How low do you let the battery go before charging?

[Jim657]

Hello, I was just wondering. Not sure if I missed it somewhere but does Ford recommend how low you should let the battery go I before charging? I know you’re not supposed to go down below 10 if you can help it but just wondering for my daily commuting around town I can go over a week sometimes without charging but should I be charging it when it gets to 40% - 30%, or does it even matter I usually let it go down to about 35-40% and then I’ll charge it. Just wondering what most people do if they don’t need it charged the next day. Thanks

Sponsored

 

[Heliian]

Generally accepted for most ev's with this battery type is the 20 to 80% range.

I charge to 85 and recharge at 20 at the lowest. Wintertime, I keep plugged in more often.

 

[Bwanapete]

I used to hear that a plugged-in Tesla is a happy Tesla. I plug that and my Lightning in when they are home. They only charge (to 80%) at night, off peak, because we are on time-of-use metering.

 

[thedadlegend]

I have a slow charger at home, just a standard outlet. Usually I charge every night and it gets back whatever I use on my commute.

We just did a trip, though, and I’m holding around 35% and I’m not sure if that’s ok so I’m going to go find a faster charger today and fill up.

 

[Adventureboy]

I keep my Lightning between 85% and 20%. I've pulled in a couple of times at 10% but don't like doing that. I charge to 100% on departure on a road trip by exception only (maybe once per month). Ford has 10% capacity built-in reserve so 100% on the meter is really only 90% of the battery capacity (hence why regenerative braking still works) so 90%-10% on the gauge is perfectly safe - 85%-20% is safe with a buffer on both ends.

An interesting situation on my wife's Mach-E - at one point they did an OTA update that seemed to top balance the batteries (fully charge all cells in the battery pack so they are balanced). I had the maximum charge capacity set to 85% but the car charged to 100%. It stayed at 100% for about 50km the next day. I haven't seen this on the Lightning but it wouldn't surprise me if they would do that occasionally to keep the cells conditioned and aligned in the pack. It is standard procedure for lithium-based packs.

 

[ivan256]

Hello, I was just wondering. Not sure if I missed it somewhere but does Ford recommend how low you should let the battery go I before charging? I know you’re not supposed to go down below 10 if you can help it but just wondering for my daily commuting around town I can go over a week sometimes without charging but should I be charging it when it gets to 40% - 30%, or does it even matter I usually let it go down to about 35-40% and then I’ll charge it. Just wondering what most people do if they don’t need it charged the next day. Thanks

You charge some every time you step on the brake, or even let up on the accelerator.

There's no sense in not charging. You charge a lot more frequently than you might think.

As long as you're not running it to empty, and you're not letting it sit at 100% for long periods of time, you're probably fine.

 

[Zprime29]

I don't drive enough day to day to get much below 65%. Sometimes I get lazy over the weekend and it'll get to 55% but work nights I'm always plugged in and back to 85%. Only time I get lower is on road trips and that's charger dependent.

 

[JustADude]

Funny enough I just got a message from Ford asking if I wanted to do a virtual tour of my truck (which I got over a week ago). I declined but asked the rep about this topic though, and they said 'plug in whenever you have a charger - it does more than just charge it maintains battery temperature for optimal health.' They also said 90% is the recommended at-home charging limit. Not sure how that jives with other recommendations but figured I'd ask while I had them on the line.

 

[02Reaper]

I used to plug in once or twice a week around 40% or so until My utility plan gave me 2 free hours of charging every night. Now I plug in at least every other night so I don't go over 2 hours if I don't have to.

 

[Pioneer74]

ABC

Always
Be
Charging

 

[BloodyBulwark]

I treat all batteries the same. My phone, EV, w/e has a batter, I float between 20%-80%. Since the Lightnings are still new, I'm not sure if there would be battery degradation with charging at 40-50% so when the truck gets to 40% it thinks it's empty. Depends on the programming and if it will live up to the 8-year warranty Ford has on this set of battery packs.

 

[RickLightning]

Funny enough I just got a message from Ford asking if I wanted to do a virtual tour of my truck (which I got over a week ago). I declined but asked the rep about this topic though, and they said 'plug in whenever you have a charger - it does more than just charge it maintains battery temperature for optimal health.' They also said 90% is the recommended at-home charging limit. Not sure how that jives with other recommendations but figured I'd ask while I had them on the line.

And that's what the manual says also.

 

[Lightning Rod]

I let my Lariat ER drain down to about 50 and plug in and a couple hours later, I'm back to 80 percent. This drain to 50 usually takes most of a week.

 

[Ekiehn]

Interesting topic... I had read that optimum at home charging was 90% so I've been doing that, but I've been charging like I would a gas truck, gets down to a 1/4 left and plug in to 90... Of course I'm in a higher lightning area FL and would rather not have an afternoon/evening thunderstorm take out my truck... I guess you have to weigh the variables..

 

[SmoothJ]

I always plug in, and charge to 90%, but when I am about to goto a road trip, I charge to ~98%. This way I can still have regerative braking when we leave our house, which is on top of a large hill.

Sponsored