Preconditioning

[TaxmanHog]

Plugging in overnight did nothing for my Lightning last night, BTW, the charging configuration is such that it is outside the time frame like (I described above, done intentionally to test a theory) the EVSE won't even provide sufficient energy to the the PTC for a 15/30 minute remote start cycle.

This is what I have so far for total energy consumption since midnight Thursday morning, plus 15 minute plugged in remote start. The Available energy dropped from 95% last night to 90% this morning because of cold soaking @ 20° overnight.

The experiment will continue through the weekend.

20 watts for the blower motor..........41 watts/hours since midnight

 

[brewski]

Remote start warms the cabin. Preconditioning with a departure time warms the battery AND the cabin. Uses a lot more energy, and only gives value for a drive that is long enough to benefit from that battery warming.

Yep.
I'll do remote start at the airport (not plugged in) for that same comfy feeling.
Still, in my non-scientific, non-writing-it-down research...oh, and I'm in the south so cold is like 20*...preconditioning for battery performance before a 70 mile drive has done nothing noticeable, except made the cabin comfy.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Around 40 miles a day. SR

Given this operation of up to 280 miles a week, you should plug in either nightly or twice a week, set your charging window to within t-minus 2-3 hours of drive time.

When plugged in, the PTC will kick off initially during the charge cycle to warm the battery and then add charging energy, the fewer cycles of this will reduce additional waste energy to prepare the pack for charging.

 

[RickLightning]

Yep.
I'll do remote start at the airport (not plugged in) for that same comfy feeling.
Still, in my non-scientific, non-writing-it-down research...oh, and I'm in the south so cold is like 20*...preconditioning for battery performance before a 70 mile drive has done nothing noticeable, except made the cabin comfy.

Here's the way to notice. Watch the miles per kilowatt on This Trip as you start your drive (length of drive is irrelevant). With a departure time (plugged in), you'll see a higher miles per kilowatt as you start out, and it will stay higher for a period of time. Battery temp drops as you drive.

We were out west in October with the Mach-E. Started out driving in temps below 20 degrees. Got efficiency below 1. It slowly climbed (average miles per kilowatt) by a tenth at a time. If you had a departure time, you'd see it slowly drop over time until it reached the efficiency you'd get at the temp it maintains while driving at X miles an hour in 20 degrees.

 

[brewski]

Here's the way to notice. Watch the miles per kilowatt on This Trip as you start your drive (length of drive is irrelevant). With a departure time (plugged in), you'll see a higher miles per kilowatt as you start out, and it will stay higher for a period of time. Battery temp drops as you drive.

We were out west in October with the Mach-E. Started out driving in temps below 20 degrees. Got efficiency below 1. It slowly climbed (average miles per kilowatt) by a tenth at a time. If you had a departure time, you'd see it slowly drop over time until it reached the efficiency you'd get at the temp it maintains while driving at X miles an hour in 20 degrees.

Yes, I noticed a drop when it got cold.
I also notice a drop in rain, windy conditions, etc.
I'm just saying, I don't notice a big difference (if any) when I precondition.
Caveman style tracking at best.

 

[Zprime29]

Given this operation of up to 280 miles a week, you should plug in either nightly or twice a week, set your charging window to within t-minus 2-3 hours of drive time.

When plugged in, the PTC will kick off initially during the charge cycle to warm the battery and then add charging energy, the fewer cycles of this will reduce additional waste energy to prepare the pack for charging.

I just wanted to pipe in that there is a trade-off to using fewer charging sessions and charging deeper. It's been shown via research papers that more frequent charge sessions that put in less energy helps maintain battery life. By using fewer charging sessions and putting in more energy at one time, there will be more degradation to the battery. I don't recall the amount of the impact off the top of my head, I'd give it a WAG that for those planning to trade in after 3-5 years it won't make much of a difference. If you plan to keep it for 10 years...it might be more noticeable as the miles add up.

I have no plans to sell or trade it and will see if I can get 300k miles off the stock battery (18-20 years given my annual average). So I've reduced my max to 70% and am charging more often. Of course, it's easier for me to maintain since we don't get crazy cold here. I can't speak for you guys up north.

 

[mb0220]

Plugging in overnight did nothing for my Lightning last night, BTW, the charging configuration is such that it is outside the time frame like (I described above, done intentionally to test a theory) the EVSE won't even provide sufficient energy to the the PTC for a 15/30 minute remote start cycle.

This is what I have so far for total energy consumption since midnight Thursday morning, plus 15 minute plugged in remote start. The Available energy dropped from 95% last night to 90% this morning because of cold soaking @ 20° overnight.

The experiment will continue through the weekend.

20 watts for the blower motor..........41 watts/hours since midnight

You're listening to Christmas songs well into February. How can we trust anything you say?

 

[TaxmanHog]

You're listening to Christmas songs well into February. How can we trust anything you say?

You haven't met my beautiful & faithful wife......

 

[mb0220]

You haven't met my beautiful & faithful wife......

Fair point.

 

[Lewisb01]

When I had my Tesla I didn't do any preconditioning just hopped in and drove. Now my Lightning arrives tomorrow and I live in Florida, Do i actually need to pre condition the battery?

 

[Maquis]

When I had my Tesla I didn't do any preconditioning just hopped in and drove. Now my Lightning arrives tomorrow and I live in Florida, Do i actually need to pre condition the battery?

No. Unless you get an unusual cold spell the night before depart on a long trip.

 

[RickLightning]

No. Unless you get an unusual cold spell the night before depart on a long trip.

Or it is 100 degrees...

 

[TomB985]

No. Unless you get an unusual cold spell the night before depart on a long trip.

Or it is 100 degrees...

But even then, only if you want to. The truck will start and drive regardless; preconditioning is never a “need.”

 

[Lewisb01]

Thanks for the information, I just found a ford brochure on preconditioning and it seems anything from 70deg to 100deg preconditioning isn't necessary. Seeing I live in Daytona Beach that's 90% of the year.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Thanks for the information, I just found a ford brochure on preconditioning and it seems anything from 70deg to 100deg preconditioning isn't necessary. Seeing I live in Daytona Beach that's 90% of the year.

Just use your remote start to cool down the cabin prior to departure, but if you want to use the departure timers, and you're plugged in I'm curious to see if the truck pulls a substantial amount of energy early to chill the battery on exceptionally hot days.

It's very rare for my area to get that hot, if you or others in the HOT regions have an energy monitoring system, I'd love to see what the results are for the truck trying to cool the pack one hour prior to planned departure.

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