Preconditioning in warm (hot) weather

[jthiesse13]

I‘ve read that preconditioning will help increase energy efficiency in cold weather. What is the benefit of preconditioning in warm/hot/very hot temps? I live in Phx and it’s 115 degrees in the garage.

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[Maquis]

It pre-cools the cabin (and battery, if necessary) on shore power instead of battery, so you can get a few more miles of range, if required. Unless you are going on a trip where you need to maximize range, it’s unnecessary, IMO. If you just want a cool cabin, remote start like you would an ICE.

 

[artificial_airspeed]

I recently experimented with Hot Weather pre-conditioning and noticed a difference. Namely:

5% less SOC usage on my commute (65mi @ 75-80mph)
- about 10mi of range less usage

HVAC was already comfortable and not working hard when starting the drive.

The battery temperature never climbed above the middle indication. Usually it climbs to about 3/4 during my stifling commute. With preconditioning it stayed cooler the whole time. Likely contributing to better range as well. I liked that it kept the battery cooler for overall pack longevity.

I won’t precondition most days just because the settings on Sync are kind of arduous and FordPass sucks. I’d say if you need the range on a hot day, do it!

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