En Route Preconditioning for DC Fast Charging Does NOT Work

[cowboys1870]

Today I attempted to precondition to a EA DC fast charger in the driveway for ~30min before I left, and on the drive

My battery temperature was ~40°F on departure, and the truck sat out last night unplugged.

I then reset the EA location in Ford nav as my destination and drove. Then coolant heater never kicked on, and the battery never got above 50°F.

At no time was I farther than 18min and 9 miles from the charger.

I arrived with 28% SoC, and charged slower than typically expected. The coolant heater came on when connected to the charger, and speeds increased after ~6 minutes

At no point in the driveway or on the drive did the battery warm more than 3°F from the initial temperature, nor did the coolant heater come one.

Leaving the driveway:

Charging started:
28% SoC
126kW output
50°F battery
9kW coolant heater
~70°F coolant inlet

After 6 minutes:
43% SoC
152kW output
66°F battery
8kW coolant heater
~109°F coolant inlet

13 minutes of charging:

Battery above 90°F, and coolant heater off

 

[TaxmanHog]

Today I attempted to precondition to a EA DC fast charger in the driveway for ~30min before I left, and on the drive

My battery temperature was ~40°F on departure, and the truck sat out last night unplugged.

Just to confirm, did you place the truck in run mode with the EA as a destination in hope of triggering the battery conditioning mode?

 

[carys98]

In order to save my sanity I have decided to ignore anything to do with GOM or with pre-conditioning.

 

[cowboys1870]

Just to confirm, did you place the truck in run mode with the EA as a destination in hope of triggering the battery conditioning mode?

If by run you mean foot on brake and press start, yes I did.

I also drove to the charger with the nav set to the EA station.

 

[TaxmanHog]

If by run you mean foot on brake and press start, yes I did.

I also drove to the charger with the nav set to the EA station.

Your observations confirm several other members assertion that battery warming process does not impart a dramatic increase in temperatures during cold season.

When it's extremely warm, like summer in the southwest warm, the chilling effect was shown to be more productive in cooling the battery in anticipation of an upcoming charging session.

 

[cowboys1870]

Your observations confirm several other members assertion that battery warming process does not impart a dramatic increase in temperatures during cold season.

When it's extremely warm, like summer in the southwest warm, the chilling effect was shown to be more productive in cooling the battery in anticipation of an upcoming charging session.

I think the heating just doesn’t work at all, at least at this time.

I would not be shocked if it did work at one time and was broken by a software update.

I also would not be shocked if 2024+ is fine, and only 22-23 model years have the issue.

I will for sure try again in the heat of summer!

Also, Sport Mode seems to cool aggressively so that’s a nice option (I prefer Apple Maps anyways).

 

[Heliian]

Has anyone tested this below freezing?

The fact that you're able to pull 126kw straight out of the gate tells me that the battery is close to a more optimal temperature than cold.

 

[cowboys1870]

Has anyone tested this below freezing?

The fact that you're able to pull 126kw straight out of the gate tells me that the battery is close to a more optimal temperature than cold.

It started at 110kW while spending 10kW on the battery heater at 28% SoC. That’s awful charging, 100kW, when it should be 160kW+.

 

[jamelski]

I might be wrong but I could have sworn you have to use charge assist or whatever that app is called and push that EA NAV to trigger pre heat

 

[TaxmanHog]

I might be wrong but I could have sworn you have to use charge assist or whatever that app is called and push that EA NAV to trigger pre heat

It's supposed to work with native Ford navigation, you need to choose a destination that is specifically designated as a high KW capacity DCFC station, plugging in the associated street address may not trigger the warming process.

IIRC, it's supposed to work with android auto and google map's, which I used on Saturday evening during a 186 mile road trip, I searched for a Tesla DCFC, navigated directly to it and, got 168 KW within a minute of plugging in. So either the pre heating worked or the moderate temperatures in the mid 50's also helped. I didn't measure any temperatures so my observation is strictly what the charging KW was showing in the Tesla app and Fordpass.

 

[RickLightning]

My 2022 Mach-E preconditioned enroute to a fast charger at some point, then an update broke it, then it got fixed last year.

My 2022 Lightning has never preconditioned enroute to a fast charger, and Ford has confirmed that this is correct, and will be remedied by an update Soon... Missed 2 winters.

 

[TaxmanHog]

SOON ™️

 

[ZSC100]

I have tried this many times with my battery temps well below zero in Oklahoma recently, I never saw any heating before arriving at the charger and I navigated with the integrated find a charger app. I think what we consider a cold battery (teens) is still well capable of accepting 160kW of power. If you think of it based on the power limit they impose for the powertrain:

Limited to 61% of 450HP is 275HP, that is 205kW, so if I can step on the accelerator and get 205kW of power to the motors it can very well accept 205kW of charging power. I have seen my "charge limit" PID in Car Scanner say as low as 105kW though when I first start the truck in these low temps. So, the Powertrain software people and the charging software people definitely aren't in agreeance at Ford . Just another example of how Ford sucks at software

 

[cowboys1870]

I have tried this many times with my battery temps well below zero in Oklahoma recently, I never saw any heating before arriving at the charger and I navigated with the integrated find a charger app. I think what we consider a cold battery (teens) is still well capable of accepting 160kW of power. If you think of it based on the power limit they impose for the powertrain:

Limited to 61% of 450HP is 275HP, that is 205kW, so if I can step on the accelerator and get 205kW of power to the motors it can very well accept 205kW of charging power. I have seen my "charge limit" PID in Car Scanner say as low as 105kW though when I first start the truck in these low temps. So, the Powertrain software people and the charging software people definitely aren't in agreeance at Ford . Just another example of how Ford sucks at software

I’m also in Oklahoma!