Ice & Easy: Winter Driving Tips from Ford

[Ventorum94]

Thanks for posting this.

When I was invited to the factory on launch day, Darren Palmer mentioned something that I found pretty interesting.

If you have a home charger, it's not a bad idea to configure a morning departure time even if you don't know for sure what time you plan to leave because a preconditioned battery remains warm for quite a while without drawing any additional power from the battery or even the home charger.

What happens after the “departure time” is reached, but you haven’t yet departed? Does it cease battery preconditioning and cabin comforting? Or does it continue, even after the set departure time, until you unplug? (seems like this should be a toggle option, to continue preconditioning after scheduled departure time, if truck is still plugged in).

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[luebri]

What happens after the “departure time” is reached, but you haven’t yet departed? Does it cease battery preconditioning and cabin comforting? Or does it continue, even after the set departure time, until you unplug? (seems like this should be a toggle option, to continue preconditioning after scheduled departure time, if truck is still plugged in).

I believe everything stays active for 15 minutes and then shuts off. But the key to this theory is that the battery at some point in the morning does get to optimal which is 60°F and since it’s such a large mass, it takes quite a while for it to drop Temperature, especially if kept in a garage or better yet an insulated garage.

 

[luebri]

What happens after the “departure time” is reached, but you haven’t yet departed? Does it cease battery preconditioning and cabin comforting? Or does it continue, even after the set departure time, until you unplug? (seems like this should be a toggle option, to continue preconditioning after scheduled departure time, if truck is still plugged in).

i’m a big fan of just let your charging be your preconditioning, so just do your charging window late in the morning before the earliest you would ever depart and if your normal target is 80% lower it to 70% and then once you know, you need to leave for somewhere quickly add the 10% as fast as you can manually. This works exceptionally good if you can charge at a higher rate than 48amps.

All of this obviously changes if you have time of use electricity, then just take advantage of the latest slot in your low cost window

 

[TaxmanHog]

The pack holds heat better in a garage, I only lost 6 miles of range in 10 hours since prior battery conditioning and charging effort yesterday afternoon.

I'm doing another detailed study on @TMND thread here

 

[GoodSam]

keep my plug inside a plastic shopping bag, and then when I plug it into the truck I stuff that plastic shopping bag all around the plug into the charging port area.

I would like to see an image of your wrapping work. Any chance of too much heat build-up at a DCFC with a wrapping, if the plastic is touching the plug?

 

[GoodSam]

But the key to this theory is that the battery at some point in the morning does get to optimal which is 60°F and since it’s such a large mass, it takes quite a while for it to drop Temperature,

When does the pre-conditioning start? 20 minutes if already on the road? I think I have seen preconditioning start about 45 minutes ahead of departure on the home L2, in 50F temperatures, only staying on about 15 minutes. Is that typical?

 

[TaxmanHog]

When does the pre-conditioning start? 20 minutes if already on the road? I think I have seen preconditioning start about 45 minutes ahead of departure on the home L2, in 50F temperatures, only staying on about 15 minutes. Is that typical?

Your home experience is accurate, and dynamic to the pack temp's, the colder it is the further back from programmed departure time.

While on the road enroute to the DCFC, the truck has a fixed 20 mile factor, depending on your speed that might be 20 to 40 minutes.

 

[JRT]

I'd sure like to see how that heat pump change is working out. In a couple of posts I've seen in FB, 24 Flash no realy improvement based on my 23 XLT ER impacts.

 

[potato]

When the vehicle is plugged in, the vehicle’s battery temperature is kept above freezing temperatures to help optimize battery performance; this occurs regardless of whether or not the vehicle is actively charging while plugged in.

This is either incorrect or broken. I have not seen the truck attempt to warm the battery unless you set a departure time. My battery was at -11 C this morning. Quite a bit warmer than ambient, but certainly not above freezing. Likely just leftover heat from charging (3-4 hours charging, then 10 hour soak in -20 to -25 C).

 

[TaxmanHog]

This is either incorrect or broken. I have not seen the truck attempt to warm the battery unless you set a departure time. My battery was at -11 C this morning. Quite a bit warmer than ambient, but certainly not above freezing. Likely just leftover heat from charging (3-4 hours charging, then 10 hour soak in -20 to -25 C).

Marketing materials that haven't been proofed against current programming on our trucks, I agree only charging or use of departure time will cause battery warming.

 

[1RMDave]

Winter “driving” tip Number one. Park in a garage!?

besides recommending we keep our tires at pressure. Where is an actual driving tip in this post?

here I got one. In blizzard conditions switch to off-road mode since we don’t have a winter driving mode

This isn't really great advice, using off-road mode locks the diff and turns off traction control. With a locked diff, your truck it far more likely to get sideways or lose control. Should never drive for extended periods with the diff locked

 

[TMND]

This isn't really great advice, using off-road mode locks the diff and turns off traction control. With a locked diff, your truck it far more likely to get sideways or lose control. Should never drive for extended periods with the diff locked

Was being sarcastic more than anything there but fair enough

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