Is there a way to precondition the car manually without scheduling it?

macgyver60

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During the week my schedule is predictable and I have that set up so the car is preconditioned before I leave for work. Its actually less important on those days since my mileage is minimal. When we would really benefit from preconditioning is on the weekends when we decide to take a long drive but the time we leave will generally not be a set time every weekend. so setting a schedule for it and having to change it in advance every weekend is not very practical especially considering how finicky the Ford Pass app is. What we need is a button next to the start button so we can precondition the car with a one button tap. Is there any way to precondition without setting up in the scheduling menu?
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RickMachE

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No. Been discussed a few times. And remote start doesn't precondition the battery.
 

BDC

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It would interesting, given the various ways the APIs for the car have been exposed (FordPass Home Assistant integrations, some iOS scripting thingy, etc) if someone with spare time wrote a little utility that could easily schedule a precondition and remove it when it was no longer needed. So the UI would simply say "precondition in 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours", you tap the answer you want and the app would schedule a precondition event for the given time, then remove it when it was no longer needed. Not sure if the APIs currently support that, and I don't really have the time to explore, but it sounds plausible at least.
 


Jimrpa

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It would be great to say, "Hey Google, ask FordPass to prepare for departure."
Or better, if the car were simply HomeKit compatible to say, ā€œHey Siri, Precondition my Mustang Mach Eā€ ?
Of course, given the success Iā€™ve had with so-called ā€œHomeKit-compatibleā€ lightbulbs recently, maybe I should be careful what I ask for ????
 

rodhx

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It depends on what you mean by precondition. App remote start turns on the latest climate settings including heated seats & steering wheel if you had them on when the car was shut off. I have done it many many times. Thatā€™s basically the only reason I have to ever use remote start.
 
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macgyver60

macgyver60

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It depends on what you mean by precondition. App remote start turns on the latest climate settings including heated seats & steering wheel if you had them on when the car was shut off. I have done it many many times. Thatā€™s basically the only reason I have to ever use remote start.
Thats not whay I mean. On a long trip preconditioning preconditions the battery and improves range. If you have a long drive planned its helpful. Remote start doesnā€™t do that
 

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One way to ā€œcheatā€ and precondition is just to open the app and click ā€œcharge to 100%ā€ an hour or so before you leave. Charging the battery, while not technically preconditioning, does warm the battery and should have a similar effect. You can then remote start 10 min before you leave to warm up the cabin.
 

rodhx

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Thats not whay I mean. On a long trip preconditioning preconditions the battery and improves range. If you have a long drive planned its helpful. Remote start doesnā€™t do that
Serious question, just how much does preconditioning the battery help before starting a long drive? On the surface it seems like the battery should be at the same condition minutes into the trip either way so any gain would be small. ?ā€ā™‚
 

Maquis

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Serious question, just how much does preconditioning the battery help before starting a long drive? On the surface it seems like the battery should be at the same condition minutes into the trip either way so any gain would be small. ?ā€ā™‚
Preconditioning while plugged in will result in more range. Small doesnā€˜t necessarily mean insignificant. I only precondition before longer trips. Itā€™s not worth it to me for my daily use.
 

SpaceEVDriver

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Serious question, just how much does preconditioning the battery help before starting a long drive? On the surface it seems like the battery should be at the same condition minutes into the trip either way so any gain would be small. ?ā€ā™‚
In addition to being important for the range of the vehicle, preconditioning will help preserve long-term battery life. Trying to pull a lot of current from a cold battery can shorten battery life significantly. For example, someone who has to accelerate from 0 or 25 mph onto a freeway and reach 75 mph within less than about a tenth or quarter mile should have a warm battery. Going straight from home to the freeway without preconditioning will shorten battery life. For me, preconditioning will be far more important for battery life than for range.
 
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Mach-Lee

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Serious question, just how much does preconditioning the battery help before starting a long drive? On the surface it seems like the battery should be at the same condition minutes into the trip either way so any gain would be small. ?ā€ā™‚
You should precondition if you want full cabin heat output, otherwise a lot of heat ends up going to the battery in the first 20-30 mins of driving until itā€™s warmed up.
 

Gullwingdmc

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One way to ā€œcheatā€ and precondition is just to open the app and click ā€œcharge to 100%ā€ an hour or so before you leave. Charging the battery, while not technically preconditioning, does warm the battery and should have a similar effect.
Someone on here tried that and then monitored the HV battery and the temp didnā€™t go up as much as a precondition. I wish I could remember who it was.
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