I just installed a Clipper Creek in my garage. What is the most efficient way to preheat? Should I remote start the car with heat on eco,or actually power up or start the car and leave it plugged into the charger?
bnaccs
Remote start while plugged in. Give it enough time to recover a 'full' charge. It will pre-condition the battery regardless of your in-cabin climate settings I believe.
I find my 2012 recharges within 30 minutes of a remote start while on L2 charging.
I find my 2012 recharges within 30 minutes of a remote start while on L2 charging.
My garage is also heated so i do not pre-condition. Keep in mind pre-conditioning is for the cabin and does nothing for the battery. If plugged in the TMS is constantly maintaining the battery whether or not you pre-condition the cabin.
If you garage is not heated when you park at night set the climate controls to auto and heat to HI and Comfort. Also make sure you have your heated seats set to auto in the configuration.
You can remote start twice. Each time runs for about ten minutes. Takes about 20 min for the battery to recharge after the 10 minute pre-condition. So if you pre-condition once, start about 30 minutes before departure. If your remote start twice (sometimes it gets that cold) start about 45 min to 1 hour before departure. You may have to do trial and error to see what works best for your conditions.
If you garage is not heated when you park at night set the climate controls to auto and heat to HI and Comfort. Also make sure you have your heated seats set to auto in the configuration.
You can remote start twice. Each time runs for about ten minutes. Takes about 20 min for the battery to recharge after the 10 minute pre-condition. So if you pre-condition once, start about 30 minutes before departure. If your remote start twice (sometimes it gets that cold) start about 45 min to 1 hour before departure. You may have to do trial and error to see what works best for your conditions.
What do you mean 'efficient'?
The most energy efficient way is to not heat it up at all. That way you waste no energy to the environment, thus is most efficient.
Do you mean best way to get it the most toasty-hot as possible? Set temperature to the last setting before HI and turn it on and plugged in for just over an hour.
I am guessing 'most efficient' you are meaning 'least energy efficient'!!
The most energy efficient way is to not heat it up at all. That way you waste no energy to the environment, thus is most efficient.
Do you mean best way to get it the most toasty-hot as possible? Set temperature to the last setting before HI and turn it on and plugged in for just over an hour.
I am guessing 'most efficient' you are meaning 'least energy efficient'!!
Buddy it is now <grin>. The Volt charging is like having a 400-500 watt heater in place. If your garage is enclosed and at all weather tight I think you'll be surprised at how much warmer it is in there from now on.
Personally I do it all this way.
1) Set the climate controls to about 72 degrees, comfort, and auto seat heaters.
2) use my phone to pre-start the car about 15 mintues before I head out. The pre-condidtioning cycle runs for 10 min plus 5 min to recover charge to the battery.
3) Then, if it's cold (say 40 degrees F or colder) I run in HOLD mode for the first five miles of my journey (my commute is 39 miles each way and my winter battery range in the mountains is about 29 miles tops) and use the REX heat to fully heat soak the car and the cabin as experimentation has shown this is considerably more efficient in terms of fuel use and reduced IRDTT cycles.
Of course step 3 is because I will outrun my winter battery range and wind up running the REX every day so I've found that a steady REX run at the start is more efficient than an intermittent IRDTT at the end. If your commute/trip is within cold weather battery range then running the REX might be pointless for you.
Details of my experiment in driving the Volt in the winter can be found in this thread, specifically in post #8
I've found that when it's cold enough, the car generally ignores eco and goes full blast during a remote start.
It will resume your previous programmed settings when you actually get in and start the car.
On damn-cold-days I typically do a full 10 minute remote start and extend it until I'm out the door. No waiting to recharge.
But my goal is not to leave with a full battery, it's to have a car that's not -23.
Not sure if anyone else has experienced this but when I park in my garage I leave the key in the console. If I attempted to remote start the car from the phone app I get an error message that it can not be completed. The car unfortunately locks itself at this point with the key still inside in the console. This has happened on multiple occasions, not always in my garage. I've used the phone app to unlock the car but let me tell you it's a bit frightening to realize the car just locked itself with the key inside..... especially wen you are standing right next to it.
Another thing to consider, most people try to avoid erdtt or set it to the colder setting to avoid the ICE. But I have a long commute similar to Dutch, and I find setting erdtt to the higher setting and doing. Hold run at the beginning of the commute (the highway portion) is more efficient. It avoids using the resistive heater which in turns buys more range.
