Heating an Electric Vehicle While Charging

YFlyer

Hi there

Is it possible to heat the inside of an electric car while charging prior to driving?

jhegarty

What car ?

On the i3 you can do it from the mobile app.

Gumbo

YFlyer wrote: »

Hi there

Is it possible to heat the inside of an electric car while charging prior to driving?

Yes. I think they all do it.
My Nissan Leaf done it.
My current i3 does it.

Very handy. You wake up, look out the window and if it’s frosty then turn it on from the app. Warm car and clear windscreen.

Or you can tell the car when you are leaving and it will pre-condition and be warm and clear for that time.

YFlyer

kceire wrote: »

Yes. I think they all do it.
My Nissan Leaf done it.
My current i3 does it.

Very handy. You wake up, look out the window and if it’s frosty then turn it on from the app. Warm car and clear windscreen.

Or you can tell the car when you are leaving and it will pre-condition and be warm and clear for that time.

Thanks.

I was thinking while it is plugged in while still charging, so that battery is not been depleted prior to driving.

YFlyer

jhegarty wrote: »

What car ?

On the i3 you can do it from the mobile app.

Thanks.

fricatus

YFlyer wrote: »

Hi there

Is it possible to heat the inside of an electric car while charging prior to driving?

Probably depends on the model but generally yes. I can set my Hyundai Ioniq BEV to heat up for my departure time as long as it’s plugged in. the Ioniq does this via the setting on screen, but on some other cars you can set this via an app too.

Some allow heating even when not plugged in. Unfortunately mine doesn’t, but the BMW i3, all the Teslas and no doubt others do too.

n97 mini

Some will use battery power even if plugged in. Our 6.6kw-capable Leaf, for example, would use a few % of battery. Reason being that the heater is drawing maybe 5kw of power, but when charging close to 100% power draw is limited to maybe 1kw. Car software didn't seem to be able to bridge the gap, even though the AC power was available.

I haven't examined the Ampera as closely, but the behavior seems to be similar. i.e. heating power comes from battery first (up to 5kw). Charging is secondary (up to 3.3kw). The Ampera doesn't require AC power to preheat.

charlieIRL

You can with an eGolf as well. Mine has been lovely and warm for the kids on these cold mornings !!!

krissovo

The i3 when plugged in will heat the car and battery, my 94ah will indicate 180kms even when below zero if its preconditioned. If not preconditioned then between 140 & 160.

One awesome feature is you can leave the cabin heater on when you switch off, really handy for dropping the kids off or a quick shop.

MJohnston

You can also set the diamond key on the i3s keyfob to activate the preconditioning. And if you have any Amazon Echo devices, you can link your BMW Connected account and tell Alexa to start preconditioning with a voice command. Dead handy!

Salary Negotiator

I’ve my Kona set to warm up to 24 degrees by 6:10am each morning and this is drawn from the home charger not the battery.

It’s great for winter mornings, probably won’t bother with it when the weather warms up.

Gumbo

krissovo wrote: »

The i3 when plugged in will heat the car and battery, my 94ah will indicate 180kms even when below zero if its preconditioned. If not preconditioned then between 140 & 160.

One awesome feature is you can leave the cabin heater on when you switch off, really handy for dropping the kids off or a quick shop.

Mine shows over 200km when not preconditioned. Today showed 209km.

krissovo

kceire wrote: »

Mine shows over 200km when not preconditioned. Today showed 209km.

I drive 90% motorway, and usually push the boundaries of the speed limit. My average speed for the last 3 months is 98kmph :eek:

charlieIRL

kceire wrote: »

Mine shows over 200km when not preconditioned. Today showed 209km.

My GOM range has gone up significantly in the eGolf the last few days as well.

Yep activating heat from the BMW i3 keyfob is great when the app doesn't work, of course you need to be close to the car but still handy.

The ability to keep the heat on with the car off is another bonus, can nip in and out of shop etc and it's warm when you get back in.

Of course all this preheating and leaving heat on eats battery but when I don't need the range I couldn't care less , what's a few cents worth of electricity to keep warm ?

A lot of people also may not realise that pre heating will "not" show up on your cars consumption, so if it's showing 18 Kwh/100 Km and you do a lot of pre-heating while not plugged in then this figure will not be accurate and in reality is probably a lot higher.

Gumbo

charlieIRL wrote: »

My GOM range has gone up significantly in the eGolf the last few days as well.

209 is actually down for me. Usually peak around 230-240 during the summer.

Gumbo

MJohnston wrote: »

You can also set the diamond key on the i3s keyfob to activate the preconditioning. And if you have any Amazon Echo devices, you can link your BMW Connected account and tell Alexa to start preconditioning with a voice command. Dead handy!

I've been trying to link with my Connected Drive but the Alexa App keeps bringing me to the USA BMW site so I cant log in.

Alkers

Ampera can be done from the keyfob only. If plugged in (and not charging) will draw from the charger. Can be done when not plugged in also.