Battery heating & cooling in 2023: Parked unplugged

[GarageWarrior2023]

I've seen multiple posts now where people are saying opposing things so I wanted to make a post to clarify what the CURRENT state of things is with the Mach-E in regards to battery conditioning. I also want to know where people are getting their info from because from what I can tell it all seems like opinion and hearsay.

For the sake of these questions, I ask in relation to a 2023 model year that's fully up to date on software:

1. if it's hot outside, and your Mach-E is parked and unplugged. Will the Mach-E cool the battery intermittently to keep it below a damaging temperature?
2. If it's cold outside, -20c, -40c (anything below 0 degrees C) and the Mach-E is parked, not plugged in. Will the Mach-E heat the battery intermittently to keep the battery just above freezing?

I've seen posts saying that YES it will keep the battery in a healthy range and use battery power to do so if unplugged.

I've also seen posts saying that NO it will not do anything heating or cooling for the battery when unplugged and the vehicle is off.

Other EVs will automatically keep the battery heated or cooled to an acceptable temperature range whether or not its plugged in. Usually it will do this so long as the battery SOC is above something like 20-40%, below this it does not risk killing the battery while parked and unplugged.

I expect the Mach-E should do the same as other EVs and if it didn't always do this, at least now does with software updates and there being newer model years.

I want to be clear on how this machine operates, we get -37c or sometimes colder where I am in Canada and during an 8 hour shift parked outside you'd definitely prefer to lose a bit or range to battery heating to preserve the battery's health.

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[generaltso]

1. if it's hot outside, and your Mach-E is parked and unplugged. Will the Mach-E cool the battery intermittently to keep it below a damaging temperature?
2. If it's cold outside, -20c, -40c (anything below 0 degrees C) and the Mach-E is parked, not plugged in. Will the Mach-E heat the battery intermittently to keep the battery just above freezing?

1. No
2. No

There's a reason there's a message that pops up on the IPC when it's cold (or hot) telling you to plug it in.

 

[Mach-Lee]

No to both questions. Ford is very much against anything that drains the battery while the car is parked. I don’t agree with that, but that’s how Ford thinks in old school ways. It should give us the option of using energy to keep the battery and cabin conditioned while parked unplugged.

So in your case you may want to try to plug in L1 while parked, which will be just enough to keep the battery warm. Or precondition in the morning and hope it’s still somewhat warm at quitting time.

 

[GarageWarrior2023]

Yes a 120v trickle charge is a great suggestion, one I utilized with my 2022 Bolt EUV at work since I have a 15amp dedicated outlet for my parking stall. worked great, battery stayed above freezing and I always had a net positive charge result. But my Bolt would actually heat the battery to keep it warm when unplugged I believe, so me plugging in at work was more of a range preservation item in winter since I have a long highway commute.

Now I've traded the bolt in and our Q5 and we replaced them with two 2023 Mach-E's. I can plug in at work, no big deal. My concern is mostly for when my wife is at work, she currently has no option for plugging in. So if the battery does not keep itself above 0C when unplugged then it sounds like there's a significant risk here when we hit cold temps.

it seems insane to me that Ford would not condition the battery during extremes.

If truly no thermal management is done while unplugged. has anyone had -40c Canadian winter cold soaks on their MME's and had no issues powering up and driving away?

 

[GarageWarrior2023]

1. No
2. No

There's a reason there's a message that pops up on the IPC when it's cold (or hot) telling you to plug it in.

My understanding was that on average EVs will do more aggressive battery conditioning when plugged in then when they are unplugged. So for me I'd take that with a grain of salt as more of a recommendation to plug in to preserve range. I don't know if it's a definitive statement or proof that it will not do conditioning of the battery unplugged.

again, I've seen people expressly state that YES it (like most other EVs) does do conditioning in temperature extremes. I'm looking for hopefully some documented proof that it does or does not maintain battery temperature when unplugged. that's what's missing for me since there's people extremely confident that both yes and no are correct. someone has to be wrong...I have no idea who yet.....

 

[generaltso]

again, I've seen people expressly state that YES it (like most other EVs) does do conditioning in temperature extremes. I'm looking for hopefully some documented proof that it does or does not maintain battery temperature when unplugged. that's what's missing for me since there's people extremely confident that both yes and no are correct. someone has to be wrong...I have no idea who yet.....

