Question from the Desert

[JakeyLee]

Well, if you’re like me, you probably get annoyed by dumb ass questions from newbies (and trolls).. but here I am: I think I’m bout to bite the proverbial bullet and purchase a Mach 1 GT. But there’s one question I haven’t asked.. Will living in the desert pose any serious problems/issues with this vehicle? I know that sounds odd to some, but I often leave my car in the driveway… sometimes i experience several days in a row of 110 degree heat. We all sorta know the downsides of cold temps with these EVs.. But what about extreme heat? What am I missing? Anyone have any info?

Oh, almost forgot… I really appreciate you all. Thanks again for your patience with newbies.

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[Monke]

Temperature went up to around 110F here for several days or weeks while my select was at the shop for almost a month last year. It was probably parked outside for days. The original paint and interior looked just fine. It had several layers of liquid glass and spray on graphene coating for exterior and Inside Job for interior. Battery charge level went down a bit because the car was moved around. I did not see any noticable battery degradation.

The car would ask for charger when it was over 100F.

Add
The climate is semiarid. It is hot here so I would add HOT to semiarid. I don't feel that we have enough rain.

 

[BigMach-E]

Few questions here: can you keep the car on charge while not in use during these heat spells? I would say there might be some battery degradation over time, but that happens anyway. The batteries are rated to operate at that temp. I don’t think long term storage at that temp without shore power is the best, but you can. https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...ratures of greater than,by the A/C compressor.

 

[macchiaz-o]

I've had my vehicle since March '21 so it's been through a couple of our summers.

My vehicle is parked in my garage at night. I do drive to work 5 days a week and at work, it is outside with zero shade (no trees or other shade nearby... it's just a giant parking lot).

It does okay with this. But I will say that on maybe a dozen occasions each summer, I'll get a "Drive modes unavailable" condition when I'm driving the vehicle when it had gotten super heat saturated from being parked. When this happens the vehicle's basically switched into it's normal driving mode "Engage" but the maximum throttle is tapered back a little bit and the HVAC cooling to the cabin seems noticeably reduced.

I think it's diverting more of the cooling to the battery and electronics but I'm not really sure... Just my guess. It still does cool down the cabin but it takes a lot longer. Very few others have complained of this same situation so I'm thinking I am putting the car through harsher conditions then most?? Not sure.

If you are able to leave your vehicle plugged in while it's in the driveway, then you shouldn't have any problems. The car can cool itself down while plugged in if you open up your charge schedule. That wouldn't work for me, though... There's nowhere to plug in at work and at home I only allow the vehicle to charge from 11pm to 5am due to wanting the best savings on SRP's EV TOU plan.

Other stuff: The panoramic glass roof is great. I don't think it makes the vehicle noticeably hotter... They did a fantastic job with the special coatings on it. I only tinted the front driver/passenger windows since the rest were already tinted... Not sure I even needed to do that. The seats feel hot... I would've preferred cloth if it were an option. Since you're getting the GT I think you'll have some mix that includes some cooler materials instead of just the vinyl offered on the Premium.

 

[Pushrods&Capacitors]

Just make sure you’re aware of the 5 second full power limit on GT models. The power drop after 5 seconds is precipitous to put it nicely, you may not have an issue with that personally though. Do a forum search if you aren’t aware of the limiting. Also, no cooled seats was a really glaring omission by Ford imo. Our MME 4X does great in 100+ TX heat but it’s garaged/plugged when it asks for it.

 

[Maquis]

You will have far fewer issues and/or compromises than someone who lives in an area with sub-zero winters.

 

[RickMachE]

There are a lot of forum members in the greater Phoenix area. While there are certain consideration due to the heat, one are desk breakers. I’m sure they’ll chime in and explain things better then someone 3,000 miles west of you can.

Which ones are desk breakers? Also, why would a desk get broken?

Wait, wut? He meant "none are deal breakers"?

 

[azerik]

I've driven EV's for almost 12 years in Phoenix. BLACK isn't the color you want in summer if you want the AC to actually work when you hop in. It'll work, at some point after it's cooled the battery enough to be happy. It will sound like a jet taxi'ing while trying to cool the battery and run the AC at the same time.

There are a few ways to battle (prepare, it's not really a battle) the summer with Fords EV's. Plugged into a L2 charger the battery cooling runs when the dash says temps above 100 degrees. Keep in mind this also means when you drive home 95% of April to Mid Nov, it seems, pull into the garage and plug in, the battery cooling will run. I've had my garage up over 128 due to this and the fact my garage is sealed. Crack the garage door, or if you have vents that helps a ton.

The car has the ability to crack or completely roll down the windows. PAAK will allow window control and the fob will as well. Triple click and hold unlock the windows roll down until you release. SOP of living in PHX, drop them like it's hot and start the car. The little vents in the back will not cool the back area and seats as well as dropping the windows for a few min.

