Charging Routine

[greenne]

My commute is 37mi roundtrip, M-F, 50% surface streets(30-40mph with sporadic stops) and 50% slower interstate(55-60mph urban interstate, usually no traffic). I live in upstate NY so colder temps in winter...15-35deg most common.

I am getting a range of 225mi 'ish on ER truck in cold weather.. so I can go 4-5 days without charging with safety margin.

I KNOW Ford keeps recommending I plug it in at night, but it is a bit inconvenient to do so. I do have a chargepoint 48A. When I charge it overnight and just unplug at departure I have had instances where the cabin is not preheated and I have lost the steering wheel heat. In one instance other than the battery being warmer I had NO preconditioning at all while plugged in. (Despite the departure scheduled). I have had no problems at all when the truck is NOT plugged in and departure time set.

I guess where I'm going is I'm not opting to plug in every night and top off. I run battery down to ~20% then plug in for one deep charge around 1x per week. to ~90-95%. In summer it will probably be 1x every 7-8days(maybe more).

I'm not seeing any real performance issues with cold battery until we get down to under 50% then it may limit power to ~85-90%. I don't even notice that in my driving style.

Other than range I haven't heard of any issues with driving on a "cold" battery vs one pre conditioned. I guess that could change in extreme cold(below 0F)., but in somewhat normal winter I'm not seeing any issues.

Thoughts/comments?

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[RickLightning]

As you note, Ford recommends plugging in every night. Most people that own EVs belief in ABC - Always Be Charging. We plug in nightly (it's convenient for us) and keep the car at 90%.

When plugged in, and it's very cold, the battery will be warmed overnight in 15 minutes spurts or so. How often this happens is temperature dependent. In my garage last winter it happened a handful of times. In upstate NY, it would happen more often.

If left unplugged, the truck will use the HVB to keep itself from freezing, and therefore you will see a small drop in % here and there. If you don't need the range, and understand that driving it from a cold start on a very cold day may give you reduced power for a short period, then it's probably fine.

 

[greenne]

As you note, Ford recommends plugging in every night. Most people that own EVs belief in ABC - Always Be Charging. We plug in nightly (it's convenient for us) and keep the car at 90%.

When plugged in, and it's very cold, the battery will be warmed overnight in 15 minutes spurts or so. How often this happens is temperature dependent. In my garage last winter it happened a handful of times. In upstate NY, it would happen more often.

If left unplugged, the truck will use the HVB to keep itself from freezing, and therefore you will see a small drop in % here and there. If you don't need the range, and understand that driving it from a cold start on a very cold day may give you reduced power for a short period, then it's probably fine.

This makes sense. As long as the truck has adequate capability to "regulate" itself (as you say use the HVB to keep from freezing) then I'm more comfortable in not leaving it tethered all night. I KNOW there are safeguards(i.e. charging limit) but I'm not comfortable depending upon those every day to protect the battery from incoming power from the EVSE. I'd much rather not have it connected IF its not charging. We've already seen a couple cases of the truck charging to 100% despite a limit being placed lower.

In the rare case it gets REALLY cold(below 0F cold) and I don't feel the truck can self regulate temp well I'd probably plug it in but the one night it was 5F the battery temp was only a click below midway despite not being plugged in overnight(power level 90%).

 

[VTbuckeye]

I have a similar philosophy/situation. I can charge nightly with no issues (garage with multiple EVSEs). There is a free (for 10 hours) public charging location near work (1.5 miles and just down the road from my daughter's weekly dance class). It usually charges at 5.8ish kw and delivers a 37 to 38 percent increase. I usually use 35 to 50 percent per week. I always want to have room to accept all of the free charge available so will plug in at home when very cold and have my target charge level for home set to 50 percent. Once we have enough net metering credits (spring) I will charge more at home. I am not bothered by a 20 percent reduction in available power due to cold and state of charge.

 

[RickE]

As you note, Ford recommends plugging in every night. Most people that own EVs belief in ABC - Always Be Charging. We plug in nightly (it's convenient for us) and keep the car at 90%.

When plugged in, and it's very cold, the battery will be warmed overnight in 15 minutes spurts or so. How often this happens is temperature dependent. In my garage last winter it happened a handful of times. In upstate NY, it would happen more often.

If left unplugged, the truck will use the HVB to keep itself from freezing, and therefore you will see a small drop in % here and there. If you don't need the range, and understand that driving it from a cold start on a very cold day may give you reduced power for a short period, then it's probably fine.

I live in Maimi Florida so cold weather is not a concern or issue for me. I have the ER Lightning and have a 30-mile round trip to work 5 days a week. Therefore, I can get by charging only once per week. For the long-term care of the battery, what is better? To charge every night or once per week? Again, cold weather is not an issue. Thanks

 

[RickLightning]

makes absolutely no difference

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