That's the smart thing, but not always possible I suppose. Like when overnighting somewhere.
Warm an EV before driving off?
- Thread starter Shel_B
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That's the smart thing, but not always possible I suppose. Like when overnighting somewhere.
Heat pump. They’ll heat coolant and push it through the battery and motors.
There's typically no physical need for the electromechanical components, which operate under an extremely wide temperature range. Unless it's subzero, a battery can handle it just fine. It's not going to be ideal though.
I've measured my Kona's average battery cycle efficiency and it's 98%. So, while driving at highway speed with the motor drawing an average of 15 kW, the battery loss means 1% of that is lost as heat, 150 watts. Heat losses from the inverter are also available and that could add three times what the battery provides. However, that total waste heat of perhaps 1 kW is trying to heat an uninsulated mass of several hundred kilograms whose lower surface is subject to the 'forced convection' of what could be very cold air passing under the car.
It's no wonder a supplemental heater is needed, in my case it provides 2.2 kW. Tesla uses a unique approach, wonkifying the motor drive phases so that it intentionally runs inefficiently and warms the coolant.
In the case of Hyundai/Kia that's not present.
Mine basically says “always be charging “
Optionally there was an app or on the cars fob you could precondition the car before entry. This will cool or heat the car just like a remote starter on a gas car.
The “community “ for the car identified the exact charging behavior during preconditioning and identified a power savings to the battery by using “shore power” to precondition.
Any time the charger activates the battery conditioning system runs.
This is for a Gen1 volt and every plug in is different
"Always be charging" is kind of a misnomer given how battery charging works. I know that with a lot of people there's this misconception that as long as a lithium-ion battery powered device or EV is plugged in, the battery is being charged. At the very least most consumer electronics stop charging when reaching a set point and then start again after some time. And of course most EVs these days are more sophisticated with programmed charging times.
I'd think "Always be plugged in" is more accurate as to what's going on. That will minimize use of the battery, thus reducing battery cycling.
"Always be charging" or ABB in EV parlance simply means don't pass up a charging opportunity if it presents itself. More applicable to the early days of the Leaf than now.
It’s applicable to every PHEV on the road
The Tesla cell phone app allows you to unlock the car and start it.
I cannot speak for other EVs.
- Open the Tesla app
- Select Controls
- Select Start
- Enter your Tesla account password
- Have two minutes to start driving after enabling keyless driving
They don't really "start" in the way that an internal combustion engine does. But almost everything is electrical (including heat) so it's possible to warm up/cool down or so any number of things with many EVs remotely without needing an engine to be running. There are ICE cars that can warm up a cold interior with a remote command, but that will likely take a lot longer since most use engine waste heat for the heater.
I just looked, I’ve never even noticed the “Start” in the controls and am not sure what it does. I turn the climate on before leaving if it’s real cold/hot out. In the winter the battery is usually finishing charging right before I leave (scheduled to start charging at 4AM) so I’d like to think that does some preconditioning of the battery.
Please understand; it is not to precondition anything. It is to allow someone else to drive the car; a remote start.
Basically a 2 step process. Unlock the car so the person can get in and start it so they can drive. The driver has 2 minutes to start driving.
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Cool. Thanks… sounds like it would suffice for a “occupant comfort” use. I know on an EV you’re not worried to warm up and engine but having the cabin warm and heated seats running. That is a pleasure in winter.
There's nothing in there like a key that has to be turned or a start button (that might be done with a remote). At least with a Tesla, as long as it recognizes there's a "key" within range, the driver can put it in drive immediately. A key card is different in that it has to be placed in front of the armrest to get it in drive, but a Tesla key fob or "phone key" is based on proximity and one can drive off almost immediately.
Yes. I don't even know where the key card is; I've only seen it once or maybe twice. Your cell phone is your key.
Walk up, get in and go. No hassle.
I carry the card as a backup but I’ve never had to use it other than when I switched phones and hadn’t set it up yet.
While my dad has the phone card on his phone's Tesla app, he insists on carrying around one of the key cards. It's on what's basically a big leather luggage tag on a leather lanyard. I've thought maybe having one would be a good backup just in case. I've had dead phone batteries and there's always the possibility of a phone failure or just forgetting the phone somewhere. Just a Bluetooth failure would stop the phone key from working directly, although I suppose remote start would still work if there's good cellular coverage.
When we got a 2018 Tesla Model 3 loaner, all we got was a single key card, although I was able to set up a few phone keys just in case. But those phones keys were flaky (sometimes self deleting) so the key card was very important as a backup.
I would definitely recommend keeping the card with just in case. I have found that the NFC chip in my iPhone can act as a key card on the pillar if the car is not responding to the phone or app otherwise, but my wife can't get the car to do that with her Samsung phone in the rare chance that it can't get signal. Usually that happens when the car is in the garage and we're having WiFi issues in the house and the car continues to stay connected to it. It's not happened out in public. I usually just shut off WiFi unless it prompts for an update and wants WiFi to download it.