My Ford Pass Patience Is Wearing Thin

[jefrank]

I assume the "Charging to 100%" by a past time was only a software bug? Or will it go ahead and charge to 100% even though the time to complete isn't accurate?

I may be assuming too much, but I take that 9:34AM to complete charging to mean that it will take nearly 24 hours for some reason.

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[GoodSam]

This proves John's assertion that hitting the START charging button in cold conditions does indeed trigger spontaneous battery conditioning in frigid conditions.

Ok, I think your test shows preconditioning will take place when the FordPass Start button is pressed. 15 minutes ahead of time is enough to get the battery up to a temperature that allows full power. I still have a question about whether the battery will continue to charge to 100%, or only to the Target Limit %, if the FordPass Start button is pressed hours ahead of time. Or is the FordPass Start button only good for 15 minutes of running? Nothing in the owner's manual on this stuff, right?

I may be assuming too much, but I take that 9:34AM to complete charging to mean that it will take nearly 24 hours for some reason.

This could be correct as @Adventureboy wrote about that last one % from 99 to 100 can take a number of hours as some battery module or cell balancing to reach a real 100% state of charge.
https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/battery-percentages-not-matching.23253/post-451464

 

[Adventureboy]

I may be assuming too much, but I take that 9:34AM to complete charging to mean that it will take nearly 24 hours for some reason.

Do you have a charge window set? Perhaps the charge to 100% can't complete in your current window, so it is calculating completion in your next charge window. Given your starting SOC, this could be the case.

I have seen some cases where at 99%, it doesn’t adjust the time right away if the balancing process takes longer than anticipated. It seems to do this only if it is close to completion. In other cases, I’ve seen it push the completion time in steps between 99 and 100% for a few hours.

It is definitely not intuitive and calling the Ford team doesn't help since the folks on this forum know more on this forum than the support guys know. ;-)

 

[Henry Ford]

Pressing the Start button to "precondition" is a hack. When you press the Start button the truck will charge to 100% in however much time it takes to get to 100%, but if you leave prior to it hitting 100% you will have a "preconditioned" battery for extra range in cold weather. This is because a warm battery is necessary for optimum range and optimum charging.

When you start your truck in cold weather the first thing it is going to do is warm the battery. Energy used for warming the battery can't be used for powering the motors. When you Press the Start button in the FordPass app in cold weather the first thing the truck will do is warm the battery in preparation for charging. It should be noted that the battery will continue to warm while charging. That's just the nature of real world energy transfer.

The difference between driving to heat the battery and charging to heat the battery is obvious; the source of energy. If you want to maximize range it's best to source the energy from your home charger.

 

[Henry Ford]

My test: My Emporia declared it was providing all the kW possible. The FordPass note on the screen states it is charging to 100% (at a past time) and it gave me pause; and I only allowed it 10-15 minutes before stopping the test. I noted there seemed only a small amount of gain to the HVB charge level, say 1% while it consumed 10 minutes of full power.

I assume the "Charging to 100%" by a past time was only a software bug? Or will it go ahead and charge to 100% even though the time to complete isn't accurate?

I may be assuming too much, but I take that 9:34AM to complete charging to mean that it will take nearly 24 hours for some reason. Sponsored

I think this is right. Based on my observations of the time calculation after pressing the Start button in FordPass, I think it is simply calculating a time based on a real time charge rate. Plus there's probably a bit of lag. It seems to take a little time before the time becomes accurate.

Now I'll go into speculation territory. Maybe the extended time displayed after pressing the Start button is an indication that not all the energy is being put into the battery. Maybe it's an indication the battery is being "preconditioned." Or it could be a bug.

@TaxmanHog, thanks for taking the time to document this. It's one thing for a yahoo on the internet to say something, it's another thing for a yahoo on the internet to post pictures of that thing. We all know, pics or it didn't happen.

 

[Adventureboy]

@Henry Ford nailed it above. I believe the intent of the Start button is to charge to 100% which warms the battery to do that.

Note after you press the "Start" button, it becomes a "Stop" button. If you press the "Stop" button, you cannot restart the charge cycle without manually unplugging and replugging the charge gun.

I used the Start button last night to charge to 100%. It sat at 99% for at least 2 hours as it topped up and did the balancing.

I think what Ford is lacking here is clear documentation on what the intent is for each of the features and what they are doing. We are figuring it out by trial and error. @Ford Motor Company would do well to hire a documentation specialist to work with the team with the intent of properly articulating the features to the drivers.

 

[TaxmanHog]

To be sure I understand your finding:

I press the "start" on FordPass; and it provides the statement "Charging to 100%" by a specific time (which in my case wasn't in the future); the truck is actually is preconditioning the HV battery?

My test: My Emporia declared it was providing all the kW possible. The FordPass note on the screen states it is charging to 100% (at a past time) and it gave me pause; and I only allowed it 10-15 minutes before stopping the test. I noted there seemed only a small amount of gain to the HVB charge level, say 1% while it consumed 10 minutes of full power.

I assume the "Charging to 100%" by a past time was only a software bug? Or will it go ahead and charge to 100% even though the time to complete isn't accurate?

Is the result of your test: To precondition while plugged in, use the "Start" but be sure to cut it off after the state of charge begins to climb?

Ignore the gibberish about when it will complete 100% charging.

I repeated the process again this morning, got similar results,

This was the battery condition last night when I parked, motor energy reduced to 94%, SOC 52%

I hit the START charging button at 07:30 and let it run for 30 minutes this time, SOC appears to increase by 4% and performance increased to 100% with potential extra range of 16 miles.

Juice used for charging / battery warming and 15 minutes of cabin warming according to Emporia

Ford pass and FCSP log data: 4% traction energy of about 6 kWh, gross energy running through the FCSP 8.263 kWh costing $2.92 to prepare the truck for travel.

I do this as an exercise in helping others understand what's happening, the reality of my personal use case, I do not need to do any of this for local short mile trips, but if I were going on a long trip, then these steps would be worthwhile.

I wasn't worried that the battery was gaining additional energy, in reality that extra power is useful for the days travels, but I was hoping the BMS would inhibit charging so that I could in the interest of science determine what the energy expenditure is in battery warming and cabin preparations.