Lightning winter preparations

[Halbach]

I'm posting this in the Great Lakes section because although I live in NY, the "Tri State Area" kind of refers to NYC and east/south (to most of us in Western NY at least) and they do not have the unique winter weather that I do in the western NY snowbelt area. Now that I have a build week, it seems I need to get moving on running my charge plug and some other things sooner than I anticipated.

I'm not worried about the snow exactly, driving in a foot of it happens all the time and I've done it in both cars with barely legal tires and trucks with 4wd. Mostly, my concern is with the road salt and the cold and how people are planning on dealing with it. We use a lot of salt around here; it eats cars for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and midnight snack time. I'd like to keep my truck in as good of shape as I can and prevent that as much as possible.

That being said, has anyone undercoated their lightning or plan to? Any F150 ICE owners have a comment on how the frame is holding up to road salt after a few years? I know it is a different vehicle but I'm guessing the materials and welds are similar. I could run it through a car wash to get the salt off but that isn't very eco friendly (half of the point of me getting the vehicle) so I'm not sure what I can do about it or if it would even help.

About the cold, we'll have roughly 2 months that never get above freezing, and another 2.5 or so of definite freezing temps at night. I am thinking about leaving the lightning plugged in during the cold to prevent the battery from freezing as much as I can. I'm going to get one of those weatherproof "holsters" for the plug/cable and leave that outside and the EVSE inside the garage. Is that necesary or just "nice to do"? Obviously if I take the truck to the store and let it sit for 4 hours it will freeze, I'm assuming the will battery keep itself above a critical temperature with internal power if necessary but I'm not finding a lot of info on it. Kind of wondering how much power it will draw to warm the battery if it isn't necessary for longevity. I'm not worried about short term range reduction, I drive an average of 15-20 miles per day, but I am worried about keeping as much of my 230mile range as I can for as long as I can.

Sorry for the verbose meandering thoughts, it is a curse. Any thoughts are appreciated.

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[sotek2345]

I'm posting this in the Great Lakes section because although I live in NY, the "Tri State Area" kind of refers to NYC and east/south (to most of us in Western NY at least) and they do not have the unique winter weather that I do in the western NY snowbelt area. Now that I have a build week, it seems I need to get moving on running my charge plug and some other things sooner than I anticipated.

I'm not worried about the snow exactly, driving in a foot of it happens all the time and I've done it in both cars with barely legal tires and trucks with 4wd. Mostly, my concern is with the road salt and the cold and how people are planning on dealing with it. We use a lot of salt around here; it eats cars for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and midnight snack time. I'd like to keep my truck in as good of shape as I can and prevent that as much as possible.

That being said, has anyone undercoated their lightning or plan to? Any F150 ICE owners have a comment on how the frame is holding up to road salt after a few years? I know it is a different vehicle but I'm guessing the materials and welds are similar. I could run it through a car wash to get the salt off but that isn't very eco friendly (half of the point of me getting the vehicle) so I'm not sure what I can do about it or if it would even help.

About the cold, we'll have roughly 2 months that never get above freezing, and another 2.5 or so of definite freezing temps at night. I am thinking about leaving the lightning plugged in during the cold to prevent the battery from freezing as much as I can. I'm going to get one of those weatherproof "holsters" for the plug/cable and leave that outside and the EVSE inside the garage. Is that necesary or just "nice to do"? Obviously if I take the truck to the store and let it sit for 4 hours it will freeze, I'm assuming the will battery keep itself above a critical temperature with internal power if necessary but I'm not finding a lot of info on it. Kind of wondering how much power it will draw to warm the battery if it isn't necessary for longevity. I'm not worried about short term range reduction, I drive an average of 15-20 miles per day, but I am worried about keeping as much of my 230mile range as I can for as long as I can.

Sorry for the verbose meandering thoughts, it is a curse. Any thoughts are appreciated.

Also from NY, but in the Albany area. Not quite as much snow, but still cold and lots of salt.

For the Salt, I would be leery about undercoating the Lightning and the potential to impact the electronics. I haven't had any significant issues with any of my F150 and excessive rust except for some body rust on my 2010. Not an issue with an aluminum body. I am not planning on doing anything for that, but then I will likely only keep the truck for ~4 years or so. If you are looking to keep it longer, you may want to explore options - just do your research.

