The cold room

[WoodlandHills]

Just got back from running a bunch of errands in 104/40 degree heat. I made 4 stops of about 15 to 20 minutes each and then went to lunch for 45 minutes. I left the car in climate control mode each time and it was great to come back to a 72 degree car after carrying my purchases across scalding hot asphalt. I used 12 miles of my estimated range and it was cheap at the price. This feature, being able to discreetly leave the a/c on, is worth buying an EV for all by itself if you live in the American Southwest or a similar climate. I also now can leave my dog in the car with the windows up and the a/c running when we stop at Starbucks on the way home. He's a lot cooler then in our other cars where we just open the sun roof and roll the windows down.
My wife is waiting for someone to see him (the dog) in there and call the fire dept or smash the window to "rescue" him so she can say "I told you so"!

 

[epirali]

Just got back from running a bunch of errands in 104/40 degree heat. I made 4 stops of about 15 to 20 minutes each and then went to lunch for 45 minutes. I left the car in climate control mode each time and it was great to come back to a 72 degree car after carrying my purchases across scalding hot asphalt. I used 12 miles of my estimated range and it was cheap at the price. This feature, being able to discreetly leave the a/c on, is worth buying an EV for all by itself if you live in the American Southwest or a similar climate. I also now can leave my dog in the car with the windows up and the a/c running when we stop at Starbucks on the way home. He's a lot cooler then in our other cars where we just open the sun roof and roll the windows down.
My wife is waiting for someone to see him (the dog) in there and call the fire dept or smash the window to "rescue" him so she can say "I told you so"!

Very true! May I suggest carrying big printed signs to put in window that says: this dog is right now more comfortable than you are, courtesy of the running AC system!

 

[philcro]

Just wondering how you left Climate Control running - was second key left in car, if so possible loss of car and dog?

 

[epirali]

Just wondering how you left Climate Control running - was second key left in car, if so possible loss of car and dog?

When you turn car off you get the option to keep climate control running. Not sure how long before it will turn off, but no key is required.

 

[jadnashuanh]

The time is somewhere between 20-30 minutes, about the same as if you initiate the preconditioning function from the app.

 

[i3atl]

I agree, this is one of those advantages with an EV that you don't know about until you've actually owned one. Another is the near-instant heat in the winter, vs needing to wait for an engine to warm up.

 

[jelloslug]

I use that feature all the time. It's amazing how little of the battery is actually used to keep it cool once the car is cooled down.

 

[jadnashuanh]

I use that feature all the time. It's amazing how little of the battery is actually used to keep it cool once the car is cooled down.

Concur, it takes lots more power to cool off a heat soaked vehicle than to keep it cool for the time the activation runs (about 30-minutes), not counting the differences in comfort levels.

 

[coreperformance]

Thanks for this thread!

I had not noticed the option to keep climate control running. I thought that the screen was just for pre-conditioning before scheduled departure, and wondered why it popped up.

In a Texas summer, that was one of my biggest gripes about the car. Now If I could only get my aggressive re-gen back for my start and stop commute, the car will be absolutely perfect.

 

[spinball]

This feature, being able to discreetly leave the a/c on, is worth buying an EV for all by itself if you live in the American Southwest or a similar climate.

This is just as true in winter climates for the reverse reason.

 

[jadnashuanh]

This is just as true in winter climates for the reverse reason.

More true for the BEV with a heat pump than a REx without, though. In the later...it's all watts...one watt used, one watt of heating...on the BEV with a heat pump (standard in the USA), one watt of heat produced might only take 1/3-watt to generate.

 

[spinball]

This is just as true in winter climates for the reverse reason.

More true for the BEV with a heat pump than a REx without, though. In the later...it's all watts...one watt used, one watt of heating...on the BEV with a heat pump (standard in the USA), one watt of heat produced might only take 1/3-watt to generate.

True on long distance drives, but in cases where I have a 75% battery buffer (as I do on my 20 mi r/t commute) this doesn't matter that much. I plan to preconditioning in my office parking lot every single day before leaving work in the winter.

 

[FrancisJeffries]

I plan to preconditioning in my office parking lot every single day before leaving work in the winter.

Last winter I NEVER had to scrape frost off the windscreen. Of all the attractive aspects of the i3, preconditioning beats them all IMHO, because getting into a toasty-warm car in the cold weather takes some beating .
I tried very early preconditioning without the charger connected and it stayed on for nearly 1/2 hour. I used 8 miles of range according to the GOM. Well worth it.
I found on the coldest UK mornings that 10 minutes was plenty to melt the frost (for the wipers to deal with). Twenty minutes leaves the windscreen DRY.