Remote start while plugged in

[Twilloo]

I know this has been talked about but I wanted to be sure of exactly what this does if you remote start while mme is plugged in. I know it gets power from the wall but does that condition the battery as well as the cabin and does it override your climate control settings like on departure time or use auto or last settings. thanks just want to get a clear answer. I searched but nothing specific came up but sometimes it is buried in a thread a difficult to find, but I tried.

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[RickMachE]

Remote start has climate settings, either Auto or Last. You pick them in the car...

Remote start is not believed to condition the battery like a departure time does.

 

[Twilloo]

Remote start has climate settings, either Auto or Last. You pick them in the car...

Remote start is not believed to condition the battery like a departure time does.

Thank you, I was not even sure the car would start if plugged in. So if remote starting your car with it being plugged in does not condition the battery just cabin correct?

 

[scoopman]

And I answered it.

So I'm going to try the technique of modeling, where I will try and answer the OP's question in the pleasant, friendly way that one should do in order to encourage conversation and make folks feel included and welcomed. Maybe this will serve as an example for others? I know it works with misbehaving young children who act out to try and get attention.

If you remote start your car while plugged in, you can set your cabin to a temperature you specify, but it does not precondition the battery. The only way you can precondition the battery -- or use DC power from the grid to warm or cool the battery to the right operating temperature -- is by setting a departure time. The departure time setting conditions the battery as well as the cabin temperature.

Even if you are remote starting, it may have some energy-saving benefit, as you're not using the battery energy to warm your cabin, which is still something if your car is sitting somewhere very cold or hot.

 

[jwhamlin244]

Why don't we think it preconditions the battery? Is there evidence of that? I don't see the logic behind that decision. If you prestart your car, it means you're about to leave, so the car SHOULD prepare the battery for that.
Is it to save energy and prioritize heating the cabin?

I'm sure many folks don't have a set departure schedule and can't realistically use departure times, but of course would still like to care for their battery..

 

[generaltso]

Why don't we think it preconditions the battery?

Because Ford has stated several times that it doesn’t. The likely reason is that the battery has far more thermal mass than can be warmed in 15 minutes, so it would suck down a lot of power to get a negligible change in battery temp. With a departure time, the battery can be heated for an hour or more before you leave.

 

[RickMachE]

Why don't we think it preconditions the battery? Is there evidence of that? I don't see the logic behind that decision. If you prestart your car, it means you're about to leave, so the car SHOULD prepare the battery for that.
Is it to save energy and prioritize heating the cabin?

I'm sure many folks don't have a set departure schedule and can't realistically use departure times, but of course would still like to care for their battery..

In short - TIME. A remote start is 15 minutes. If you set a departure time, it runs longer. So it can warm the battery, and then warm the cabin.

A few people have used different apps and such and come to the conclusion that the battery is not being warmed.

 

[Ride_the_lightning]

Why don't we think it preconditions the battery? Is there evidence of that? I don't see the logic behind that decision. If you prestart your car, it means you're about to leave, so the car SHOULD prepare the battery for that.
Is it to save energy and prioritize heating the cabin?

I'm sure many folks don't have a set departure schedule and can't realistically use departure times, but of course would still like to care for their battery..

I can test this for you right now if you want. My car is in a cold garage. I’m hooking up my OBD2 dongle and I’ll monitor cabin and battery temp.

 

[jwhamlin244]

Because Ford has stated several times that it doesn’t. The likely reason is that the battery has far more thermal mass than can be warmed in 15 minutes, so it would suck down a lot of power to get a negligible change in battery temp. With a departure time, the battery can be heated for an hour or more before you leave.

In short - TIME. A remote start is 15 minutes. If you set a departure time, it runs longer. So it can warm the battery, and then warm the cabin.

A few people have used different apps and such and come to the conclusion that the battery is not being warmed.

That makes sense. Although 15 minutes of heating is still better than 0 minutes of heating?

I wonder if Ford will make a 1-time departure time, instead of recurring times so you can tell your car in advance when you'll be leaving, or a setting on the prestart to make it longer and add preconditioning.

 

[RickMachE]

That makes sense. Although 15 minutes of heating is still better than 0 minutes of heating?

I wonder if Ford will make a 1-time departure time, instead of recurring times so you can tell your car in advance when you'll be leaving, or a setting on the prestart to make it longer and add preconditioning.

That has been raised in multiple threads, which I'm sure Ford has seen, because even if you set a departure time, you need to go in and delete it or it's going to repeat in a week.

Remote Start is probably always going to be 15 minutes, with 1 additional 15 minute that can be added, because that's a car thing. They don't want to create bad habits, or dangerous situations (like with an ICE vehicle in a garage).

 

[generaltso]

That makes sense. Although 15 minutes of heating is still better than 0 minutes of heating?

Not necessarily. Hypothetically, let’s say a normal departure time heats the battery for 1 hour and uses 6kWh of power, and the resulting warm battery adds 20 miles of range. That’s less power than would likely be used to drive those 20 miles, so it’s worth it.

Now let’s say remote start would use 2kWh in 15 mins to marginally raise the battery temperature, resulting in an increased range of 1 mile. In this case, you would have been better off getting 1 mile less range than using up 2kWh for that 1 mile.

These numbers are completely hypothetical, but do you see that it’s not always the case that some heating is better than none?

 

[Ride_the_lightning]

Ok here’s the chart. Sorry the scale is messed up. When the car shut off after the 15 min remote start period, the temp values defaulted to like 400F since the ECU was no longer providing data.

