Are you always plugged in at home?

[rdr854]

I'm looking into the logistics of owning a Lightning and home charging while trying to figure out my situation. I normally park my truck in my detached garage, however, I don't have enough power there to charge a decent rate. I'd be looking at installing some type of charging source in my attached garage and would park in the normal spot once charged up. Anybody else do this or are most people keeping theirs plugged in when home to always be charging?

Generally, I do not keep my truck plugged in unless I am charging. Sometimes, I will precondition in winter, but only if I am going on a trip. My truck is parked outside and northern VA winters have not been a problem.

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[VTbuckeye]

Plugged in every day (though last year I would charge once or twice weekly at a free public L2 charger). EVSEs get energized at 9PM weekdays until 1PM, 24 hours weekends. Lightning charges to 60 percent, Volvo EV 80 percent. Both are usually done charging before midnight. Once finished charging I often end the charging session so they don't draw any extra power.

At least the current cars figure out when the evse turns on. Our xc90 phev goes to sleep after an hour or two from when it gets turned off. It does not always wake up and realize that there is power available. Now I drive it occasionally in the morning or on the weekend and plug in when I finish driving thanks to a 40 foot j1772 extension cable.

 

[mr.Magoo]

I get asking people what they do, but if 20 people answer you're going to get 30 choices.

What does Ford tell you to do?

1) Always be plugged in.
2) Charge to 90% (or less than 100% depending on which manual you read).

OK, so please do not take this personally, because a lot of people repeat this fact as fact and the "bible" because it comes from Ford - but - where does it actually say that ?

What charge level is recommended for daily driving?

Ford recommends that you charge to 90% for everyday driving and charge to 100% when you need the full range for a trip. Charging to 90% helps prolong the life of your battery.

The way I read it is that the statement is more about not charging over 90% on a daily basis than "thy shall charge to 90% each and every day or thy shall suffer the wrath of the lithium gods", but maybe I've missed something and I'm curious as to what...

 

[Revenge]

I usually don't plug in until I get down to 20-30% and charge to 80-90%. I live in CA so weather isn't really an issue, My drive to work is about 10mi (one way), and I get free charging at work (LV2 ~5kW charge rate). I try to charge 1x per week at work so as not to clog up the available chargers. I also have an ICE Flex as a back up vehicle. Only thing charging constantly at home would get me is a higher electric bill. I think it really just comes down to your personal needs. The two factors I would consider are 1-if the Lightning is your only vehicle and 2-what is your anticipated daily battery consumption. Remember, if you suddenly need to go somewhere you could always find a Fast charger (assumption as I don't know what is actually around your area). I used one for the first time yesterday during a quick Target run. Got 34% charge (78 miles) in the 18min it was plugged in. I think the charge rate was just a little over 100kW.

 

[RickLightning]

OK, so please do not take this personally, because a lot of people repeat this fact as fact and the "bible" because it comes from Ford - but - where does it actually say that ?



The way I read it is that the statement is more about not charging over 90% on a daily basis than "thy shall charge to 90% each and every day or thy shall suffer the wrath of the lithium gods", but maybe I've missed something and I'm curious as to what...

Daily driving...

Departure time - uses house current to prep the cabin, when plugged in.

"When AC charging, keep your vehicle plugged in when the outside temperatures are very high or low. This enables the system to maintain the high voltage battery for best performance."

Intelligent Backup Power is designed to work, when plugged in. Clearly they don't intend you to have 20% power when the power goes out, so you should be charged to 90% daily for this feature.

ABC -Always Be Charging.

Lastly, what's your argument NOT to charge daily?

 

[Galactus55]

I plug in every time I park at home out side. The charging is time set for 07:00 pm to 07:00 am. This is for the cheaper cost of 7.4 cents per Kwh. In Ontario Canada they are offering during the times of 12:00 am to 07:00 am 2.4 cents per Kwh.

 

[Zprime29]

In general, I really don't understand why anyone would want to treat their EV like a gas car. It doesn't hurt to charge it every day. That's a scientific fact. So why not? I'm an old school boy scout, be prepared. I plug in every day.

 

[mr.Magoo]

Lastly, what's your argument NOT to charge daily?

I wasn't trying to argue against it, if you have the ability to always leave it plugged in, great, it's probably for the better.

It's more for the people who don't have that ability, that it's not the end of the world if you only plug in every so often and you don't have to keep it plugged in at all times.

Yes, if the truck is plugged in it'll use grid power to maintain battery temperatures v.s. using battery power, and I'm sure the controls does it more generously when plugged in compared to when not, so theoretically there's some longevity gains to be had if you do, but again, it's not the end of the world if you don't.

It's also a recommendation that you should avoid heavy / fast acceleration, I wonder how many live by that

 

[RickLightning]

Totally agree - if it cannot be plugged in nightly, it is fine.

Just those that argue it is better to not charge daily have no idea what they are talking about.

Where does it say I can't accelerate fast?

 

[Revenge]

It's also a recommendation that you should avoid heavy / fast acceleration, I wonder how many live by that

I try not to take anything on here personally but no one is going to tell me what to do with my lead foot! LOL

 

[Gullwing]

In general, I really don't understand why anyone would want to treat their EV like a gas car. It doesn't hurt to charge it every day. That's a scientific fact. So why not? I'm an old school boy scout, be prepared. I plug in every day.

Since I'm OP; it was more of a question of what do others do as my situation doesn't necessarily allow me to charge every day. I don't have enough power where I garage my truck to charge all the time. Not trying to treat like a gas car, just trying to maintain my current routine.

 

[mr.Magoo]

Where does it say I can't accelerate fast?

https://www.ford.com/support/how-tos/more-vehicle-topics/batteries/healthy-battery-habits/

Avoid hard acceleration, abrupt stops and excessive speed

 

[Zprime29]

Since I'm OP; it was more of a question of what do others do as my situation doesn't necessarily allow me to charge every day. I don't have enough power where I garage my truck to charge all the time. Not trying to treat like a gas car, just trying to maintain my current routine.

I wasn't trying to call anyone out. I meant to reply to the general consensus among people who chose not to charge. Since your use case limits your options, that's logical and makes sense. Like it's been mentioned, it doesn't matter if you charge every night or once a week. You make a plan for what is most convenient for you and roll with it.

The only times where it will make a difference is when you need to precondition or if there is extreme temperatures.

 

[BzzzzztZapPow]

Every day. Like I tell folks that ask about range, it's 'full' every morning. I also want max power available if the local grid goes down due to storms, etc.

 

[H3IMDALL]

I charge once every two to three weeks while at home. Local I get consistently over 3.2mi/kwhr even in Seattle area hills (“mountains” to folks in flatland lol). It doesn’t matter unless its extreme temps.

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