My Preconditioning Starts at Departure Time...?

I have a 2014 i3 BEV and plug into a Level 2 every evening. I set my departure time every weekday at 7:20am and to cool down the cabin. However, I noticed the preconditioning will start at 7:20am and not hours before as I've read (30-40 minutes before for the cabin). Am I doing something wrong? Have others encountered this?

That's strange. Depending on the outside temperature and the battery, if the battery needs to be conditioned, that could start as much as 3+ hours before your departure time, but the cabin usually starts about 20-minutes before. It's possible that if the cabin temp is close to the setting, it might not start right away, but my experience is that it typically starts about 20-minutes beforehand.

jadnashuanh said:

It's possible that if the cabin temp is close to the setting, it might not start right away, but my experience is that it typically starts about 20-minutes beforehand.

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I'm in Arizona and it's 120 degrees so the cabin is warmer than the setting. Perhaps another trip back to the dealership to get it figured out.

The car will pre-condition using the last setting you had before you turned off the car.

What was the setting before you plug in every evening?

ASUN said:

The car will pre-condition using the last setting you had before you turned off the car.

What was the setting before you plug in every evening?

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I have the departure time set to 7:20am every weekday morning.

Pre-conditioning is triggered if the battery needs it. Based on my limited experience - only got my i3Rex last November - it's triggered if the batteries are cold.

My Chargepoint EVSE records my charging activity. Based on those records, pre-conditioning tapered off sometime in mid-January. I keep my i3 in a garage - so it doesn't get quite as cold compared to being parked outside.

So prior to departure, before I had 2 blips. The 1st around t-3hours - that's the pre-conditioning. Then around t-30mins - that's the active climate control. As evening temps started edging up, the pre-conditioning blip went away.

airjam21 said:

ASUN said:

The car will pre-condition using the last setting you had before you turned off the car.

What was the setting before you plug in every evening?

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I have the departure time set to 7:20am every weekday morning.

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What did you have the car's HVAC set to? The reason we ask is if you have the car set with the AC off and say 70 degrees, then in the morning when the pre-condition turns on, the AC will not. I had this happen to me once, which is how I know. I now leave my car every night with the temperature set to what I want it to be in the morning.

I always leave my climate control on AUTO, so have not experienced any issues by having left it in some mode that might limit what it can do during preconditioning.

FWIW, the cabin conditioning only occurs if you make sure you check the box, or it won't do anything to the cabin until you start the car! Preconditioning only works on the battery pack unless you also check the preconditioning cabin box. It does not default to checking that box.

brastic said:

airjam21 said:

ASUN said:

The car will pre-condition using the last setting you had before you turned off the car.

What was the setting before you plug in every evening?

Click to expand...

I have the departure time set to 7:20am every weekday morning.

Click to expand...

What did you have the car's HVAC set to? The reason we ask is if you have the car set with the AC off and say 70 degrees, then in the morning when the pre-condition turns on, the AC will not. I had this happen to me once, which is how I know. I now leave my car every night with the temperature set to what I want it to be in the morning.

Click to expand...

Yes, set temperature and AC on/off to your desire settings before turning off your car in the evening. Then when you pre-condition it in the morning, the car will bring the car to the temperature etc. you set last night.

I usually turn AC off before I turn off the car. I don't want to pre-condition with AC on to avoid extra battery loss, since I do not plug in at home most of the time as I can charge at work for free!

Hi airjam21.

I get that you are setting the HVAC to "auto" and the AC to "on". What temperature do you have the turn nob set to?