Preconditioning battery (temperature)

[Harry]

A question for anyone who has a facelift ZS EV long range. When charging (either on your home charger or a public one) - can the battery be preconditioned temperature-wise - either to allow better efficiency when leaving - say on a cold day - or before charging to speed up charging? I've been reading some comments about the Kia EV 6 which cannot charge at the advertised rate if cold, with apparently no way to precondition it. The ZS EV has liquid cooling/heating capability for the batteries - just wondered if the control has any user involvement.

 

[drmcw]

Yes it does have a heater and this post may help.

 

[Harry]

Yes it does have a heater and this post may help.

Thanks - useful learnings by reading through it all. Only needed for rapid DC charging on a journey - not useful for home charger.

 

[MichaelJHunt]

Thanks - useful learnings by reading through it all. Only needed for rapid DC charging on a journey - not useful for home charger.

The Kia EV has issues with Rapid Charging at low temps. With 7kW home charging this is not an issue for the Kia or the MG - unless of course you are at very low temperatures.

 

[drmcw]

It's a shame that it's totally user controlled and with no battery temperature readout is pretty useless.

 

[Bluecruiser]

You can get battery readings temp readings throughout the car you need a osb reader for around £10 and Thai app or others out there

 

[MichaelJHunt]

It's a shame that it's totally user controlled and with no battery temperature readout is pretty useless.

On a recent long trip that meant stopping three times to charge, I turned on Battery Heating about 30mins before each stop. When charging at 150kW+ chargers I got >90kW charge rates. I don’t think it’s “pretty useless”.

 

[drmcw]

On a recent long trip that meant stopping three times to charge, I turned on Battery Heating about 30mins before each stop. When charging at 150kW+ chargers I got >90kW charge rates. I don’t think it’s “pretty useless”.

But how do you know that you didn't just burn about 4 kWh of battery needlessly before each stop?

 

[MichaelJHunt]

But how do you know that you didn't just burn about 4 kWh of battery needlessly before each stop?

Who cares? I did the trip and had no issues with range and charging speed.

Perhaps people are overthinking issues. Just drive the car the way you want to drive it. If you think that there is an issue with heating the battery, then don’t heat it. If you are frustrated that you don’t know the battery temperature then spend £10 and get a Bluetooth OBD2 dongle - I have one.

The LR ZS EV has tremendous range that certainly requires I stop before the car needs to. Charging at nearly 100kW with a small battery means stops are short as well when needed for very long trips.

 

[drmcw]

Who cares? I did the trip and had no issues with range and charging speed.

Perhaps people are overthinking issues. Just drive the car the way you want to drive it. If you think that there is an issue with heating the battery, then don’t heat it. If you are frustrated that you don’t know the battery temperature then spend £10 and get a Bluetooth OBD2 dongle - I have one.

The LR ZS EV has tremendous range that certainly requires I stop before the car needs to. Charging at nearly 100kW with a small battery means stops are short as well when needed for very long trips.

Exactly. I'd just not bother with the heater in decent weather but maybe think about it during winter; however if MG had put some thought into things then it could be so much better.

 

[Slipstream]

It's a shame that it's totally user controlled and with no battery temperature readout is pretty useless.

Not pretty useless at all works well and greatly inproves charging. Have you tried it.?

 

[N2STY]

Do you think if you pre heat battery at home before long journey in winter will help range?

 

[MichaelJHunt]

It is better to warm the battery up then charge it. Around 20 to 30degC is a good temperature for charging. Charging below 5degC is not recommended. Zero degC and below is to be avoided when charging.

This is good reading…

BU-410: Charging at High and Low Temperatures

BU meta description needed...

batteryuniversity.com

 

[Vince31]

You can get battery readings temp readings throughout the car you need a osb reader for around £10 and Thai app or others out there

Not on the facelift you cant