Summary:

- HVB temp, external temp, and interior temp were all 46F to start.
- Coolant heater power seemed to spike on and off.
- HVB temp after 15 min was 48F, interior temp was approx 65F.

I ran the same data feed yesterday while the car preconditioned for 30 min before my scheduled departure. At that time, the HVB temp increased to over 65F, and the coolant heater power was at a continuous 6 kw.

My Remaining questions:

1) Would this hold true even if outdoor temps were significantly colder, or was 46F in my garage deemed “warm enough”. I.E, what happens if you remote start a car that’s been sitting in 0F or colder?
2) What exactly is the “HVB coolant heater power” sensor measuring? From discussions here I was under the impression that the cabin heater and HVB heater shared the same resistive heating elements. However, I’m pretty sure when I tested it yesterday, this sensor only reported data when the actual battery was preconditioning. It dropped to 0 kW even though the cabin heat was still running. I’ll go try another test to see what it reports when I have cabin heat on max but nothing else running.
3) Does the car actually keep the battery warm while driving after preconditioning? I glanced at the live data feed yesterday while driving after my scheduled departure, and the battery temp started to drop pretty much instantly. It started at 65F, then dropped down closer to 50F, implying that the car heated it before I left but didn’t actively continue to warm it while I drove. This still needs to be investigated further.

 

[RickMachE]

Ok here’s the chart. Sorry the scale is messed up. When the car shut off after the 15 min remote start period, the temp values defaulted to like 400F since the ECU was no longer providing data.

Summary:

- HVB temp, external temp, and interior temp were all 46F to start.
- Coolant heater power seemed to spike on and off.
- HVB temp after 15 min was 48F, interior temp was approx 65F.

I ran the same data feed yesterday while the car preconditioned for 30 min before my scheduled departure. At that time, the HVB temp increased to over 65F, and the coolant heater power was at a continuous 6 kw.

My Remaining questions:

1) Would this hold true even if outdoor temps were significantly colder, or was 46F in my garage deemed “warm enough”. I.E, what happens if you remote start a car that’s been sitting in 0F or colder?
2) What exactly is the “HVB coolant heater power” sensor measuring? From discussions here I was under the impression that the cabin heater and HVB heater shared the same resistive heating elements. However, I’m pretty sure when I tested it yesterday, this sensor only reported data when the actual battery was preconditioning. It dropped to 0 kW even though the cabin heat was still running. I’ll go try another test to see what it reports when I have cabin heat on max but nothing else running.
3) Does the car actually keep the battery warm while driving after preconditioning? I glanced at the live data feed yesterday while driving after my scheduled departure, and the battery temp started to drop pretty much instantly. It started at 65F, then dropped down closer to 50F, implying that the car heated it before I left but didn’t actively continue to warm it while I drove. This still needs to be investigated further.

So battery did not get heated, as expected.

I believe the battery is not kept warm while driving, as your data indicates, because it's been shown to be cold for charging, which is why Ford is working on a pre-warm feature when it sees you've set the destination as a high speed charger, which was posted recently where someone interacted with a Ford engineer at a charger, while the car was charging very slowly due to cold.

 

[Ride_the_lightning]

So battery did not get heated, as believed.

I believe the battery is not kept warm while driving, as your data indicates, because it's been shown to be cold for charging, which is why Ford is working on a pre-warm feature when it sees you've set the destination as a high speed charger, which was posted recently where someone interacted with a Ford engineer at a charger, while the car was charging very slowly due to cold.

Yep I agree. My question then is: how much benefit does preconditioning the battery really provide? If the battery temp quickly drops back down, on a 2+ hour drive you only have a warm battery for a very small portion of your trip. On short drives (like most of mine) I only use 10% or less of my battery anyway, so any additional range does me no good but I’m paying for 6kwh of additional electricity each morning to warm my battery.

 

[mkhuffman]

Ok here’s the chart. Sorry the scale is messed up. When the car shut off after the 15 min remote start period, the temp values defaulted to like 400F since the ECU was no longer providing data.

Summary:

- HVB temp, external temp, and interior temp were all 46F to start.
- Coolant heater power seemed to spike on and off.
- HVB temp after 15 min was 48F, interior temp was approx 65F.

I ran the same data feed yesterday while the car preconditioned for 30 min before my scheduled departure. At that time, the HVB temp increased to over 65F, and the coolant heater power was at a continuous 6 kw.

My Remaining questions:

1) Would this hold true even if outdoor temps were significantly colder, or was 46F in my garage deemed “warm enough”. I.E, what happens if you remote start a car that’s been sitting in 0F or colder?
2) What exactly is the “HVB coolant heater power” sensor measuring? From discussions here I was under the impression that the cabin heater and HVB heater shared the same resistive heating elements. However, I’m pretty sure when I tested it yesterday, this sensor only reported data when the actual battery was preconditioning. It dropped to 0 kW even though the cabin heat was still running. I’ll go try another test to see what it reports when I have cabin heat on max but nothing else running.
3) Does the car actually keep the battery warm while driving after preconditioning? I glanced at the live data feed yesterday while driving after my scheduled departure, and the battery temp started to drop pretty much instantly. It started at 65F, then dropped down closer to 50F, implying that the car heated it before I left but didn’t actively continue to warm it while I drove. This still needs to be investigated further.

It looks like your test confirms what Ford has said. I did a test and at first thought it proved Remote Start heated the battery, but then I was reminded by another member that the battery coolant heater is shared with the cabin heater, so the fact it comes on does not mean the battery is warmed. The forum educated me yet again!

Your open questions are good ones. I think the answers will reveal what we already suspect: Ford communicated the correct information.

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