I’ve been use Ari_C’s method of preheating for some time now. For my commute, in cold weather, I will start the car manually about an hour before I leave while plugged in to 240v. The heat is set to Eco and Auto.
This accomplishes several things. First, it warms the traction battery up to operating temperature. While the battery does get some heating when plugged in and the car off, I believe it moves to a higher temperature when the car is turned on. I’ll back this up by the fact that when the car is switched on, a pump can be heard winding up, even if the heat is set to off.
Two, at Eco, the car warms up slowly. The 240v can pretty well keep up with the demand, which is not the case with Comfort. Comfort heating will use all of the 240v plus drain some of the traction battery, thus requiring a recharge period to get back to full battery strength, during which time the car is cooling off again. After an hour at Eco, the car is fairly toasty with not just the air, but the seats, the steering wheel, the inside of the windows, etc. all warmed up. The Auto setting allows the air conditioner to come on occasionally to take moisture out of the interior air and help prevent fogging of the windows.
Three, with the Volt running and plugged in, it will gradually charge up the hidden “house on the hill” buffer of the battery, at least in Generation 1. This buffer was designed for people who live on a hill. If they leave home with a “full” battery and then do regenerative braking going down the hill, this hidden buffer gives a place for that energy to go. Turning the car on while plugged in gives the same result. The additional buffer may give one to three more miles of range depending on driving habits and temperature.
When I’m ready to go, I unplug the car, set the heat to Off, but leave the fan on a couple of notches, direct the air to the windshield, and shut off outside air flow. Since the radiator is up to temp, warm air will still flow for several minutes, and since the interior of the car is all warmed up, it will stay comfortable for most of my commute. Keeping air flowing to the windshield helps to keep it clear.
Using this method in cold weather, I’m always able to make my thirty-seven mile commute on battery with at least a few miles of range to spare. I have installed the ERDTT defeat switch so the gas engine never engages in cold weather.
This accomplishes several things. First, it warms the traction battery up to operating temperature. While the battery does get some heating when plugged in and the car off, I believe it moves to a higher temperature when the car is turned on. I’ll back this up by the fact that when the car is switched on, a pump can be heard winding up, even if the heat is set to off.
Two, at Eco, the car warms up slowly. The 240v can pretty well keep up with the demand, which is not the case with Comfort. Comfort heating will use all of the 240v plus drain some of the traction battery, thus requiring a recharge period to get back to full battery strength, during which time the car is cooling off again. After an hour at Eco, the car is fairly toasty with not just the air, but the seats, the steering wheel, the inside of the windows, etc. all warmed up. The Auto setting allows the air conditioner to come on occasionally to take moisture out of the interior air and help prevent fogging of the windows.
Three, with the Volt running and plugged in, it will gradually charge up the hidden “house on the hill” buffer of the battery, at least in Generation 1. This buffer was designed for people who live on a hill. If they leave home with a “full” battery and then do regenerative braking going down the hill, this hidden buffer gives a place for that energy to go. Turning the car on while plugged in gives the same result. The additional buffer may give one to three more miles of range depending on driving habits and temperature.
When I’m ready to go, I unplug the car, set the heat to Off, but leave the fan on a couple of notches, direct the air to the windshield, and shut off outside air flow. Since the radiator is up to temp, warm air will still flow for several minutes, and since the interior of the car is all warmed up, it will stay comfortable for most of my commute. Keeping air flowing to the windshield helps to keep it clear.
Using this method in cold weather, I’m always able to make my thirty-seven mile commute on battery with at least a few miles of range to spare. I have installed the ERDTT defeat switch so the gas engine never engages in cold weather.
Its been a while since I stopped by here! Its nice to see "familiar faces" still 
As of yesterday, we're officially a TWO VOLT Family - KoniVolt#1 and KoniVolt#2
But..
Back to the subject - I thought app remote starting by default preheats in COMFORT and some predetermined temp setting., regardless of settings the car was left on its last drive?
Only remote starting from the keyfob does preheat according to settings left after last drive.
Can someone please clarify this?
As of yesterday, we're officially a TWO VOLT Family - KoniVolt#1 and KoniVolt#2
But..
Back to the subject - I thought app remote starting by default preheats in COMFORT and some predetermined temp setting., regardless of settings the car was left on its last drive?
Only remote starting from the keyfob does preheat according to settings left after last drive.
Can someone please clarify this?
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