It's understood that those of us that live in cooler climates should turn range mode off when charging during the fall, winter, and early spring if we want the pack to heat, because with range mode on, even if plugged in, pack heating is limited.
When it was cool my wife and I were being very careful about always turning range mode off when we parked at home and plugged in, and then turning it back on when we departed (to get the benefits of torque sleep on our P85D.) As it warmed up in the spring, pack heating became less of an issue, and we generally left range mode on all the time.
But now that it is getting quite warm, I'm thinking we probably want to go back to our winter practice of turning range mode off when we park and plug in, for at least one, and possibly two reasons. The first reason is that I've found that when it's warm, driving with range mode on, and the car's HVAC set to "LO" sometimes isn't really cool enough for me. But if I pre-cool the car on shore power, with range mode off, I believe I am getting the car cooler to start, and it's then easier for the HVAC in range mode to keep me comfortable.
The other, more important reason to turn range mode off would be if pack cooling, like pack heating, works better, even when on shore power, if range mode is off. This is the question that I don't know the answer to, and am seeking input on. Clearly it's important, for the health of the pack, to have it cooled when necessary during the summer, and especially while charging. If range mode is reducing pack cooling at all, the way it reduces pack heating, then we'll want to make certain we always turn off range mode when parking at home and plugging in.
Thoughts?
When it was cool my wife and I were being very careful about always turning range mode off when we parked at home and plugged in, and then turning it back on when we departed (to get the benefits of torque sleep on our P85D.) As it warmed up in the spring, pack heating became less of an issue, and we generally left range mode on all the time.
But now that it is getting quite warm, I'm thinking we probably want to go back to our winter practice of turning range mode off when we park and plug in, for at least one, and possibly two reasons. The first reason is that I've found that when it's warm, driving with range mode on, and the car's HVAC set to "LO" sometimes isn't really cool enough for me. But if I pre-cool the car on shore power, with range mode off, I believe I am getting the car cooler to start, and it's then easier for the HVAC in range mode to keep me comfortable.
The other, more important reason to turn range mode off would be if pack cooling, like pack heating, works better, even when on shore power, if range mode is off. This is the question that I don't know the answer to, and am seeking input on. Clearly it's important, for the health of the pack, to have it cooled when necessary during the summer, and especially while charging. If range mode is reducing pack cooling at all, the way it reduces pack heating, then we'll want to make certain we always turn off range mode when parking at home and plugging in.
Thoughts?