Ah summer is here in the valley of the sun

[invertedspear]

FWIW I have my charging window set basically from sunup to sundown now to make sure that it's going to cool when it needs to, but I'm worried that's not enough to prevent heat damage to the battery.

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[Zprime29]

An interesting finding yesterday. I started a departure time for when I get off work (so I'm not plugged in). The past week the battery temp has been well to the right when I leave work. Yesterday, the temp was dead center. In fact, it actually crept up a little while driving. Supposed to be 108 today, will be interesting to see if it does that again. Same temp's predicted for tomorrow, I'll turn off departure and compare.

 

[invertedspear]

An interesting finding yesterday. I started a departure time for when I get off work (so I'm not plugged in). The past week the battery temp has been well to the right when I leave work. Yesterday, the temp was dead center. In fact, it actually crept up a little while driving. Supposed to be 108 today, will be interesting to see if it does that again. Same temp's predicted for tomorrow, I'll turn off departure and compare.

That's good, that means it's conditioning the battery, even when not plugged in.

 

[BSull]

New message today when I got in my truck. I left home @ 0645, garage was 90ish, battery etc. was smack in the middle.

Truck was parked in the sun until 1 PM. I got in and started it, outside air temp indicated 123 (real 104), message popped up on the driver display "Outside temperature very high, plug in truck when not in use" bordered in yellow. Battery temp gauge was maybe an eighth of an inch right of center, I saw higher than that last summer.

Hooked up OBD reader, HVB min/max both at 98.6 coolant 98.6. After driving 5 miles home, HVB min is 96.8 max 98.6, coolant inlet 100.4.

Think I'll take the recommendation and plug in, see what happens.
Also, efficiency usually around 2.0 to 2.2 for that 5 mile trip. Today it was 1.4.

 

[invertedspear]

New message today when I got in my truck. I left home @ 0645, garage was 90ish, battery etc. was smack in the middle.

Truck was parked in the sun until 1 PM. I got in and started it, outside air temp indicated 123 (real 104), message popped up on the driver display "Outside temperature very high, plug in truck when not in use" bordered in yellow. Battery temp gauge was maybe an eighth of an inch right of center, I saw higher than that last summer.

Hooked up OBD reader, HVB min/max both at 98.6 coolant 98.6. After driving 5 miles home, HVB min is 96.8 max 98.6, coolant inlet 100.4.

Think I'll take the recommendation and plug in, see what happens.
Also, efficiency usually around 2.0 to 2.2 for that 5 mile trip. Today it was 1.4.

You definitely want it plugged in through summer during the day. It won't even try to keep the battery safe if you don't.

 

[BSull]

You definitely want it plugged in through summer during the day. It won't even try to keep the battery safe if you don't.

Unfortunately, I do not have solar and the daytime is the highest cost in my TOU. In fact EV TOU is 11PM to 5AM.
My garage, even in 113-115 ambient rarely gets above 100 F unless I drive a hot car/truck in then temp goes up a couple of degrees.

 

[Zprime29]

Google says it is 105, sitting in full sun for 9 hours. This is with departure set to cool truck.

 

[BSull]

Google says it is 105, sitting in full sun for 9 hours. This is with departure set to cool truck.

My display looked similar to yours except 123 instead of 128. Same battery temp also.

 

[Grumpy2]

So the digital temperature must be within the battery housing within the pouches?

If it is the high temperature inside the pouch must go through the pouch lining, must travel to the bottom of the pouch, thru the paste, thru the plate, thru the tubing to get to the cooling liquid. Discussion about how many interfaces the heat must travel to get to the liquid in one Munro video.


If this is the case, Ford needs to separate the power used for charging from the power used to cool the battery so you can plug in during the high cost TOU periods and only operate the AC for the battery to get ahead of the heat buildup.

 

[MickeyAO]

So the digital temperature must be within the battery housing within the pouches?

Not in the pouch cells...that would be dangerous and will probably cause a short circuit in the cell. There are two thermisters (different from a thermocouple) in each module that is read by the BMS.

 

[Zprime29]

My display looked similar to yours except 123 instead of 128. Same battery temp also.

It was slightly higher when I got home, weather station in the backyard said 109 for the high today. Wish I put up more solar, the truck already drank all my built up credits!

 

[TaxmanHog]

Of note, maybe it just hadn't kicked on yet since it still had 15 min till "departure" time, but the cab was not cooled at all. Now I'm wondering if I should set multiple departure times at the hottest parts of the day to better protect the battery from the heat.

Cabin conditioning starts 10 minutes prior to departure target time.

 

[Zprime29]

I turned off departure for yesterday, it wasn't quite as hot. Truck reported 118, the battery temp was just a skosh higher than it was yesterday. So I guess inconclusive? I didn't really notice much difference in overall efficiency going home, running A/C and ventilated seats eats up an extra 1-2% SOC vs no climate in cooler temps.

 

[TaxmanHog]

TIMELY TOPIC FROM MUNRO LIVE

 

[Sandman]

Potential future Lightning owner and fellow Valley resident here. I hadn't heard that our heat was this bad on batteries. Should the fact that it doesn't condition the battery when not plugged in be a serious consideration against this truck for Phx? My use-case during the week is driving ~20 miles to and from work and parking out in the sun (with a chance for a solar shaded spot). I don't have a guaranteed plug-in at work. I'd be totally fine keeping the battery topped up daily if the truck performed conditioning during peak summer heat while unplugged, but it sounds like Ford doesn't allow that. Sounds like a good option, Ford. I don't think the use-case is that atypical.

Also to Lightning owners, what do you think of the A/C in the truck? I'm coming from Toyota where the A/C is generally passable, but really struggles in July/August. Thanks!

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