Preconditioning & charging planner

[CHP]

the porsche navigation plans your trip. it tries to bring you as fast as possible to your destination. you just enter your destination like in any other navigation and it considers preferred charging network, availability, speed of chargers as well as weather and traffic. as you drive it will try to prepare the battery for charging. focusing on cooling as fast charging heats the battery very fast.

That's how I use it currently. Just wondered about precondition as mentioned by others here. My take, you can program precondition but car wouldn't know if its a short or longer drive.

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[CHP]

The discussion is this, if it is colder and your car is outside and has a battery temperature that is 15C or lower your charging time is not just a few minutes longer but will take around 2x longer or about 10 minutes when charging from 10 to 60%, more over if you are on a roadtrip and it is colder your battery does not really heat up if you are not using the Porsche Navigation, even if a charging stop will heat up the battery it will not be enough if you do not charge to 80% … Which I typically never do, the Porsche Navigation will almost never charge that high …

The problem I and some other people had was that we thought the battery at 10 to 15C was more then ok, and in my case I used Apple CarPlay with Maps … and that Will add 10 minutes to a stop, no problem when with the family, but I also take trips with friends where we typically take short stops and then the extra charging becomes an issue.
The fast charging the night before + slow charging during the night, brings the battery closer to optimal temperature and will save you some energy, but will probably have not that much of an impact … it’s just an extra optimization I do if I have the time and my car has low enough SOC to generate enough heat during charging …

So in your case it is pretty simple, charge to 100% and pre condition the cabin, you can not pre condition the battery with this, it’s only the cabin …
When you start driving do use the Porsche Navigation immediately so that the system has enough time to heat the battery. You’ll be ok.

Ok, thank you. Like to think it's a missed opportunity from Porsche. They should add functionality to precondition battery. Range in winter is significantly lower thus requiring more stops on longer drives. Guess, your preconditioning doesn't work for return from ski trip

 

[Yves]

An example of how the PCM Nav will try to keep charging time low, in summer it is even lower and most stops are 10 minutes … keeping the SOC between 10 and 60%

 

[CHP]

An example of how the PCM Nav will try to keep charging time low, in summer it is even lower and most stops are 10 minutes … keeping the SOC between 10 and 60%

Just checked. App is significantly inferior to PCM. Lots of settings missing in app.

 

[Yves]

Just checked. App is significantly inferior to PCM. Lots of settings missing in app.

Like?

 

[Yves]

Ok, thank you. Like to think it's a missed opportunity from Porsche. They should add functionality to precondition battery. Range in winter is significantly lower thus requiring more stops on longer drives. Guess, your preconditioning doesn't work for return from ski trip

Good point, in my iX I can even pre condition the battery from the App, it took them some years to implement, but it really is a game changer in winter and gives you 5 to 10% extra range back as a battery on temperature can hold more energie and has lower internal resistance …

 

[CHP]

Like?

Sorry, overlooked charing tap on app. All good.

 

[Petzi]

Good point, in my iX I can even pre condition the battery from the App, it took them some years to implement, but it really is a game changer in winter and gives you 5 to 10% extra range back as a battery on temperature can hold more energie and has lower internal resistance …

not possible
In any case, this assumption cannot be stated as such. This whole discussion is only about a few minutes more or less. But to prove this "scientifically," the following test setup would have to be chosen:

Departure at outside temperature X, with charge level Y, distance to charging station Z. (Must be the same for all tests) Once with Porsche Charging Planner, once without. And once with "sport plus" (preconditioning is ALWAYS "on" here).

This should be repeated 10 times. I would be very grateful to @Yves for conducting this experiment. Until then, I would be very happy if this unnecessary discussion would end.

 

[Yves]

not possible

2% not needed to pre condition battery on route
3% more energy content in the battery when you have a 25C battery instead of 7C
1% less cabin heating needed as it is already on temp.

so at least 6%, the internal resistance is hard to know/calculate, but should be at least 1%


you loose about 20 to 25% in total so if you can win back a little bit …

 

[Petzi]

2% not needed to pre condition battery on route
3% more energy content in the battery when you have a 25C battery instead of 7C
1% less cabin heating needed as it is already on temp.

so at least 6%, the internal resistance is hard to know/calculate, but should be at least 1%

so what ?


In any case, this assumption cannot be stated as such. This whole discussion is only about a few minutes more or less. But to prove this "scientifically," the following test setup would have to be chosen:

Departure at outside temperature X, with charge level Y, distance to charging station Z. (Must be the same for all tests) Once with Porsche Charging Planner, once without. And once with "sport plus" (preconditioning is ALWAYS "on" here).

This should be repeated 10 times. I would be very grateful to @Yves for conducting this experiment. Until then, I would be very happy if this unnecessary discussion would end.

The central question here, which nobody can answer reliably: Energy consumption of heating the battery versus gain in charging speed with a warm Battery.

My Porsche Guy told me that porsche decided that its not worth it.

 

[Yves]

so what ?


