The Anatomy of a Gid

[TickTock]

Makes sense. Cooler weather may take longer for the heater to drop back down to 3.3 or less. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if, in some extreme cases, it never is able to keep up without battery help. I guess I should qualify my statement with "if the pack is reading 394V."
Bowthom, in your case, do you get the bar back after an hour (when the battery has been restored?)

Hello,
I routinely lose a bar of Battery when preheating w/240V. In this 25* weather the heater pulls more than the 3.3kW provided by the charger (typically 4.5kW). If I preheat less that 1/2 hour I will lose charge but at about 1 hour I break even or might gain some charge.

I'm having a similar problem intermittently. It's been rather perplexing that I've lost a fuel bar before I've unplugged & exited my garage, after the car has pre-heated on-timer each morning. I expected the pre-heating process to always pull from the wall when plugged in. It seems to be pulling energy from the battery...are you saying this this normal, TickTock? Temps have been negative in MO lately, but it's always at least 35-45 in my garage, according to my dash readout. I was thinking I should take it to the dealer to troubleshoot, but don't want to waste my time there...

The heater runs off the battery. If you are plugged in, the charging circuit will try to keep it fully charged but may not be able to keep up with the heavy draw for extreme cold. I think what you are experiencing is normal. You could try starting the heater earlier. Maybe given more time, the heater draw will drop enough that the charger can replenish what you lost. However, if it is really cold and you never break even you will end up with even less charge so try it on a day you don't need full charge.

 

[eclecticflower]

Thank you, TickTock, that helps. I didn't experience this last winter, but this year has been much colder for more extended periods, so it's been an (unpleasant) surprise. Appreciate the help.
-Kathy

 

[mkjayakumar]

I have noticed that too. The charger does not replenish as much as you had drained from the battery for heating. This is most visible at 100% charge, as topping-off the battery never gets back to same level. When the charge level is lower, the battery is able to charge at a good rate and this loss of charge is not seen as much.

I suspect this is very similar to absence of regen at 100%, or the charge level tapering when you are close to 100%

 

[garygid]

The temperature shown on the dash, at least in the 2011 model,
is often substantially incorrect, and apparently only very gradually
improves while driving, but can take 10 (or 20) minutes to get
close to the correct outside temperature. Best to use another thermometer.