Battery conditioning, is it worth it?

[Nolander]

I have been more rigorous with plugging the truck in overnight so it can condition on a scheduled departure time (I charge at work for free). It's been pretty frosty in Maine lately and I noticed the conditioning cycle is consuming 40-50 kw. My "commute" is a about 5 miles to the office so I am doubting the efficiency gained from a conditioned battery is greater than the electricity consumed to do that conditioning, at least for a 5 mile drive. Today I average 1.7m/kwh on the trip. I doubt that would be much worse on a cold battery.

What are you thoughts? Are there other reasons to heat the battery before travel?

Sponsored

 

[Pioneer74]

Your wasting electricity if you're conditioning the battery and don't need a majority of it to get where you're going.

 

[Nolander]

Your wasting electricity if you're conditioning the battery and don't need a majority of it to get where you're going.

So you're saying there's a chance?

 

[Henry Ford]

Your wasting electricity if you're conditioning the battery and don't need a majority of it to get where you're going.

I agree with @Pioneer74. I've been using Departure Times so my truck is warm when I take the kids to school but it's a waste of electricity.

 

[Grease Lightning]

I have been more rigorous with plugging the truck in overnight so it can condition on a scheduled departure time (I charge at work for free). It's been pretty frosty in Maine lately and I noticed the conditioning cycle is consuming 40-50 kw. My "commute" is a about 5 miles to the office so I am doubting the efficiency gained from a conditioned battery is greater than the electricity consumed to do that conditioning, at least for a 5 mile drive. Today I average 1.7m/kwh on the trip. I doubt that would be much worse on a cold battery.

What are you thoughts? Are there other reasons to heat the battery before travel?

I choose to precondition most mornings, and particularly when the temperature is below freezing. I don’t do it to save energy as was pointed out is a waste for short trips. I do it because the batteries enjoy optimal temperatures so in the freezing weather I would rather spend some additional energy than add additional stress to my batteries.

Once we get back to warmer nights (mid 40’s) it will be more of an option, but we do still generally like to have cabin preconditioning so sometimes I will let the departure handle that.

As to the amount of energy, that seems high. You might look at the settings and adjust from warm to medium. On medium I am using about 7kW for departure with temps in the 20’s.

 

[Henry Ford]

I choose to precondition most mornings, and particularly when the temperature is below freezing. I don’t do it to save energy as was pointed out is a waste for short trips. I do it because the batteries enjoy optimal temperatures so in the freezing weather I would rather spend some additional energy than add additional stress to my batteries.

Once we get back to warmer nights (mid 40’s) it will be more of an option, but we do still generally like to have cabin preconditioning so sometimes I will let the departure handle that.

As to the amount of energy, that seems high. You might look at the settings and adjust from warm to medium. On medium I am using about 7kW for departure with temps in the 20’s.

As long as it's plugged in the truck will keep the battery within it's comfort zone. No need to precondition for battery health.

 

[Grease Lightning]

As long as it's plugged in the truck will keep the battery within it's comfort zone. No need to precondition for battery health.

I agree, but do question is the truck keeping the batteries at “comfort zone” for resting state or driving state. To me there is a reason why the engineers gave us that tool. Might be a great one for our new @Ford Motor Company rep to provide some less marketing discussion, then the what to do in winter pages.

Keep it plugged in discussion:
“When the vehicle is plugged in, the vehicle’s battery temperature is kept above freezing temperatures to help optimize battery performance; this occurs regardless of whether or not the vehicle is actively charging while plugged in.”


Precondition discussion:
“4. Set daily Departure Times to precondition both the vehicle’s battery and cabin while plugged-in: If you have a regular reoccurring driving schedule, such as a daily commute, preconditioning the battery using Ford’s Departure Times feature allows it to warm to optimum temperature before use, positively affecting range and power. “

To me there is a big difference between keeping it above freezing and “optimum temperature”

As I plan to keep mine for longer then the battery warranty, although @MickeyAO has me second guessing that with his clear statement, I am fine with preconditioning too.

 

[luebri]

I have been more rigorous with plugging the truck in overnight so it can condition on a scheduled departure time (I charge at work for free). It's been pretty frosty in Maine lately and I noticed the conditioning cycle is consuming 40-50 kw. My "commute" is a about 5 miles to the office so I am doubting the efficiency gained from a conditioned battery is greater than the electricity consumed to do that conditioning, at least for a 5 mile drive. Today I average 1.7m/kwh on the trip. I doubt that would be much worse on a cold battery.

What are you thoughts? Are there other reasons to heat the battery before travel?

