Can The Lightning Cool Its Own Battery in Hot Weather When Not Plugged In?

[BSull]

I can't seem to find another thread discussing charging in hot weather. I'm in the Phoenix area in AZ, we have been experiencing temps in excess of 110 for a couple of weeks and now they are in excess of 115 almost daily breaking records left and right. Today, the low temp in Phoenix was 97 degrees as an example.
My aftermarket EVSE(?) provides an internal temp when in use. The other night it peeked @ 55C (131F). Ambient in the garage was 46C (115F). I'm assuming the temp limits for most EVSEs of 122 is the ambient or environment temp not the temp of the unit since the unit completed the charge without issue.
My battery temp immediately after charging showed halfway between the center tick and the right side tick, so I'm assuming it was a bit warm. I will try and post a picture I took of my dash when gmail decides to deliver the one I sent myself. Update, picture attached.
Here's my question. Is it damaging to the truck battery to charge to say 70% with the kinds of temps I mentioned earlier in the post?
I'm new at this Lightning thing, only had the truck a couple of weeks, so any suggestions would be appreciated.

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[TaxmanHog]

Here's my question. Is it damaging to the truck battery to charge to say 70% with the kinds of temps I mentioned earlier in the post?
I'm new at this Lightning thing, only had the truck a couple of weeks, so any suggestions would be appreciated.

No harm to the trucks battery, it will regulate the core temp on its own.
Does your HOA (if you live in one) allow you to leave the garage door open overnight?

 

[Zprime29]

113 and 112 here in the Tucson area the past couple days. Getting in after work the battery gauge also shows about half way between center and the right marker for the happy zone. That seems to be about the high end when the trucks starts cooling it. It doesn't go overboard though, as I have yet to see a drop in SoC%. Once I turn the truck on and hit Max AC however...

 

[BSull]

No harm to the trucks battery, it will regulate the core temp on its own.
Does your HOA (if you live in one) allow you to leave the garage door open overnight?

No HOA but I'm reluctant to keep door open, we've had some minor thefts in the neighborhood.

 

[RickLightning]

As long as the temp doesn't go over that ~75% line, there is no issue. The truck will run the cooling system to keep the battery cool when plugged in.

This is why, even if you aren't charging, you should leave the truck plugged in as Ford recommends.

 

[shutterbug]

I can't seem to find another thread discussing charging in hot weather. I'm in the Phoenix area in AZ, we have been experiencing temps in excess of 110 for a couple of weeks and now they are in excess of 115 almost daily breaking records left and right. Today, the low temp in Phoenix was 97 degrees as an example.
My aftermarket EVSE(?) provides an internal temp when in use. The other night it peeked @ 55C (131F). Ambient in the garage was 46C (115F). I'm assuming the temp limits for most EVSEs of 122 is the ambient or environment temp not the temp of the unit since the unit completed the charge without issue.
My battery temp immediately after charging showed halfway between the center tick and the right side tick, so I'm assuming it was a bit warm. I will try and post a picture I took of my dash when gmail decides to deliver the one I sent myself.
Here's my question. Is it damaging to the truck battery to charge to say 70% with the kinds of temps I mentioned earlier in the post?
I'm new at this Lightning thing, only had the truck a couple of weeks, so any suggestions would be appreciated.

Depending on when you leave the house, try to schedule your charging at the coolest time of the day. I've been charging at 4:00 AM.

 

[Jim Lewis]

TIA for someone explaining how to read the battery temperature gauges. Ford doesn't give any explanation in the manual. Here's the illustration of the top part of the dash panel from the manual:

I've been interpreting the bluish bar as a "capillary" scale, similar to a reddish-colored alcohol thermometer with the right end of the bar indicating relative temperature. I've interpreted the white brackets on each gauge as the acceptable temperature range - so the illustration shows the vehicle's battery and engine temperatures at "50%," right in the middle. But then, what does the white dot or bar just to the left of the H in each gauge mean? Just some graphic fillip? Or is the space between the right side bracket of the acceptable range and the dot or smaller bar to the left of each H intended to indicate the extreme, unacceptable "out-of-bounds" (shut down or cool the truck immediately!) very high-end temperature range? Again, no explanation from Ford on how to read the gauge, even in conjunction with the idiot lights on the dash that are supposed to come on when the temperatures are too high or too low.

