Traction Battery Cooler

After reading the manual I interpret it to say if the battery might be hot when charging starts turn the A/C on to cool the battery during the charge. If you know the battery will be cool because, say, you'll charge overnight it would be safe to reply no. If you'll be charging immediately and it's hot outside or will be hot outside when charging begins I would reply yes. If you're concerned the car might not charge due to the possibility of it being hot then the safe answer of course is yes.

 

I think the consensus about that option is that the folks who put it in partied too much the night before. It just doesn't make any sense. If the battery is hot when you turn off the car, it asks if you want the battery cooler to come on the next time it is charged. Which may well be your next scheduled charging session at 5am. And the option defaults to NO after a few seconds, with no way to change the default. Useless.

 

I always respond yes when I see it. Figure it can’t hurt anything.

 

I wish you could default it to yes.... It doesn't always come up, and if any passengers open the door before you respond it defaults to no....

 

Yeah it is very strange.

I think (from other previous posts/threads here) the only considerable reason why the option is there is
First, only when outdoor temp is above a certain amount 75f? or somewhere...(maybe even battery temp)
and Second, if you push yes and then plug in, it will take a good 10-20 min to cool (and delaying start of charge)
So that is major if you are waiting on that charge, or esp if you are paying for that charge.

Obviously, if you are scheduling the charge or not charging atm, the battery is cooling on its on time.

I imagine the Prime is programmed to not have the battery overheat. (shutdown, run on ICE only, etc)

 

In our climate, I rarely see the Traction Battery Cooler pop-up. My understanding is that it is there to protect the battery if the temperature of the battery is high and you try to charge it while it is still hot. But since the default is "NO" and it is often very hard to answer "YES" on time, my feeling is that the car will not allow the charge to start until the battery temp is cooler even if you do not use the Battery Cooler function. That of course makes the waiting time before the charging starts to be longer. I have never tested this hypothesis, as I almost never see the traction battery getting that hot in my climate.

If your answer to the Battery Cooler pop-up question is always NO as default or if you always ignore it, then you can turn off the pop-up from the meter customization shown below. I have all of the pop-ups turned off except the traction battery cooler, but I still hardly ever see the Battery Cooler pop-up in my climate.

 

As I understand it, the cooler won't work if you instant charge, which is weird. I would think that's when you want the cooler to operate. I think it will charge at a lower rate if the battery is too hot.


iPhone ? Pro

 

Really? I thought the cooler function is more for the "Charge Now" situation. If you are scheduling the next charge, then the traction battery will be cooled by itself. The manual says nothing bout not functioning with the "Charge Now" charging.

 

It does function with Charge Now. I’ve witnessed it several times this summer. I once parked somewhere and planned to stay for awhile and use the public L2 charger. I’d said yes to the cooler option. Unexpectedly, I had to leave early (after 30 mins—very hot day) and I discovered two things—1) my car was nice and cool inside, and 2) my battery showed a 2% SOC after 30 mins.

 

I see the message on the MID about 5 times every summer. I've missed switching the screen to Yes several times each year. My thoughts are that if the battery and cabin are hot enough to have the message displayed I want the Prime to use the A/C. If I miss switching the message to yes, I'll open the windows and sometimes wait till the outside temps go down before I'll start the charge.

Not asked about so I'll be brief, there is also a traction pack heater option that may be switch on/off in the vehicle settings on the MID. It may be in the off position by default. I switch it off in the summer and on in the winter, if for no other reason than to remember where the settings are.

 

There is a 2017 thread called "Traction battery cooler." The owners manual states that the cooler does not operate in the Charge now mode. I tried it and mine doesn't, as documented in that thread. I remember something about if there is no scheduled charge programmed, it will work. It's also possible that Toyota changed the function on the newer models. Mine is a 2017.


iPhone ? Pro

 

If it asks and you have your sweet time, say yes. Charging a battery that is cool will increase it's life. If you're in a hurry however, say no as it takes time to cool it and it won't charge until it's cool. Battery heater function will just work near/under freeze point so it makes no sense to put it to off.