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Max HVAC power draw

Discussion in 'Prime Technical Discussion' started by pakitt, Oct 29, 2022.

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  1. pakitt

    pakitt Senior Member

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    If I turn on remotely the HVAC to heat/cool the cabin before I leave my house and the car is plugged in and fully charged, what is the max power draw (kWh) of the HVAC system? 100W? 1kW? 3kW?
    Does anybody know this or have managed to calculate or even estimate it?
     
    #1 pakitt, Oct 29, 2022
  2. ChapmanF

    ChapmanF Senior Member

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    My Gen 3 A/C compressor is variable power, from around 250 watts, up to close to 3 kW when running flat out. There's a live-data PID you can watch. I would assume the Prime heat pump is somewhere in the same ballpark.
     
    #2 ChapmanF, Oct 29, 2022
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  3. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    My old C-max has a kwh power meter for climate usage and it would peg at 5kw at max draw. For cabin conditioning, that is above L1 charging levels so L2 is needed or it also draws from the HV battery. As you may know the Prime uses a heat pump, so it should draw less than an old school resistance heater. My WAG is 3-4kw.

    FWIW
     
    #3 fotomoto, Oct 29, 2022
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  4. pakitt

    pakitt Senior Member

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    When connected at L1 charging (110V) I don't think it can pull more than the max allowed when charging, which I think is 12A, so about 1.4kW. And I doubt it combines both the energy of the battery and from the plug to pre-heat the cabin. So I guess it has to draw from the plug only (the reasonable thing to do) so I guess it should draw no more than 1.5kW.
     
    #4 pakitt, Oct 29, 2022
  5. drash

    drash Senior Member

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    Nope draws from the battery only. There is no connection from the AC/DC converter to the HVAC, only the internal DC/AC converter from the battery to the HVAC. I saw my Prime draw even more than L2 was able to resupply so definitely more than 2.7 kW the AC/DC converter was supplying to the battery. This is of course dependent on how cold/warm it is and current cabin temp.
     
    #5 drash, Oct 29, 2022
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  6. pakitt

    pakitt Senior Member

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    ahhh, that is why each time I get in it, the MFD says that the charging was stopped although it shows 100% and it had been fully charged before I pre-heated the cabin…
    So, in the end, the max draw from the plug can only be L1 level no matter what, that is 1.4kW or so.
    This helps, because my utility company charges for peak charge, and 1.4kW is well below an oven or even a vacuum cleaner…
     
    #6 pakitt, Oct 29, 2022
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