Cold battery will not charge (-20C / -4F)

[jbuijk]

My CT is programmed to start charging at 11 pm, when off peak rates apply. During a recent cold spell, the temperature at night dropped to -20C (-4F). My charger is a Tesla, gen 3 charger, 240V, 40A. When the car is sitting at these low temperatures, when charging is initiated it will draw 2A, while showing "battery is heating up" message. This 2A current however is not sufficient to heat the battery and as a result the battery will not charge at all. Under all other conditions, charging, pre-heating passenger compartment, etc., everything works as intended. The only time the car will not charge is with the battery at such a low temperature. I personally believe it is a software setting in the car, which prevents sufficient current to be drawn to heat the battery for charging to eventually start. Right now in a cold night, the car will sit there and draw 2A throughout the night, without any capacity being added to the battery itself. Would be interested to find out if others have a similar experience.

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[fishtek]

I had this happen to me and thought there was something wrong with my truck specifically, but I noticed in another forum post on here a link to this article:

https://www.notateslaapp.com/news/2...ruck-charging-and-regen-issue-in-update-20252

It looks like the workaround is to navigate to a supercharger which will tell the truck to heat the pack more aggressively I guess? It must be enough to then let it start charging at higher rates and works from there. My concern with this is is what if I'm over 3 hours from the nearest super charger? I bet the truck would not start heating the pack and I'd still be in trouble. Hopefully they get this fix pushed out soon!

 

[CyberZephyr]

is this set to 2 amps?

 

[furbyland]

As mentioned above, if you have the reserve in battery charge, do a precondition (using route to super charger or thru the app scheduler) and see if that will allow you to charge at a higher rate.

 

[jbuijk]

Responses so far seem to miss the point. I will come home late afternoon, plug in my CT and charging is programmed to start at 11 pm, when the power price is the lowest. By morning my CT normally is fully charged, ready for the day. The past few days it has been quite cold. -20C (-4F). This means that by the time the car starts to charge, the battery is very cold. Under those circumstances, the car will not charge and throughout the night will show a draw of 2A, rather than go through a phase of heating the battery and once battery is heated up continue to charge at 40A.

 

[tbuck]

My CT is programmed to start charging at 11 pm, when off peak rates apply. During a recent cold spell, the temperature at night dropped to -20C (-4F). My charger is a Tesla, gen 3 charger, 240V, 40A. When the car is sitting at these low temperatures, when charging is initiated it will draw 2A, while showing "battery is heating up" message. This 2A current however is not sufficient to heat the battery and as a result the battery will not charge at all. Under all other conditions, charging, pre-heating passenger compartment, etc., everything works as intended. The only time the car will not charge is with the battery at such a low temperature. I personally believe it is a software setting in the car, which prevents sufficient current to be drawn to heat the battery for charging to eventually start. Right now in a cold night, the car will sit there and draw 2A throughout the night, without any capacity being added to the battery itself. Would be interested to find out if others have a similar experience.

It will charge - eventually. However, the power available via the L2 charger simply takes many hours to heat the battery enough to take a charge. What others have suggested, set the route to a supercharger and let the battery pre-condition, will warm it up to take a charge, which you can then plug in at home and get it going in super-cold temps. Not great as you will have to stay up and do that to take advantage of the late night rates. The other thing you can so is heat the vehicle prior to charging or at the same time. The ambient temperature will help heat the battery (if you are in a position to do such a thing - such as in an insulated garage).

 

[jbuijk]

It will charge - eventually. However, the power available via the L2 charger simply takes many hours to heat the battery enough to take a charge. What others have suggested, set the route to a supercharger and let the battery pre-condition, will warm it up to take a charge, which you can then plug in at home and get it going in super-cold temps. Not great as you will have to stay up and do that to take advantage of the late night rates. The other thing you can so is heat the vehicle prior to charging or at the same time. The ambient temperature will help heat the battery (if you are in a position to do such a thing - such as in an insulated garage).

