Charging for winter storm/power outage

[Dinozero]

Hey everybody,

I wanted to get some advice from other battery nerds.

We are anticipating an ice storm and looking at the potential of losing power. I have my house set up to run off of my trucks generator.

I would like to charge to a higher percentage, but there’s also the possibility we don’t lose power and I don’t go anywhere so the truck is sitting in the garage for a few days.

What do?

I was thinking 90%? Maybe 95? My daily routine is usually 80%.

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[BhamDCam]

I was thinking about this just this morning. I'm going to charge mine up to 90%. My normal is 70%.

I think 90% will be sufficient for us. We lost power last January one night for 9 hours and only used 7% of the battery.

 

[Dinozero]

I was thinking about this just this morning. I'm going to charge mine up to 90%. My normal is 70%.

I think 90% will be sufficient for us. We lost power last January one night for 9 hours and only used 7% of the battery.

Yeah, 90% is even in the manual as a safe daily amount. That’s probably as high as I feel comfortable going with the potential of leaving it a few days at that charge.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Why wouldn't you charge to 100%?

 

[Dinozero]

Why wouldn't you charge to 100%?

Because it could sit at 100% for a few days without use, which is bad for the battery.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Because it could sit at 100% for a few days without use, which is bad for the battery.

It's not bad for the battery until it sits for months at 100%.

 

[ryun]

It's not bad for the battery until it sits for months at 100%.

This right here. You paid for the full battery with a generous warranty. Go to 100%.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Because it could sit at 100% for a few days without use, which is bad for the battery.

Charge to 100 or 95% be prepared for the worst, then celebrate the passage of the storm by taking the family out to dinner, a little road trip if the roads are safe to drive on and you favorite restaurant is open.

 

[Dinozero]

Charge to 100 or 95% be prepared for the worst, then celebrate the passage of the storm by taking the family out to dinner, a little road trip if the roads are safe to drive on and you favorite restaurant is open.

I like this idea !

 

[Scorpio3d]

I would go ahead and charge to 100% which is actually not! Ford built in the extra buffer and from what I’ve read, it is only if you let it sit for like a month or more that it is bad for the battery.

 

[Maxx]

I would do 90% or even 85%. The longest outage I have had in the past 40 years has been 2 days. And never wide enough that I could not get to a working DCFC to refill. 100% for 3 days is worse than 100% for two days. Little poison is still bad even if it does not kill you.

 

[mrau]

My plan for storms is to be charged to 90%. Keep an eye on weather and the utility companies power outage map. If lots of outages start to appear and are getting closer, then I would charge up to 100% for the extra cushion.

90% should easily power a house for three days with moderate use.

Be sure to let us know what you did and how it worked out.

 

[K6CCC]

90% should easily power a house for three days with moderate use.

Maybe your house. Less than two days for me - leaving enough to get to a charger.
Once my son moves out, it will go down quite a bit - WooHoo!

 

[The Weatherman]

I am in the storm zone and will be charging both our EV’s to 100% tomorrow before the ice starts on Sunday morning. Standing at 100% for a few days is not going to affect the battery’s SOH.

My Lightning is going on three years old and has current SOH 100%, based on a recent Carscan review via the ODBII.

 

[Dinozero]

I am in the storm zone and will be charging both our EV’s to 100% tomorrow before the ice starts on Sunday morning. Standing at 100% for a few days is not going to affect the battery’s SOH.

My Lightning is going on three years old and has current SOH 100%, based on a recent Carscan review via the ODBII.

Good to know. I came from the Tesla world and was always trained that you should only charge to 100% if you’re only gonna stay there for a few hours not days or weeks.

It does make me feel like charging to 95% is probably no concern then. Right now 95 is the number I’m thinking.

Make me feel a little better and there’s really probably not much discernible difference between the two

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