What does Departure Time mean?

Explanation

Departure time is a smart scheduling feature where you tell your car when you want to leave, and it figures out the rest. The car calculates when to start charging so the battery reaches your set charge limit right on time. It may also heat or cool the cabin and defrost the windows so everything is ready when you walk out the door.

This is especially useful in winter. Instead of remote-starting the climate while the car is still on battery power (which reduces your range), departure time uses grid power while the car is plugged in. Your car is warm, the windows are clear, and the battery is full, all without spending stored battery energy on heating.

You set departure time in your car's infotainment system or phone app. Some cars let you set different departure times for weekdays and weekends. The feature works best with home charging where the car is consistently plugged in overnight. It is less useful at public chargers where you want to charge as fast as possible.

Where you'll see this

• On your car dashboard
• In charging network apps

Common confusion

Departure time and scheduled charging are not the same thing. Departure time works backward from when you need the car. Scheduled charging works forward from when you want charging to begin.

Example

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