Edit_Update (this paragraph): Just noticed there is also a dot or small bar on the left end of each scale near the C mark, too. Presumably, the space between this small bar and the left bracket on each scale is the "too cold" temperature reading area. Again, no explanation from Ford... and you have to squint like Hell while driving to read the scales. And the right, upper end of the blue capillary temperature-reading bar is white, too, so the white bar on the left end of the blue capillary display "disappears" in a bar that just appears to terminate in white on both ends.

I haven't let the truck sit out for a long time in any extreme weather yet, so I've never noticed the gauges in my truck noticeably depart from the ~50% range. Today I let the truck sit out for ~1 hour in the noonday sun while shopping at Costco. When starting up the truck, the gauges might have been closer to "75%," but kudos to Ford for designing a gauge that's small and hard to read, especially while driving the truck. Not a very "glanceable" set of gauges unless you have 20/10 vision and presbyopia correction to the max, for old geezers like me.

BTW, I discovered under accessibility settings for my iPhone and my Windows 11 computer I can increase the font size incrementally at some cost to losing what can be displayed within the borders of a screen without scrolling. If you search the Lightning manual on "accessibility," it's apparently something that Ford has given little thought to, as no search hits come up. Perhaps if you need visual help or coddling, you're not supposed to be driving a Ford vehicle?!

 

[MRButtler]

Not a very "glanceable" set of gauges

Different themes and layouts would be great to have options.

 

[AZT9]

I can't seem to find another thread discussing charging in hot weather. I'm in the Phoenix area in AZ, we have been experiencing temps in excess of 110 for a couple of weeks and now they are in excess of 115 almost daily breaking records left and right. Today, the low temp in Phoenix was 97 degrees as an example.
My aftermarket EVSE(?) provides an internal temp when in use. The other night it peeked @ 55C (131F). Ambient in the garage was 46C (115F). I'm assuming the temp limits for most EVSEs of 122 is the ambient or environment temp not the temp of the unit since the unit completed the charge without issue.
My battery temp immediately after charging showed halfway between the center tick and the right side tick, so I'm assuming it was a bit warm. I will try and post a picture I took of my dash when gmail decides to deliver the one I sent myself. Update, picture attached.
Here's my question. Is it damaging to the truck battery to charge to say 70% with the kinds of temps I mentioned earlier in the post?
I'm new at this Lightning thing, only had the truck a couple of weeks, so any suggestions would be appreciated.

I’m up in Peoria and actually just got the truck back from the dealer for my 30k mile service and noted that exact same behavior on my truck. They ran full diagnostics and told me what others have said. That the truck is fine. The bars on the left and right of the gauge are the “acceptable range” of the battery temp and that it’s just stupid hot out here.

 

[Maxx]

Bumping this thread because I had the same question myself yesterday. No shade at my office and the temp was close to 90 when I came out. Driving back roads to the highway with the windows open, I was curious about how the weather might effect the battery and sure enough when I checked, 11% usage due to external temp. Once on the highway it went down to about 2% after about 10 miles. Should we be preconditioning in hot weather as well or is this typical behavior that in the long run has no real impact?

reassuring comments on the thread does not put my mind at ease. My truck is usually parked in my driveway in the shades but a few days ago I had to park it under the sun ( Not AZ hot but in low 90s in that area). It was sitting there for a while. When I got in and turned it on, the fans went bananas trying to cool the battery. That tells me it was not cooling while parked. My SOC was 80% so there is no excuse that it was not cooling due to low SOC. I don’t buy that it didn’t meet the threshold either because if the temp was acceptable why would the fan try so hard to cool it down after I turned it on.

Is anyone aware of a setting where I can change the threshold and do more cooling unplugged? For various reasons, people may not be able to plug-in when it is hot but they may be able to afford the juice to cool it down. Everything that is available while plugged in, should be an option unplugged.

