Help....on a road trip and transmission is slipping at take off

I agree that makes sense, however with the hot temperatures that in many parts of the country have experienced it would be extremely foolish to forego AC for whatever reason and risk damaging the HV battery.

 

But i don't think the battery lets the air that cools it outside of the car so you couldn't force air with out the HV fan running. It would be like setting a open jar in the back seat and saying you are cooling the inside of the jar better with ouside air instead of using rec. Maybe an expert can chime in but i think gen iii does not work the same way as older models.

 

There are exhaust vents on both lower rear sides of the back of the car.

 

I don't follow the logic. Isn't the HV battery cooled by blowing cabin air through the vent next to the backseat that has a dedicated fan. Once cabin air is cooler than outside air, won't running the A/C in the RECIRC mode provide cool cabin air drawn past the HV battery vent more efficiently? What am I missing?

 

Even in this ~100F Dallas heat, when not on the highway (i.e. in stop and go traffic under 40MPH), I refuse to use the AC. I am sure if the operating temperature reaches unsustainable levels, I'll get a notice on the dash.

 

Only if it seriously overheats; to the point where it's getting dangerous. Before it gets to that point, it will run the engine more and use friction brakes more (so that engine power is always immediately available, and so that the battery is used minimally - charging and discharging the battery causes it to heat up). Since the car will prevent the battery from generating more heat, it's not likely to ever get to the point where you get a message, unless there's something really wrong (like a blocked vent).

On the other hand, a battery will always be happiest around room temperature - 60s to 80s or so. Going outside that range won't cause any immediate danger or damage, but frequently being far outside of it may reduce the battery's performance over time. You probably won't have to replace the battery just because of it, but you might have to replace it a few months or a year earlier (assuming it would have gone bad anyway). So I don't sweat it too much when it gets hot and I decide to run the A/C for a while. But I do avoid using it when it's not necessary.