Who said that it does? The proof is that many people leave their cars out in very cold or very hot weather and have no parasitic drain on the battery. If active heating or cooling was occurring, the battery SOC would go down.

By the way, the owner's manual basically says that some things may not work right when it's very cold:

 

[GarageWarrior2023]

Who said that it does? The proof is that many people leave their cars out in very cold or very hot weather and have no parasitic drain on the battery. If active heating or cooling was occurring, the battery SOC would go down.

post number 13 here:
https://www.[Banned Site].com/threa... no setting on,in, though using battery power.

claims it will do it unplugged. and it's not the only example of someone claiming this (without proof though, I will admit, regardless the statement is made)

BUT, yes, this is more like what I'm after. hard evidence. If you have data showing a newer model fully updated mach-e cold soaking at minus 30 c or colder for 8+ hours unplugged and showing no power usage in that period, that would be a strong indicator.

 

[generaltso]

post number 13 here:
https://www.[Banned Site].com/threads/cold-climate-charging.5556/#:~:text=There is no setting on,in, though using battery power.

claims it will do it unplugged. and it's not the only example of someone claiming this (without proof though, I will admit, regardless the statement is made)

BUT, yes, this is more like what I'm after. hard evidence. If you have data showing a newer model fully updated mach-e cold soaking at minus 30 c or colder for 8+ hours unplugged and showing no power usage in that period, that would be a strong indicator.

I don't think you should be looking for proof that a feature does NOT exist. You should ask the people claiming it does exist for the proof. It's hard to point at the section of the owner's manual that lists all the things that the car CAN'T do.

I can tell you that my car is regularly parked outside in Vermont winters all day with no change in battery SOC. Sorry, I don't have access to a 2023 to collect any more hard evidence.

 

[GarageWarrior2023]

apparently the other mach-e forum is a banned site!? I will quote the text from that post I was TRYING to link,

"
There is no setting on the Mach-E, plugged in or not, to just heat the battery. A departure time will prep the battery AND the cabin.

If the car is plugged in, it will keep the battery above freezing on very cold nights. It will do the same if not plugged in, though using battery power. Mine did this a handful of times last winter. "

 

[hybrid2bev]

apparently the other mach-e forum is a banned site!? I will quote the text from that post I was TRYING to link,

"
There is no setting on the Mach-E, plugged in or not, to just heat the battery. A departure time will prep the battery AND the cabin.

If the car is plugged in, it will keep the battery above freezing on very cold nights. It will do the same if not plugged in, though using battery power. Mine did this a handful of times last winter. "

You can set a departure time with the cabin temperature set to OFF.

 

[generaltso]

If the car is plugged in, it will keep the battery above freezing on very cold nights. It will do the same if not plugged in, though using battery power. Mine did this a handful of times last winter. "

Ask him for evidence of that.

 

[GarageWarrior2023]

Ask him for evidence of that.

I agree with that. and I think I'm going to create an account on that forum to probe that user. because you're 100% correct. this person makes that claim, maybe they have proof?

 

[GarageWarrior2023]

You can set a departure time with the cabin temperature set to OFF.

have you tried this unplugged? it's an interesting query.

 

[GarageWarrior2023]

I don't think you should be looking for proof that a feature does NOT exist. You should ask the people claiming it does exist for the proof. It's hard to point at the section of the owner's manual that lists all the things that the car CAN'T do.

I can tell you that my car is regularly parked outside in Vermont winters all day with no change in battery SOC. Sorry, I don't have access to a 2023 to collect any more hard evidence.

yes sorry, I'm not trying to be rude. I saw other posts with earlier models on earlier software versions saying what you are saying about it not doing conditioning unplugged. but a simple software update or hardware revision could change certain functions. that's why I was interested in the most current status of this. maybe there's a possibility that both yes and no are correct and it depends on model year and/or software version installed.....that's just where my heads at with that side of it.

 

[hybrid2bev]

have you tried this unplugged? it's an interesting query.

No. I've not set a departure time up like that even though one could. When unplugged it should only heat/cool the cabin. If I've set the cabin to OFF then it should basically do nothing when unplugged.

I want the cabin conditioned either with shore power or battery power for my departure times.

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