Renault Group

Pre-conditioning and your electric car’s range

20 February 2019
3 min
The electric vehicles from Renault’s Z.E. line enjoy the benefits of technological innovations that help optimise the energy required for their operation and propulsion. As proof, consider pre-conditioning: an essential feature during cold weather.
by Renault Group

What is pre-conditioning exactly?

Temperature pre-conditioning is a technical advance that comes with the Renault ZOE, Kangoo Z.E. and Master Z.E. It’s a convenient feature that allows you to program the heating or cooling of your car before you set out. What is the main advantage of
pre-conditioning, especially during cold weather? It helps optimise the amount of energy stored by your electric car while ensuring that its interior is warm and comfortable as soon as you turn the key.

How does it work?

It’s very easy to use climate pre-conditioning. For pre-conditioning to work as effectively as possible, the electric motor must be switched off and the vehicle locked. Check that the battery is charged more than 45%, as it is required for the feature to be activated.

You can program the pre-conditioning settings at least 2 hours before your departure either from your smartphone, thanks to the My Z.E. app, or by using your vehicle’s hands-free card (remote control Renault card). You will know that you’ve successfully set the feature when the hazard lights and repeating side lamps come on for three seconds, as well as the indicators for the climate control system’s AC and AUTO buttons.

Pre-conditioning: what’s the point?

The advantage of pre-conditioning is that you can get behind the wheel of a car that is already heated or air-conditioned.
What happens is, 30 minutes before your departure time, the pre-conditioning system goes off in order to bring the interior to a comfortable temperature of 20-21°C by the time you are ready to hit the road. If the car is plugged in during this process, the advantage is even greater: the energy required to reach a comfortable temperature comes from the grid, so the energy stored in the battery isn’t touched. You can start the day with your battery at 100% and without the need to crank your heating or air conditioning to the max, both of which are quite energy intensive. Thus your thermal comfort goes hand-in-hand with increased range.

To maximise the range of your Renault electric car for everyday use, whatever the season, you can also use the “ECO” mode which impacts your acceleration, speed and braking, and you can take advantage of regenerative braking, an energy recovery system that converts kinetic energy into electric to feed your car’s battery.

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