12V Battery Recharge Threshold Improved in Latest BCM Software!

[Shayne]

Well, I get that she's trying to be helpful...but going to Walmart to buy a battery for a MME is ridiculous. The charging system in the MME is setup for a specific battery type and capacity. Not a plain-jane flooded battery that just happens to be a close fit size-wise. AGM batteries have specific charging parameters. And let's say you wanted to put the DieHard in there that's got a little more amps...the car charging system isn't set for that either. So is it gonna charge properly or are you just going to end up with a different set of problems with a bigger capacity battery that isn't fully being recharged?

This is the primary reason I haven't just put the larger capacity DieHard in my car or truck...because the capacity parameters are different than what the car and truck's charging systems are expecting. Yeah, initially it may drain down a little slower due to having a greater AH capacity, but is it ever going to get fully recharged by the car's charging system when in daily use?

So not lots of levels just they should replace the battery with a ford or ford knock off that will have the same specs. Never thought a lot about the new battery. Canadian Tire says it will work and throw it in. I guess it matters only when you are not always trying to get it to 100% like 12V chargers do? Trying to do magic ? @jero1Ac mentioned that they purchased one from the dealer so they should be good. She does mention it at the end and they were out of stock for a bit. It was all about speed.

Put plastic caps on the battery before moving; the ones you get/save from new ones.
Loosen the far nut on the tie bar before you try to rotate it out of the way.

It does shows the basic how to. Not a big deal whole lot easier than getting at the hvjb.

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[Shayne]

I can probably get my Dealership to do it, but I need to know the exact update version of BCM to ask for, and verify that it would be compatible with all the remaining module versions which have not been updated in a long time.

Good luck only getting that module flashed I think they work on a dependency table. Tell them the BCM and they will be good. That will transform to a number of updates. You trusted them to buy it may as well trust their updates

I think if I ever pull those "vanity" panels, or whatever they are called, I would just leave them removed. It's the engine bay... I have no issue with it looking like every car has ever looked.

I would put the dust covers back on. Get some clips when picking up the battery is something to consider. Even if you do not need them there is a glove box.

 

[dtbaker61]

Good luck only getting that module flashed I think they work on a dependency table. Tell them the BCM and they will be good. That will transform to a number of updates. You trusted them to buy it may as well trust their updates

I trust the hardware, but.... not so much with the software. I've dodged a number of "side effects" by skipping bad OTAs. Now, I see an update I like...

I would put the dust covers back on. Get some clips when picking up the battery is something to consider. Even if you do not need them there is a glove box.

I leave my back cover off on purpose so I can SEE fluid levels. Also, so I can easily access my permanently connected 12v cables for V2L. The whole area is open from wheelwells anyway. An incredible amount of dust, mud, slush, and rodents can climb right in under the Frunk tub.

 

[Shayne]

I trust the hardware, but.... not so much with the software. I've dodged a number of "side effects" by skipping bad OTAs. Now, I see an update I like...



I leave my back cover off on purpose so I can SEE fluid levels. Also, so I can easily access my permanently connected 12v cables for V2L. The whole area is open from wheelwells anyway. An incredible amount of dust, mud, slush, and rodents can climb right in under the Frunk tub.

Agree I got a crap out your L2 charging speed install and one that put my car into fleet mode but the cars hardware you received came with original software that was far from being perfect. It installed a BCM update in December on my vehicle so this is not the first. I have to say mine is working better than it did after it got power up 1.4 but this is not without a few bumps. Nothing life treating or too much to handle to date.

You mean to tell us rodents are taking free rides? Will need to check that out as no one rides for free. Think I will keep the frunk clean and sealed with the covers but then I still have the dividers in the frunk. Keeps the window washing fluid from banging around.

 

[jero1Ac]

I tried a 4 amp early on. The 4 amp was a smart one and what happened was the MME would draw current and the 4 amp would trip indicating a problem with the vehicle. Phantom drain. I switched to a new 15 amp and have had much better luck.

If you are going to do updates in FDRS you need a massive charger >15amp hooked up for more $. Kind of points at the 12V having a hard time. With it at 55% now it should be no probs ?‍. Really not that expense or a huge problem but would be nice to save the batteries. Get an update notice just hook up the 15 amp is what I am thinking. Fits in the frunk.


Like an onion it has layers? Please elaborate. Recommended procedure please.

When I took out my battery, it was swollen on all sides. I decided to only put the 12v battery in so I could get it into tow mode for the flatbed. It's sitting at the dealership waiting for a new battery.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

Why are we having to come to forums not ran by Ford to get this kind of information? Why don't they have an official blog posting about this kind of stuff. I appreciate knowing but it really should be coming directly from Ford through officially vetted channels.

Simply, we collectively know more about the Mach-e than Ford will ever know. But also, there are Ford employees on this forum (many are known to the community). And there are experts here that can teach Ford a thing or two about specific aspects of the vehicle. I think this forum is the best thing that ever happened to a manufacturer with new tech, if they choose to use it.

 

[Billyk24]

That's not accurate. The reports you have read are false. 21s are getting updates.

Reports are "mostly" from Job 2 owners.

