When did precondition become standard?

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My comments apply to U.S. i3's. i3's in other markets likely differ.

Cabin and battery pack preconditioning are 2 different types of preconditioning. Cabin preconditioning has always been standard.

However, the seat and battery pack heating option wasn't standard on 2014 i3's. I believe that this option became standard in 2015. Our 2014 BEV doesn't have the seat and battery pack heating option, so I doubt that it could precondition the battery pack in cold weather but it could cool it in hot weather. I live in the tropics, so preconditioning the battery pack is never necessary. An i3 owner in Norway swears that battery preconditioning in cold weather uses the A/C compressor in heat pump mode if an i3 has the heat pump option (no REx does), but there are resistance heating elements under the battery cells that I think are the main source of heat for battery pack preconditioning.
 
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