What is preconditioning ? Newbie

[Cbob]

Getting my first EV ( Mach E Premium long range eawd ) today , and live in Canada, so cold weather is a fact of life. I keep reading about prec0nditioning, but can't seem to get my head around to understand what it is exactly ? Is is like starting your regular car to warm it up before leaving ?? Go easy newb here coming from a Bronco Badlands, i am still trying to figure what happened... lol

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[MacherAWD]

Its warming up the car so that it runs better.

In canada if your electric is very cheap, and you use the car at the same time everyday (8am commute) you can set a schedule so that it is automatically pre-conditioned before you get in at 8am. The car is warm inside, the battery is warm and ready for maximum efficency. The car will also be a bit quicker because again, the battery is in its happy place.

On a road trip, pre-condition means to warm the battery before you get to a fast charger. The car wants to charge at around 80-90 degrees, so if a DCFC is set in your navigation the car will warm the battery starting about 20min before you get there. It decrease charging time since the battery starts charging at a faster speed.

 

[Billyk24]

Its warming up the car so that it runs better.

In canada if your electric is very cheap, and you use the car at the same time everyday (8am commute) you can set a schedule so that it is automatically pre-conditioned before you get in at 8am. The car is warm inside, the battery is warm and ready for maximum efficency. The car will also be a bit quicker because again, the battery is in its happy place.

On a road trip, pre-condition means to warm the battery before you get to a fast charger. The car wants to charge at around 80-90 degrees, so if a DCFC is set in your navigation the car will warm the battery starting about 20min before you get there. It decrease charging time since the battery starts charging at a faster speed.

Not all information is accurate. Setting a departure time-does the OP know what this is?- was the battery to around 55f only. Once you leave that warm garage during cold winter day the battery temperature steadily drops. How far it drops depends upon how cold and how fast the vehicle is moving causing excess conductive heat losses. While driving on the highway towards a dcfc location I have only seen the battery temperature rise to 59f. If the battery temperature is already 59f or above no pre conditioning ( battery warming occurs). Data is from my car scanner pro app

 

[AKgrampy]

There Is quite a bit of info on this forum regarding this issue. Do a search and enjoy the read. In a nutshell-shell preconditioning warms the HV battery. That can speed up DC charging and prior to a drive it can allow for a bit more range. I have had my Mach for 4 years and have never used it as I have a heated garage so no benefit there and I have never DC charged as I only drive around town. You can also precondition the cabin which just heats/cools the interior.

 

[kamorela]

<snip>
Go easy newb here coming from a Bronco Badlands, i am still trying to figure what happened... lol

 

[HughJazzol]

Not a newbie here, but I read this to re-educate maself.
Living in Miami, I don't have to worry about temperature changes too much.

I will go on a 200 mile trip in 3 days, and I will supercharge at the destination. I will probably arrive at the hotel, drive back and fro to an event, and on Saturday, I will get up early to supercharge the car before a short drive up there and then returning home. The hotel is 1/2 mile or so away from 40 Tesla chargers, so I won't have time to drive too much and warm the battery before charging, obviously.

Is it better, wiser or more good if I set a departure time on Saturday at 6am, then leave the hotel at 6:15 to get to the Tesla chargers at 6:19 or so?? Or do I not sweat this? I mention the specific times to highlight the little time in between ON and charge, and perhaps how ridiculous it is to precondition.
Thanks

 

[Charge_Rob]

Getting my first EV ( Mach E Premium long range eawd ) today , and live in Canada, so cold weather is a fact of life. I keep reading about prec0nditioning, but can't seem to get my head around to understand what it is exactly ? Is is like starting your regular car to warm it up before leaving ?? Go easy newb here coming from a Bronco Badlands, i am still trying to figure what happened... lol

Please check out https://go.ford/evroadtrip - there's articles there that explain the two forms of preconditioning - before departure and en-route to a fast charger. Plus there are articles about how to find and navigate to chargers, how to pay for charging, and more.

 

[E90alex]

It can have several meanings depending what is being referring to.

Climate preconditioning is basically similar to remote starting an ICE vehicle from the app. It will warm or cool the cabin to the desired temp for up to 15 minutes each time.

Departure preconditioning is when you set a departure time in the app. If plugged in, it will use house power to warm the battery to ~55°F if needed and also condition the cabin temp. If not plugged in, it will only do the climate preconditioning.