The charger can deliver 40A, yet the car will only draw 2A. At 2A the battery will not heat up and after 8 hours there will not be a single kWh added to the battery.

 

[furbyland]

The charger can deliver 40A, yet the car will only draw 2A. At 2A the battery will not heat up and after 8 hours there will not be a single kWh added to the battery.

You are missing the point. DO A PRECONDITION. That will heat the battery to allow it to charge beyond the 2 amps rate. Your wanting to do at specific hours of the night is something you will have to work arond. Why can't you schedule a precondition prior to to the reduced rates? How long the precondition will take is not a known until you try...

 

[tbuck]

The charger can deliver 40A, yet the car will only draw 2A. At 2A the battery will not heat up and after 8 hours there will not be a single kWh added to the battery.

The charger will only supply what the truck can take. This is true of any EV. This could be due to the cold, but could be other things as well. 48 amps would be max on a 60 amp 240V circuit. Assuming that is what it is attached to, then 2 amps is very low, even in cold weather - which may indicate an issue on the circuit side, or even the charger.

If you plug it in to a standard 110V Outlet, you should be able to push 4-16 amps (depending on the circuit itself). That would tell you if the charger is working fine or if the circuit you are using is the issue.

 

[Outdoors]

Sometimes one has to throw the cheaper electric rate out the window.

I charge while the pack is hot when temps get low. -10F in shop area is common for when I don't run the shop stove.

I haven't seen the 2amp issue OP mentioned. I came in Monday night at 5% and it was -15F. Truck did fine.

 

[cadamo001]

Definitely a bug acknowledged by Tesla and confirmed that a fix is on the way. Those explaining that this is "normal behavior" don't know what they are talking about.
Good news is that a fix is coming.

 

[Outdoors]

Definitely a bug acknowledged by Tesla and confirmed that a fix is on the way. Those explaining that this is "normal behavior" don't know what they are talking about.
Good news is that a fix is coming.

Got any links or knowledge that is in sharable form?

Edit:

I see the link from other poster.

I do have the no regen at all issue in morning. Yet I don't really care about saving as I am all off grid. So I charge whenever. Just pay the transfer tax from the batteries at night.

Funny I have dealt with the battery cold thing for a number of years. Yet in my house. Much easier to keep a home battery bank warm than a mobile one.

 

[mongo]

The charger will only supply what the truck can take. This is true of any EV. This could be due to the cold, but could be other things as well. 48 amps would be max on a 60 amp 240V circuit. Assuming that is what it is attached to, then 2 amps is very low, even in cold weather - which may indicate an issue on the circuit side, or even the charger.

If you plug it in to a standard 110V Outlet, you should be able to push 4-16 amps (depending on the circuit itself). That would tell you if the charger is working fine or if the circuit you are using is the issue.

The charger is part of the Cybertruck. The wall or mobile connector is a fancy GFCI breaker that tells the vehicle the maximum current allowable. Test number is the second value in 2/32. 32 Amps available, vehicle drawing 2.

is this set to 2 amps?

I think 5 is lowest that can be set to.

 

[cadamo001]

Got any links or knowledge that is in sharable form?

Link posted above...
https://www.notateslaapp.com/news/2...ruck-charging-and-regen-issue-in-update-20252

 

[mongo]

Setting preconditioning to 11pm along with charging might work for you. Possibly need to shift charging to midnight depending how the software bug acts.


Turning on climate will heat the pack.
Getting in the truck with it unplugged, setting destibation to a Supercharger, cycling to drive and back to park will engage higher power pack heating as long as you stay in the vehicle. 10-20 minutes should be sufficient to allow full power charging.
None of that helps the time of use delayed charging use case when the truck cools off too much (combined with software issue). Unless you set destination to a Supercharger on the way home (precludes using FSD) to get the pack warm enough to coast until 11pm.

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