First Road Trip. Awesome Kw/hour but no Preconditioning for DC?

[RWD_ER]

EDITED: To include the actual Road Trip Experience (and not just pre-conditioning debacle).

So, I've just completed the roundtrip from Cary, NC to Clearwater, FL and back. Lots of engagement, soreness and a couple of mods.

Overall, it was a pleasant trip - especially as I got a couple of mods added and received a much higher KW/H rating than I expected for a long highway drive.

Efficiency: I totaled 1400 highway miles with an average of 3.2 mi/kWh. I was expecting about 2.5-2.7 tbh based on the highway penalty. There were times I was appreciating the acceleration and was going faster than I expected - I certainly wasn't being very careful and at times pushed it on the open road. However, I was very aware of the efficiency aspect and here are my notes on the highway driving experience:

• Drafting is key. Cautious, effective and consistent drafting about 4 car lengths away from vans, RV's, pick up trucks and SUV's - and sometimes clean/maintained 18 wheelers (but kept more of a distance from those). You certainly feel the easier throttle on gas pedal behind another vehicle, meaning there's much less drag and effort needed.
• Throttle: Easy and consistent throttle pressure. I barely used cruise control because I wanted to stay as alert as possible as I was still getting used to the car (car is 3 weeks old and this is my first EV).

Charging: I used Electrify America via the vehicle's Nav - I set the chargers as the destinations. Super easy but not exactly quick!

• Overall Charging Experience: MUCH better than I expected. Easy peasy. Used perfectly located Electrify America Walmarts all the way through the I-95 NC, SC and GA corridor via the car's Nav. Every charger that I used worked instantly and I didn't pay for anything as I used Ford's free 250kw gift
• DC Charging (only) was easy, but a bit unreliable in terms of charge speed. I got initial speeds around 130kw, but it definitely throttled down to below 100kw sometimes even before 50% mark.
• "Pre-conditioning" as you can see from my initial post content and the responses, it totally sucks that preconditioning is a black hole. You don't know when it's on or whether or not the car's been preconditioned. If the charge throttled down consistently even before the 80% limit, then something seems off? FYI I used the car Nav and set the E Walmart DC chargers as the destinations.

Driving Experience: The steering, smoothness of the motor and acceleration/deceleration is almost addictive! I was on Whisper and OPD the entire time. The one negative though is that I don't find the seats very comfortable on the Premium. I tried a variety of positions and lumbar settings and my lower back area was very uncomfortable after about an hour. I had a Land Rover Defender 90 and Toyota Supra before this and this car was very uncomfortable in comparison. I think it's because the seat cushion material is too soft.

Wind noise and road noise was definitely worse than the Defender, but not too bad. The suspension is a good blend of sporty and comfortable enough. It could probably be further optimised, but no major complaints.

Other Notes:

• I had swapped in like new GT OEM wheels and tires as I felt the Premium 19 wheel and tire setup felt very narrow for a heavy vehicle. I was expecting a noticeable drop in efficiency, but still very happy w/ 3.2. Noticed much better steering feel, though the vehicle does feel a bit "heavier" on acceleration and turns (more planted though too). So the tires are 1" wider (worse aero) and overall tire/wheel about 20% heavier than OEM 19 wheels. The design of the GT wheel seems a bit more aero than the 19 Premium wheel, if it matters.
• Stayed over Jacksonville and had calipers painted!
• Got a rock chip near Gainesville that detoured me 25 miles and 90 minutes (to do the repair).
• I used a combination of the Ford Nav, Ford App, PlugShare and Google Maps to make sure I was heading to the DC charger locations without any drama. A little inconvenient having to use all those, but at least I was able to get to my locations on time and safely.

Overall, I couldn't resist taking this car on a long highway road trip - especially after reading some Taycan Forum posts and their enthusiasm for motoring their EV's hundreds and thousands of miles all over the country. Already looking forward to my next trip!

Drafting :

Speed includes tiny bit of traffic and 3-4 miles of exiting to an EA Walmart DC charger:

Just Wiping Off Bugs

Painted Calipers!

Darn Rock Chip:

(Original Post from 5/1) Hey guys, I'm heading from Cary NC to Clearwater FL. So I used the nav in car, searched for chargers and made one my destination and kept using the Ford Nav to get there, then plugged in. Am I to assume that the battery was preconditioned the last 20 minutes of the drive as other posts have indicated? Is this still the only way to precondition for DC charging?

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[kltye]

Hey guys, I'm heading from Cary NC to Clearwater FL. So I used the nav in car, searched for chargers and made one my destination and kept using the Ford Nav to get there, then plugged in. Am I to assume that the battery was preconditioned the last 20 minutes of the drive as other posts have indicated? Is this still the only way to precondition for DC charging?

