Does anyone have Lightning cold weather preconditioning detail information?

[Lightning Rod]

You didn't honestly think that display was from FordPass, did you?

Sorry, I'm totally new to EV world. So, which app was that screenshot taken from? I like the look.

Sponsored

 

[boggle]

Sorry, I'm totally new to EV world. So, which app was that screenshot taken from? I like the look.

Looks like Car Scanner ELM OBD2.

@Firestop what OBD2 device do you use?

 

[Lightning Rod]

Looks like Car Scanner ELM OBD2.

@Firestop what OBD2 device do you use?

Ha ha, sorry I don't know what an OBD2 device is and my truck won't be built until 2nd week of January. I'm just trying to familiarize myself with everything about owning a vehicle like the Lightning.

Thanks for any help.

 

[boggle]

Ha ha, sorry I don't know what an OBD2 device is and my truck ain't be built until 2nd week of January. I'm just trying to familiarize myself with everything about owning a vehicle like the Lightning.

Thanks for any help.

No worries.

OBD2 is a standardized diagnostic port in modern vehicles that is typically located under the dash. It is generally used by technicians for troubleshooting and pulling error codes, but there's also third party devices and applications that allow you to pull vehicle metrics and sensor data in real time. For us tech nerds here it gives you a lot more access to information (particularly battery and thermal characteristics) than what Ford allows through either the infotainment screen or in the FordPass app.

 

[Lightning Rod]

No worries.

OBD2 is a standardized diagnostic port in modern vehicles that is typically located under the dash. It is generally used by technicians for troubleshooting and pulling error codes, but there's also third party devices and applications that allow you to pull vehicle metrics and sensor data in real time. For us tech nerds here it gives you a lot more access to information (particularly battery and thermal characteristics) than what Ford allows through either the infotainment screen or in the FordPass app.

Thank you. I was wondering which one to get. I want to get a good one and not the cheapest. I hear the cheap ones limit a lot of what you can do with them.

 

[boggle]

Thank you. I was wondering which one to get. I want to get a good one and not the cheapest. I hear the cheap ones limit a lot of what you can do with them.

OBDLink CX is thrown around here often. Certainly not cheap but supposedly natively works with A Better Route Planner and monitor your vehicles state of charge dynamically which seems worth the investment imo.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NFLL3N...II&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it#customerReviews

 

[Firestop]

Ok, now that I think I‘ve got the E-Heat PW PID identified, I put together another CarScanner Dashboard to use for my future Preconditioning/Battery Temp Control Power Demand testing.

I tried the new dashboard out this morning … the attached screenshot was at ~5 min. into a cold start. I noted the Coolant Heater only appears to draw power when heating the cabin. I’m seeing an initial spike at the beginning of the drive in the 8-11 kW range which settles down to the 2-4 kW range as the cabin continues to heat…in one case dropping to zero for a moment as the cabin heater cycled. Also, I found it interesting to see the HVB temperature vs. the coolant temperature

These screen shots taken ~1 min apart while driving at ~45 mph….

 

[Firestop]

OBDLink CX is thrown around here often. Certainly not cheap but supposedly natively works with A Better Route Planner and monitor your vehicles state of charge dynamically which seems worth the investment imo.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NFLL3N...II&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it#customerReviews

@Lightning Rod , @boggle is correct … I’m using the OBDLink CX in conjunction with CarScanner iApp for these dashboards.. I also use the CX with ABRP….I tried the MX model, but it isn’t compatible with ABRP…..

To @RickLightning ‘s laughter, I started using ABRP and CarScanner apps to satisfy my curiosity about how my truck uses power and better understand how that use applies to my driving. FordPass and Sync are pretty limited!

I too am new to EV ownership (4 mos.) and had a lot of questions. What I found is the internet is full of a lot of BS on EV performance (well, not just that topic), so I choose to join/participate in this forum because it has mostly fact-based threads. I also chose to collect/analyze my own data (OBDLink CX, CarScanner, ABRP) because I’m a little pragmatic and like to quantify/qualify when I learn.

It is OK to be new at this stuff….and, this forum is a great place to incubate while you’re waiting for your truck and stay as you continue driving it!

 

[RickLightning]

What I found is the internet is full of a lot of BS on EV performance (well, not just that topic)

Yes, there's a huge amount of misinformation online. Facebook pages, Youtube videos, all sorts of crap that is wrong.

 

[Lightning Rod]

OBDLink CX is thrown around here often. Certainly not cheap but supposedly natively works with A Better Route Planner and monitor your vehicles state of charge dynamically which seems worth the investment imo.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08NFLL3N...II&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it#customerReviews

@Lightning Rod , @boggle is correct … I’m using the OBDLink CX in conjunction with CarScanner iApp for these dashboards.. I also use the CX with ABRP….I tried the MX model, but it isn’t compatible with ABRP…..

