WalkingBootWeather
Established Member
TL;DR How should battery heating be used?
Strategies for pre-heating the traction battery were hinted at on last night's podcast but I feel more confused than before. I'm posting this on the MG4 thread but I daresay strategies apply equally well to the ZS mk2 and 5 too. I'll throw a few bulletted points out there to aid discussion but would be grateful for info and advice as to best practice.
Strategies for pre-heating the traction battery were hinted at on last night's podcast but I feel more confused than before. I'm posting this on the MG4 thread but I daresay strategies apply equally well to the ZS mk2 and 5 too. I'll throw a few bulletted points out there to aid discussion but would be grateful for info and advice as to best practice.
- Sounds like battery heating is only worth doing when undertaking longer journeys in cold conditions. Not sure what constitutes a long journey or cold temperature - I'd guess 100 miles + and temperature less than 5 degrees C?
- It is necessary to turn battery heating on and off manually? Battery heating is not turned off when car is turned off and on again? Running the car with battery heating turned on when not necessary will be detrimental to range (more energy used heating the battery than efficiencies gained from operating with a warm battery)? Don't just leave it on!
- It was suggested that pre-heating is useful before departing on a long journey for about 1 hour? Presume this uses energy from charger and doesn't reduce battery SoC? This being the case then the car needs to be plugged in but does it matter if it is currently charging or not? If you don't have an hour before you need to depart is there still benefit in heating for 10-15 mins?
- It is worthwhile turning battery heating on when approaching a rapid charger if it is cold. Again how long before reaching the charger, and at what temperatures? Is even 5 mins heating helpful or is there a threshold temperature that needs to be reached before you get any benefit? Is the benefit only for higher rated chargers or is it still worth doing when approaching a 50kW rapid?
- If the plan A rapid is unavailable, do you simply continue to heat battery while seeking out plan B or can you overheat the battery?
- Has anyone done any real world testing and able to propose difference in charging speeds experienced between a cold and heated battery?
- Any other tips to efficiently travel longer distances in winter (increasing charge speeds and range)