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Regen limited due to cold today

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cinergi

Active Member
Sep 17, 2010
2,176
42
MA
Haven't seen anyone mention this yet ... It was low 40's (F) today and when I got in my car, there was a yellow dotted line in the regen area indicating regen was limited. I was quite surprised, for two reasons (as compared to the Roadster). 1) It wasn't on/off and 2) it had to be a LOT colder outside for the Roadster to disable regen (I realize we're not comparing apples to apples here -- on/off vs. limited regen)

Regen slowly increased and was back to normal within 10-15 minutes (I missed when it went back to normal).

photo 2 (1).JPG
 
Wow, I don't believe my Roadster has ever gone into limit mode unless it was sitting for hours well under freezing. I guess the algorithms are more conservative in the Model S. I wonder if this is just increased prudence or whether there is a battery chemistry difference?
 
Yeah my Roadster would need to set at below-freezing temps for hours. The Model S sat in ~43F temps for 7 hours or so, mostly in the sun (after being parked in 65-70F temps overnight). Interior cabin temperature while it was parked those 7 hours while the sun was up was 65-70F.
 
Was the car plugged in? If so, I would have thought that it would keep the battery at optimal temperature. Sounds like the 10 minutes of driving was needed to warm up the pack.

I think it keeps the battery warm and cold enough to avoid degradation. I don't think it keeps it within, say, 10C. That would take a fair bit of energy to do.
 
I think it keeps the battery warm and cold enough to avoid degradation. I don't think it keeps it within, say, 10C. That would take a fair bit of energy to do.

Makes sense. I probably wouldn't want to pay for unneeded kWhs with the car plugged in for extended periods.

I believe Tesla is working on the ability to "schedule" drive times to pre-heat or pre-cool the car while still plugged in so that you don't waste battery power and range starting out very hot or cold. Perhaps in this scenario they'll optimize the battery temperature too.
 
Was the car plugged in? If so, I would have thought that it would keep the battery at optimal temperature. Sounds like the 10 minutes of driving was needed to warm up the pack.

It was not plugged in. The roadster would keep the pack heated when cold out and plugged in. It used a fair amount of power to do so. No idea what the model s does. I'm in a garage and no plug at work so I doubt I'll get the chance to find out.
 
I'll be in the same boat (no place to plug in at work) when I get my car.

What, Toronto businesses don't have block heater plug ins for employees? Out here there are 110v plugs all over the place, since an ICE can have a hard time starting after sitting for 8 hours or so on a cold day. One reason Manitoba should be great for EV's; we're used to plugging in our cars all winter anyway!
 
What, Toronto businesses don't have block heater plug ins for employees? Out here there are 110v plugs all over the place, since an ICE can have a hard time starting after sitting for 8 hours or so on a cold day. One reason Manitoba should be great for EV's; we're used to plugging in our cars all winter anyway!
Keep in mind a full charge on lowly 110 takes about 65 hours. ;)
Charging Model S | Tesla Motors