Conditioning the traction battery

[Chuck J]

Does anyone know if it is possible to warm the battery up before the start of a drive if the car is plugged in? How is this done? Does bringing the cabin temperature up to a certain temperature do this?

Chuck J

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[louv]

Sadly, Porsche implemented only two ways to heat the battery artificially. (Batteries are “naturally” heated when energy is either pulled from them or pushed into them)

1. Set Navigation Destination to a DC Fast charger. The car will preheat the battery to be above 77°F upon arrival.
2. Begin a DC Fast charge session. If the battery is “too cold” the car will charge at a slow rate, and begin heating the battery artificially (along with the “natural” heating that is occurring). Once the battery reaches more optimal temperatures, the charge rate will increase.

 

[louv]

Preconditioning the interior of the car has a small side effect of heating the battery, because you are drawing current from it.

 

[louv]

I struggled with this as I drove across Canada this past February. Ah... memories!!! And “Enhancement Requests” sent to Porsche! So far... no response! (On this issue)

 

[Chuck J]

Thanks, Don. I did try heating the car up with the pre-heating feature for 30 min and the battery temperature never changed (nor did the %)

Chuck J

 

[Chuck J]

Sadly, Porsche implemented only two ways to heat the battery artificially. (Batteries are “naturally” heated when energy is either pulled from them or pushed into them)

1. Set Navigation Destination to a DC Fast charger. The car will preheat the battery to be above 77°F upon arrival.
2. Begin a DC Fast charge session. If the battery is “too cold” the car will charge at a slow rate, and begin heating the battery artificially (along with the “natural” heating that is occurring). Once the battery reaches more optimal temperatures, the charge rate will increase.

Does the battery heating begin when you start the trip or does it wait until you get close to the charging station?

Chuck J

 

[louv]

Does the battery heating begin when you start the trip or does it wait until you get close to the charging station?

Chuck J

It waits until you get close. But if it is a long trip, some natural heating will occur as you drive.

probably not helpful in icy conditions, but a sport mode run from 50 mph to triple digits, then hard regen braking can increase your traction battery temp by 2°F for each ”run”. Or so a little birdy told me.

Oh, that’s right, Sport (or was it just Sport Plus?) mode will also try to keep your traction battery at an optimal temperature... But I never found that to be very effective or fast.

 

[NormF]

I was told that driving in Sport+ will heat the battery however have not verified that.

 

[Scandinavian]

I was told that driving in Sport+ will heat the battery however have not verified that.

It states in the document here that the battery will be pre conditioned to a certain temperature when plugged in. Have a read. I have not had a chance to try it since it still is too warm, but perhaps somebody in Canada could try?
https://e-performance.io/en/article/taycan-battery.

Here is also a screen shot of the part.

 

[Chuck J]

I was told that also. Don could try it because his car is in the cold, but it didn't work in my heated garage.

Chuck J

 

[Doc B]

It states in the document here that the battery will be pre conditioned to a certain temperature when plugged in. Have a read. I have not had a chance to try it since it still is too warm, but perhaps somebody in Canada could try?
https://e-performance.io/en/article/taycan-battery.

Here is also a screen shot of the part.

Just plugging-in doesn’t seem to work unfortunately, unless it only works at really low temps. Mine’s been plugged in all week and the battery is at ambient temp (14C/57F). I think it actually has to be charging (and possibly preconditioning the internal temp at the same time) to heat the traction battery. Just speculating as haven’t tried it.

I was told that also. Don could try it because his car is in the cold, but it didn't work in my heated garage.

Chuck J

Yeah, if this does work it only does at very low temps. My garage isn’t heated but it’s around 12-14C/53-57F in there, and the battery has just remained at ambient temperature the whole time even though the car has been plugged-in (but not charging) all week.

 

[Scandinavian]

Have you tried it with a timed pre heating for morning departure? I do not think it will heat the battery all the time when connected? I will try to see some night now since we seem to get a cold spell for a few nights. I will not charge the car but only pre heat for the morning and see if the battery will be warmer than the garage?

 

[Doc B]

Have you tried it with a timed pre heating for morning departure? I do not think it will heat the battery all the time when connected? I will try to see some night now since we seem to get a cold spell for a few nights. I will not charge the car but only pre heat for the morning and see if the battery will be warmer than the garage?

I haven't tried the timers at all (just don't want to risk triggering a 12V battery issue). Simply preheating/precooling for an hour (without using a timer) doesn't really do anything to the traction battery (well certainly not at 14C/57F). I'd be interested to know whether using the timer changes things.

 

[Scandinavian]

@Doc B , i can well understand that you do not want to risk anything for the 12 volt battery. I guess it will take quite some time to see any difference since the mass to heat is about 700 kg or so. So it will require some time and I guess some power from the mains.

I know that a similar exercise works for my Tesla. It requires at least an hour preheating though. There is no temperature gauge for the battery but I can see and feel that the regen can give much more to the battery when I start driving. I hve a drop of about 400 meters in bout 5 km so it makes a difference when driving that stretch.

 

[Doc B]

@Doc B , i can well understand that you do not want to risk anything for the 12 volt battery. I guess it will take quite some time to see any difference since the mass to heat is about 700 kg or so. So it will require some time and I guess some power from the mains.

I know that a similar exercise works for my Tesla. It requires at least an hour preheating though. There is no temperature gauge for the battery but I can see and feel that the regen can give much more to the battery when I start driving. I hve a drop of about 400 meters in bout 5 km so it makes a difference when driving that stretch.

Completely agree with you - it will take power from the mains to warm the battery up by anything other than a degree or so when the car's stopped. It's just trying to work-out how to instigate the battery preconditioning. It may be that it only works when the battery temperature is really low.

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