 

[Jim Lewis]

I had to park it under the sun ( Not AZ hot but in low 90s in that area). It was sitting there for a while. When I got in and turned it on, the fans went bananas trying to cool the battery.

Are you sure the fans/compressor aren't going bananas just trying to cool the cabin? I keep my garage around 85 deg (the garage exterior walls and attic are insulated, and there are lots of shade trees around our house). But when I turn on my truck, the cabin AC fires up with a substantial amount of fan noise within the concrete confines of the garage (the cabin AC is set at 80 deg F).

I called Ford several months ago to ask about truck cooling. The rep I spoke to sounded pretty knowledgeable. She said that the truck only cools its battery when the battery temperature reaches 100 deg, and she said the limit's the same whether the truck is plugged in or not. She strongly recommended keeping the truck in the shade and in a garage if possible and not letting it sit out in the sun for prolonged periods in the heat of the Southwest. I'm trying to schedule everything as much as possible for morning hours and have the truck home in the garage by noon during the summer months. Since I'm an old retiree who only drives ~3500 miles per year, this summer behavior hardly limits my lifestyle.

If you parked early in the day, the truck will be shading both its own battery and the ground. If the air temperature was only in the the low 90s, based on what the Ford rep told me, your battery might not have gotten hot enough to trigger cooling.

 

[Maxx]

Are you sure the fans/compressor aren't going bananas just trying to cool the cabin? I keep my garage around 85 deg (the garage exterior walls and attic are insulated, and there are lots of shade trees around our house). But when I turn on my truck, the cabin AC fires up with a substantial amount of fan noise within the concrete confines of the garage (the cabin AC is set at 80 deg F).

I called Ford several months ago to ask about truck cooling. The rep I spoke to sound pretty knowledgeable. She said that the truck only cools its battery when the battery temperature reaches 100 deg, and she said the limit's the same whether the truck is plugged in or not. She strongly recommended keeping the truck in the shade and in a garage if possible and not letting it sit out in the sun for prolonged periods in the heat of the Southwest. I'm trying to schedule everything as much as possible for morning hours and have the truck home in the garage by noon during the summer months. Since I'm an old retiree who only drives ~3500 miles per year, this summer behavior hardly limits my lifestyle.

If you parked early in the day, the truck will be shading both its own battery and the ground. If the air temperature was only in the the low 90s, based on what the Ford rep told me, your battery might not have gotten hot enough to trigger cooling.

Although I have little faith on what Ford reps have told me in the past, I am hoping yours is correct. My second property driveway which I go to in summer time, has no shades.

I thought I had the AC off when I turned on the truck but you are now making me doubt myself. I have to try this one more time.

Thanks for sharing the info.

 

[shutterbug]

reassuring comments on the thread does not put my mind at ease. My truck is usually parked in my driveway in the shades but a few days ago I had to park it under the sun ( Not AZ hot but in low 90s in that area). It was sitting there for a while. When I got in and turned it on, the fans went bananas trying to cool the battery. That tells me it was not cooling while parked. My SOC was 80% so there is no excuse that it was not cooling due to low SOC. I don’t buy that it didn’t meet the threshold either because if the temp was acceptable why would the fan try so hard to cool it down after I turned it on.

Is anyone aware of a setting where I can change the threshold and do more cooling unplugged? For various reasons, people may not be able to plug-in when it is hot but they may be able to afford the juice to cool it down. Everything that is available while plugged in, should be an option unplugged.

I am parked in the driveway without shade, in AZ sun. A few weeks my truck was not plugged in, yet the cooling fans were going crazy (sounded like jet engine and steam locomotive had a baby). Since then, I've made sure to plug it in whenever it's parked. Based on what Juice box is telling me, this kicks in roughly every 15 hours or so.

 

[Maxx]

I am parked in the driveway without shade, in AZ sun. A few weeks my truck was not plugged in, yet the cooling fans were going crazy (sounded like jet engine and steam locomotive had a baby). Since then, I've made sure to plug it in whenever it's parked. Based on what Juice box is telling me, this kicks in roughly every 15 hours or so.

‘Thanks. Very helpful info.

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