Just set your battery to only charge at a narrow window (I do 4am to 7am) prior to Departure (assuming it works for your Electricity rates if on Time of use). The act of charging the battery especially at 48A (2024) or even higher for (22 or 23) will often times get the Battery Temp to or close to the optimal 60F that Ford seems to target with Preconditioning. 2 birds, 1 stone. You have to charge anyways, just do it when you want the battery to be warm.

The other aspect I would challenge to the "only beneficial on long trips" people is remember there is not only a benefit on the Departure trip but your battery will likely be warmer on your return trip home in the evening. For example if I depart with a 60F battery vs a 35F battery my battery is likely not to have completely normalized to ambient over an 8 hour period. So say on a 10F day, just guessing your battery maybe be at 40F vs 15F on the return so there is probably some retained benefit on that end.

 

[TMND]

 

[neeonline]

It depends on the distance for sure. Preconditioning uses around 8kwh in my case.

My commute is 25 miles each way, if I precondition I can get 2 miles per kw, if not I get 1.4.

So in a 25 miles drive I could use 15kw more if not preconditioned.

In the end I’m saving 7 kw and get a nice warm cabin as a bonus.

 

[luebri]

It depends on the distance for sure. Preconditioning uses around 8kwh in my case.

My commute is 25 miles each way, if I precondition I can get 2 miles per kw, if not I get 1.4.

So in a 25 miles drive I could use 15kw more if not preconditioned.

In the end I’m saving 7 kw and get a nice warm cabin as a bonus.

Your math is a little funny there.

25 / 1.4 = 17.857 kwh
25 / 2.0 = 12.5 kwh
So if you used 8 you are not saving 7, but upside down 2 or 3.

As I said before though you likely get some mild benefit on your return trip as well assuming its within a ~ 8 hour period.

Also as I said before you'd probably get most that benefit if you just shift your charge period to right before your departure or best of both worlds do that and still do preconditioning and the "spend" on your preconditioning will be less as the charging has done much of the warming.

 

[neeonline]

Your math is a little funny there.

25 / 1.4 = 17.857
25 / 2.0 = 12.5
So if you used 8 you are not saving 7, but upside down 2 or 3.

As I said before though you likely get some mild benefit on your return trip as well assuming its within a ~ 8 hour period.

Also as I said before you'd probably get most that benefit if you just shift your charge period to right before your departure or best of both worlds do that and still do preconditioning and the "spend" on your preconditioning will be less as the charging has done much of the warming.

I used another logic for my math. If I spend 2 normally, but I’m spending 1.4 now, it means I’m spending 0.6 more per mile. 25 * 0.6 = 15 more. If I used 8 to precondition I am finally saving: 15 - 8 = 7.

I precondition more to have my cabin in a nice temperature than anything.

When I get back from work in not that big of issue once the car is parked in an open lot so it gets warmer-ish during the day. Even when is cloud I get better range than in the morning.

 

[luebri]

I used another logic for my math. If I spend 2 normally, but I’m spending 1.4 now, it means I’m spending 0.6 more per mile. 25 * 0.6 = 15 more. If I used 8 to precondition I am finally saving: 15 - 8 = 7.

 

[Pioneer74]

I choose to precondition most mornings, and particularly when the temperature is below freezing. I don’t do it to save energy as was pointed out is a waste for short trips. I do it because the batteries enjoy optimal temperatures so in the freezing weather I would rather spend some additional energy than add additional stress to my batteries.

Once we get back to warmer nights (mid 40’s) it will be more of an option, but we do still generally like to have cabin preconditioning so sometimes I will let the departure handle that.

As to the amount of energy, that seems high. You might look at the settings and adjust from warm to medium. On medium I am using about 7kW for departure with temps in the 20’s.

Batteries don't get damaged by cold, unless it is on the extreme end. But the truck will prevent damage wether plugged in or not. Heat is worse. Cold just slows down the chemical reaction and you temporarily lose some capacity, but it returns when it warms up.

 

[luebri]

I used another logic for my math. If I spend 2 normally, but I’m spending 1.4 now, it means I’m spending 0.6 more per mile. 25 * 0.6 = 15 more. If I used 8 to precondition I am finally saving: 15 - 8 = 7.

Doesnt work that way. Remember its Miles PER Kwh (in your words "spent"). Not KWH spent per Mile.

So you are not spending 2 normally. You are Spending 1 kwh and getting 2 miles, so over 25 miles you are spending 12.5 kwh. When not preconditioning you are spending 1 kwh and getting 1.4, so over 25 miles you are spending 17.8.

Sponsored