In any case, this assumption cannot be stated as such. This whole discussion is only about a few minutes more or less. But to prove this "scientifically," the following test setup would have to be chosen:

Departure at outside temperature X, with charge level Y, distance to charging station Z. (Must be the same for all tests) Once with Porsche Charging Planner, once without. And once with "sport plus" (preconditioning is ALWAYS "on" here).

This should be repeated 10 times. I would be very grateful to @Yves for conducting this experiment. Until then, I would be very happy if this unnecessary discussion would end.

I just asked ChatGPT as a sanity check … I was pretty spot on, but the advantage shrinks on longer drives … but still there:

1. What the iX 50 is doing in the cold

• Your iX 50 has a ~105 kWh usable battery and an advanced thermal management system with a heat pump and battery preconditioning. InsideEVs+1
• At cool temps (around 7°C), EVs usually lose range because:
  • The battery is colder → higher internal resistance, slightly worse efficiency.
  • A lot of energy goes into heating the cabin and warming the pack.
• With a heat pump, modern EVs see much smaller winter penalties; heat pumps alone can improve cold-weather range by around 8–10% in sub-zero conditions. The Verge

At 7°C, you’re in “mild winter” territory: not nearly as bad as 0 / −10°C, but still enough that HVAC + cold battery cost you a noticeable chunk of range.

2. What preheating actually changes
Assuming you preheat while plugged in:

a) Cabin preheat

• The worst energy hit is the initial warm-up from 7°C cabin to ~21–22°C.
• If that warm-up comes from the grid, then once you start driving the car mostly just maintains temperature, which costs less power than heating from cold.
• On short trips (15–30 minutes), that initial warm-up can easily be a few kWh, which is a big share of the trip energy.

b) Battery preheat

• Warming the pack closer to its optimal temp reduces:
  • Internal losses
  • Regen limitations
• On a longer drive, the battery would warm up anyway, but:
  • Without preheat: the first 20–30 minutes are less efficient.
  • With preheat: you avoid that high-loss phase coming out of the traction battery.

If preheat is from the wall, you’ve shifted some of the thermal energy off-board, so the battery’s entire charge is more available for driving.

3. Rough range gains in real numbers
Let’s use simple, realistic numbers for a 7°C day:

• Typical iX 50 consumption at 20°C motorway: say 20 kWh/100 km (example).
• At 7°C with no preconditioning, you might be around 22–23 kWh/100 km on a mixed trip — mainly due to cabin heating and cold pack.
• With good preconditioning, that might drop closer to 21–22 kWh/100 km for the same drive.

That’s roughly this kind of improvement:

• From 23 → 21 kWh/100 km = about +9.5% range
• From 22 → 21 kWh/100 km = about +4.5% range

So 5–10% extra range is a sensible expectation at 7°C if:

• You preheat cabin & battery while plugged in, and
• Your drive is long enough that you’re actually using that stored energy (say 30–90 minutes).

4. How it varies by trip length
Very short trips (≤15 min):

• Heating overhead dominates.
• Preheating can easily give you 10–20% better effective range vs. hopping in cold and blasting the heater from the battery.

Medium trips (30–90 min):

• Expect roughly 5–10% range gain from preheating cabin + pack.

Long motorway drives (2–3+ hours):

• Once everything is warm, the difference shrinks.
• You may only see ~3–5% range benefit versus no preconditioning.

5. Simple rule of thumb for your iX 50 at ~7°C
If you’re plugged in and:

• Use app or car timer to preheat cabin + battery to departure
• Don’t overdo cabin temp (e.g. 20–21°C, use seat/steering heaters)

Plan on ~5–10% more range compared with just unplugging and driving off cold.

If you tell me:

• Typical trip length (e.g. 10 km commute vs 200 km motorway),
• Usual speed profile (city vs highway),

I can plug in more concrete kWh/100 km numbers and show you what that means in actual km gained for your specific usage.

 

[Petzi]

I just asked ChatGPT as a sanity check … I was pretty spot on, but the advantage shrinks on longer drives … but still there:

1. What the iX 50 is doing in the cold

• Your iX 50 has a ~105 kWh usable battery and an advanced thermal management system with a heat pump and battery preconditioning. InsideEVs+1
• At cool temps (around 7°C), EVs usually lose range because:
  • The battery is colder → higher internal resistance, slightly worse efficiency.
  • A lot of energy goes into heating the cabin and warming the pack.
• With a heat pump, modern EVs see much smaller winter penalties; heat pumps alone can improve cold-weather range by around 8–10% in sub-zero conditions. The Verge

At 7°C, you’re in “mild winter” territory: not nearly as bad as 0 / −10°C, but still enough that HVAC + cold battery cost you a noticeable chunk of range.

2. What preheating actually changes
Assuming you preheat while plugged in:

a) Cabin preheat

• The worst energy hit is the initial warm-up from 7°C cabin to ~21–22°C.
• If that warm-up comes from the grid, then once you start driving the car mostly just maintains temperature, which costs less power than heating from cold.
• On short trips (15–30 minutes), that initial warm-up can easily be a few kWh, which is a big share of the trip energy.

b) Battery preheat

• Warming the pack closer to its optimal temp reduces:
  • Internal losses
  • Regen limitations
• On a longer drive, the battery would warm up anyway, but:
  • Without preheat: the first 20–30 minutes are less efficient.
  • With preheat: you avoid that high-loss phase coming out of the traction battery.

