Rivian Preheating for Planned Drives - Does NOT Precondition The Battery (Update it does if plugged in?)

[Singletracker]

To me, it makes no sense that the battery would precondition without being plugged in. What would be the point? If I want the battery to precondition, with the truck plugged in, make sure the maximum charge percentage setting is above the current state of charge by a couple of percent, and that the charging schedule is turned off. This will initiate a charging session and warm the battery. I let that go for a bit and it seems to work for me.

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[Millertimr]

This update just seems weird and it seems like this feature is broken tbh at this moment. Communications are messed up as well - it's unfortunate. Hoping there's a fix in the next update

 

[Millertimr]

To me, it makes no sense that the battery would precondition without being plugged in. What would be the point? If I want the battery to precondition, with the truck plugged in, make sure the maximum charge percentage setting is above the current state of charge by a couple of percent, and that the charging schedule is turned off. This will initiate a charging session and warm the battery. I let that go for a bit and it seems to work for me.

A lot of people don't have access to keep it continually plugged in. For example an apartment complex where it is a shared charger - someone is just going to leave their car on it so the battery stays conditioned? For me we often keep it in the driveway outside of the garage, where the cord can't reach, but I still want the battery to be preconditioned.

We can each have our viewpoint the issue is here (I) the communication is terrible on this, (II) it isn't even working consistently when vehicles are plugged in.

 

[Singletracker]

If the Bolt is conditioning the battery, does it not have to be plugged in? Otherwise, as previously noted, one would be using up range to condition the battery, rather than using shore power. Which is okay, I suppose, if range and efficiency are not issues. In a lot of scenarios that may well be the case. If one wants to maximize range and efficiency, then it seems to me, the whole point is to use shore power rather than vehicle power to achieve that end.

As you noted, not all people have the option to keep plugged in and that creates a whole other set of issues. Having said that, I’m not sure I understand the battery preconditioning advantage, if you are using the battery to precondition itself. But, what do I know ? Why not just get in and go? I can see that cabin conditioning would be nice, no matter how it gets done.

Anyway, I don’t need to use that scheduling feature of 50.01. I did try it once and it didn’t seem to work. But, it could have been user error.

 

[Millertimr]

No - the bolt does it as long as the SOC is over 40% (I don't know if much more is known than that tho), it would make sense to use shore power if available, but not everyone has access to that.

Most other automakers allow for the battery to condition itself even when on battery - so the question is why doesn't rivian? Does it do it - just not manually - I've seen mine drop to like 15/20 degrees this winter. It would seem to be more efficient to keep it at a decent level and good for battery health as well?

If I'm going on a roadtrip and about to jump on the highway immediately it'd be nice to have it preconditioned versus waiting for the motors to heat up in-5 degree weather - which should be available whether on plug or battery tbh.

We can agree to disagree - point is the notes are really bad on this and it took 3 agents - 2 of which outright said it doesn't even condition the battery at all haha.

 

[SwaziCAR]

From Rivian's Jan. 11 e-mail message announcing the update:

"Also, if your vehicle is plugged in, it will maintain range during preconditioning as well as precondition the battery pack for consistent drive performance."

 

[Singletracker]

Jake -let me be clear - I am not disagreeing with you. Just trying to understand it. In 4600+ miles I have yet to figure out the power, efficiency, thermodynamics, or just about anything else related to the propulsion of my beloved R1T. There seems to be no rhyme or reason or pattern to any of it. One day it’s reacting in one way and the next it’s all different. Every time I think I’m beginning to get a grip on it, discerning patterns, the next drive it all changes. Now, I’ve pretty much given up and just focus on enjoying the ride ? Doesn’t mean I still don’t want answers ?

 

[Millertimr]

From Rivian's Jan. 11 e-mail message announcing the update:

"Also, if your vehicle is plugged in, it will maintain range during preconditioning as well as precondition the battery pack for consistent drive performance."

Yet their release notes are different, I don't even think I get their emails and I already read the release notes? It doesn't specify it needs to be plugged in. Good for them for clarifying in a thread less people read I guess?

 

[Millertimr]

Jake -let me be clear - I am not disagreeing with you. Just trying to understand it. In 4600+ miles I have yet to figure out the power, efficiency, thermodynamics, or just about anything else related to the propulsion of my beloved R1T. There seems to be no rhyme or reason or pattern to any of it. One day it’s reacting in one way and the next it’s all different. Every time I think I’m beginning to get a grip on it, discerning patterns, the next drive it all changes. Now, I’ve pretty much given up and just focus on enjoying the ride ? Doesn’t mean I still don’t want answers ?

I love it but 100% this I struggle with when there are questions it's difficult to get a consistent answer ?

 

[kurtlikevonnegut]

I still don't understand the issue here. Why do you want to use battery power to condition the battery? What is the supposed benefit?

I am not an expert, but I would assume that using friction generated from motion would be a more efficient method of heating the battery than using battery power when stationary. Even if not, I can't imagine the benefit is significant.

 

[ndmiller]

Found this out the hard way this am.....Forgot to plug it in and was cold when I left ugh the humanity of having to turn on the heat manually.

 

[VGA]

So I tried preconditioning for the first time today….garage was at maybe 40 degrees outside was 20 degrees….plugged in

battery temp was 72 degrees and cabin was 71….drove for 1.5hours efficiency was 1.8m/kwh…lost about 25 miles of ‘expected range’…NOT complaining at all…I think pretty decent outcome….charged it back to 75%…used up 47kwh…drove 74 miles…

 

[Millertimr]

I still don't understand the issue here. Why do you want to use battery power to condition the battery? What is the supposed benefit?

I am not an expert, but I would assume that using friction generated from motion would be a more efficient method of heating the battery than using battery power when stationary. Even if not, I can't imagine the benefit is significant.

In theory the car is way more efficient when the battery is preheated, right?

If I can spend 5 - 10 kwhs up front to get that, and presume it takes 20 minutes to heat up the battery otherwise. With a cold battery I get 1 mi/kwh with a warm battery I get 1.5/1.6 most times.

This means that on highway driving going 80 miles per hour, I'd dome like 25/30 miles and it'd use 15 kwhs. That'd save me 15 kwhs, when I only needed to spend 10 kwhs. Thus saving me energy. All of that is assumption based, because we don't have data because it isn't an option. Other brands offer this feature while on battery because I would assume it's more efficient as well.

 

[A Land Rover Forever]

Mine has preconditioned when plugged in, only cabin temp will work when not plugged in.

 

[usulio]

In theory the car is way more efficient when the battery is preheated, right?

If I can spend 5 - 10 kwhs up front to get that, and presume it takes 20 minutes to heat up the battery otherwise. With a cold battery I get 1 mi/kwh with a warm battery I get 1.5/1.6 most times.

This means that on highway driving going 80 miles per hour, I'd dome like 25/30 miles and it'd use 15 kwhs. That'd save me 15 kwhs, when I only needed to spend 10 kwhs. Thus saving me energy. All of that is assumption based, because we don't have data because it isn't an option. Other brands offer this feature while on battery because I would assume it's more efficient as well.

I also thought preconditioning was better for the long-term health of the battery as opposed to using it when it's cold.

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