Battery Pre-conditioning

[Billymanta]

Hi All - how do you get battery pre-conditioning to work manually without putting a charge point in the sat-nav on route?
I only seem to get reasonable charge rates in cold weather if I put it in sat-nav - manual button on charging page doesn't do anything

 

[Rolfe]

Waiting for the answer to this, as I couldn't find how to heat the battery before arriving at a charger on Friday when it was perishing. I did manage to heat it before I left the house though, and the car charged OK, so maybe it didn't really need it. (I have an SE so obviously the car doesn't know what charger I'm heading for.)

 

[Ian Key]

Tap the battery tile on the home screen, select Energy Consumption tab, bottom right is the switch to turn battery heating on

 

[siteguru]

That's the toggle for "Intelligent" battery heating ... it doesn't directly turn on battery heating (which was the question - how can you do that whilst driving).

 

[Rolfe]

Yes, I found that, but that wasn't what I wanted.

 

[MG Clive]

You can turn it on on the i-smart app

 

[siteguru]

Yes - but that's a bit difficult to do whilst driving.

 

[MG Clive]

Yes - but that's a bit difficult to do whilst driving.

Pull over, press the button, carry on driving.

 

[Rolfe]

Not worth it. The phone is plugged in to the car so I can use it as a satnav. If I can't turn on the battery heating from the infotainment screen (I thought I could?) it's just not going on.

 

[siteguru]

Pull over, press the button, carry on driving.

It's more like:

Pull over
Apply parking brake (otherwise all of the next steps bar the last may be illegal)
Pick up phone
Unlock it
Find the app
Open it
Wait for it to refresh
Pull down on the screen to refresh again (because the first refresh rarely does anything useful)
Open the battery tile
Wait for it to refresh
Tap the battery heating control
Lock the phone screen
Put your phone away
Proceed with your journey when safe.

 

[MG Clive]

I was only saying.

 

[ReintjeWA]

Not worth it. The phone is plugged in to the car so I can use it as a satnav. If I can't turn on the battery heating from the infotainment screen (I thought I could?) it's just not going on.

It’s interesting you mention this, I distinctly remember pressing a button for battery heating once in the infotainment screen and the car flashing a message along the lines of “battery heating is not required now”. But out of curiosity I was looking for it not too long ago and for the life of me couldn’t find the option again.

I haven’t had any updates done to the car since (I’ve only had it for a month or so) so I’m a bit confused by it seemingly disappearing

 

[Rolfe]

I have the same memory. I'm sure I saw the setting once, but couldn't find it again, neither while driving to the charger nor fiddling around while sitting on the charger. Maybe we're all just missing it. Why wouldn't it be there?

Another point about the "pull over" suggestion. I was on the M6. I'm not sure "I needed to turn on my battery heating" is a valid reason for stopping on the hard shoulder.

 

[aitch]

Not sure if I’m missing something, but isn’t battery heating battery heating, no matter if it’s intelligent or not. The one you select in the app is for preheating before driving and should be set 1.5hrs before required as I understand the instructions, intelligent heating is preconditioning before rapid charging in cold weather as far as I understand it and will only work below a certain temp if the battery is not warm enough. Have I missed understood what is being asked or is there another option?

 

[ReintjeWA]

Not sure if I’m missing something, but isn’t battery heating battery heating, no matter if it’s intelligent or not. The one you select in the app is for preheating before driving and should be set 1.5hrs before required as I understand the instructions, intelligent heating is preconditioning before rapid charging in cold weather as far as I understand it and will only work below a certain temp if the battery is not warm enough. Have I missed understood what is being asked or is there another option?

I think you’re correct, but I also seem to remember there is a function to manually ask for battery heating. After all, intelligent battery heating can’t always know if you’re on your way to a fast charger or not, so it would make sense to be able to request battery heating.

 

[aitch]

I think you’re correct, but I also seem to remember there is a function to manually ask for battery heating. After all, intelligent battery heating can’t always know if you’re on your way to a fast charger or not, so it would make sense to be able to request battery heating.

I always thought the intelligent battery heating switch was that manual switch/option, the intelligent bit related to temperature. I didn’t realise the car can now auto precondition when heading to a dc charger, have I missed a software update?

 

[ReintjeWA]

As far as I understand it, the intelligent heating is for cold days etc. and there is a separate option to pre-condition the battery for rapid (DC) charging, which I would think would be activated by the driver, as the driver knows when they’re heading to a rapid charger.

 

[Rolfe]

From what I have read here, the Trophy models will switch on battery heating if they know they are on their way to a charger via the car's own satnav. (I don't know if you can tell it not to do that.) However the SE doesn't have a satnav so the car has absolutely no idea when it's next going to get a charge. How else are we supposed to manage pre-charge battery heating other than manually turning it on while driving? But where?

 

[Ian Key]

Wasn't there a video of Bjorn Nyland switching on the battery heater while driving before he charged at a fast charger?

 

[fnegroni]

Not sure if I’m missing something, but isn’t battery heating battery heating, no matter if it’s intelligent or not. The one you select in the app is for preheating before driving and should be set 1.5hrs before required as I understand the instructions, intelligent heating is preconditioning before rapid charging in cold weather as far as I understand it and will only work below a certain temp if the battery is not warm enough. Have I missed understood what is being asked or is there another option?

Yes, And as per my recent post, I discovered the intelligent battery heating stops when you select ECO driving mode
See Thread 'Intelligent battery heating: stops when selecting ECO driving mode'
Intelligent battery heating: stops when selecting ECO driving mode