Pre-climate started even though RAV4 EV was not plugged in.

[swogee]

I strange thing happened this morning in that the pre-climate conditioning turned on at its preset time even though our RAV4 EV was not plugged in. I was under the impression that the preclimate would work only when the RAV4 is plugged in and over 50% SOC. I am wondering if there is some sort of bug in the timer code. Has anyone else ever encountered this issue?

On a side note my wife has been asking me if the pre-climate uses the actual traction battery when it runs (even if it is plugged in) since the range has been diminished when using the pre-climate. I was always under the impression the pre-climate used the power from the EVSE. After this strange issue I am wondering if the pre-climate is just running off of the traction battery even when it is plugged in.

 

[Airton]

Yes, mine preconditions plugged in or not.
and yes preconditioning runs off the main traction battery and if its plugged in the AC current just powers the onboard charger to top off the battery.

I think this is how it normally operates.

 

[swogee]

Thanks for the reply Airton. Since your RAV4 EV seems to do the same thing it is likely a "feature". I also reviewed the owners manual to see if it mentions anything about the pre-climate running only when the RAV4 is plugged in, but it doesn't seem to. It only mentions there must be at least 50% charge in the traction battery.

I'll have to disable the pre-climate when I need to make sure the traction battery stays fully charged as possible before any long trips. It just seems kind of odd to me that the pre-climate would be able to operate when the RAV4 is not plugged in.

Since the pre-climate will run regardless of state of the in-vehicle charger (powered or not), I need to find out for certain if the in-vehicle charger will be re-activated to power the pre-climate if the battery has already been fully charged. I would think it would, but based on what I have observed it may not. I guess I have to run some tests and see what happens. I guess the easiest thing to do would be to measure difference in the power going into the EVSE when the battery is fully charged and the pre-climate turns on. It's not an issue if the pre-climate turns on while the battery is still charging other than the charge rate of the battery will be diminished by whatever power the pre-climate uses.

 

[Larry_in_Seattle]

It's a feature that I use all the time. In the summer, I turn on the AC if the car's been sitting in the sun and is HOT, like when it sits in a mall parking lot. It's really great to come out to a car that is not 130F inside!

In the winter, I prefer to only use it when it's plugged in, but when we hit sub-zero temps, I'll preheat it anywhere as long as I know I've got enough juice to get to where I need to go.

 

[Khaihon]

Pre climate (and remote climate) works when the SOC is over 50% OR if it is plugged in.

 

[banshee08]

I don't think it works at below 50% even if the car was plugged in.