Fast charge preconditioning will try to warm the battery up to ~75°F as needed to speed up fast charging. This only occurs if you use the built in nav to route to a fast charger and if certain other conditions are met. Google Maps on Android auto and for 2026 models only Apple Maps on CarPlay can also trigger the fast charge preconditioning.

 

[E90alex]

Not a newbie here, but I read this to re-educate maself.
Living in Miami, I don't have to worry about temperature changes too much.

I will go on a 200 mile trip in 3 days, and I will supercharge at the destination. I will probably arrive at the hotel, drive back and fro to an event, and on Saturday, I will get up early to supercharge the car before a short drive up there and then returning home. The hotel is 1/2 mile or so away from 40 Tesla chargers, so I won't have time to drive too much and warm the battery before charging, obviously.

Is it better, wiser or more good if I set a departure time on Saturday at 6am, then leave the hotel at 6:15 to get to the Tesla chargers at 6:19 or so?? Or do I not sweat this? I mention the specific times to highlight the little time in between ON and charge, and perhaps how ridiculous it is to precondition.
Thanks

If it’s not near or below freezing it doesn’t matter much. If not plugged in, it won’t warm the battery anyways even with departure time set.

 

[MellowJohnny]

Don't forget your definition of "cold" and the battery's definition of "cold" are likely very different. The HVB likes to be around 70F / 20C to be in its happy place. I'm not suggesting you need to precondition or set a departure time when the ambient temp is lower than that, but keep it in mind.

Personally anything lower than 5C and I'll set a departure time to warm the battery.

Also, hello from a former Montrealer

GO HABS GO!

 

[RickMachE]

Getting my first EV ( Mach E Premium long range eawd ) today , and live in Canada, so cold weather is a fact of life. I keep reading about prec0nditioning, but can't seem to get my head around to understand what it is exactly ? Is is like starting your regular car to warm it up before leaving ?? Go easy newb here coming from a Bronco Badlands, i am still trying to figure what happened... lol

If you set a departure time, while plugged into 240v, it will warm the battery to 59F and then warm the cabin. If it's plugged into 120v, or unplugged, it will only warm the cabin. This will give you more range on the first leg of your trip. If you are commuting locally, you will waste energy doing this.

If you do a remote start, it will only warm the cabin, whether plugged in or not. Takes maybe 10 minutes on a cold day, less on a less cold day.

As you navigate to a DC fast charger (other than Tesla), the vehicle will warm the battery starting when you are 30km away, so that it charges faster. Otherwise, it will waste about 10 minutes slowly warming the battery to achieve peak speed.

In the dead of winter, leaving it plugged into 240v will result in a sip of energy once or twice a night if the battery is around 32F. This past January it happened more than a few times, most winters it happens a handful of times all winter.

 

[JimRich]

Does it also cool the battery? I set a EVGo DCFC as my destination the other day. It took about 20 minutes to get there. I plugged in at 30% charge. I got the highest charge rate I have seen when it got to 40% - 147 kW. Then at 44% it dropped to 114 kW and stayed there until it suddenly stopped charging with error at 60%.
I could not get it to restart, even on another station. I think it overheated, but it was only about 102 F outside. My Lyriq didn’t give me real problems until 110 degrees, and it would keep charging, but at 4 kW. The Mach E just stopped.

I will attempt to try again at one of the CCS plugs instead of the NACS connector with the Ford adapter. Since they changed half the cables, the CCS stations are always full and the NACS unused. I also have a GM Tesla made adapter to try.

 

[RickMachE]

I

Does it also cool the battery? I set a EVGo DCFC as my destination the other day. It took about 20 minutes to get there. I plugged in at 30% charge. I got the highest charge rate I have seen when it got to 40% - 147 kW. Then at 44% it dropped to 114 kW and stayed there until it suddenly stopped charging with error at 60%.
I could not get it to restart, even on another station. I think it overheated, but it was only about 102 F outside. My Lyriq didn’t give me real problems until 110 degrees, and it would keep charging, but at 4 kW. The Mach E just stopped.

I will attempt to try again at one of the CCS plugs instead of the NACS connector with the Ford adapter. Since they changed half the cables, the CCS stations are always full and the NACS unused. I also have a GM Tesla made adapter to try.

F it did cool, by charging from 30 to 60% it heated up. It stopping was likelydue to nozzle overheating.

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