For the cold - don't overthink it. We drove our Mach-e through last winter with no issues. (note: EVs are terrific in the snow!) You will have some range reduction from the cold, but the vehicle will take care of the battery's health by itself. One great thing to do is set a departure time if you leave about the same time every day. This will have the truck preheat both the battery and the cabin using power from the house which helps keep the range up and makes things nice and comfortable.

For the EVSE, we have ours mounted outside, but we also went with one built for that for the Mach-e. We plan on doing the same with the Ford Charge Station Pro so both the wife and I can charge at the same time. We just have them under an awning to keep the worst of the snow off.

 

[VTbuckeye]

Don't worry about the battery freezing. If it is plugged in it will stay warm enough. As for a few hours in sub freezing temps. How long does it take an ice cube to freeze. The battery has a bit more surface area, but a lot more mass to cool. It is also full of ab electrolyte solution that has a freezing point lower than water. With my previous EVs and plug-in hybrid vehicles below zero temps (I think -20 sounds familiar) are required to freeze the battery and it would take greater than 24 hours to do that.
Tldr: plug in while parked at home. It will take care of itself. It will be less efficient and have reduced range.

As for the salt... Maybe rinse under the truck periodically to remove some of the salt?

 

[RickLightning]

Look underneath. There is little to undercoat. Don't do it.

Battery will care for itself. If plugged in, the truck will use house current sporadically as it needs to, usually in 15 minute spurts, and only on very cold nights. If not plugged in, battery will keep itself warm by using it's own power to run the systems to warm it.

Your 230 mile EPA range is just that, an EPA range. Your range WILL be impacted in the winter, period. Figure a drop of 30%, or more. If you set a departure time, and have the truck plugged in, you'll warm the battery and truck for the first leg of your trip. But, while driving, the battery will again cool down. And, if you run the heater, it will greatly impact range. Heated seats and heated steering wheel are much lower users of power. So, if you're getting say 2.2 miles per kWh on the highway now, 1.5 might be the winter number.

None of this will impact your battery life, you mention "keeping as much of my 230 mile range as I can for as long as I can", so that seems to reference that keeping the battery warm impacts the lifetime of the battery. That is not an issue.

 

[Halbach]

Don't worry about the battery freezing. If it is plugged in it will stay warm enough. As for a few hours in sub freezing temps. How long does it take an ice cube to freeze. The battery has a bit more surface area, but a lot more mass to cool. It is also full of ab electrolyte solution that has a freezing point lower than water.

I should have clarified perhaps, at what temperature do we start to cause damage if it was driven without prewarming. There are some days where I'm at work for 16 hours straight and the temperatures are sub zero at night. I guess I can just do donuts in the parking lot for a couple minutes to warm the battery up! As for battery temperature vs time, I'll probably experiment with that once I get mine.

 

[VTbuckeye]

I should have clarified perhaps, at what temperature do we start to cause damage if it was driven without prewarming. There are some days where I'm at work for 16 hours straight and the temperatures are sub zero at night. I guess I can just do donuts in the parking lot for a couple minutes to warm the battery up! As for battery temperature vs time, I'll probably experiment with that once I get mine.

It won't let you damage it. It may reduce power available until it warms up, but it will not be damaged. As soon as you turn it on the resistive heater will activate and the pumps will circulate the warming "coolant". You will also have reduced regenerative brake capacity until warmer. The cold battery has more internal resistance, so less flow (output or input).

 

[sotek2345]

I should have clarified perhaps, at what temperature do we start to cause damage if it was driven without prewarming. There are some days where I'm at work for 16 hours straight and the temperatures are sub zero at night. I guess I can just do donuts in the parking lot for a couple minutes to warm the battery up! As for battery temperature vs time, I'll probably experiment with that once I get mine.

There isn't one that you will experience. I wouldn't put it in a liquid nitrogen bath though! The battery systems will keep to warm enough to prevent any damage. Note - when it is very cold, you may notice some power reduction that will get better as it warms up. This is another way the battery protects itself.

