Heating / 240v Inverter - how long does "Ready" mode last?

3046 Views 16 Replies 7 Participants Last post by Shiny, 2 mo ago

Ross Macdougall

Discussion Starter · Jan 6, 2022

I bought an ex-demo Peugeot e-Traveller Allure in October and intend to put in a modular kitchen / storage / fold out bed utilising the original rear two seats. I'd hoped to use the HVAC system to maintain the temperature whilst camping, and the integrated 120W inverter was an added bonus though I hope to run an small induction hob so a separate inverter and / or battery storage would be required.

Due to various medical emergencies / work / Christmas I haven't been able to spend as much time looking at this as I'd like to, but it appears that the car disconnects the HV battery when in park for a (relatively) short period of time - around 10 minutes. On two occasions it lasted longer, first time was 1 hr 30 minutes when I started at 91% SOC, in ECO mode, in park, with no A/C but charging a laptop on 240v. Second time was 45 minutes when started at 83% SOC, in normal mode, in park with heating set to 18 degrees C, and a load on 240v inverter - in both these occasions, I only stopped the timer as I had to leave the car and do other things. When I tried again below 60% SOC, it only lasted 9 minutes or so, and I've been unable to replicate the previous results so I'm unable to say with certainty under what circumstances the HVAC system will run longer.

I'm slightly disappointed that ECO mode completely stops all heating, whereas on previous EVs I've owned it would only limit the performance. The dashboard gauge for the HVAC only seems to show either full (but not in the red zone) or off (ECO zone) - altering the fan speed, temperatures, or A/C doesn't make a difference other than indicating on or off. Lastly, the range guessometer also seems to be very sensitive, particularly in the tests above using HVAC whilst not travelling - with the range dropping dramatically, even if I then went to drive very economically.

Anyone bought a PSA group van or MPV with camping in mind? I assume there will be similar issues for the Spacetourer, Zafira Life since they are so closely related - don't know if there may be any firmware updates to resolve this (and if they'd be distributed to all models across the group) or a workaround... I already considered remote pre-conditioning but its a limited length of time, and doesn't enable 240v inverter (so I don't know if the DC-DC converter would top up the 12v battery if I used a separate inverter).

Any thoughts or experiences would be appreciated.

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Shiny

· #11 · Mar 15, 2022

Hi @Ross Macdougall
Are you able to answer the following questions about the heating please. Looking to buy for conversion to van.

What does "if kept in ready mode (HV battery engaged)." mean?
What is "auto soft"?
Does the heating stop if plugged in (to wall charger or mains)
I believe there are schedules but only 3 permitted if the van is not started. Can you confirm?

At the moment this seems to be the major problem to resolve

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Shiny

· #13 · Mar 31, 2022

Thanks for your reply @easternguy

So to summarise, please correct any mistakes

If I wanted to sleep overnight in the van "camping mode":

Option 1) Put the van in ready mode (not fully on), but this requires the "brake brick" (or another workaround) to stop the van from switching off
Option 2) Turn the van on and plugged in. No-one has tested this option fully (over 8 hours)
Option 3) Schedule heating to come on ? times during the night.

Options 1 and 3. May also work without hook-up (again not tested)

Would someone with a van be able to test please?

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Shiny

· #15 · Apr 1, 2022

Yes the brick trick doesn't sound like a good idea. But sleeping with the Van ON doesn't either.

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Shiny

· #17 · 2 mo ago

To summarise again (with more information), from my own experience and from @baronmax:

If I wanted to sleep overnight in the van "camping mode":

Option 1) Put the van in ready mode. (No brick required

)

This can be done via the following process. (source: Possible "camper mode" from Zero Campers in...)

Step 1) Close all doors

Step 2) Drivers seatbelt

Step 3) Turn on, into Ready mode

Step 4) Set to Neutral

Option 2) Turn ignition on and plugged in. This worked for me with T2 connection (rapid charge) but not with 240V charger (slow).

Option 3) Schedule heating to come on (4 max) times during the night.

The doors need to be locked using the button on the dash and charge has to be over 50%. And you need a mobile signal to send the message from the app via your network to the telematics module in the van and the network it uses!!.

Other notes:

ECO mode keeps only fan turning, no heating or AC.

I have tried Option 1 and 2. Option 3 depends on network availability / charge state etc

You can use Option 1, if off-grid (no access to charger). The only issue is DRL (Daylight Running Lights) are on. These can be covered up or use relay and resistors. Without following the steps the eco mode turns everything off.

Options 1 and 2, require the key to be in the ignition, and the dashboard lights on. I fitted a switch to the turn off the dashboard lights.

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