Lightning cold weather driving tips direct from Darren Palmer, VP of Electric Vehicle Programs

Peter P · Dec 22, 2022

Saw this posted up at Macheforum.com and thought it was helpful, especially since it's directly from Darren Palmer.

On Tom's YouTube channel, yes focused on the Lightning, but they basically talk about both vehicles in Darren's segment, some big takeaways for me:

If you know you're leaving at some point in the day but not sure when, still set a precondition time for when electricity is cheap, the car will barely lose any of that precondition even hours later and will make a big impact on your range.
Expanded info is coming as far as "Where did my energy go"
They are looking at a more efficient heat pump type solution for down the road
Even more cool updates/changes are coming to the vehicles
They keep an eye out and talk to customers all the time about how the vehicles are being used.

Here is the part where they start talking about preconditioning , but the whole Darren part is great:

ddbrooke · Dec 22, 2022

I too watched that video. Tom is one of the best YouTubers out there. No BS. I commented to the post about Darren's recommendation that you set a departure time anytime you are plugged in at home even if you don't know when you will be leaving. I said to Tom, this is an important bit of info that hasn't been articulated anywhere I've seen. If it's true, it's a really important thing to expand on. Why wasn't that one of the bullet points in the email Ford sent out to try to educate owners about cold weather driving?
I'm hoping Tom follows up on it since he mentioned before Darren came on that he rarely sets a departure time.
Maybe someone with a scanner hooked up to their truck will be able to confirm if this is true. That is if you can see battery temps.

greenne · Dec 22, 2022

ddbrooke said:
I too watched that video. Tom is one of the best YouTubers out there. No BS. I commented to the post about Darren's recommendation that you set a departure time anytime you are plugged in at home even if you don't know when you will be leaving. I said to Tom, this is an important bit of info that hasn't been articulated anywhere I've seen. If it's true, it's a really important thing to expand on. Why wasn't that one of the bullet points in the email Ford sent out to try to educate owners about cold weather driving?
I'm hoping Tom follows up on it since he mentioned before Darren came on that he rarely sets a departure time.
Maybe someone with a scanner hooked up to their truck will be able to confirm if this is true. That is if you can see battery temps.

I think there is some confusion over cabin preconditioning vs battery preconditioning. My understanding is cabin preconditioning(i.e. HVAC, heated seats, heated steering wheel) can be done either thru the departure time OR by simply starting the truck via the app a few minutes prior to departure. This occurs whether the truck is plugged in OR not.

It is my understanding the battery preconditioning DOES NOT occur if the the truck is unplugged. The truck will heat the battery minimally to prevent any damage(using battery power to do so) but will NOT heat the battery to optimal operating temperature(to preserve range) like it does when plugged in preconditioning.

Given this situation..if you aren't plugged in there is minimal incentive other than comfort to set a departure time.

I do have a departure time so the truck is comfortable and ready to go, but like Tom I don't plug up every night so there is minimal impact if I didn't set a departure time.

ddbrooke · Dec 22, 2022

greenne said:
I think there is some confusion over cabin preconditioning vs battery preconditioning. My understanding is cabin preconditioning(i.e. HVAC, heated seats, heated steering wheel) can be done either thru the departure time OR by simply starting the truck via the app a few minutes prior to departure. This occurs whether the truck is plugged in OR not.

It is my understanding the battery preconditioning DOES NOT occur if the the truck is unplugged. The truck will heat the battery minimally to prevent any damage(using battery power to do so) but will NOT heat the battery to optimal operating temperature(to preserve range) like it does when plugged in preconditioning.

Given this situation..if you aren't plugged in there is minimal incentive other than comfort to set a departure time.

I do have a departure time so the truck is comfortable and ready to go, but like Tom I don't plug up every night so there is minimal impact if I didn't set a departure time.

Yes, Darren Palmer was talking about being plugged in and setting a departure time. That fits with the Ford recommendation that you keep the truck plugged in all the time if you can't keep in a garage in sub freezing temperatures.

I don't have a garage the truck will fit in so I will plug it in every night when temperatures are below freezing. I think it's common knowledge that setting a departure time is the only way to precondition the battery. Remote start only heats the cab.

Here is where the comment from Darren adds a new wrinkle. He says you should set your precondition to say 6:30am regardless when you may get in and drive. He implies that the battery will stay warm for several hours thereby giving you the benefit of preconditioning without stressing about your actual departure time.

greenne · Dec 22, 2022

ddbrooke said:
Yes, Darren Palmer was talking about being plugged in and setting a departure time. That fits with the Ford recommendation that you keep the truck plugged in all the time if you can't keep in a garage in sub freezing temperatures.

I don't have a garage the truck will fit in so I will plug it in every night when temperatures are below freezing. I think it's common knowledge that setting a departure time is the only way to precondition the battery. Remote start only heats the cab.

Here is where the comment from Darren adds a new wrinkle. He says you should set your precondition to say 6:30am regardless when you may get in and drive. He implies that the battery will stay warm for several hours thereby giving you the benefit of preconditioning without stressing about your actual departure time.

There is preconditioning when plugged in and "preconditioning" when it isn't plugged in. I don't think Ford has advertised the distinction between the two.

I respect both Darren and Tom, but the point hasn't been made clear that if you are not plugged in, "preconditioning" (through departure time) doesn't really do anything other than cabin comfort.

Just like I don't leave my cell phone on the charger past 100%, I don't like to leave my truck on a charger unattended overnight. Too many documented instances of the truck charging past thresholds all the way to 100%. Also not keen on pumping 48-80A (continuous load) for hours on end while sleeping. Not worth the risk if I don't need the range, IMO.

LightningShow · Dec 22, 2022

His comment that the battery loses 1 degree per hour seems a little questionable. I totally agree that it's probably pretty well conditioned for a few hours but 1 degree per hour is an extremely small heat loss.

Maxx · Dec 22, 2022

A manual preconditioning button in the app and in the truck for battery would be nice. If you are approaching a DCFC with a cold battery, you may want to get ready for that without having to put it in truck's navigation. Even if I left my truck plugged in, I don't go out every morning and I don't always know which days I do. wasting energy on days that I won't go out is not cool. Having the schedule to be the only way to preheat the battery does not make much sense to me. I am not sure if it is already there or not but I want to see the actual temperature of the battery in numbers with some documentation on it's impact on battery health and performance at different temps.

Palmer says we don't want to tell people just do this and do that with no explanation why. If that is true, we got some work to do. We need more details and more control on the interface of the truck and the app.

skyak · Dec 22, 2022

Would be nice to have on the app:

- A cabin condition button where you could select settings for steering wheel, seats and cabin temp. Hit the button 5 minutes before you leave.

- A battery preconditioning button that you could select if the truck is plugged in. Hit the button when you get up in the morning.

Pioneer74 · Dec 22, 2022

I just want my heated steering wheel to work after preconditioning,

Please, Ford. Preform a Christmas miracle. (2022)

rdr854 · Dec 22, 2022

Pioneer74 said:
I just want my heated steering wheel to work after preconditioning,

Please, Ford. Preform a Christmas miracle. (2022)

I talked to your boss. He said, “Bah, hum bug.”

Wishing you and yours a merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and safe new year.

nanohead · Dec 22, 2022

Pioneer74 said:
I just want my heated steering wheel to work after preconditioning,

Please, Ford. Preform a Christmas miracle. (2022)

Heck, I just want my heated steering wheel period! They deleted mine, and just hoping it gets installed at a later date....

Lightning cold weather driving tips direct from Darren Palmer, VP of Electric Vehicle Programs

Peter P

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ddbrooke

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greenne

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ddbrooke

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greenne

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