How do I Precondition my Electric Vehicle?

You can improve driving range and DC charge performance by scheduling departure times and cabin comfort level with the Departure and Comfort feature. This will not only warm or cool the cabin but also condition the battery to ensure the best driving range and performance by the set departure time.

You can manually activate the battery pre-heating, when you are on the go. Open the charging screen and go to the "Optimise" Tab. Here you see the actual DC fast charger capability. On the bottom, press "Start battery heating".

Alternatively, activate the "Optimising the rapid charging function". As soon your SatNav schedules are DC fast charger, the battery pre-condition is done automatically. Before that, make sure you have activated “Automatic optimisation of rapid charging” in the Charging or SatNav settings under Electric Vehicle Route Planner.

Use Departure and Comfort to control charging schedules and warm or cool your cabin and the high voltage battery when your vehicle is plugged in, so your vehicle is ready to drive when you are. By setting a departure time, your vehicle can use your charge time settings to minimise your electricity costs but still prioritise finishing charging before your scheduled departure. The calendar view allows you to program two departure times per day for each day of the week.

Note: battery pre-conditioning and cabin comfort are both controlled using Departure and Comfort features. There is no separate manual control for battery preconditioning. The system could reduce DC fast charging rate to preserve the battery. This is based on battery temperature, battery state of charge and battery health. In cold temperatures, you may notice that DC charging takes longer when the ambient temperature drops below 10°C.  Shutting off climate control or reducing climate control temperature and fan settings for the first 10 to 15 minutes of DC charging allows the battery to warm up and improve the charging rate. When the temperature is below freezing, fully turning off cabin heat for the first 10 to 15 minutes of DC charging could significantly improve the charging rate. When AC charging, keep your vehicle plugged in when outside temperatures are very high or low. This enables the system to maintain the high voltage battery for best performance.