RWG
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Randal
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2022
- Threads
- 0
- Messages
- 104
- Reaction score
- 166
- Location
- Chaska Minnesota
- Vehicles
- 2021 Mach E
- Occupation
- Retired
For those new to BEVs, here's a useful resource from Ford.
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For those new to BEVs, here's a useful resource from Ford.
As long as you stop at 90%I don't think Ford does a great job of NOT confusing people.
With respect, the app is about the only thing that makes this remotely like a laptop. Your laptop battery life has not increased because the battery got significantly better, it did so because chips now draw less power. The laws of physics in vehicles do not allow for doubling or tripling of efficiency in 24 months. You either have to decrease weight by a LOT, increase aerodynamics by a lot, or decrease waste (I.e heating the cabin).The pdf document is very informative. Thanks, I find this Forum much more useful/informative than my dealer or Ford Detroit. I have spoken to both, many times, and in many ways they are collectively clueless.
After owning our MMe for now 3 weeks, in the frozen Tundra of Minnesota, with sub - zero temps, constantly, we really don't have any negative experiences, other than Range Envy. However, being a GearHead and a Nerd, my conclusion is our MMe is nothing more than a "laptop with wheels, that looks like a car". As such it has all of the risks and challenges of a laptop, compounded by the FordPass app. which adds layers of risk, and performance (connectivity) challenges.
Ford is a 100 year old car company, that makes good mechanical stuff, but now it has pivoted to a maker of "laptops on wheels", with remote access control ( FordPass) and they have their hands full. I am resolved to the fact it is going to take some time for them to catch up, i.e. everyday is a new challenge that they did not necessarily plan for and to make matters worse, the Ford IT support infrastructure is old, outdated, and it shows.
I have concluded, that I will not own this thing longer than 24 to 36 months, because imagine the technology advancements available to this "laptop on wheels" in that timeframe. Within 24 months I predict all EVs will be boasting/promoting ranges of 500 miles or more and having this vehicle will be like owning an old laptop, with 4 gig of RAM and running Windows 7. Also, hopefully Ford will have upgraded their legacy IT infrastructure. If not, my next EV will not be a Ford, it will be a brand that is relevant.
Not the least. There is no link that I have seen in the original post but there is an attachment and it is made nearly unreadable by the watermarking. I am no expert but seems weird to use a forum watermark on a document that Ford created.Are you trying to be funny? There is a link in the original post.
Agreed, I started a thread several months back asking is it better to charge daily or when needed; as I don't charge everyday. My initial rational was the battery only has so many cycles per lifetime from reading about evs. But I will say the majority of responses here said it did not really matter and that most people responded in the forum that they charge daily. **And here Ford does seem to contradict themselves in this regard. That being said I still believe for Long Term Battery Management the less times charged the better. I'm sticking with periodic charging.What is confusing to me is the contradiction of statements to charge it everyday, but charging it and topping it off everyday is not recommended for battery life. I came here to learn exactly what I should do for cold weather overnight and am presented with conflicting info from Ford themselves. Car is great. Ford's communication and consumer software...not so much.
I think it is RESERVING power for the BMS to cool/warm the battery and not conditioning all the timeThe curious part of this for both cold and hot weather is that statement about not charging the 12V. Reads like the car is always running the thermal management system.
They are informing those who have a choice to choose slower AC charging over DCFC. If you don't have the option to slow AC charge, they are informing you of the consequences. EVERY BEV is affected the same way because the battery chemistries/designs are all very similar and thus are susceptible to the same pitfalls. Ford is simply telling you up front.I love this.. they assume that people will keep these cars long term. Look I absolutely love my car, but in a few years when 500 mile range cars come out, why would I stick with the car I have now, the technology will have changed so much. Why bother?
Urban dwellers rely on DCFC because we can't exactly plug in to my apartment Using DCFC is more common than they would like to think.
90% is the recommended MAXIMUM; charging to 80% is perfectly fine unless it means you drain down to 15% or lower as a consequence (such as during your daily commute).So I have been driving the car between 20% - 80% as recommended. So now I should use 20% - 90% as my standard driving range?
Also I do not have any updated charge curves via software updates.
Battery technology is not going to change much in 2-3 years, and just like you could upgrade that windows 7 OS to windows 10 the car will get added features over time. The arrival in mass production of the next breakthrough in battery chemistry is further away than 2 or 3 years, so incremental improvements in efficiency and stuffing a bigger battery on board are the only ways to improve range. The aerodynamics of the Lucid Air gives it a 15% to 20% boost of the Mach-E's mi/kwh efficiency, which combined with the 25% bigger battery gives it a 500 mile range vs 300 of the ER Mach E. That 25% bigger battery adds a lot of cost.I have concluded, that I will not own this thing longer than 24 to 36 months, because imagine the technology advancements available to this "laptop on wheels" in that timeframe. Within 24 months I predict all EVs will be boasting/promoting ranges of 500 miles or more and having this vehicle will be like owning an old laptop, with 4 gig of RAM and running Windows 7. Also, hopefully Ford will have upgraded their legacy IT infrastructure. If not, my next EV will not be a Ford, it will be a brand that is relevant.
Perfectly stated.With respect, the app is about the only thing that makes this remotely like a laptop. Your laptop battery life has not increased because the battery got significantly better, it did so because chips now draw less power. The laws of physics in vehicles do not allow for doubling or tripling of efficiency in 24 months. You either have to decrease weight by a LOT, increase aerodynamics by a lot, or decrease waste (I.e heating the cabin).
New battery technology will surely improve EVs but anyone holding out for Moore’s law style time frames for range improvements is kidding themselves.
The FordPass app is also hardly an integral part to owning this car. I agree it’s not the best, but it remote starts reasonably well and scheduled charging reasonably well. What else do I really need it to do?
What is confusing to me is the contradiction of statements to charge it everyday, but charging it and topping it off everyday is not recommended for battery life. I came here to learn exactly what I should do for cold weather overnight and am presented with conflicting info from Ford themselves. Car is great. Ford's communication and consumer software...not so much.
When they refer to "don't top off every day" they mean don't charge it to 100% everyday, as is explained in more detail later in the document. The design of Li-ion batteries is such that frequently discharging very low or charging very high will cause damage to the battery. Keeping the state of charge in the middle is just fine, and in particular in very cold or hot weather they want you to plug in as much as possible so that the BMS can kick in using grid power rather than the battery.Agreed, I started a thread several months back asking is it better to charge daily or when needed; as I don't charge everyday. My initial rational was the battery only has so many cycles per lifetime from reading about evs. But I will say the majority of responses here said it did not really matter and that most people responded in the forum that they charge daily. **And here Ford does seem to contradict themselves in this regard. That being said I still believe for Long Term Battery Management the less times charged the better. I'm sticking with periodic charging.
Of course #Ford feel free to jump in and clarify.
Do you know if the BMS will kick in if it is cold and the car isn't plugged in? Or will it only run the BMS if the car is plugged in?Keeping the state of charge in the middle is just fine, and in particular in very cold or hot weather they want you to plug in as much as possible so that the BMS can kick in using grid power rather than the battery.