i'll have that blue section, and maybe reduced regenerative. thanks again!

I live in a cold climate and yes, charging before you leave (if you are going to be charging anyway) makes a LOT of sense as the Tesla will not have to spend extra power warming the battery to an optimal running temperature AND you can have more regen right away as well, which is both convenient and allows the car to regain some charge (more efficient) while driving.

When it is cold outside, I highly recommend planning to charge right before you leave, to have the best efficiency and most normal driving experience (with regen).
 
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thanks, but all things being equal, if it finishs charging about the time i want to leave, won't that "automagically" warm the batteries for my drive at no extra energy cost, versus charging the night before and letting them cool for hours? or do the cool batteries have maybe less capacity at first, but same efficiency as warm, and when they warm up more energy becomes available? i think if cool, i'll have that blue section, and maybe reduced regenerative. thanks again!

Yes, you're right. If you're going to charge anyway, your best bet is to finish charging right before you leave, as you'll get the "free" heat from charging. However, unless you are charging on at least 32+ amps, and for at least ~25+kWh, it's unlikely that you'll generate much heat. The batteries have A LOT of thermal mass. The difference in efficiency will be relatively small.
 
I though if you were plugged in the battery active heating and cooling mechanisms are engaged as needed to optimize battery charging., So the battery heater will be active during cold weather during charging if it is needed.

It is my understanding the car will warm the battery, if needed, to charge. I think the point being made here is that if you charge the battery late evening, for example, the battery will not be warm when you depart the next morning. But if you set it to compete the charge when you leave the battery will be warm.