Winter preconditioning while not plugged in?

shadowsjc

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I live in the northeast and this will be my first winter with an EV. Unfortunately I live in a condo that doesn't have access to a plug, so i can't charge at home yet.

Will i see any benefit from remotely starting the car before I drive? I don't have a specified time for leaving every day (usually sometime in the afternoon - 15 mins of city driving). Or will the climate control running for those few mins negate any benefits from preconditioning?
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RickMachE

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You will see the benefit of the vehicle being warm inside, instead of cold. Seat warmer, heated steering wheel, heat running. You can select what you want to come on, or not.

As to benefits to the battery, some, but probably no different than you'd get in the first 15 minutes of driving, i.e. remote starting doesn't do anything different than 15 minutes of driving, unless you're plugged in, then you're using house power.
 

JohnnyForensic

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You will see the benefit of the vehicle being warm inside, instead of cold. Seat warmer, heated steering wheel, heat running. You can select what you want to come on, or not.

As to benefits to the battery, some, but probably no different than you'd get in the first 15 minutes of driving, i.e. remote starting doesn't do anything different than 15 minutes of driving, unless you're plugged in, then you're using house power.
I agree with Rick, though I can imagine (with absolutely zero data behind this upcoming statement) that it might be easier for cold batteries to precondition the cabin and warm the batteries themselves while just sitting there instead of also having to provide current for acceleration and driving. Iā€™m completely pulling that out of my butt, but Iā€™m thinking to the days with my Honda Accord Hybrid when it was really cold out, and Iā€™d get a warning about reduced acceleration/performance until the batteries warmed up.
 

prdude

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I agree with Rick, though I can imagine (with absolutely zero data behind this upcoming statement) that it might be easier for cold batteries to precondition the cabin and warm the batteries themselves while just sitting there instead of also having to provide current for acceleration and driving. Iā€™m completely pulling that out of my butt, but Iā€™m thinking to the days with my Honda Accord Hybrid when it was really cold out, and Iā€™d get a warning about reduced acceleration/performance until the batteries warmed up.
this would actually be a good question for someone with more specific knowledge of the MME coolant loop calibrations. The PTC heater and HV battery do each have their own coolant pumps. But their loops do intersect at a proportioning valve. So, the question could be whether while preconditioning the cabin to warm it up (i.e. running the PTC heater and its associated pump) does any of the warming up coolant flow get diverted to the HV battery?
 

hawkeye3point1

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So, the question could be whether while preconditioning the cabin to warm it up (i.e. running the PTC heater and its associated pump) does any of the warming up coolant flow get diverted to the HV battery?
Not an MME expert, but I learned about battery cooling/warming on some thread somewhere (becomes a blur after days turn into weeks of information overload).

Heater output does get diverted to the batt. pack. So if you just get in the car and drive, the heater has to warm the battery/motor and the cabin simultaneously. That will add to the amount of time to warmup the cabin. I don't think it has any bearing on efficiency other than the EV range (GOM) will be even more inaccurate as you drive and the battery warms. Crazy GOM!

If you turn E-HEAT off, I believe, the loops will be reconfigured to just warm the battery/motor until it is normalized. When the pack is up to temp., the heater shuts down and the loops will be connected again so coolant output from the pack/motor will circulate through the heater core. But not enough to get the cabin toasty. Need to switch to Auto or turn E-HEAT back on if you want to trade range for comfort.

Caveats, if you like to pull hole shots right out of the driveway, a cold battery will mean reduced accel. and if you use regen. extensively, that will be less effective until everything is up to temp.
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