Winter is coming. Questions about battery thermal management

[mpshizzle]

Winter is approaching, and it will be the first one with an ev for many of us on here. I'm a bit concerned about battery thermal management and haven't been able to find much info.

I know that the Tesla will expend a bit of battery when parked to take care of the battery during extreme temps. Will MME do the same? Does it even matter?

I know thermal management is active when charging, but I don't charge every night

Sponsored

 

[JamieGeek]

A cold battery won't provide the same amount of power as a warm one. However, cold does not damage the battery so you don't have to worry about that.

In the winter months I'll set it to charge to 80% and charge every night. This way you can use the preconditioning to heat the battery in the morning with it plugged in.

In the summer I'll charge to 90% and only charge when necessary.

That is about as much cold management as you need.

Its more important to manage your range and your comfort: Your range could drop as much as 50% depending on how much e-heat you use and how far you have to go.

If your daily drive isn't that far just precondition the car while its plugged in (either via the schedule or remote start it) to as warm as you can make it and try not to use e-heat while your driving. This will maximized your range.

 

[generaltso]

I don't think it will heat the battery when it's parked and not plugged in, but I also don't think it really needs to. A warning will pop up on the screen when you park it and it's cold enough that tells you that you should plug it in.

 

[mpshizzle]

I don't think it will heat the battery when it's parked and not plugged in, but I also don't think it really needs to. A warning will pop up on the screen when you park it and it's cold enough that tells you that you should plug it in.

Yes, this is part of the reason for my concern... I got the car in April and one time I did see that message when it was in the low 30s... But where I live in the winter at night it regularly gets down into the teens and twenties.

Range I'm not so concerned about... I just want to make sure that the battery doesn't get damaged.

 

[generaltso]

Yes, this is part of the reason for my concern... I got the car in April and one time I did see that message when it was in the low 30s... But where I live in the winter at night it regularly gets down into the teens and twenties.

Range I'm not so concerned about... I just want to make sure that the battery doesn't get damaged.

Temperatures in the teens and twenties are not going to damage anything. But it will take a while for the battery to get back up to temp, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to plug it in and set departure times.

 

[mpshizzle]

Temperatures in the teens and twenties are not going to damage anything. But it will take a while for the battery to get back up to temp, so it wouldn't be a bad idea to plug it in and set departure times.

Ok good news! I can handle that much! I'm not always in the place where I can plug in, but I feel better about that now

 

[HuntingPudel]

The important things to remember are that you have less range when the battery is cold and you shouldn’t drive it hard until the battery warms up.

 

[sukhoi_584th]

Will it condition the battery when connected to a level 1 charger? Presuming of course the target SOC is met and it's not actively charging. Or is level 2 needed for conditioning, either heating or cooling?

 

[generaltso]

Will it condition the battery when connected to a level 1 charger? Presuming of course the target SOC is met and it's not actively charging. Or is level 2 needed for conditioning, either heating or cooling?

Yes, you can even precondition when not plugged in at all. But on Level 1, you will likely use some of the battery’s energy as well.

 

[sukhoi_584th]

Yes, you can even precondition when not plugged in at all. But on Level 1, you will likely use some of the battery’s energy as well.

Thanks, good to know. So if I want to be able to depart preconditioned at 100% SOC for a maximum range trip I should expect to need to install a level 2 charger at home. I was probably going to do it anyway for those rare times I have quick turnarounds between drives.

 

[generaltso]

Thanks, good to know. So if I want to be able to depart preconditioned at 100% SOC for a maximum range trip I should expect to need to install a level 2 charger at home. I was probably going to do it anyway for those rare times I have quick turnarounds between drives.

Correct.

 

[mikeinet]

I find setting the departure times kinda buggy... and my schedule is pretty sporadic to actually set a standard time.

Can I just remotely start my car from upstairs like 10min before I leave? is that the same thing?

 

[Petter]

Yes, you can even precondition when not plugged in at all

How do you do that?

 

[generaltso]

How do you do that?

To do it manually, you just hold the start button in the app. It will work regardless of whether or not the car is plugged in. If you want it to precondition automatically with departure times, there's an option in the app to allow that when not plugged in.

Sponsored