Battery Temp... with pictures!

[Ffxdude]

I’ve noticed mine has heated up more after fast charging this year. This summer, ambient temps of 80 or higher get me up to the area where yours is showing. Haven’t seen it increase while driving though.

My coolant has been in the basically same place as yours @ChrisInVegas since last winter. I figured it was at the line so it was all good. After seeing your post today I took a look at the manual and noticed it says when it’s at or below the line to add coolant. So I picked up a gallon and topped it off to just above the word “min”. Curious to see if it changes anything.

Sponsored

 

[ChrisInVegas]

The drive through the desert today was uneventful. Charged in Baker and. Hesperia. The temp was a little elevated mid way between 50%-75%. The EA stop hit 179kWh which was awesome. Slowly climbed down to 120. Charge stop was 12 minutes 60%-80%.

Next stop was a Tesla charger. Peaked around 165 the derated to hover around 80. Charged 30%-80% in 41 minutes. It took a while but there is a Crumbl Cookie so no complaints from the family.

 

[Ricks Lightning]

I noticed your display shows 67% battery capacity displayed on the gauge.
Not sure why mine doesn't display a number/ percentage. Just a clock face that I have to estimate. Is it a setting I'm missing or an upgrade. I've only had my lightning pro since 5/23/24 and am trying to learn it's features.
Attached is my display from today.

Rick

 

[Grumpy2]

Not sure why mine doesn't display a number/ percentage. Just a clock face that I have to estimate.

There are many of us that are waiting for this OTA update.

 

[Eldricks]

I’ve been driving in sport mode for the last 4,000 miles. 2 weeks ago I drove from Southern California to Utah and back. Temperatures averaged between 105-113 the whole trip. The temp gauges never moved, stayed at center the whole time which surprised me. I later read somewhere online of others recommending sport mode to prevent overheating during high temps. Charging was a different story. All charges started good at around 165 kw but quickly dropped to around 90 kw. Charged at EA 3 times and 6 times at Tesla, all dropped to 90 kw so I had to change for around 1 hour 30-80% a couple times, not a good experience with 5 adults in truck.

2023 Lariat ER

 

[JacksonHandy]

I've had a similar DCFC experience this summer. EA in the shade in charlotte wasn't too bad, but road trips to FL were brutal. Can't navigate to a charger because the Ford Nav is useless now, so no preconditioning, even with Apple maps. One charge heats the battery up, it never comes back down and the next charge goes to 80kw and stays there.

 

[Robert14354]

I am having the identical issue... Battery gauge showing one of the batteries heating up (left one on the gauge just like yours) and EA fast charging ramping down to 80-90kwh (making for LONG charging periods while on the road)... My coolant is at the max line so that's not the issue.... The truck has been at the dealer for almost two weeks now. No idea what they are or are not finding at this point.

 

[Heliian]

read somewhere online of others recommending sport mode to prevent overheating during high temps

LOL, no.

Batteries get warm from charging and discharging, the BMS takes care of all the work, drive mode is irrelevant.

You should only see elevated temps if you're towing uphill in the heat.

 

[Zprime29]

I am having the identical issue... Battery gauge showing one of the batteries heating up (left one on the gauge just like yours) and EA fast charging ramping down to 80-90kwh (making for LONG charging periods while on the road)... My coolant is at the max line so that's not the issue.... The truck has been at the dealer for almost two weeks now. No idea what they are or are not finding at this point.

There's likely nothing wrong with the truck. As long as the battery temp gauge is inside the box, it's fine. 80-90kW is normal for charging when it's hot ( 100F or greater ). Preconditioning helps a little if it's possible ( setting Ford Nav to a nearby CCS1 DCFC location ). Most dealers just don't understand, don't care, don't want to know how the EV world works. I would go pick up my truck and enjoy it. DCFC experience will improve when temps get back into the 80's.

 

[Robert14354]

DCFC experience will improve when temps get back into the 80's.

I live in Phoenix and travel to LA and Vegas regularly. 80's would be a dream lol....

 

[Zprime29]

I live in Phoenix and travel to LA and Vegas regularly. 80's would be a dream lol....

I feel your pain. I'm in Tucson and make trips to see family in El Paso every summer. In fact I'll be making a couple trips there to drop the kids off with grandparents and then pick them up over the next couple weekends. The slower speeds add about 5min for me. I might try 2 short stops instead of one long one but with the time getting on/off the freeway added it's mostly a wash.

 

[Robert14354]

The slower speeds add about 5min for me.

I'd take 5 minutes longer, that'd be no biggie... But mine doubles the time... Usually it takes about half an hour to charge from 20 to 80%, now at 80kwh its just over an hour.. Painful if you need to charge twice on a road trip... adds over an hour to my expected trip time...

 

[jetfixr1]

I've had a similar DCFC experience this summer. EA in the shade in charlotte wasn't too bad, but road trips to FL were brutal. Can't navigate to a charger because the Ford Nav is useless now, so no preconditioning, even with Apple maps. One charge heats the battery up, it never comes back down and the next charge goes to 80kw and stays there.

Why cant you precondition to the next charger, what is making the ford nav useless?

 

[Sandman]

Did a test on my last trip. Diverting cooling to the floor will bring the battery temp back to normal range. I was able to duplicate the results several times.

Random thought: What if the thermo sensors are on the topside of the battery and this is mostly just cooling them (with a much lesser impact on the cells themselves)? Could that situation fool the battery management software into reducing the primary cooling to the battery when it shouldn't?

To be clear, I have no info that this is the case. Just thinking out loud. The only way I can think of to test this would be to see how quickly the battery cools when you do this. I'd imagine that truly cooling the battery cells in such an inefficient way would take a fair amount of time.

 

[AZT9]

Random thought: What if the thermo sensors are on the topside of the battery and this is mostly just cooling them (with a much lesser impact on the cells themselves)? Could that situation fool the battery management software into reducing the primary cooling to the battery when it shouldn't?

To be clear, I have no info that this is the case. Just thinking out loud. The only way I can think of to test this would be to see how quickly the battery cools when you do this. I'd imagine that truly cooling the battery cells in such an inefficient way would take a fair amount of time.

I wouldn’t say it’s impossible but in order to “fool” any sensors in the pack, the ac would have to cold soak the carpet/insulation, aluminum floor pan and the steel battery cover to reach the modules.

Sponsored