Question about real battery capacity, charging to “100%” (notice the quotes)

[TaxmanHog]

As someone once said, the truck should be working for you, not the other way around.
enjoy!

Amen, neglecting to make use of capacity in a pragmatic way is a real waste of resources.

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[John Becker]

I've been (needlessly) following the 40% - 60% SOC scheme since I got the truck in early December 2023. I don't drive many miles and only charge it about every two or three days.
This is the reason why getting the SR was a no-brainer for me.

 

[TaxmanHog]

I've been (needlessly) following the 40% - 60% SOC scheme since I got the truck in early December 2023. I don't drive many miles and only charge it about every two or three days.
This is the reason why getting the SR was a no-brainer for me.

As long as it's working for you with no sacrifices, than all's good, but those pushing past these narrow limitations should still be fine, we've got 8yr/100k protection backing us up, especially low mileage drivers .... like me.

 

[John Becker]

So far, it has been working well for me. The SOC dipped below 30% once. All of my driving is local and I'm not afraid to use the heat as needed to stay comfortable. (I love the heated seats and steering wheel.)
That said, I might expand to 80% - 40%. I like to have a comfortable lower margin to keep my wife from freaking out. Before getting the truck, I used to tease her about needing to keep lots extension cords handy.
And a final point: The 60% - 40% scheme might be optimal, but I suspect that the difference between it and, say, 90% - 10% is likely marginal. But I would like to see some kind of scientific analysis on that.

 

[John Becker]

On the other hand, consider this:

 

[PreservedSwine]

On the other hand, consider this:

Thats teeeific information.
but this is why it’s important (and as of yet unknown) just how much is charging to a displayed value 100% really charging to 100% of real capacity, or 80%, or anything else for that matter. .
It appears the test results in the video are from testing batteries, and are real values of SOC. I would like to know what percentage of the lightning battery Ford engineers deemed useable, and if our battery percentage accurately reflects actual battery State of charge, or something else. And if (almost certainly) something else- how can we accurately use that to determine what we’re really charging to.
I suspect 50% really is 50%, but also that 85% isn’t really 85%, and is a bit lower, if that makes any sense the way it’s being worded.

 

[Maquis]

I suspect 50% really is 50%, but also that 85% isn’t really 85%, and is a bit lower, if that makes any sense the way it’s being worded.

I think the consensus is that most of the buffer is at the top end, so 50% displayed (usable) is less than actual. @MickeyAO mentioned some numbers previously.

 

[John Becker]

I can't cite the source, but it's my understanding that the SR actual capacity is 107 and usable is 98. Therefore, charging to 100% is only 92% of actual capacity. Similar for the ER.

 

[Maxx]

On the other hand, consider this:

Much of this guys conclusions is based on this chart:

He says he has talked to people that have published it and he is convince that what they mean by number of Cycles (The X axis) is the number of times each case have gone from top to bottom of their own limits (ex: 75% to 65%) not the equivalent of a full discharge (100% to 0%) which would be 10 times times the cycles for 75% to 65%. If his understanding of Cycle is correct, then his conclusion is incorrect. In other words there is no appreciable difference between these cases if you consider the life of the battery by total mileage.

However if his understanding of the Cycle is incorrect and yellow line goes though charge and discharge 6 times as many as the red line, then there is a reason to go yellow.

 

[MickeyAO]

If you want to know what the actual buffer (top and bottom) is, grab a OBD scanner and watch HVBSOC and HVBSOCD. D is displayed.

 

[1Jetpilot]

There is all kinds of miss information and myths about EV Batteries. I found this youtube video I think explains how to get the most and longest life out of you battery.

Does anyone know if the range depicted on the Ford Pass App takes in consideration cold weather batter degradation?

 

[Maquis]

Does anyone know if the range depicted on the Ford Pass App takes in consideration cold weather batter degradation?

FordPass simply shows what’s calculated by the truck.
It does not do a good job calculating range, especially in cold weather. I ignore it and only pay attention to SoC and MPK.

 

[1Jetpilot]

FordPass simply shows what’s calculated by the truck.
It does not do a good job calculating range, especially in cold weather. I ignore it and only pay attention to SoC and MPK.

do you multiply SOC x MPK to get a more accurate range to empty or DTE?

 

[Maquis]

do you multiply SOC x MPK to get a more accurate range to empty or DTE?

That or some variation of that.
Precision isn’t required. With an ER, I know I’m good for 260 miles at 2.0 MPK. Ratio the 260 by the current SoC. If that’s greater than the distance to destination, it’s all good. Then during the drive, just keep an eye on MPK. If it drops to 1.8, reduce the range by 20%. The thing that could get you is that on a long drive, MPK is cumulative. If you’ve gone 100 miles at 2.0, you’re not going to see a change if you run into a sudden headwind that drops you to 1.6. Rivian shows the MPK for something like the last 15 miles. That would be helpful here.

This might be too complicated for some folks, but mental math comes natural to me. I’ve been driving an EV for 3 years and I’m at the point where a quick glance at the numbers tells me OK or not OK. 99% of the time, it’s OK. I’ve had to make an unplanned charging stop just once in those three years. It was a cold, windy day!

 

[1Jetpilot]

That or some variation of that.
Precision isn’t required. With an ER, I know I’m good for 260 miles at 2.0 MPK. Ratio the 260 by the current SoC. If that’s greater than the distance to destination, it’s all good. Then during the drive, just keep an eye on MPK. If it drops to 1.8, reduce the range by 20%. The thing that could get you is that on a long drive, MPK is cumulative. If you’ve gone 100 miles at 2.0, you’re not going to see a change if you run into a sudden headwind that drops you to 1.6. Rivian shows the MPK for something like the last 15 miles. That would be helpful here.

This might be too complicated for some folks, but mental math comes natural to me. I’ve been driving an EV for 3 years and I’m at the point where a quick glance at the numbers tells me OK or not OK. 99% of the time, it’s OK. I’ve had to make an unplanned charging stop just once in those three years. It was a cold, windy day!

What do you mean by this? " Ratio the 260 by the current SoC. "

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