Storing/Charging Cybertruck in cold-weather environment.

[Cyber111]

Hi all, I live in California, but at an altitude of about 6000 feet so we definitely get snow in the winter. I’m having a garage built for the Cybertruck, which should be arriving in May. My question is should I have the garage insulated or is that not necessary in terms of storing/charging the vehicle and battery life?

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[Woodrick]

Biggest thing would be to make sure that you have power to charge the vehicle.
If it is an attached garage, they usually get enough heat to stay around 50-60 degrees.
But a standalone does get cold. If you leave at about the same time every day, you can use departure time to warm the vehicle and the battery up before you leave.

Unless it is stupidly expensive, I'd insulate it. Most garages get other things stored in it and they'd probably want it more.

 

[Macgreiner]

This. Most important thing is leaving it connected to charging. Heated garage not necessary.

 

[Broski]

Insulation is relatively cheap. I’d do it.

 

[Hunky Dory]

Living in Wyoming at 6000 ft I have never regretted paying the extra cost of insulation when I built my attached garage.

 

[LexusCyber]

quick Q: is it true that the CT ( or an EV in general ) perform better generally in hot climate (ie Arizona) than in cold climate ( ie Wyoming, cold Canada north, etc) ? how big could be the difference? just curious...

 

[RickJ19Zeta8]

quick Q: is it true that the CT ( or an EV in general ) perform better generally in hot climate (ie Arizona) than in cold climate ( ie Wyoming, cold Canada north, etc) ? how big could be the difference? just curious...

EV batteries and cabin both like to be around 70F for optimal performance. If you're comfortable, they're comfortable. So the heat pump will work progressively harder (consume more energy) the further you get away from that nominal temperature.

110F, or 40F off nominal for Arizona plus solar load on the cabin is equivalent to roughly 20F. Without getting into nuances of heat pump efficiency / solar loading / etc. Older EVs and older Teslas used to use resistive heaters to heat the cabin and battery pack. Those are much less efficient than a heat pump, so cold weather performance always suffered more. The typical hit was around 20-40% when you got to 15F, depending on if you pre-heat on wall power, how long you pre-heat, how long your drive is, etc.

In addition, cold battery cell chemistry will "lock" energy into the cell. You can't get that capacity out of the cell. But if you heat the cell back up, it will become available again. Tesla displays that in the app or on screen using the blue snowflake or will have a blue bar at the bottom of the charge range.

For those reasons, its important to keep the vehicle plugged in during the winter. It will use wall power to keep the battery at a reasonable temperature. Worst thing you can do is park the truck at a low charge state. As the pack cools, it may "lock" the remaining range due to cell chemistry and you're stuck. Either way, plan on roughly a 20% range hit in winter depending on the temperature. The truck is new.... so I'm guessing a bit on the few people who had it early last spring.

 

[LexusCyber]

thank you for the great answer. Amazing analysis and just what I was looking for.

looks like CT would have an easier life in Arizona climate.

I am considering building/retrofitting a house in Arizona to make it energy autonomous with solar+ power wall + power share from 2 EVs ( 1 being the CT)... if I look at all pieces, it is really cool to own a CT vs any other EV due to battery size. however, a bigger solar system is needed to charge the CT + EV + power wall and that cost more money upfront.. Still working on the rest of the equation as it seems to me the cost of buying and installing a big enough solar + the cost of Tesla Power Wall 3 s still a bit too high to justify the investment given the current energy prices in AZ....

I am always amazed about the smart people I see posting on this forum and I woudl bet money someone thought of this before me ! did anyone on this forum look into this challenge and if yes, what did you find?

The dream is: energy autonomous house 2k sqft + 2 EVs , a Tesla model Y and a CT (123Kwh)
Location: Arizona
Energy source : solar, with they grid being the backup and/or a buyer of extra energy
config:
-solar panels ( est 15-20KWh)
- some battery system for solar energy storage ( Tesla Power Wall 3 11.5kW power rating and up to 20kW of solar input make this a great solution for modern all-electric homes with solar EV charging. last I checked the https://www.cleanenergyreviews.info/blog/solar-and-ev-charger-calculator ... not very impressed with results)
- smart electrical panel with inverter ( SPAN brand or other for smart electrical panel?)

