Read before you order! Expect 50% range loss in winter in Northern states.

[sotek2345]

I've seen about an additional 10-15% range reduction if my Mach E is parked outside overnight and is cold-soaked vs. parked in a garage heated to 50F. The biggest difference I notice is that (if I haven't remote started or set a departure time) it takes a quite a bit longer for the cabin to get warm, especially if it is really cold (-F) outside.

After a year, I have no worries about charging indoors even though the garage is directly below the master bedroom. If that concerns you, you might want to set your charging to occur during the hours you are awake. That way you can watch the house burn down rather sleep thru it ?.

Our Mach-e does take a bit longer to heat up if it is cold soaked, but it is still MUCH MUCH faster than and ICE vehicle I have ever known. With my F150 I am usually at work before I start getting any hot air out of the vents (shorter drive, no idling before leaving).

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[beatle]

Does preconditioning heat the battery as well as the cabin?

I hope Ford does not nerf the regen in cold temperatures the way Tesla does. When the battery is below 67F, regen is reduced. This affects range when in stop and go traffic and you lose 1-pedal driving since the vehicle just sails ahead and free wheels. I park my Model S in the garage, but the F150 won't come close to fitting so it will be colder more often.

As others have said, cold range isn't a big deal for short trips, mostly longer ones. For reference, this is a temperature graph of efficiency (percentage of EPA rated range) on my 2015 Model S:

 

[vandy1981]

Does preconditioning heat the battery as well as the cabin?

Yes, the Mach-E does when plugged in. We don't have the F150 Lightning manual yet, but I assume it works the same.

 

[sotek2345]

Does preconditioning heat the battery as well as the cabin?

I hope Ford does not nerf the regen in cold temperatures the way Tesla does. When the battery is below 67F, regen is reduced. This affects range when in stop and go traffic and you lose 1-pedal driving since the vehicle just sails ahead and free wheels. I park my Model S in the garage, but the F150 won't come close to fitting so it will be colder more often.

As others have said, cold range isn't a big deal for short trips, mostly longer ones. For reference, this is a temperature graph of efficiency (percentage of EPA rated range) on my 2015 Model S:

I can answer for the Mach-e

1) Preconditioning (setting a departure time/schedule) preheats that battery and cabin - at least while plugged in. Remote starting just pre-heats the cabin.

2) Regen is NOT cut back in any way that I have observed in cold weather (at least down to ~15 below zero). You have full regen and it act and feels the same at any temperature

3)Max power is reduced on a cold soaked (or over heated) battery. On the Mach-e GT there is an instrument cluster gauge that shows you this.

 

[GolfR]

I don’t think anyone mentioned it yet but consider the range hit if towing plus the range hit for cold and you have a REAL problem. Many have speculated a max range of 100 mile when towing heavy loads, now take that and half that in the winter? This just solidifies my decision to get a powerboost.

I think one thing that people are missing here is that range anxiety and usefulness of an EV are the product of a few things. Actual range, availability of chargers, and how long it takes to charge. You may be able to get to chargers but do you really want to spends hours out of your day sitting and waiting for your truck to give you enough juice to get home. The bigger the battery the longer it takes to charge and the Lightening has one of the biggest out there. Ford also doesn’t have the charging tech that Tesla does so comparing to a Tesla at a fast charger isn’t fair.

 

[sotek2345]

I don’t think anyone mentioned it yet but consider the range hit if towing plus the range hit for cold and you have a REAL problem. Many have speculated a max range of 100 mile when towing heavy loads, now take that and half that in the winter? This just solidifies my decision to get a powerboost.

I think one thing that people are missing here is that range anxiety and usefulness of an EV are the product of a few things. Actual range, availability of chargers, and how long it takes to charge. You may be able to get to chargers but do you really want to spends hours out of your day sitting and waiting for your truck to give you enough juice to get home. The bigger the battery the longer it takes to charge and the Lightening has one of the biggest out there. Ford also doesn’t have the charging tech that Tesla does so comparing to a Tesla at a fast charger isn’t fair.

Real concerns, but they do help offset each other a bit. If you are towing a heavy load, you will be pulling more power from the battery, which will heat it up faster and reduce the cold weather impact. DC fast charging also heats the battery. The biggest (40% to 50% ) impacts of cold weather are on a cold soaked battery. Once it is warmed up, the hit reduced to closer to 20% to 25%. Reducing highway speed a bit (65 or 70 mph instead of 75-80) will also have a huge impact especially if you are towing.

