Does Remote Climate Control turn on Battery TMS?

[Khaihon]

In my situation, my car will be out in the sun for 2 hours daily while I'm at work. I turn on remote climate control (RCC) 15 minutes prior to leaving mainly to cool off the cabin. Is it a good idea to turn on the remote climate control earlier than that? I guess I'm asking if anyone knows if RCC activates the battery TMS or is it strictly just for the cabin (and thus, would just drain the battery if done more than 15 minutes prior to departure)?

 

[Kohler Controller]

I was thinking the same thing, Khaihon. In my situation, I'm gearing up for a hot Texas summer. But I do have access to 120VAC at work. If I plug into the 120VAC socket and program the car to run climate control (which uses ~750W for 15 min) 2-3 times per hour, if the TMS is active (which I assume it is), both the cabin and batteries will be spared the 8 hours of ambient heat it would normally experience while I'm at work, without draining anything from the battery pack.

 

[TonyWilliams]

I'm going to guess you guys are right, but the only way to know is to observe what actually happens.

Follow the coolant lines down to the battery pack and see if they get cold while the car is cooling the cabin. You can find the air conditioning splitter on the firewall, passenger side of the car.

For heating the battery in the winter, there is actually a dedicated heater just for the battery and a separate Denso 6kW for the cabin.

 

[Vach]

I would be very interested in see the results of this test if anyone is able to try. If I had some neat thermal equipment I would try it myself.

 

[TonyWilliams]

I would be very interested in see the results of this test if anyone is able to try. If I had some neat thermal equipment I would try it myself.

For $20, you can get an IR thermometer from Sears.

 

[Vach]

Yea, I have one of those for my Reptile Terrariums, but I'm not confident in looking; plus the cheap ones are ridiculously inaccurate versus certain materials. Although I guess in this case you just need to see a change at all.

Why don't you take a look Tony? You seem more knowledgeable on the car than most.

 

[miimura]

Yea, I have one of those for my Reptile Terrariums, but I'm not confident in looking; plus the cheap ones are ridiculously inaccurate versus certain materials. Although I guess in this case you just need to see a change at all.

Why don't you take a look Tony? You seem more knowledgeable on the car than most.

Um, didn't you hear? Tony's car is at the dealer for the Screen of Death (Check EV System Error).

 

[TonyWilliams]

Yea, I have one of those for my Reptile Terrariums, but I'm not confident in looking; plus the cheap ones are ridiculously inaccurate versus certain materials. Although I guess in this case you just need to see a change at all.

Why don't you take a look Tony? You seem more knowledgeable on the car than most.

Um, didn't you hear? Tony's car is at the dealer for the Screen of Death (Check EV System Error).

Ya, that one. I need to start prepping the car for my many thousand mile road trip coming up, and I haven't had it in two weeks, and haven't even heard from the dealership in one week.

 

[miimura]

Tony, I think it's time to start making some noise. You know, squeaky wheel and all...

I think if you talked to the right person, TMS could lend you a car to do BC2BC. It would probably be covered in promotional stickers, but hey, at least they would get something out of it.

 

[AvLegends]

Yea, I have one of those for my Reptile Terrariums, but I'm not confident in looking; plus the cheap ones are ridiculously inaccurate versus certain materials. Although I guess in this case you just need to see a change at all.

Why don't you take a look Tony? You seem more knowledgeable on the car than most.

Um, didn't you hear? Tony's car is at the dealer for the Screen of Death (Check EV System Error).

Ya, that one. I need to start prepping the car for my many thousand mile road trip coming up, and I haven't had it in two weeks, and haven't even heard from the dealership in one week.

I was a squeaky wheel... needing grease. I went by every day to check on my car except for a couple days out of town. I was nice and respectful but I clearly showed my dissatisfaction with Toyota that nothing was getting done. Each time the service advisor walked me back to the tech working on the car and I had, at times, lengthy discussions with him. Was amazed how he stopped what he was doing and took the time to answer my questions and explain what was going on with the process to resolve the issue. At one visit he took me aside and whispered to me... "Michael, you are being too nice. You need to be more pissed off". I said, yes... nice guys come in last! That's when I called the GM and chewed on him... here again with respect. I couldn't believe how frustrated the tech was with both Toyota and especially Tesla with how they were dragging their feet to get somebody on site to fix the damn thing.

You have been thru so much more than I Tony and I realize you are doing everything you can to get this resolved. I am just relaying my story with my brief (compared to you) stay.

 

[AvLegends]

Tony, I think it's time to start making some noise. You know, squeaky wheel and all...

I think if you talked to the right person, TMS could lend you a car to do BC2BC. It would probably be covered in promotional stickers, but hey, at least they would get something out of it.

Yes... start squeaking! I would start with the General Manager of the dealership. As I was told he has the ear of Toyota corporate.

 

[Vach]

You're right, that had slipped my mind. I remember it clear now but was blank that morning for some reason.

TIME TO MAKE SOME NOSE! =D

 

[3rdRail]

I was thinking the same thing, Khaihon. In my situation, I'm gearing up for a hot Texas summer. But I do have access to 120VAC at work. If I plug into the 120VAC socket and program the car to run climate control (which uses ~750W for 15 min) 2-3 times per hour, if the TMS is active (which I assume it is), both the cabin and batteries will be spared the 8 hours of ambient heat it would normally experience while I'm at work, without draining anything from the battery pack.

I'm in a similar situation as far as being stuck parking in a hot parking lot for the time being. I was also considering doing something like you were saying and plugging into the 120v so I could schedule some pre-climate if that would also cool the batteries. But not sure if that would have a negative effect on the AC system turning off so many times over the summer, or if not running it often enough would have a negative effect on the batteries causing them to cool off and then heat up again several times throughout the day. I guess I could have it slow charge on the 120v all day to engage the TMS but from reading the forums it sounds like that might be the exact wrong thing to do.

Was anyone ever able to see that the battery TMS activates when the pre-climate is on? What have you guys/anyone ended up doing to help with the heat when you're parked?

P.S. Just got back from my first relatively long trip in the EV - from Costa Mesa, CA to Escondido, CA and back. Especially loved making a fool of the GOM! Was amazed at the mileage these things get on the open road.