Now lets talk about Haboobs. The fob/PAAK will also allow rolling the windows up. Saves you when that storm rolls in just after lunch.

Sunshade the wind shield. It's a PITA but it helps. OR..... Find a tint shop to pop some 70% tint on there. I did my Focus's windshields and bought a dashmat just for the summer because of a silver car, I got a silver dashmat. That wasn't a great idea. Any dashmat is prob fine, silver reflected into the windshield. Doesn't bother me with a pair of polarized sunglasses but my kid complains.

Remote start is super helpful (also departure times if you happen to run on a hard schedule) if you're plugged in. If you're not plugged in expect it to use 5 to 10% of a charge depending on where you park. Don't park like my wife, in the middle of the parking lot, sun shade on the passenger seat, black car, with all the windows fully rolled up. It'll could take 10 to 15 min for the AC to ever bother to work. (My experience with the Foci EV's, not sure how well the AC actually works in my MME as I've only had it since Jan this year.)

Plugging into an L2 is going to be the most helpful, along with any covered parking.

 

[Mrn]

I would be working on always parking in the garage. Between paint damage, plastic damage etc, etc, parking in the sun too much is a really bad idea. ?

 

[MachEMaster]

Keep plugged in to Level 2 charger when parked in the heat, to allow the car to cool itself when needed.

Use FordPass points to buy the Mach E windshield sun shade, to keep UV off Center screen and interior.

 

[azerik]

Supposedly the Costco sunshare is a perfect fit as well. I thought I saw that mentioned in this forum.

 

[AzCoronaDog]

Another AZ car here, it is my wife's commuter.
We keep it garaged at home, always plugged in so it can do it's cooling thing if necessary. I have almost never heard it running the fans and such on it's own, but my garage is a 4 car and it is insulated, so it stays relatively cool compared to the outside temp.
We got the car in July '21, and one thing I noticed is that it sounded like a freight train with all the fans running when charging at the full 40 amps my wall mount EVSE can do. I have a super low rate from 11p to 5a, and that is way more time than is needed to charge back the 90 mile commute each night. So I turned my EVSE down to 30 amps. Now it will only run a fan while charging on the very hottest days, and it is still a lot quieter. I can always turn it back up to 40 amps from a phone app if I want to charge faster, but so far, I have not needed to.
My wife uses a custom fitted windshield shade, and a sunroof shade, and we made side window shades using silver sided 1/4" insulating material you can get in a big roll. I posted about it on here somewhere, just make a paper template and cut them out. Super easy and works great. It only takes a minute or two to put them up, and the wife is religious about it at work because there is zero shade.
She does the remote start about 15 minutes before she leaves work in the evening. I have no idea how much range that uses, but since I put 100 mile in it for $1.75, it can't be more than a few cents. We use the departure times for getting it cooled or heated in the morning too.

 

[glenthompson]

If you have to park in the sun, I highly recommend sunshades from The Heatshield Store. Used them in a number of cars and they keep the inside nice and cool. Used to have a Prius Prime and could leave the dogs in the car with the sun shades in and the AC running and never got hot, even in summer Florida sun. If I don't have rear passengers I leave the back windows in all the time.

 

[JakeyLee]

I appreciate all the great advice. Thanks again!

 

[Maquis]

Another AZ car here, it is my wife's commuter.
We keep it garaged at home, always plugged in so it can do it's cooling thing if necessary. I have almost never heard it running the fans and such on it's own, but my garage is a 4 car and it is insulated, so it stays relatively cool compared to the outside temp.
We got the car in July '21, and one thing I noticed is that it sounded like a freight train with all the fans running when charging at the full 40 amps my wall mount EVSE can do. I have a super low rate from 11p to 5a, and that is way more time than is needed to charge back the 90 mile commute each night. So I turned my EVSE down to 30 amps. Now it will only run a fan while charging on the very hottest days, and it is still a lot quieter. I can always turn it back up to 40 amps from a phone app if I want to charge faster, but so far, I have not needed to.
My wife uses a custom fitted windshield shade, and a sunroof shade, and we made side window shades using silver sided 1/4" insulating material you can get in a big roll. I posted about it on here somewhere, just make a paper template and cut them out. Super easy and works great. It only takes a minute or two to put them up, and the wife is religious about it at work because there is zero shade.
She does the remote start about 15 minutes before she leaves work in the evening. I have no idea how much range that uses, but since I put 100 mile in it for $1.75, it can't be more than a few cents. We use the departure times for getting it cooled or heated in the morning too.

Have you tried the higher (40-48A) charge rates lately? There have been software updates to minimize fan noise when charging. I know mine has changed since 2021.

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