Taycan parked in below freezing conditions; any advice?

tutis

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Hi, I'll be going with some friends to a ski trip in the Swiss alps for a few days. However, our lodging will only have outdoor parking with as far as I can tell no charging socket for the Taycan. Temperatures are expected to be between -10 and 0 celsius.

I've read before about Tesla cancelling battery warranty claims if the car is exposed to temperatures below freezing for more than 72 hours in one sitting.

Is there any such clause with the Taycan? Are there any troubles expected from the car being cold-soaked for ~5 days at these temperatures, or any long-lasting negative effects on battery life? Will the battery use some of the energy for keeping itself just above freezing internal temperature, and if so should I aim to arrive with a rather full battery (otherwise, it is downhill for the mountain on the return and there are fast chargers in the valley, so not concerned about range to get home).

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whitex

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I've read before about Tesla cancelling battery warranty claims if the car is exposed to temperatures below freezing for more than 72 hours in one sitting.
Fake news. I have been driving Teslas for almost a decade now.

Is there any such clause with the Taycan?
Did you find any?
Are there any troubles expected from the car being cold-soaked for ~5 days at these temperatures, or any long-lasting negative effects on battery life? Will the battery use some of the energy for keeping itself just above freezing internal temperature, and if so should I aim to arrive with a rather full battery (otherwise, it is downhill for the mountain on the return and there are fast chargers in the valley, so not concerned about range to get home).
You pretty much got it. Some more battery charge loss as the battery heats itself. More so if parked in cold AND windy place (wind cools the car/battery a lot faster). Cold battery may mean reduced performance and/or recuperation at the start of a drive, and slower DC charging should you plug in a cold soaked battery to a DC charger. No damage to the battery or warranty coverage.
 

simcity

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I've read before about Tesla cancelling battery warranty claims if the car is exposed to temperatures below freezing for more than 72 hours in one sitting.
Total, pure unadulterated bollocks mate. 👍
 
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tutis

tutis

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Thanks for the quick reply. sounds like there's nothing to worry about.

As for the warranty point:
Fake news. I have been driving Teslas for almost a decade now.
I had a quick look and found this thread from 8 years ago, things may have changed since, and it referred to -30c so quite a bit colder. Any way see there what supposedly Tesla had replied to their customers
 

whitex

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Thanks for the quick reply. sounds like there's nothing to worry about.

As for the warranty point:


I had a quick look and found this thread from 8 years ago, things may have changed since, and it referred to -30c so quite a bit colder. Any way see there what supposedly Tesla had replied to their customers
Enjoy your trip! Taycan should be fine unless you're heading to Antarctica and planning to leave the car unplugged at -39C for days, or attempting to race Starman in Elon's 2010 Tesla Roadster (I'm pretty sure the latter would void the warranty). ;)
Porsche Taycan Taycan parked in below freezing conditions; any advice? 1670400160070
 
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andb

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I think maybe you can set to precondition the battery every night.
 

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If you cannot plug it in, the only thing you can do is to fully fast charge it before you park for the first night. Do this when the battery is still warm. It takes a long time to charge a really cold battery. Your battery then will have the maximum charge possible depending on temperature. If you want to set a departure based timer to warm the cabin and battery then you will give up around 3% of battery capacity from an already reduced capacity each time it runs due to temps. If you need to preserve SOC, skip this and just use the heated steering wheel, heated seats and cabin heating at a reduced level.
 


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In general I wouldn't worry about it. I have left my Taycan out in very cold weather many times. Be prepared to use extra battery to warm the car up when you leave, but otherwise don't worry about it.
 

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Porsche has sold over 4000 Taycan in Norway. And there is alot of Teslas. Right now i have -12C in southern Norway. And we regulary have -20 to -30C every winter. Never heard anything about warrenty and cold wether.
 

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Whilst we’re on this topic, does anyone know if Porsche fit a heater around the charge port to stop the cable from freezing to the connector in ultra cold conditions?
 

simcity

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Be good to know if Porsche did similar….not that it’s necessarily Nordic here, but I do get frozen windows / can’t open close door on the X if don’t defrost car before.

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Whilst we’re on this topic, does anyone know if Porsche fit a heater around the charge port to stop the cable from freezing to the connector in ultra cold conditions?
Not to the best of my knowledge. What they did talk about is that if the electric door release is blocked by ice/snow – it will detect it and increase the "torque" on the door motors while causing the door to vibrate to break off the ice and allow the door to open.
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