Tesla is considered the leading brand that created the electric car and at the same time every year, the creators surprise more and more with new developments, making your use of the car a much more comfortable process.
However, to enjoy a car with a working Tesla battery for as long as possible, you don’t have to constantly update car models or go to a car service.
In this article, we will analyze what a process such as preconditioning is, what are the advantages of preconditioning, what is regenerative braking, and you can also read detailed instructions that will answer the question: how to precondition your Tesla battery.
What is a precondition Tesla battery?
First, you need to understand the process of pre-conditioning the battery. Tesla battery preconditioning is the process by which you warm up your battery before plugging it in to charge.
This is most often done in cold weather since a supercooled battery can work and charge much worse.
This especially helps in situations when you are in a hurry, and you need to urgently and quickly recharge your Tesla, since with preconditioning the battery will get charged much faster, moreover, the power of the car will not decrease, but on the contrary, the battery will work even better.
This process can be done in warm conditions, but then it will not improve the performance of the electric machine.
Is it compulsory to precondition your Tesla battery?
This process is not mandatory, and you will most likely not hear recommendations about preconditions from the Tesla vehicle company itself, but this process is more likely to know a tip that will not only facilitate your use of Tesla during the winter period but also will not adversely affect for battery operation.
However, if you are afraid that without preconditioning the battery of your Tesla model will get cold, and you will have to change it, then you don’t have to worry because the car’s system is specially made in such a way that it does not allow the batteries to overheat or, on the contrary, get too cold, causing the vehicle to malfunction.
Precondition is a preventive measure that will help you and prolong battery life; however, you need to understand exactly when you should use it and also trust the Tesla system itself, since if you constantly use preconditioning, the system may then need more time to adapt to the changing temperature of your battery.
How to understand that Tesla battery preconditioning is progressing and is done?
To understand that the preconditioning process has not ended, you need to look at the Tesla application screen and pay attention to the lines that should indicate the state of the Tesla batteries in this period.
The three wavy lines will be orange if the process is not completed.
Also, to understand that the process has already ended, you must again use the Tesla application. Pay attention to the place where three orange lines were lit during the preconditioning process, when the process will finish these lines should disappear.
What advantages of Tesla battery preconditioning?
To understand whether you need to learn more about how to precondition your Tesla battery, you need to understand what the benefits of this process are.
1. Energy
Firstly, preconditioning your Tesla battery helps to save energy consumed by the battery, because of which the battery will wear out much less, and the battery will also last much longer.
2. Charging time
Secondly, this is of course saving charging and time spent on increasing battery power. Preconditioning your Tesla battery prepares the battery for the charging process, and a cold battery will take more time to connect to the charger.
3. Cold weather
Thirdly, cold weather conditions will no longer be a problem for you and also the reason why you have to contact a car service due to battery problems. Since it is in cold weather that Tesla consumes the most energy, and during preconditioning, the battery will be constantly at a comfortable temperature.
4. Battery life
Fourthly, Tesla’s battery life will be extended because the less the battery has to spend energy, the less the system has to cope with overheating or hypothermia of the battery, and the more efficient not only the battery but the car itself as a whole will be.
Regenerative braking
Another thing that the preconditioning battery improves is regenerative braking. This is the process in which braking occurs after you stop compressing the accelerator and, at the same time, the energy, that was released but was not used, returns to the battery.
Regenerative braking reduced
Below, you can easily find out that in your vehicle, regenerative braking is being reduced.
Regenerative braking
First, you need to look at the screen of your car, namely the upper-left corner.
There will be several letters “P, R, N, D” and there is a line at the bottom.
If you notice dots on this line instead of a clear, flat line, then this is a sign that regenerative braking is being reduced.
Indicator light
Secondly, pay attention to the indicator lights, which look like a circle with a lightning bolt inside.
If there are any problems with regenerative braking, this icon will turn red.
Blue snowflake icon
And finally, a blue snowflake will appear on your screen, which will be evidence of not only problems with braking, but also with the battery.
However, more often than not, when the battery stops being hypothermic, the blue snowflake disappears from the screen.
How long does it take to precondition the Tesla battery?
To correctly use the precondition of your Tesla battery process, you need to immediately understand exactly how long it will take for your vehicle.
To do this, you first need to understand what type of battery charging is in your Tesla.
Below you can see the time it takes to recondition a battery with a supercharger and for a non-supercharger model.
Supercharger
Before the Tesla car battery connects to fast charging, you need to warm up your battery for at least 30 minutes.
Usually, Tesla itself understands and can automatically precondition the battery the entire distance before you arrive at fast charging, however, in any case, due to the peculiarities of charging, it is better to independently and manually monitor the preconditioning battery.
Non-supercharger
With Non-supercharger charging, it is much more difficult to determine how long it will take, but usually warm-up should be no longer than 45 minutes.
It’s also better for you to calculate the distance from you to the charger if you are on the road, to understand exactly how long preconditioning your Tesla battery can take. Therefore, it is better to prepare even before leaving home.
How to precondition Tesla battery?
Finally, we come to the main question of this article, how to precondition your Tesla battery correctly with the Tesla app, you can find detailed instructions that will help you successfully prepare the battery for charging.
Step 1: Battery
The first thing that can help you precondition your Tesla battery is to reduce its usage. Make sure that the Tesla electric vehicle and cold battery are deactivated when you are not using it, for example, if you’re parked, even for a short time, near the house.
Step 2: Tesla app
Another way is to use the Tesla app. You need to first make sure that you have the Tesla app, after that, you need to go into it and click on “climate controls settings”, to make sure that you now have this feature enabled.
Step 3: On-rout battery warmup
The third method is suitable for Tesla battery Model S and Model X, you need to go to the menu of your vehicle and find the option “on route battery warmup” there, which will automatically precondition the battery by determining how close you are to the charger.
Step 4: Scheduled departure feature
The last way of Tesla battery preconditioning is to use the scheduled departure feature. You need to go to the settings of your Tesla, then click on the “Schedule” option. You will have a button “Depart At” so you can manually adjust the distance, and the system itself will choose the interval in which the preconditioning of your Tesla battery will occur.
FAQ
How do you precondition a Tesla battery before supercharging?
You need to go to the Tesla app, find the climate settings menu, select the option preconditioning your Tesla battery and after that, you will be allowed to make a schedule that will automatically prepare your battery. Also, a good way is on rout battery warm-up, which you can also enable inside the settings.
Should you always precondition Tesla battery?
As mentioned earlier, preconditioning your Tesla battery, for instance, with the Tesla app is optional. You can be content with Tesla without it. However, preconditioning is more of a preventive measure that will help extend the performance of the battery and Tesla itself as a whole. So, it is rather desirable to use precondition, but it is not your obligation.
When will it be the best to precondition your Tesla battery?
It is best to do this in the winter season and calculate the distance to the nearest charger, which should take at least 30 minutes so that Tesla battery preconditioning can successfully end, and the battery charges much faster.
Conclusion
We hope that after reading this article, you have become much more familiar with the preconditioning process, understand when exactly it should be used, what are the advantages of pre-ventilation, what is regenerative braking, how long should precondition take for the supercharger and non-supercharger tesla models.
Moreover, now you can start the preconditioning process yourself using the instruction on how to precondition Tesla battery with the Tesla app.