Should i precondition my ev battery before a dc fast charge on a road trip?

[William_R]

I’m trying to figure out if I should bother preconditioning my EV’s battery before a DC fast charge on a road trip. The car says it helps, but I’ve arrived at a charger with a cold battery a few times and the charging speed didn’t seem that much slower.

[Larry_R]

I do preconditioning when it’s really cold, and I swear I’ve seen the first minutes hold higher power instead of dropping straight into slow mode. It doesn’t always save a ton of time, but on frozen mornings it can shave a few minutes off the ramp.

[Ella_J]

Arrived cold a few times and the car still hit 80–120 kW, so the start didn’t feel as slow as I feared. I suspect if I’ve done some highway driving before, the pack is warmer already and the benefit is small.

[JacobJ]

Sometimes I think the bottleneck isn’t the battery at all but the charger or the station itself. The pack heat is just one piece of the puzzle and conditions matter a lot.

[Robert_T]

Last trip I tried not planning for preconditioning and the first 5 minutes stayed around 90 kW anyway; the ramp later felt similar, so I’m not sure it’s worth the extra energy.

[MiaC]

Do you think the real problem is the charger or the battery temp is the real limiter? I’d like to know what pattern others notice at the same station.

[Benjamin23]

I once wandered off to grab coffee while the car charged, came back and the curve had already started dropping; maybe the time you leave the car alone matters more than the heat strategy.