[sukumark]

I find in Texas weather when I charge the car in the garage, I see many times car is making noise as it turned on to cool down the battery. I find it is much cooler outside of the garage in the night. Does it makes sense to take the car out of the garage and put it outside for not needing to drain the battery to cool the battery?

Also, it seems it is cooling down the battery only when it is connected to the charger. Is it possible to make it to cool down the battery even if I don't connect to charger? Since I only drive very short distance to office, I don't mind mileage goes down even half.

 

[p7wang]

Leave outside = Makes sense... cooling the battery inside a hot garage is like leaving your fridge door open.

Cooling down without connection to wall = Turn on pre-condition, but I think that will shut off after a while.

 

[sukumark]

Thanks. How do I turn on pre condition? I wish software upgrade allows to enable it without needing to be connected to power.

 

[surgeonFWW]

"Pre-conditioning" is heating or cooling the EV's interior prior to driving. It is always started by you. If unplugged, it reduces range slightly (does not run long enough to affect range much, but it IS nice when leaving a restaurant on a cold night {start it via the app when the bill comes}). If plugged-in (like at home) range is not affected.

"Conditioning" of the battery (or the circuit affecting the Single Power Inverter Module (SPIM), Accessory Power Module (APM), and Charger Module) occurs automatically {never started by you} when the battery (or other components) gets too hot or too cold. DCFC {DC Levels 1, 2, or 3} (especially in summer) can increase battery temperature enough to kick-in conditioning/cooling. Range is not affected since you are plugged in. (Personally, I have never seen conditioning when AC Level 1 or AC level 2 charging.) Ambient temperature would need to be very high (>99F?) to start conditioning while not charging. This will reduce range. Cold weather can kick on conditioning (usually the battery). If unplugged, range is lost. If plugged in, conditioning does not diminish range.

 

[raitchison]

I find in Texas weather when I charge the car in the garage, I see many times car is making noise as it turned on to cool down the battery. I find it is much cooler outside of the garage in the night. Does it makes sense to take the car out of the garage and put it outside for not needing to drain the battery to cool the battery?

Also, it seems it is cooling down the battery only when it is connected to the charger. Is it possible to make it to cool down the battery even if I don't connect to charger? Since I only drive very short distance to office, I don't mind mileage goes down even half.

Sort of.

Basically the car will perform battery cooling differently under different circumstances.

1. If the car is not turned on and not plugged in I have never witnessed battery cooling take place with battery temps as high as 37C. I have heard speculation that it may cool the battery if the battery temp gets to 40C.
2. If the car IS turned on (including if you manually trigger preconditioning via the key fob or My Chevrolet app) but not plugged in and the battery temp is 33C or higher the car will cool the battery to 31C
3. If the car is not turned in but it is plugged in AND the car is not currently charging (either charge complete or charge not needed) and the battery temp is at ~31C or above the car will cool the battery to 27C.
4. If the car is turned on AND plugged in and the battery temp is at ~31C the car will cool the battery to 27C while charging (even if the power used for battery cooling exceeds the power being delivered from the charger).

This is a very simplified description of how it works, for a lot more details (and drama) you can check this thread. https://www.chevybolt.org/threads/a...-findings-irt-battery-cooling-criteria.29603/

 

[Michael Boyce]

Here in South Florida, I've witness battery cooling kick in twice when not plugged in. Outside temp was techically ~94, but the feel like temp (humidity) was much higher.
The graph showed 1% used for battery conditioning.