To @RickLightning ‘s laughter, I started using ABRP and CarScanner apps to satisfy my curiosity about how my truck uses power and better understand how that use applies to my driving. FordPass and Sync are pretty limited!

I too am new to EV ownership (4 mos.) and had a lot of questions. What I found is the internet is full of a lot of BS on EV performance (well, not just that topic), so I choose to join/participate in this forum because it has mostly fact-based threads. I also chose to collect/analyze my own data (OBDLink CX, CarScanner, ABRP) because I’m a little pragmatic and like to quantify/qualify when I learn.

It is OK to be new at this stuff….and, this forum is a great place to incubate while you’re waiting for your truck and stay as you continue driving it!

I appreciate you guys sharing your knowledge. I am kind of a geek so learning stuff like this is right up my alley. The price for that scanner seems reasonable.

Quick question, is there a way to use this scanner to change things in the system, like changing front lightbar settings and removing reverse beep or will i need a dongle for my laptop?

Thanks guys.

 

[Firestop]

I appreciate you guys sharing your knowledge. I am kind of a geek so learning stuff like this is right up my alley. The price for that scanner seems reasonable.

Quick question, is there a way to use this scanner to change things in the system, like changing front lightbar settings and removing reverse beep or will i need a dongle for my laptop?

Thanks guys.

Possibly….CarScanner has a beta feature that mentions such a feature, thou that’s where my lack of bravery annd my ignorance kicks in….I haven’t gone there. Forescan may be a more appropriate software tool for that purpose, but, again, I haven’t gone there for the previous stated reasons……

 

[p52Ranch]

Ok, now that I think I‘ve got the E-Heat PW PID identified, I put together another CarScanner Dashboard to use for my future Preconditioning/Battery Temp Control Power Demand testing.

I tried the new dashboard out this morning … the attached screenshot was at ~5 min. into a cold start. I noted the Coolant Heater only appears to draw power when heating the cabin. I’m seeing an initial spike at the beginning of the drive in the 8-11 kW range which settles down to the 2-4 kW range as the cabin continues to heat…in one case dropping to zero for a moment as the cabin heater cycled. Also, I found it interesting to see the HVB temperature vs. the coolant temperature

These screen shots taken ~1 min apart while driving at ~45 mph….

Thanks for the two dashboard posts with the dynamic driving info. Very interesting data on the battery temperature in both posts.

It looks like the battery "coolant" temp is starting to warm the battery up from the initial cold start. Have you noticed how much the battery will warm while driving?

 

[Firestop]

Thanks for the two dashboard posts with the dynamic driving info. Very interesting data on the battery temperature in both posts.

It looks like the battery "coolant" temp is starting to warm the battery up from the initial cold start. Have you noticed how much the battery will warm while driving?

Not yet…I’ve just done a two short (~10 min each) cold start drives today to test my newest dashboard that were only at 25-45 mph (https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...itioning-detail-information.13353/post-280639).

The Coolant Temp held constant at 59 degF while the Battery Temp stayed close to the outside air temp. I definitely need to get it on the freeway and heat those batteries up

I’ve downloaded the CSV files from today and will look at the data to see if sufficient to analyze. I’m also still reviewing the limited number of PIDs visible to CarScanner to see if there are any others that will provide supporting data points.

 

[Akbrian]

Not yet…I’ve just done a two short (~10 min each) cold start drives today to test my newest dashboard that were only at 25-45 mph (https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...itioning-detail-information.13353/post-280639).

The Coolant Temp held constant at 59 degF while the Battery Temp stayed close to the outside air temp. I definitely need to get it on the freeway and heat those batteries up

I’ve downloaded the CSV files from today and will look at the data to see if sufficient to analyze. I’m also still reviewing the limited number of PIDs visible to CarScanner to see if there are any others that will provide supporting data points.

My battery temp hit a low of 21 degrees yesterday. I would love to find the battery heater sensor. Just got car scanner app so messing with that. Today Within 3 hours of shorts drives and stops my battery temp dropped almost 20 degrees today from 55 to 38 degrees. Seems like once battery temp drops below 30 power starts to drop on dash indicator.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Saturday morning test, involved no pre-conditioning, just using remote start, ran it for 20 minutes with ambient temp of about 54º, last night my range was 270 @ 90% and it was much colder then compared to this morning..... yet still dropped 3 miles.

Substantially different power consumption for a remote start compared to preconditioning, peak draw was just a hair under 9kw, it stepped down aggressively by the minute, by the eight minute it was hovering around 2kw until the 20 minute session was finished and truck shutdown. Note that during pre-conditioning the cabin heating continues to run past the target departure time. Only 1.28 kWh was consumed from shore power, in my market that's worth 35 cents.

And most importantly, the steering wheel was warm.

I think I'll reserve "pre-conditioning" for battery health when it's really cold, otherwise remote start for 10 minutes should be sufficient in most cases.