Gary Zhou 
Key Points
- 📱 Tesla offers a remote preconditioning feature via its mobile app, allowing users to preset cabin temperature.
- 🚗 This feature also warms up the vehicle’s battery, optimizing range and overall performance.
- ❄️ In cold weather, battery preconditioning helps maintain stable driving range and faster charging times.
- 🌡️ Tesla provides instructions for preconditioning, including manual pre-heating and defrosting via the app.
- 🔄 A software update prevents cold air from the HVAC system until it reaches the desired temperature.
- 🕒 Tesla’s Scheduled Departure feature manages charge level and cabin and battery temperatures automatically for scheduled departures.
- 🚗 Mobile app access with remote features, including preconditioning, is available in Hertz Tesla rentals.
- 📹 Tesla shared a video detailing the Scheduled Departure feature.
Tesla’s vehicles come with various unique features, including the ability to use the mobile app to perform several different functions remotely. In a repost of another account pointing to the ability to set cabin temperature remotely, Tesla highlighted that preconditioning will also warm up the vehicle’s battery, helping to optimize range and overall performance.
On Wednesday morning, Tesla reposted a @WholeMarsBlog post on X describing the ability to pre-set cabin temperature remotely using the mobile app when it’s hot outside, meaning owners will “never get into a car that’s too hot or too cold again.”
Tesla piggybacked on the concept, pointing out that when users remotely precondition their cars during the winter, their batteries will also be warmed to the ideal temperature to improve vehicle performance.
Battery preconditioning in cold weather can help keep a Tesla’s driving range more stable and provide quicker charging times when it’s time to charge. As Tesla explains on its website, when preconditioning the cabin while the vehicle is plugged in, the car will adjust the cabin and battery temperatures without drawing power from the battery.
Tesla offers both summer driving tips and winter driving tips on its website, and you can see the company’s instructions for winter preconditioning below:
Precondition Shortly Before Your Drive
You can manually pre-heat the cabin by activating preconditioning or defrost in the Tesla app.
Precondition: Open the Tesla app and select ‘Climate’ > ‘Turn On.’
Defrost: Open the Tesla app and select ‘Climate’ > ‘Defrost Car.’
Earlier this year, Tesla also deployed a software update with a feature that prevents air from coming out of your cabin’s HVAC system until the air is sufficiently warmed to the desired temperature. This prevents Tesla drivers from having to endure cold air when it’s already cool in the cabin, and it automatically begins blowing warm air once the system is warmed up.
In addition to manually preconditioning the cabin, Tesla details its Scheduled Departure feature, which will automatically manage your charge level and battery and cabin temperatures for the time you plan to start your day. This can also be accessed via the Tesla app within the Charging menu.
In recent weeks, mobile app access also became available in all Hertz Tesla rentals, automatically syncing driver profiles to rentals and offering remote features like preconditioning and more.
Watch a brief video from Tesla detailing the Scheduled Departure feature below.
