Planning for Winter

[wvlightning]

Howdy again everyone. Quick question for the masses since many of you have had EVs before and probably live in cooler climates. How does preconditioning work. With the cold weather months coming up and I will most likely be traveling for holidays to somewhere about 200 miles away. I want to make sure the truck can make it. How does this preconditioning work? Am I able to leave my truck plugged up and heat the cabin before departure and it use the charger not the battery?

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[sotek2345]

You pretty much have hit. Have the truck plugged in, set a departure time, and the truck will pre-heat both the cabin and battery.

Do you have an SR or ER truck? 200 miles in the winter on an SR truck will be a challenge if it is very cold, even if you precondition. Especially if you are travelling at highway speeds.

 

[wvlightning]

I have an ER and will be travelling at highway speeds.

 

[sotek2345]

I have an ER and will be travelling at highway speeds.

And ER should be fine as long as you don't go stupid fast on the highway.

One other thing to note is that precondition the battery can take a couple hours, so make sure you set the departure time early enough.

 

[wvlightning]

Thanks for the information everyone! So I basically setup the departure time on the truck and plug it in, and when at departure time I'll be ready to go? Is there something that lets you know your battery is preconditioned?

 

[RickLightning]

Thanks for the information everyone! So I basically setup the departure time on the truck and plug it in, and when at departure time I'll be ready to go? Is there something that lets you know your battery is preconditioned?

Yes, correct, you set the departure time for when you want the truck ready. It will decide when to start drawing power from the house to start the process. You don't need to do anything beyond know when you plan on departing.

There is no indication that the battery is warming.

If you use 110v, you won't precondition the battery.

The difference between a departure time and remote starting is the battery being warmed (it isn't on remote start).

Also, note that while preconditioning will increase your range, it will only do so on the first leg of your journey. Once you start driving in cold weather, the battery temperature will drop. In the 20s, with our Mach-E, it dropped to close to 40 degrees. That will cut your efficiency.

Lastly, the heater will dramatically hit your battery and cut your range. Ford advises to use heated seats and steering wheel, and only use the heat as you need to IF range matters. Also, when charging at a DC charger, they want the heater OFF so that all the heat can be diverted to the battery.

 

[RickLightning]

And ER should be fine as long as you don't go stupid fast on the highway.

One other thing to note is that precondition the battery can take a couple hours, so make sure you set the departure time early enough.

That's a bit confusing.

To clarify, if you're leaving at 8AM, set the departure time for 8AM. The truck will determine WHEN it needs to start warming the battery and cabin, you don't need to. It could be close to an hour, or even more than an hour, and it will draw several kW of power.

And it won't work on 110v, or unplugged, it must be connected to 240v.

 

[sotek2345]

That's a bit confusing.

To clarify, if you're leaving at 8AM, set the departure time for 8AM. The truck will determine WHEN it needs to start warming the battery and cabin, you don't need to. It could be close to an hour, or even more than an hour, and it will draw several kW of power.

And it won't work on 110v, or unplugged, it must be connected to 240v.

Thanks - yeah, I can see how what I wrote is confusing. I have seen other trying to set a departure time for 15 minutes in the future and then complaining that it didn't work. I was just trying to get that across.

 

[RickLightning]

Thanks - yeah, I can see how what I wrote is confusing. I have seen other trying to set a departure time for 15 minutes in the future and then complaining that it didn't work. I was just trying to get that across.

Right.

 

[wvlightning]

Ok cool. Next question, if the truck is plugged up to the charger, can I go out and turn on the heat to heat up the cab and turn on the seat heaters and it won't pull from the battery?

 

[Jaspernuts]

Both will come on automatically before departure time.

 

[wvlightning]

What about in general on a cold day. Can I go out and turn on my truck and the heater, and if its connected to the charger the charger is heating the cab and not battery?

 

[Roy2001]

Plan for shorter range and longer charge time. Freeway range would be more like 150-180 lines for around 0F (ER). So plan for 100 -120 usable range (unless you want to drive until battery drains to 0%).

 

[sotek2345]

Ok cool. Next question, if the truck is plugged up to the charger, can I go out and turn on the heat to heat up the cab and turn on the seat heaters and it won't pull from the battery?

My understanding (which may be incorrect), is that it will initially pull from the battery but as long as your are plugged in and inside a charging window (if you set one up), then the battery will recharge for anything used.

Also - just use the Fordpass app to start the truck - no need to go out! I do that all the time.

 

[wvlightning]

So are saying if it is 0 outside I'll only get 180 miles of range on an ER battery?

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