 

[Woodrick]

quick Q: is it true that the CT ( or an EV in general ) perform better generally in hot climate (ie Arizona) than in cold climate ( ie Wyoming, cold Canada north, etc) ? how big could be the difference? just curious...

The folks in Canada seem quite happy with their purchases.

Too hot can be as bad as too cold.

 

[LexusCyber]

@Woodrick iI agree CT would do well in both .. .I am really looking to compare the 2 climates in a more nuanced fashion... the finer details..

 

[AbblePC]

thank you for the great answer. Amazing analysis and just what I was looking for.

looks like CT would have an easier life in Arizona climate.

I am considering building/retrofitting a house in Arizona to make it energy autonomous with solar+ power wall + power share from 2 EVs ( 1 being the CT)... if I look at all pieces, it is really cool to own a CT vs any other EV due to battery size. however, a bigger solar system is needed to charge the CT + EV + power wall and that cost more money upfront.. Still working on the rest of the equation as it seems to me the cost of buying and installing a big enough solar + the cost of Tesla Power Wall 3 s still a bit too high to justify the investment given the current energy prices in AZ....

I am always amazed about the smart people I see posting on this forum and I woudl bet money someone thought of this before me ! did anyone on this forum look into this challenge and if yes, what did you find?

The dream is: energy autonomous house 2k sqft + 2 EVs , a Tesla model Y and a CT (123Kwh)
Location: Arizona
Energy source : solar, with they grid being the backup and/or a buyer of extra energy
config:
-solar panels ( est 15-20KWh)
- some battery system for solar energy storage ( Tesla Power Wall 3 11.5kW power rating and up to 20kW of solar input make this a great solution for modern all-electric homes with solar EV charging. last I checked the https://www.cleanenergyreviews.info/blog/solar-and-ev-charger-calculator ... not very impressed with results)
- smart electrical panel with inverter ( SPAN brand or other for smart electrical panel?)

Hit me up sometime if interested in talking about your system or details related to the hardware etc. as I already have installed essentially everything you literally detailed in this post. Right down the SPAN smart panels with a 20kWh Tesla certified installed Solar Roof and various other small details.

 

[LexusCyber]

@AbblePC how can I contact you directly?
my email is [email protected]-bird.edu is you can drop me a message or please share email . I am really excited to learn about the solution you found to this challenge.

thank you!

 

[AbblePC]

@AbblePC how can I contact you directly?
my email is [email protected]-bird.edu is you can drop me a message or please share email . I am really excited to learn about the solution you found to this challenge.

thank you!

I sent you an email (first one bounced as I clicked your email link but it was incomplete apparently & resent by manually typing your address) with my phone number in the signature. I work from home and will gladly take a call sometime you want to discuss the various aspects of my installation.

 

[Woodrick]

@Woodrick iI agree CT would do well in both .. .I am really looking to compare the 2 climates in a more nuanced fashion... the finer details..

Those really are the finer details.

But just a few exceptions....

• Condition battery with departure time is pretty important to achieve parity.
• If the battery gets cold soaked, you'll be anywhere from inoperative to maybe 30% range degradation.
• In hotter weather, range suffers slightly with additional cooling load. Of course, same for heating load.

Classically we've used "up to 30% range degradation" for colder climates. But departure time can get rid of most of that.


Other vehicles with older batteries have had degradation issues with the hotter (not just warmer) temperatures degrading the battery fast. i.e. Nissan Leaf. But battery technologies since about 2015 all seem to have fixed the issue.

 

[igs]

Hi all, I live in California, but at an altitude of about 6000 feet so we definitely get snow in the winter. I’m having a garage built for the Cybertruck, which should be arriving in May. My question is should I have the garage insulated or is that not necessary in terms of storing/charging the vehicle and battery life?

Colder is better. But you still want to stay around 30-40% SOC.

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