All said, I do see the concern. I don't tow, so it doens't impact me or my use case for the truck at all (hauling a load in the bed has a much much smaller impact on range), but I can appreciate those it does impact.

 

[MJ Heat]

My 5.0L F-150 doesn't get me 400 miles a tank. Best case I'm getting 380.

My F150 with 3.5 ecoboost regularly gets 700+ miles per tank.

 

[gorwell]

So yes, the Lightning will have a larger aero effect than the Mach-E but this this is accounted for in the EPA highway rating

This is not "accounted" for when you start increasing speed. It's accounted for based on same test cycles. In other words, the EPA ratings don't scale / provide a dynamic range based on speed -- it has two numbers City and Highway.

The highway range tests for EPA cycles are not fast. This is the highway cycle ford likely using:

It barely goes 60mph, average speed is 48mph.

on 2-cycle (which ford used for Mach-e, so I assume the F150L), the highway range is determined by whatever they got on the highway cycle times .7 (to get a more realistic number).

2-cycle tests are not very accurate. Plus all EPA ratings take into account charging losses, so they are really guestimates. The longer 5-cycle test is more accurate (which bumps up speed and uses AC and other more real world conditions).

Driving faster in a bigger/heavier car will cause greater energy looses compared to a smaller car.

 

[sotek2345]

My F150 with 3.5 ecoboost regularly gets 700+ miles per tank.

I get under 500 miles on my 3.5 ecoboost (Raptor / 36 gallon tank). On my 2.7L with a 23 gallon tank, I used to get about 330 miles. This is using premium (91 octane) non-ethanol fuel for both.

Given my commute, I expect the ER lightning to deliver more real world range for daily use than I got in my 2.7. (city and side streets, lots of stop lights, mostly ~35mph with 1 section of 45mph driving).

 

[adoublee]

Think you’re in the wrong forum. Be sure to toss your phone on the way out, keep your power tools away from the house, oh, and park your ICE on the street.

Paul Christensen, a professor in the School of Engineering at Newcastle University in England, studies the issue of electric vehicle fires and acts as an advisor on the topic to emergency responders. “At the moment, I believe that spontaneous fires are less likely to occur in electric vehicles than they do in conventional, diesel or petrol vehicles,” he says. “But the problem we have is that the data collection has been very patchy—and we don’t have sufficient data as of yet.” “There’s so much hype around electric vehicles, when they do go up,” he adds, a problem that makes the ground truth on the issue harder to discover. He says that when focusing on “the reported incidents” on the topic, EVs do seem to have lower rates of fires.

He appears to include vehicles with starting/accessory batteries in what he will never own... Looks like he sold his Powerboost because of it.

 

[Ruination]

Still want to know if we are talking Celsius or Fahrenheit.

Also. I was informed the heating doesn't make a difference.

 

[Artificial Intelligence]

Ford should come up with heated enclosure for the battery which is powered by battery itself. Make it optional.

 

[RickLightning]

So how many of you in the midwest or colder state have a garage that you are capable of parking the lightning in? Mine will hopefully fit length wise, but it will be close. Fearful of parking inside while charging due to horror stories from other EV fires.. but will see how it goes and plan to park inside during winter months.

MME owners, do you get a BIG difference in range by parking in the garage during winter vs leaving it outside?

An unheated garage (nearly all) isn't going to make a significant difference over outside, because windchill only affects people's skin, not vehicles.

With the vehicle plugged in, when the battery temp gets too low the vehicle will pull current to warm it up. Preconditioning, which is setting a departure time, will warm the battery and the vehicle for departure. This will increase range, so it's helpful for a long drive. For a commute of 20 miles, a remote start will warm the cabin just fine, and range would not be an issue.

Even if you precondition, the battery will then cool while you drive. We preconditioned, then drove in 17 degree (F) weather, and the battery temp dropped down to 45 and stayed in the low 40s until we DC charged and it went up to 95. Then, dropped to the 60s as I recall and stayed there.

There is currently no option to heat the battery prior to DC charging while you drive, but it's supposedly coming in an update.

 

[RickLightning]

Ford should come up with heated enclosure for the battery which is powered by battery itself. Make it optional.

Makes no sense.

They are developing the capability for the battery to be warmed prior to DC charging, which will improve charging speed.

 

[sotek2345]

Ford should come up with heated enclosure for the battery which is powered by battery itself. Make it optional.

The battery is in an enclosure - that can be heated from energy stored in the battery.....Not sure what you are asking for...

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