 

[Halbach]

None of this will impact your battery life, you mention "keeping as much of my 230 mile range as I can for as long as I can", so that seems to reference that keeping the battery warm impacts the lifetime of the battery. That is not an issue.

I actually meant quite the opposite, will not warming the battery irreversibly reduce the range if done repeatedly. I'm glad to know it keeps itself above a critical temperature though, thank you for that. It helps keep the wheels in my head from spinning too fast.

As for winter range, I've been expecting a big drop. Air density alone increases 16% or so from 77F to 0F not to mention the sluggish electrolyte. Really just concerned about irreversible loss.

Thank you for the tip on the heated seats. I actually don't even bother with the heat in my current truck because my commute is so short the engine is often still cold when I get there.

 

[RickLightning]

I actually meant quite the opposite, will not warming the battery irreversibly reduce the range if done repeatedly. I'm glad to know it keeps itself above a critical temperature though, thank you for that. It helps keep the wheels in my head from spinning too fast.

As for winter range, I've been expecting a big drop. Air density alone increases 16% or so from 77F to 0F not to mention the sluggish electrolyte. Really just concerned about irreversible loss.

Thank you for the tip on the heated seats. I actually don't even bother with the heat in my current truck because my commute is so short the engine is often still cold when I get there.

This is a non-issue.

Do not take ANY steps, such as doing donuts, to warm the battery. Do NOTHING except plugging in IF AVAILABLE.

Also, take the time to read your manual. You can download a PDF version to all your devices and computers.

 

[Halbach]

This is a non-issue.

Do not take ANY steps, such as doing donuts, to warm the battery. Do NOTHING except plugging in IF AVAILABLE.

Also, take the time to read your manual. You can download a PDF version to all your devices and computers.

I was being facetious about the donuts, but I did read the manual. It mentions driving as a way to warm up the battery quite a few times.

 

[RickLightning]

I was being facetious about the donuts, but I did read the manual. It mentions driving as a way to warm up the battery quite a few times.

Kudos to you for reading it, few do. Haven't read it myself, haven't been able to order yet, but do have a Mach-E.

You're misunderstanding what they are saying. Nowhere in the manual do they say "you need to drive the car to keep the battery from freezing". What they do say is things like "when the temperature is too cold, continue driving to warm the system and improve performance". In other words, as you drive and it warms up, the battery will give better performance during that drive. Nothing about longevity, nothing about having to drive to keep the battery from freezing.

If you pre-condition with a departure time, that will use house current to warm the battery and the cabin. But, as you drive in very cold weather, the battery will also gradually cool down. Hit a DC fast charger, and it will warm up again. Driving local? Then expect it to cool down, but it will circulate heat to the battery, as needed. There are no special driving techniques or precautions that you need to take.

 

[Halbach]

If you pre-condition with a departure time, that will use house current to warm the battery and the cabin. But, as you drive in very cold weather, the battery will also gradually cool down. Hit a DC fast charger, and it will warm up again. Driving local? Then expect it to cool down, but it will circulate heat to the battery, as needed. There are no special driving techniques or precautions that you need to take.

Exactly what I needed to hear. Thanks!

 

[wighty]

Tagging on to this topic, also in Upstate NY with quite a bit of snow most years...

I knew the garage was going to be a potential issue, well I tried parking in diagonally after clearing out the side and I still can't fit. So now I need to decide what to do, whether it is a carport (looks like that will be ~$1000 for the size I need), park with the garage door open, park outside completely uncovered.

I'm thinking maybe the best option would be park in the garage with the door open, and maybe get a tarp or something that I can put up to block most of the snow when there is a big storm and not worry much about the smaller storms.

Eventually I plan (thinking maybe next year now that I'm dealing with this issue) on adding a third/fourth garage stall with an extra long back to it that will double as a shed.

 

[broncoaz]

My Lightning will sit outside year round plugged into a ChargePoint 48 amp charger. My bedroom is above the garage, if that battery decides to become a roman candle I don’t want to be above it.

 

[Halbach]

I'm thinking maybe the best option would be park in the garage with the door open, and maybe get a tarp or something that I can put up to block most of the snow when there is a big storm and not worry much about the smaller storms.

I don't think the question is the snow as much as the cold, I'm guessing the battery is pretty well sealed.

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