Preconditioning Necessary for City Driving? (New EV, no home charger yet, interim solution/problem ?)

[essjay]

**Have spent time reading forums - can’t find this simple question addressed, also working on gaining technical knowledge so I may have missed it.

New owner of EV - 24. I understand how and why to precondition based on the threads. This is a “while I await my home charger question.” I understand from threads that I can’t precondition on 120V, which is my only home option right now. I will likely have less than 20 mile trips - perhaps a 100 mile trip once or twice until we get the home install. Live in Virginia - so, probably some moderately cold days during Feb coming up.

1. Am I harming the battery in some way by not preconditioning for short city based trips? (I will plan to keep it plugged during cold months once we get the home install)
2. If I am not worried about range, is this even worth my brain space right now?
3. Is my reading about 120V not being about to precondition correct or is there another reason during this cold month to plug it in?

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[GreaseMonkey]

You won’t harm the battery and it is not worth your time fussing about it. I owned two Mach-Es over the last 32 months without having a personal level 2 charger at my disposal. I never preconditioned because I can’t and nothing happened, nor I expect anything to happen. My only advice is to not let the SoC drop too low in extreme temps as the vehicle will prioritize warming the battery and you might get the dreaded turtles (yellow then red). 120v doesn’t provide enough power to precondition.

 

[curtisfinney]

I live in Minneapolis and if I don’t precondition in the winter I take a big hit on my battery. It’s worth your time in the winter.

 

[essjay]

You won’t harm the battery and it is not worth your time fussing about it. I owned two Mach-Es over the last 32 months without having a personal level 2 charger at my disposal. I never preconditioned because I can’t and nothing happened, nor I expect anything to happen. My only advice is to not let the SoC drop too low in extreme temps as the vehicle will prioritize warming the battery and you might get the dreaded turtles (yellow then red). 120v doesn’t provide enough power to precondition.

Thanks! Since EV is such a new way of existing for me I am working hard at learning the basics and relearning how to own a car responsibly. The information so far is so generic and simple or so very technical I am still working on wrapping my brain around it all.

 

[Maquis]

1. No
2. No
3. 120V cannot provide enough power to fully precondition or keep the battery warm, but it’s still better than not plugging in when it’s cold.

 

[PilotMark]

I'd keep it plugged in at 110 and precondition on the colder nights.

I agree and this is my story:
At at Va Ski resort with only 110 at the house we stayed at. Plugged it in and while it was outside the first night (12 F) it added about 1 mile per hour. Second night I have it in the garage (about 45F) it added about 3miles per hour.
The morning we were going to leave I wanted to precondition the interior to save range. I had the SOC to 85% that night. At 8am I had it precondition to Warm the cabin and save range. After preconditioning and still plugged into 110 the SOC dropped to 82%. It took more than the 110 could provide to precondition the cabin.

The good news is I was at the top of the mountain and when I drove down the mountain 20 miles later I was at 86%.

Recap: It took more energy to preheat the cabin than the 110 could provide so it used the 110 and battery to precondition.

 

[AKgrampy]

Preconditioning battery will give you maximum range when leaving on a long drive. For around town it is really not necessary. Conditioning your cabin which is different just warms/cools the interior is just a comfort thing. Of course it drains the main battery if not plugged into L2.

 

[AliRafiee]

1. No
2. No
3. 120V cannot provide enough power to fully precondition or keep the battery warm, but it’s still better than not plugging in when it’s cold.

This

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