heating with charging cable connected?

[Zwerius]

Hello,

Just wondering.
Is it possible to preheat the car by starting the heating with the charge cable still connected, so that the heating energy is taken from the grid in stead of from the batteries?

In winter it woould be very convenient (including defrosting the windows, etc).

Our other car (BMW i3) has this option standard available (even controlable from the smartphone).
Ofcourse the Miev is not the same as an i3, but maybe there is a trick to do this?
Anyone?

 

[Don]

Welcome to the forum!

Yes, the only way you can pre-heat the car by using AC power is to use the remote to do it. You can't start the car (get the 'Ready' light) while it's still plugged in, so using the remote is the only way. Hopefully you got a remote when you bought the car?

Don

 

[Zwerius]

Hello Don,
Thanks for your answer.
Unfortunately we don't have a remote. The car is from 2011. Probably they didn't have it back then.
I hoped, I could just heatup the car by inserting the key and turn it to the acc. position and switch the heating on, but that doesn't seem to work.

 

[misterbleepy]

Hello Don,
Thanks for your answer.
Unfortunately we don't have a remote. The car is from 2011. Probably they didn't have it back then.
I hoped, I could just heatup the car by inserting the key and turn it to the acc. position and switch the heating on, but that doesn't seem to work.

I found very recently that powering up the car while plugged in to my charger (Level 2) let me turn on the heat and aircon, and it seemed to be using the power from the charger rather than the battery - the range remaining number didn't reduce.
My car doesn't have the remote or even remote capability, but is a UK model rather than a US one, so that might make things different.
Why not try it and see? Turn the key all the way - the green ready light will not come on, but the heater and aircon might work.

 

[PV1]

That would be great if the UK models did, as the US ones certainly don't (the fan will run, even the A/C light will come on, but neither heater or compressor will run). The heated seats works, though.

 

[misterbleepy]

That would be great if the UK models did, as the US ones certainly don't (the fan will run, even the A/C light will come on, but neither heater or compressor will run). The heated seats works, though.

I will check this again this evening, but it definitely seemed to warm the car and clear the windscreen. The only problem is you have to leave your key in the ignition, so ideally you need to stay in the car.

 

[Zwerius]

And what if you would use the second key, to lock the car?
Would the systems still stay switched on?

 

[JoeS]

And what if you would use the second key, to lock the car?
Would the systems still stay switched on?

Zwerius, if you could try that and let us know, it would add to our body of knowledge - and let us know which car model you are driving.

It would be nice if you could also let us know where you are located. See here how to do this:
http://myimiev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3196

 

[wmcbrine]

I hoped, I could just heatup the car by inserting the key and turn it to the acc. position and switch the heating on, but that doesn't seem to work.

That'd be bad if it did work, because it would kill the 12V battery in no time.

 

[Don]

I hoped, I could just heatup the car by inserting the key and turn it to the acc. position and switch the heating on, but that doesn't seem to work.

That'd be bad if it did work, because it would kill the 12V battery in no time.

The 12 volt battery charges as the main pack charges, so if the factory was inclined to allow the heater to come on in the Accessory position with the car plugged in, we could assume that they would also allow the 12 volt to continue to charge in that configuration

We know it's possible to pre-heat using the remote - It's really a shame that they didn't allow some form of 'manual' operation which doesn't require the remote - A simple button on the dash would do it . . . . just use it to engage the same relay that the remote activates. It's also a shame that now more than 5 years into production they haven't adopted some form of Blutooth control using a standard cell phone - Doesn't seem like that would be an expensive upgrade to make and it would surely make the car more popular, but it seems they intend to just ride the current concept off into the sunset

Don

 

[Zwerius]

@JoeS: Thanks. I added my location (Netherlands) and my website about our energy+ house (it's in Dutch): http://geen-energierekening-meer.weebly.com/

 

[misterbleepy]

The results of my test yesterday evening - I was wrong - the blowers work, but no A/C or heat :-(
I also found that I couldn't lock the door while the car was switched on and plugged into my charger. I just realised I only tried the remote lock button on the main keyfob to lock the doors (I had the 'spare' key in the ignition) - I didn't try using a physical key in the door lock.

 

[PV1]

That's too bad, but kind of what I suspected all along.

The physical key will lock the door with the other one in the ignition as long as all door are closed. If any door is open, the i-MiEV will auto-unlock all the doors if you attempt to lock the driver's door whether you push the lock button on the door or manually move the lock indicator by the handle.

 

[sandange]

If you had a diesel heater installed , and got the fan running, you could get the cabin warmed up

 

[misterbleepy]

If you had a diesel heater installed , and got the fan running, you could get the cabin warmed up

or I could just run an extension lead outside and chuck a 3Kw domestic fan heater in there for a while.
My EVSE has to have its own separate circuit from the distribution box (that's what the wiring regulations for an external EVSE states), which is a pain, as it would be nice to have an outdoor socket where the EVSE is, and that would make running a fan heater in the car even easier. I could even have a mains hookup thing fitted to the car, feeding a regular socket inside, to plug the heater into.