I don't think preconditioning cools the battery; only heats it.

 

[RickMachE]

If you navigate to a DC fast charger (not incl Tesla at this time), it SHOULD precondition WHEN it needs to (mine no longer does, I think an update killed it). And it's the last 18.6 miles.

Without an OBD reader and CarScanner app, you have no visibility of it preconditioning.

In warm weather, there is no preconditioning, nor impact from temps. This time of year, give it not thought.

 

[Deleted member 19354]

Besides the update remarks. Where on in the car does it say “preconditioning “. How do we know it’s actually doing what it says it’s doing? I have not seen any indicator one way or another. “. Nothing states “preconditioning in progress”, preconditioning completed or even failed.
Suggestions?

 

[Jerrytball]

Hey guys, I'm heading from Cary NC to Clearwater FL. So I used the nav in car, searched for chargers and made one my destination and kept using the Ford Nav to get there, then plugged in. Am I to assume that the battery was preconditioned the last 20 minutes of the drive as other posts have indicated? Is this still the only way to precondition for DC charging?

I’d love to navigate to Cary, I miss H Mart lol, and SAS Tournament ?

 

[CTZ]

I believe that the destination graphic in the center console shows a charging station instead of a flag when the car knows you're going to a DCFC. It should pre-condition in that case.

 

[Billyk24]

Besides the update remarks. Where on in the car does it say “preconditioning “. How do we know it’s actually doing what it says it’s doing? I have not seen any indicator one way or another. “. Nothing states “preconditioning in progress”, preconditioning completed or even failed.
Suggestions?

In the Car Scanner App, one can see the HVB coolant temperature suddenly rise in an attempt to heat up the battery pack. This coolant temperature also increases while dcfc charging. It remains elevated above the battery pack and gradually decreases after DCFC.

 

[Deleted member 19354]

In the Car Scanner App, one can see the HVB coolant temperature suddenly rise in an attempt to heat up the battery pack. This coolant temperature also increases while dcfc charging. It remains elevated above the battery pack and gradually decreases after DCFC.

I’m not investing in all that haha. Just a lil icon is all I need. I get the snowflake when it’s near freezing so something like that would be nice

 

[luckie]

I’m not investing in all that haha. Just a lil icon is all I need. I get the snowflake when it’s near freezing so something like that would be nice

If needed, I'm content with functionality sooner and icon later, like give me a fireplace yule log symbol in winter 2024-2025.

 

[RickMachE]

I’m not investing in all that haha. Just a lil icon is all I need. I get the snowflake when it’s near freezing so something like that would be nice

There is zero indication that preconditioning is taking place.

 

[RWD_ER]

Appreciate the quick responses guys! So preconditioning, especially for DC charging is a complete black hole.

Basically there is no indication whatsoever that the car is preconditioning for the upcoming DC charge even if you navigate directly to a DC charger from FordPass. That kinda sucks unless we're confident that Ford's got the preconditioning locked down.

Another pain in the butt about this is that it's difficult to precondition the battery using the Ford pass app if you're heading to a less popular charging station that's not picked up on the app.

Otherwise the trip overall and the charging is a lot easier than I expected. I also got some sick efficiency on the road. I will write recap after I settle in for the day.

 

[AZBill]

It will tell you if pre-conditioning is not needed, when you select the charger. Mine does that all the time, since I live in Phoenix. But there is no permanent indication it is active.

 

[RWD_ER]

It will tell you if pre-conditioning is not needed, when you select the charger. Mine does that all the time, since I live in Phoenix. But there is no permanent indication it is active.

Hey Bill, interesting... How does it tell you this exactly? Also, if I do DC charge it and it goes straight up to high speeds around 100 and above, does that mean that it was a actually preconditioned?

 

[smellyspice]

I was looking for an indication too. Although I haven't found any icon anywhere, I think I can 'hear' the preconditioning pump! Would love to know if any of you also hear this sound/vibration as loud as I. I only just got my car a few weeks ago and temps are starting to warm up here in Canukistan!

Check out my video on YT -- you may need good headphones to hear the low pitch sound:

I also took this screen cap of a page on Car Scanner. The sound is happening in the image below. When the sound stops, the number reads 0.

Anyone else hearing this sound as loud as I???

 

[AZBill]

Hey Bill, interesting... How does it tell you this exactly? Also, if I do DC charge it and it goes straight up to high speeds around 100 and above, does that mean that it was a actually preconditioned?

This is where it states Not Required, when you select a charger. Not sure if this was added recently in one of the charging updates.

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