Energy limited due to cold battery message when plugged in

[ColonelBadger]

My first winter with an EV here in New England. I was expecting all kinds of battery behavior changes so I'm not entirely surprised with some of the things. However the manual recommends keeping the vehicle plugged in below 40F for optimal battery health, but I've seen zero benefit. With my Air plugged in I've seen

1. Low region warnings
2. Energy limited due to cold battery warnings

I had assumed, given the manual, that being plugged in meant my car would keep the battery in optimal temperature. Did I misunderstand? Are others seeing the same behavior plugged in?

M.

 

[rfc805]

You wouldn't want it to try to maintain optimal temps, that would take a lot of energy. I certainly can't tell you the behavior, but it's probably keeping it more to an "acceptable" temperature. It will still need to come up to better temps as you drive.

Starting the climate pre-condition before you go will likely help some also.

I haven't gotten any regen warnings even when it was 5 deg F out here. I have seen a "blue bar" on the battery due to temperature though.

What % are you charging to while remaining pugged in? The regen limitation is usually from being charged to the limit.

 

[ColonelBadger]

You wouldn't want it to try to maintain optimal temps, that would take a lot of energy. I certainly can't tell you the behavior, but it's probably keeping it more to an "acceptable" temperature. It will still need to come up to better temps as you drive.

Starting the climate pre-condition before you go will likely help some also.

I haven't gotten any regen warnings even when it was 5 deg F out here. I have seen a "blue bar" on the battery due to temperature though.

What % are you charging to while remaining pugged in? The regen limitation is usually from being charged to the limit.

Charging to 80%. Have you had the "blue bar" while plugged in ?

 

[rfc805]

Yes, still get the blue bar after being plugged in. It's usually a very small bar though, maybe 5% of the battery?

 

[ColonelBadger]

Yes, still get the blue bar after being plugged in. It's usually a very small bar though, maybe 5% of the battery?

Yeah mine was small too, after a 20min drive and parking it was gone when I came back to the vehicle.

 

[ViperSSD]

They usually say to plug it in when it's cold since the pack at low levels may be fine in warmer temps but when low and when cold, you will struggle getting power out. A way to deal with this is to basically plug it in and keep it sufficiently charged.

That being said, if you want to get rid of the cold battery warning or are planning a long trip and want to be super efficient, activating the preconditioning from the app should do the trick.