tayjusti
New member
Ok awesome! I was so confident it “warmed” the battery but realized that doesn’t necessarily mean “pre conditioned”
glad I learned this and thanks for doing my research haha.
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Optimizing Battery Use During Winter?
glad I learned this and thanks for doing my research haha.
Altivec
Member
So this is my first winter with my lightning and I don't get what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm way up north in Canada. An average winter day is -20C (-4F) a really cold day is -40C (-40F). At home, I have heated garage and everything is fine. But I go to work in remote areas where I park my truck outside where there are no plugs. Most of the time it's out there for 10hr shifts. Its bad for ICE vehicles too but in the middle of the day, I would remote start my ICE truck and let it run for a bit to make sure it doesn't freeze over.
Its just starting to get cold -12C (10F)and when I get to my truck the battery temp on the dash is at 30% instead of the normal 50% and my power output is reduced to 85%. I just learned that remote start doesn't warm the battery. Why not? or why not have an option to turn it on like the heated steering wheel? It can precondition using the battery when you set a destination to a charger so why are we not able to precondition whenever we want or need to?
I am starting to worry at 10F. What is going to happen at -40F. Like I said I don't mind going to the truck and letting it run every once in a while, but apparently that doesn't even do anything and it seems there is really nothing I can do. I am not really concerned about range because I don't drive that far, I am more concerned about the power reduction. How low does it get? and at what reduction level does the truck become safely unusable to drive? Has anyone had experience leaving there truck unplugged in the real cold for a day? If so, how did you handle it?
Its just starting to get cold -12C (10F)and when I get to my truck the battery temp on the dash is at 30% instead of the normal 50% and my power output is reduced to 85%. I just learned that remote start doesn't warm the battery. Why not? or why not have an option to turn it on like the heated steering wheel? It can precondition using the battery when you set a destination to a charger so why are we not able to precondition whenever we want or need to?
I am starting to worry at 10F. What is going to happen at -40F. Like I said I don't mind going to the truck and letting it run every once in a while, but apparently that doesn't even do anything and it seems there is really nothing I can do. I am not really concerned about range because I don't drive that far, I am more concerned about the power reduction. How low does it get? and at what reduction level does the truck become safely unusable to drive? Has anyone had experience leaving there truck unplugged in the real cold for a day? If so, how did you handle it?
No need to worry about the moderate power reduction with the cold soaked battery, it'll perform more than sufficiently for your relatively short trip home.
Remember that traction conditions at those temps are crap anyway and your motor controller would be retarding power output as you lose traction from cold tire slip, be it on dry, salted, iced or snow covered roads.
Just set your departure timer for ten minutes prior to clock out time, make the duration 15 minutes in the trucks basic settings, default IIRC is 5 or 10 minutes. The cabin will be comfortable for you and the battery will be fine.
When you get home to your heated garage, set your charging scheme to begin ~ 2 hours after arriving home, that will allow some of the moderate heat in the garage to warm the battery and if needed your truck will bring up the battery temp to a safe charging value.
Morning departure timer also set ~10 minutes prior leave time from the house, the truck will figure at what time it need to condition the battery, if needed at all with your heated garage it might not try. Battery conditioning usually happens an 90 to 45 minutes prior to departure time.
Altivec
Member
Thanks for the reply.
Oh trust me... I know traction and performance sucks in all vehicles in those temps. I am not looking to race someone (at least not at -40) lol... I am just wanting to be able to get back home. It's relieving that you think that the power reduction will be "moderate" after 10hrs of unplugged -40. I just need to be able to get on short freeway reaching 100km/hr (60MPH).
When you say "set your departure timer", is there something the departure timer does better? I was reading this thread and it sounds like it doesn't do anything but cabin heat unless it's plugged in to a lvl 2. In my case it's not plugged in at all. I say this because it's inconvenient to set the timer because my work ends at various times and I often stay late. I would force myself to do it that way if there is any benefit over just using the remote start app button. If both methods just warm up the cabin, them I'll stick to the latter.
Waiting a few hours before charging when I get home is a great suggestion. Let the battery warm up from the garage heat so it charges more efficiently. Smart... I have it set to charge all the time, but I'll change that to start in the evenings...
For departure, so far, driving out from a warm garage without any pre-condition seems to be okay. The shock from warm to cold doesn't seem to affect it much. Battery temp stays in the middle all the way to work and there is no power reduction. The range estimator doesn't take much off either. We'll see what happens when it gets much colder. If I see the power reduction happen, I'll take your advice and set departure times while it's plugged in the garage.
I really think they should add a "condition battery" on demand button.
Scratch my advice since you have a variable work schedule, the easiest thing to do near the end of your work shift is to use remote start.
I suggested DT only to leverage the automation assuming you worked a fixed schedule, it was clear that you don't have a plug to use at work, so the DT is not going to condition your battery.
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