I know that the Kona has a liquid cooled battery, but is it actively cooled when the car is off? Or does it only happen when the car is on? From my understanding, I think the Tesla batteries are actively cooled even when the car is not running. Is that correct?
I know that at least while the car is off and charging, the battery cooling system will kick in if needed.. Not sure if the same happens when the car is NOT connected to a charger.
I am sure the TMS will be active regardless driving, charging or off as it is temperature activated, however there may be some limitations at low SOC. Are you in a cold environment or a hot one?
I'm in Northern California.. so it gets hot more than cold. It sits mostly in a garage so I'd be more worried about it getting too hot during the really hot months. I think the garage probably gets up to the 90's at some point.
I would be surprised if there is any TMS activity when the car is off and not charging, especially when only in the "90s". Our friend in LV should be able to comment further.
My guess is that the main reason the batteries are cooled is because of the heat they generate, not purely ambient heat. This is why, even with its active cooling system, Tesla Model S "ludicrous" speed 0-60 can only be used a couple of times before a timeout period. There may be situations where you'd want the cooling running when the car was off and not charging, but I doubt they happen at 100F (only 38C).
My assumption is based on a paragraph written on page H5 of the user manual: "The battery capacity of the high voltage battery may decrease when the vehicle is stored in high/low temperatures" which indicates that there is active TMS when the vehicle is not in the run mode or charging. I have not found any other published documentation on this, however as you said it would have to be proven by someone owning a Kona EV in a hot ambient (or extremely cold) and witness the operation of any active TMS under those conditions. Perhaps someone in Australia or Alberta?
This will be the first summer for Australian owners. In NZ the first owners got our cars before the previous southern summer but it doesn't often exceed 35°C anyway.
