Charging

[Jakester]

Question
I have a 2023 Ford F150 Lightning I bought last month. I average around a 120 miles a day commuting to work. I charge at work for free and have a level 2 30 amp charger at home. Should I charge every day at work or just charge when I get down to 20% ? I have been charging at work at 50% and at home at 50% up to 90%.I just don't like getting down to 20%.

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[DrOctane]

Ford says charging everyday to 90% is ideal for your truck. Free charging at work? Bonus!

 

[detansinn]

I don't bother charging every day. I plug it in when it gets down to 30-40%. I charge to 90%. After 27k miles, I can count the number of times that I have charged the truck to 100% on one hand.

 

[sotek2345]

In the summer I generally charge when I get to about 50% unless I have a longer drive coming up. In the winter I plug in every day to use shore power to keep the battery warm. In Atlanta, that is probably not as big a deal.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Employer funded charging? ..... HELL YES charge daily!!

 

[Maquis]

ABC….always be charging.

 

[duncanmaio]

Yes, plug in every day at work - that's what I do for my 85 mile daily round trip. Mostly to 90, but often to 100 if I have a longer drive planned.

Doing some FDRS stuff last night and checked the battery health - shows 99% after 62K miles of that charging routine.

 

[RickLightning]

Ford recommends to charge to 90% daily. There is zero reason to not charge daily.

 

[Amps]

If it's free or cheaper to charge at work, I'd charge to 90% at work and use the home charging to keep it at whatever level it takes to assure you a nice fat 20% buffer when you get to work on your next commute. That may mean not needing to charge at home during the work week.

 

[Grease Lightning]

Question
I have a 2023 Ford F150 Lightning I bought last month. I average around a 120 miles a day commuting to work. I charge at work for free and have a level 2 30 amp charger at home. Should I charge every day at work or just charge when I get down to 20% ? I have been charging at work at 50% and at home at 50% up to 90%.I just don't like getting down to 20%.

You always want to be charging (ABC). As @MickeyAO has pointed out our lightning batteries do not enjoy large charging sessions for long term durability so it is better to charge daily to replenish the battery and offer less long term deep cycle charging. In your case twice a day

As many mentioned Ford says 90% (85 ish really battery). If your work is free, I would charge to 85-90% at work and maybe 75-80% at home to keep with the shorter charge cycle, but get the benefit of free electricity at work.

The other reason you want to follow the ABC concept especially when you need 120 miles a day, what happens if you have a power outage and can’t charge, or an emergency? An EV is not quite as convenient as stopping for 5 minutes to fill up the tank.

 

[Zprime29]

I'll second everything @Grease Lightning just said. Scientific research on battery health (which is what Mickey does for his day job) is unanimous. Charge as often as you can to keep the depth of charges small ( charging 50-70% twice does less damage to the battery than 30-70% once ). That's if you want to make your battery last as long as possible. Some people don't care and treat it like it's an ICE by topping up once a week. Doesn't make sense to me, why not take advantage of always having a "full tank" (yes I realize we don't charge to full most of the time).

Getting free electrons at work means you have your cake and get to eat it too!

 

[Jakester]

I'll second everything @Grease Lightning just said. Scientific research on battery health (which is what Mickey does for his day job) is unanimous. Charge as often as you can to keep the depth of charges small ( charging 50-70% twice does less damage to the battery than 30-70% once ). That's if you want to make your battery last as long as possible. Some people don't care and treat it like it's an ICE by topping up once a week. Doesn't make sense to me, why not take advantage of always having a "full tank" (yes I realize we don't charge to full most of the time).

Getting free electrons at work means you have your cake and get to eat it too!

I guess yall have answered the question. ABC keep it full 90% as much as possible charging at work, and home when I cant get the charger at work
Thanks Guys
I Love my Lightning

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