Precondition during fair weather?

[GarageMahal]

Now that things are thawing out here I am wondering if there is any benefit to preconditioning daily until winter returns. It looks like preconditioning uses a fair amount of electricity that I think is unlikely to be recuperated on my 10 mile morning commute.

My primary reason for doing it winter was to heat the cabin and there is really no reason to precondition the cabin during spring and summer here.

Coincidentally I had preconditioning disabled this morning and saw my best ever m/kwh of 2.7

Are there benefits beyond range improvement and cabin comfort that I am not considering?

Thanks!
jta

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[Maquis]

Only worth it if you’re going on a long trip and want max range.

 

[Zprime29]

I've never preconditioned (no level 2 at home yet) and have averaged 2.7-2.8 on my daily commute since the end of Feb. Temps around 40-80's (almost 90 today).

That said, I'm going to start testing out flipping the truck on to cool it off when I leave work. Summer is coming quick it seems.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Like you, most of my trips are short duration, so I am just going manually remote start the truck to warm or cool the cabin based the needs of the morning/day/evening.

Though I might do another energy study to see how much is used to prepare the truck for drive with departure times.

 

[GarageMahal]

Like you, most of my trips are short duration, so I am just going manually remote start the truck to warm or cool the cabin based the needs of the morning/day/evening.

Though I might do another energy study to see how much is used to prepare the truck for drive with departure times.

I was a big fan of getting into a heated truck every morning this winter and it worked great since I leave at the same time every day to bring kids to school.

I already have the usage data tracked but have not committed the time to analyze it. My gut tells me that preconditioning was not energy efficient for me but it sure was pleasurable.

If there was a scheduled remote start without battery preconditioning I would consider using that instead. In any case we are talking about less that 50 cents per day at my current energy costs and I will gladly pay it to keep the frost off my nose in the morning.

 

[Amps]

preconditioning uses a fair amount of electricity that I think is unlikely to be recuperated on my 10 mile morning commute

Have you tried pre-conditioning while it is plugged in?

 

[GarageMahal]

Have you tried pre-conditioning while it is plugged in?

Yes, sorry I was not precise. I only precondition while plugged in and can see the energy used by the process is quite high. My unscientific observations show it to be about 7kwh each morning which I realize is about $1 and not under 50 cents like I previously said.

 

[RickLightning]

The battery wants to be at around 73 degrees. If it's 50-something in your garage, then there is little benefit to be achieved by setting a departure time, beyond cabin conditioning. You can do a remote start 10 minutes before leaving and the cabin will be fine.

Then, once it gets warmer, doing a remote start to cool the cabin may be of benefit. I don't use departure times except for a trip, and never when it's 50 or higher.

 

[BennyTheBeaver]

Now that things are thawing out here I am wondering if there is any benefit to preconditioning daily until winter returns. It looks like preconditioning uses a fair amount of electricity that I think is unlikely to be recuperated on my 10 mile morning commute.

My primary reason for doing it winter was to heat the cabin and there is really no reason to precondition the cabin during spring and summer here.

Coincidentally I had preconditioning disabled this morning and saw my best ever m/kwh of 2.7

Are there benefits beyond range improvement and cabin comfort that I am not considering?

Thanks!
jta

I am going to continue to leave my truck plugged in for departure times. Preconditioning uses as much energy as it needs to get everything in an optimal condition. In a milder climate, it should use less energy. Once the temperatures get hot, it will cool your battery if needed and temper the interior climate.

I don't see a negative associated with this.

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