How do you charge for a trip?

[vsansal]

Depending on charger availability and how far you are traveling, usually there is no reason to charge to 100% even for long distance travel. The best way to plan your long distance travel is to aim for a charger you can travel using 80% or so battery to give yourself buffer, arrive between 5-10% state of charge down from 90% and charge only enough to go to the next charger which should be around 60-70% state of charge and repeat until you reach your destination. Stoping more frequently and charging for shorter period of time with higher charge speeds will save you time overall compared to trying to charge up to 90% on each stop. It's also more relaxing to stop more frequently. That works better for me at least. It is also better for the battery longevity.

Sponsored

 

[Deleted member 9341]

yep, so many get caught up in this somehow 'damaging' the battery by charging to 100%...well, I for one will charging to 100% every day, I could care less about whether anyone says that you should do something different. My truck is to be used, and I want the full battery when I leave. Period. Easy, too, just plug in and forget about it.

I've owned several EVs and have never had not a single issue keeping them full charged every day.

I’ve been charging my cars (3 different ones) to 100% for 6 years and have yet to have any noticeable issues. Not to say I didn’t move on to the the next one before anything cropped up, but I never saw any problems arise.

 

[jefro]

All I can say is don't pass up a known working location if next is near limit.

Almost all DC chargers will stop at 75-80% at least around here. You can usually get them going again but very time intensive.

 

[SmoothJ]

Topping up to 100% a few hours before leaving is fine. Just don't do it daily.

100% is not 100%. I think we determined there is a 3.5% difference between what we see and the actual SoC.

 

[RickLightning]

Depending on charger availability and how far you are traveling, usually there is no reason to charge to 100% even for long distance travel. The best way to plan your long distance travel is to aim for a charger you can travel using 80% or so battery to give yourself buffer, arrive between 5-10% state of charge down from 90% and charge only enough to go to the next charger which should be around 60-70% state of charge and repeat until you reach your destination. Stoping more frequently and charging for shorter period of time with higher charge speeds will save you time overall compared to trying to charge up to 90% on each stop. It's also more relaxing to stop more frequently. That works better for me at least. It is also better for the battery longevity.

I disagree with this advice. Multiple reasons.

1) Charging at home is almost always cheaper than on the road.
2) Charging to 100% at home before you leave gives you about an hour more range on that first leg.
3) Charging to 100% at a hotel on the trip accomplishes both #1 (it's usually free) and #2.
4) Charging more often may in fact cost you more time, not less. Getting off the highway, going through X stop lights to get to the chargers, and then charging speed. Charging to 80% is the fastest charging, 80 to 90% slows down quite a bit.
5) Stopping more is not more relaxing for many, and can dramatically lengthen your trip.

 

[Maquis]

It does for the reasons I listed earlier, though if you choose to not value those, that's up to you. If departure time has no basis on charging schedule, Ford should not use phrases like "it plans to finish charging and heat or cool the cabin before the departure time." If they did not insert "finish charging" in the description for departure times, I'd know that Ford did not implement this feature and this thread would not be necessary.

“Finish before” doesn’t mean “finish immediately before”. 6 hours before is still “before.”

 

[vsansal]

I disagree with this advice. Multiple reasons.

1) Charging at home is almost always cheaper than on the road.
2) Charging to 100% at home before you leave gives you about an hour more range on that first leg.
3) Charging to 100% at a hotel on the trip accomplishes both #1 (it's usually free) and #2.
4) Charging more often may in fact cost you more time, not less. Getting off the highway, going through X stop lights to get to the chargers, and then charging speed. Charging to 80% is the fastest charging, 80 to 90% slows down quite a bit.
5) Stopping more is not more relaxing for many, and can dramatically lengthen your trip.

You do realize you are talking about 10% charge difference. The cost savings is pretty insignificant, and no it wont give you an hour more range by charging to 100% vs 90%. For extended range, 10% is about 13kWh and with highways speeds you are using 1.8-2 miles per kWh so best case scenario you are getting another 25 or so miles. Unless you are driving 25 mph, you will only get about 20 more minutes of driving. The benefit of charging to 100% is not worth it. But hey, if you like, continue charging to 100%. it is your battery, your vehicle, your degradation.

 

[RickLightning]

You do realize you are talking about 10% charge difference. The cost savings is pretty insignificant, and no it wont give you an hour more range by charging to 100% vs 90%. For extended range, 10% is about 13kWh and with highways speeds you are using 1.8-2 miles per kWh so best case scenario you are getting another 25 or so miles. Unless you are driving 25 mph, you will only get about 20 more minutes of driving. The benefit of charging to 100% is not worth it. But hey, if you like, continue charging to 100%. it is your battery, your vehicle, your degradation.

First, charging to 80%, not 90%, is the fastest with DC charging. That's 20% of your battery as compared to 80%.

Second, read the manual. It clearly tells you that you can charge to 100% for a trip. And, since Ford reserves some of the battery, it's not 100%.

But you do you.

 

[vsansal]

First, charging to 80%, not 90%, is the fastest with DC charging. That's 20% of your battery as compared to 80%.

Second, read the manual. It clearly tells you that you can charge to 100% for a trip. And, since Ford reserves some of the battery, it's not 100%.

But you do you.

I never said charge to 90% on dc fast charging. I actually said the opposite and it has nothing to do with your statement. You said, "Charging to 100% at home before you leave gives you about an hour more range on that first leg." which is inaccurate and I pointed that out. Again the benefit of charging to 100% vs 90% on the initial leg is 20 mins or so. Yes you can charge to 100% if you really need it. I guess saving 20 minutes and $3 in electric savings outweighs the battery degradation for you. Like I said, go ahead and charge to 100% as much as you like. To me there is no benefit doing that. It is very bad for battery to charge to 100% especially in hot temperatures.

 

[jefro]

I've taken a few regional travels in DC fast charge cars. While Tesla's are currently the best for regional and interstate that doesn't mean others can't be used.

I agree that you can charge cheaper usually at home and on departure set to 100% and pre-condition if possible. Plan your route well in advance and take note of current posting at DC sites. Just because EA said on their app the station is up, trust me, it may not be. Stations can have a line in waiting.

Until there are EV chargers like there are gas stations it will be a cautious travel.

 

[regentscholar]

Once you hit your charge window today, simply click on Charge to 100% and the truck will do that.

Or, you can simply tell it right now to charge to 100%.

Set a departure window to condition the battery (not needed in summer) and precool the car. Or, do a remote start 5 minutes before leaving.

After you leave, go delete the departure time or it will repeat in a week.

The next time you plug in, it will be back on schedule.

I don't understand the last question, but maybe... You charge to 100%, go to the store, then come home with 97% and a 90% charge limit? Nothing happens, because you are 7% above. If you want 100% again, hit Charge to 100% again.

Is it just me, or does pre-cool option not really work on the Lightning? I can remote start from the app just fine but the AC doesn't kick in to cool the cabin temp, in fact the AC doesn't really seem to work very well at all until the truck is put into Drive.

 

[RickLightning]

Do you have it set on Auto, or last setting?

 

[Jseis]

With our SR MME, the number of times I’ve needed to charge to 100% is pretty much zero and it is mostly in winter. Maybe on a 28 F winters day when I need to roll 165+ miles. And the places I need to go have charging stations. Emphasis added on the plural and more than an EA site. I’ll drop in another 15-20 KWh and call it good. As the LT has 100 miles greater range than the MME.. it’ll be interesting to see how that fits my routes (other than the work commute).

Sponsored