activate auxilary climate control and some more AC questions

[zsoltmag]

I purchased my i3 with automatic Air conditioner and with heat pump.

When I press the stop button I get the options to set the departure time etc. but at the very bottom of the screen I get an option to "activate auxilary climate control". As far as I'm aware of, I have only one air conditioner device in my car, or am I wrong? Why the "auxiliary" word?

What happens if I mark the checkbox, is that the climate control switches on. But if I lock the car, then it switches off. So I think the idea is that if you switch the car off and stay in it, then you have the option to have it on the preset temperature, is that it?

Then we come to AC and heating, first I would make a separation here, am I right saying that the "climate control" is the device used to maintain the set temperature in the car, using either external air or air preconditioned with AC. As with "normal" cars, the AC has to be on only for cooling but not for heating, it seems that the heat pump heats even if the AC is off, am I correct?

Finally, what does it mean when the symbols on the temperature setting dial are white or orange? Sometimes they are white, and sometimes orange, and I did not figure out yet why is that. I think when the care is in drive mode then they are white, when it is in operate mode then they are orange, why is that?

Thanks for all the inputs,

Zsolt

 

[stumbledotcom]

The Auxiliary Climate Control option keeps the system running for up to 30 minutes when the vehicle is parked. Particularly nice on sunny days because the interior stays cool (or warm) if say you're popping into a store for just a few minutes. Yes, using it will reduce range but it probably takes less power to keep the interior at temperature than starting all over again.

I haven't quite worked out how the heat pump reacts to the AC button when it's cold enough to require heat, mainly because it hasn't been cold enough here to require heat just yet.

 

[jackt]

I think auxiliary is a bad german translation, it just switches on the HVAC without needing to power the whole drivetrain.

The pre-conditioning temperature is determined internal based on your last temperature within the following 18 - 24 Celsius range, this used to be documented in the iPhone app manual but I can no longer find this.

Orange vs White dial, it puzzled me too for a while but I think its purely based on ambient light, when it gets dark it goes red/orange to match the rest of the instrumentation and be less distracting in night driving. I don't think it reflects any internal state of the HVAC system.