 

[Shayne]

When I took out my battery, it was swollen on all sides. I decided to only put the 12v battery in so I could get it into tow mode for the flatbed. It's sitting at the dealership waiting for a new battery.

It was frozen solid. H2O swells when frozen. The only thing that does that is why we can walk on water and do not freeze our beer. Seen frozen batteries before the sides swell out.

Do not charge it frozen thaw it out and give it a try.

 

[Shayne]

You have the "-ACS" rev.

I received 24-PU0121-FTDI-FX yesterday again with a 6.8 between. It would be appreciated if you could verify it is the same revision. It was successful twice? ?‍

 

[Mike G]

I received 24-PU0121-FTDI-FX yesterday again with a 6.8 between. It would be appreciated if you could verify it is the same revision. It was successful twice? ?‍

You got a BCM/GFM on 9 December. 24-PU0121-FTDI-FX
Then you got an IPC on 22 January. 6.8.0
And then yesterday you got a gateway update 24-PU0102-SVD-FX2

You still have "-ACS" as your BCM rev. But you do show the updated revision available in FDRS if you wanted to apply it and not wait for an OTA.

 

[Shayne]

Not sure the diff between plate and glass mat with not a lot of info on AGM to date that I could find. But lead acid is pretty well documented. Throwing this out for those in the know is AGM really that much different or was 35% destined to cause problems? Appears going over 80% reaps rewards? Sitting at 55% in a cold night in Alaska.

 

[Shayne]

You got a BCM/GFM on 9 December. 24-PU0121-FTDI-FX
Then you got an IPC on 22 January. 6.8.0
And then yesterday you got a gateway update 24-PU0102-SVD-FX2

You still have "-ACS" as your BCM rev. But you do show the updated revision available in FDRS if you wanted to apply it and not wait for an OTA.

My bad moving too fast; as always thank you mister G

 

[Shayne]

Not sure the diff between plate and glass mat with not a lot of info on AGM to date that I could find. But lead acid is pretty well documented. Throwing this out for those in the know is AGM really that much different or was 35% destined to cause problems? Appears going over 80% reaps rewards? Sitting at 55% in a cold night in Alaska.

Not one taker? Can not be too much difference the freezing point of sulfuric acid in an aqueous solution no mater what the container is. Normally once froze and the water expands the battery case deformation is permanent (the plastic case goes plastic ). Battery is done just wondered if it would still take a charge once thawed out. I know cracked plates would normally not.

Antifreeze which is glycol and water at different concentration will freeze in the small heater hoses first as more surface area and less mass. There can be some differences with battery types agm to plate (there is on charge voltage) but both are water based so you would think not huge. At least they will not sulfate now at 55%. May go slushy in a lot of areas but no sulfation.

A charger can charge a number of different batteries but for the MME the charging logic is for one and only one battery? Take the one AGM battery and test it at different temps. Ford should have the budget to do that. We use math to model reality but reality does not change. I guess we will see if 55% is the minimum threshold. The first 2 appear not to be since we are seeing it change. Should be able to put covers over the 12V and it lasts forever in places where no extreme heat. Our poor 12V's.

 

[bbulkow]

I can’t help but asking, “Didn’t the Ford engineers know this when they first built the car?”

Well, just to speculate, if 50% is optimal for battery health, the second question is how much to +/- around that optimal point. If you say 10%, then 45 -> 55 is not unreasonable at a glance. You're partially optimizing for spinning up the remainder of the car systems & HVB, which (essentially) is battery loss too, and you're rather do it less frequently.

If you can create a policy taking into account temperature, that would be better. Not sure why you wouldn't, as cold weather effects are also important....

In reality, I think we're all willing to take higher numbers, for reliability, but the reality is we give up things - like losing electrons to firing up the main systems & potentially warming the HVB - and potentially LVB long term health. Reliability is also improved because greater "distance" between when the front 12v frunk popping terminals are active, and the normal SOC.

Anyway, seems a generally good fix, although it would have seemed to me that 45% would have been "good enough".... but certainly 0.0001% getting stuck and not being able to pop the frunk is bad, when you're that person....

 

[noway]

The problem is not to determine what percentage is the correct value, but to know what 1% really means. The capacity will change depending on a lot of factors, so 50% one day may mean 100Wh, the other day it might be 80Wh.

To figure this out the BMS needs to monitor charging and discharging over time and make tables depending on temperature, current draw and to calculate degradation. If the battery never is discharged it will never know what 50% means. If the car is parked in a heated garage all day it might never know how low temperature affects it since it will always be charged to 100% when it is cold.

This system is probably really made for start stop systems where it needs to calculate if it can stop the engine and still be able to start again, and might not be suitable at all to monitor battery charge level over several days.

In battery systems like UPSes and memory saying devices there is a programmed full discharged cycle every month to measure and test the full capacity. There is no such thing in a car for obvious reasons, so having this 50% discharge limit is probably to try to have this cycle even when it cannot reach 100% discharge. The lower percent it can discharge to the more it will be able to calculate the full capacity, so there is a tradeoff there which is probably why they choose to to set the limit lower in the first place

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