If preheat is from the wall, you’ve shifted some of the thermal energy off-board, so the battery’s entire charge is more available for driving.

3. Rough range gains in real numbers
Let’s use simple, realistic numbers for a 7°C day:

• Typical iX 50 consumption at 20°C motorway: say 20 kWh/100 km (example).
• At 7°C with no preconditioning, you might be around 22–23 kWh/100 km on a mixed trip — mainly due to cabin heating and cold pack.
• With good preconditioning, that might drop closer to 21–22 kWh/100 km for the same drive.

That’s roughly this kind of improvement:

• From 23 → 21 kWh/100 km = about +9.5% range
• From 22 → 21 kWh/100 km = about +4.5% range

So 5–10% extra range is a sensible expectation at 7°C if:

• You preheat cabin & battery while plugged in, and
• Your drive is long enough that you’re actually using that stored energy (say 30–90 minutes).

4. How it varies by trip length
Very short trips (≤15 min):

• Heating overhead dominates.
• Preheating can easily give you 10–20% better effective range vs. hopping in cold and blasting the heater from the battery.

Medium trips (30–90 min):

• Expect roughly 5–10% range gain from preheating cabin + pack.

Long motorway drives (2–3+ hours):

• Once everything is warm, the difference shrinks.
• You may only see ~3–5% range benefit versus no preconditioning.

5. Simple rule of thumb for your iX 50 at ~7°C
If you’re plugged in and:

• Use app or car timer to preheat cabin + battery to departure
• Don’t overdo cabin temp (e.g. 20–21°C, use seat/steering heaters)

Plan on ~5–10% more range compared with just unplugging and driving off cold.

If you tell me:

• Typical trip length (e.g. 10 km commute vs 200 km motorway),
• Usual speed profile (city vs highway),

I can plug in more concrete kWh/100 km numbers and show you what that means in actual km gained for your specific usage.

The important quote here:

"Assuming you preheat while plugged in"

but you started this whole discussion in claiming that your car is parked outside, low charge, cold and you have to fast charge soon.

 

[Yves]

so what ?


In any case, this assumption cannot be stated as such. This whole discussion is only about a few minutes more or less. But to prove this "scientifically," the following test setup would have to be chosen:

Departure at outside temperature X, with charge level Y, distance to charging station Z. (Must be the same for all tests) Once with Porsche Charging Planner, once without. And once with "sport plus" (preconditioning is ALWAYS "on" here).

This should be repeated 10 times. I would be very grateful to @Yves for conducting this experiment. Until then, I would be very happy if this unnecessary discussion would end.

The central question here, which nobody can answer reliably: Energy consumption of heating the battery versus gain in charging speed with a warm Battery.

My Porsche Guy told me that porsche decided that its not worth it.

Your Porsche guy just now’s jack, every person I have spoken to in dealerships knows just a fraction of what I know. For the last 10 years I’ve watched every YT movie, driven and tested over a dozen EV’s and done countless tests over and over again …

Why stop a discussion, as long as we can challenge each other and gain new insights.
But I get it, some people cannot stand critique on their favorite brand, well I do not see it is critique and hope some Porsche engineers follow these discussions and make a better product …

The BMW engineers follow these fora, the manual pre heating battery both in car and app are from feedback of users like you and me …

 

[Yves]

The important quote here:

"Assuming you preheat while plugged in"

but you started this whole discussion in claiming that your car is parked outside, low charge, cold and you have to fast charge soon.

No I stated I DC charge to 70% and charge the car to 100% on AC, it is outside so if I do none of that my battery is very cold as AC charging alone does not heat the battery …

I do agree that the fast charge the night before is not that dramatic, but I do it as I like to optimize to the max.

Also I want to have reliable 270kw charging ones on route as it halves my stop times as I mostly charge from 10 to 60% …

 

[Petzi]

No I stated I DC charge to 70% and charge the car to 100% on AC, it is outside so if I do none of that my battery is very cold as AC charging alone does not heat the battery …

I do agree that the fast charge the night before is not that dramatic, but I do it as I like to optimize to the max.

Also I want to have reliable 270kw charging ones on route as it halves my stop times as I mostly charge from 10 to 60% …

thats all ok. but i do not understand: „I DC charge to 70% and charge the car to 100% on AC, it is outside so if I do none of that my battery is very cold“
you go to a fastcharger, charge to 70% than drive home, park on the street and charge to 100% with AC? this would not make much sense.
anyways when you leave with 100%, use the charging planner, you will have a perfect battery temp for your next charging 3 hours later.
the point exactly is that this is very complicated and not very significant at the same time.
thats why porsche researched this for many years now und came to conclusions. oneof this conclusions must be that we get better results if the cars computer calculates whats most efficient.

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