This one is long overdue, but as fans of fast charging we are so happy to finally see Tesla address this issue. Starting with software version 2025.2, Tesla cars in North America will initiate battery preconditioning (heating) when navigating to a non-Supercharger DC fast charger. Although this functionality was already available in Europe when navigating to Tesla-approved third party chargers, drivers in North America could only precondition their cars when en route to a Supercharger station. With the new software it looks like you are still required to “navigate” to the station to begin the preconditioning process. There is no manual command to start the process, which would be even better!
EV batteries need to be in an optimal temperature range to achieve their maximum charging/discharging performance. From my own experience, I’ve seen my Model Y warm the pack to 40°C for V2 150kW Superchargers, and closer to 50°C when navigating to a 250kW V3 Supercharger. Even when charging at home on AC power during winter time, if the battery is close to freezing temperature (0°C), warming is required before the battery can even accept a charge.
Related: How to see Tesla battery temps
So if you’re in a snowy climate, and you try to plug in at an Electrify America or EVgo station without preconditioning, you will get truly dismal charging speeds and a 20 minute charging stop becomes a 1 hour stop. Savvy Tesla drivers know about a trick to fool the car into preconditioning by setting the nav to a Supercharger, but instead driving to a CCS charging station. But this workaround was annoying, especially when you’re in unfamiliar city.
Last month, I went to a launch event for the Ionna DC charging network in Apex, NC. Well over 100 EV drivers showed up to the event to stress test the charging station. But despite the 200kW & 400kW capability of the Ionna dispensers, most Teslas struggled to go above 70kW because they arrived to the chargers stone cold in December. I mentioned this Tesla problem to the Ionna team, and it seems there was nothing that could be done apart from better driver education.
But now, if Teslas start to warms their packs for all reputable DC networks, drivers will enjoy shorter charging stops and charging network operators will benefit from faster turnover and better utilization of their expensive hardware.
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