53% Standard Battery, Only 85 miles?

[Steve-o]

We might have more posts on this tyan the 5 second power cap!

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[RedStallion]

I think people should be told before the purchase that their range can drop by half in cold weather, when going over 85mph, when driving in the mountains, and other challenging environments.
That way they wouldn't have unreasonable expectations when the time for such driving comes.

 

[Mathington]

I have the SR AWD and noticed my range drop from 375km (234miles) in the summer to 280km (175miles) in the winter when the temp is at 0-3 degrees Celsius. This is with no overnight charging or pre-heating and starting my daily commute with a cold battery.

I knew to expect a 30-40% drop in range but It was a bit shocking on those first few mornings. I am not doing any road trips so this is more than enough for now.

 

[Mach-Lee]

I've got a 5K miles, standard range AWD. Guess-o-meter only reading 85 miles for 53% charge. I'm no mathematician this seems bad even in cold weather (I live in Boston). I have reset driving history with barely any improvement.

Has anyone else seen this drastic a drop?

The trip monitor shows that I'm getting over 3mi/kwH but still, nowhere near what I'd expect to see in terms of range.

Anyone having these types of issues this early on?

Hello, it looks like you are new and might be complaining about your cold-weather range decrease without having referenced the numerous threads on this subject. Due to high volume of questions, this is a pre-written response to help alleviate your concerns. Remember to use the search function before creating a new thread, as forum members are fatigued with new users asking this same question over and over again almost daily.

TL;DR - Range decreases due to cold weather, the range display is a highly pessimistic guess not to be taken literally, and you might update your software if you want to see a higher number.

First, understand that some range loss in cold weather is normal due to the laws of physics. Chemical reactions in the battery are more sluggish, the air is more dense to push through causing more drag, and your heater takes more electricity to run than A/C. The colder it is, the less your range will be because of these factors.

Second, know that the range you see on your display is just a guess. It can be off 40% or more from reality on some software versions. Do not take the number literally or you will be upset, nothing is wrong with your car, it is not the true range. Unlike other brands like Tesla, Ford has made the reading extremely conservative and sensitive to cold temperatures on purpose, so that you don’t strand yourself in cold weather. Expect a sharp decrease in the reading below about 50ºF/10ºC that is greater than reality.

Third, be aware that software updates have been released that increase the accuracy of the range display in cold weather significantly. If you haven’t had software updates done at your dealer yet, you should consider doing so because you are missing out on a lot of improvements (CSP 21P22 released Nov 22, 2021). After the update, you may see up to 30% more range displayed even though your actual range is unchanged.

You can calculate your actual range yourself by simply noting the battery percentage before and after a trip greater than 20 miles. For example, if a 25 mile trip took 12% battery, 25/.12 = 208 mile range at full charge. Another method is to multiply your mi/kWh efficiency by your battery capacity, either 88 kWh for extended range or 68 kWh for standard range. For example, if you are getting 2.6 mi/kWh in an extended range, 2.6*88 = 229 miles of range. Please note that in cold weather, the actual capacity of the pack will temporarily decrease some, so 80/62 kWh may be a better capacity figure to use for an estimate in cold weather. Full capacity will return next summer with warmer temps.

The amount of actual range loss may vary due to many factors, but to provide a generic reference, a loss of 35% at 20ºF/-7ºC would be typical in average driving. This would equate to a range of approximately 176 mi / 137 mi for extended/standard packs. The percentage range drop compared to summer is also inversely proportional to the speed you drive due to the heater’s percentage of total energy use. If you drive in a city you may see a 40% drop in range, vs. a 25% drop driving on the interstate.

In summary, remember the range display is always a pessimistic guess, and your actual range will be greater than indicated. Remember to get those dealer updates done to increase your satisfaction. Parking in a garage, plugging in, and using departure times will help keep the battery warm and increase your actual range. Enjoy driving your electric car after gaining an understanding of normal cold weather range loss and the pessimistic guessing of the range display, affectionally called the GOM (Guess-O-Meter).

 

[kjsf66]

Everyone breathe - I understand the factors involved. If Ford didn't advertise that a reset would put it back to factory/"summer" conditions, I wouldn't have asked.

Resetting only added 7miles when over the summer I got above 270 at 100.

So, this is normal and the reset doesn't do much. Got it.

 

[kjsf66]

Hello, it looks like you are new and might be complaining about your cold-weather range decrease without having referenced the numerous threads on this subject. Due to high volume of questions, this is a pre-written response to help alleviate your concerns. Remember to use the search function before creating a new thread, as forum members are fatigued with new users asking this same question over and over again almost daily.

TL;DR - Range decreases due to cold weather, the range display is a highly pessimistic guess not to be taken literally, and you might update your software if you want to see a higher number.

First, understand that some range loss in cold weather is normal due to the laws of physics. Chemical reactions in the battery are more sluggish, the air is more dense to push through causing more drag, and your heater takes more electricity to run than A/C. The colder it is, the less your range will be because of these factors.

Second, know that the range you see on your display is just a guess. It can be off 40% or more from reality on some software versions. Do not take the number literally or you will be upset, nothing is wrong with your car, it is not the true range. Unlike other brands like Tesla, Ford has made the reading extremely conservative and sensitive to cold temperatures on purpose, so that you don’t strand yourself in cold weather. Expect a sharp decrease in the reading below about 50ºF/10ºC that is greater than reality.

Third, be aware that software updates have been released that increase the accuracy of the range display in cold weather significantly. If you haven’t had software updates done at your dealer yet, you should consider doing so because you are missing out on a lot of improvements (CSP 21P22 released Nov 22, 2021). After the update, you may see up to 30% more range displayed even though your actual range is unchanged.

You can calculate your actual range yourself by simply noting the battery percentage before and after a trip greater than 20 miles. For example, if a 25 mile trip took 12% battery, 25/.12 = 208 mile range at full charge. Another method is to multiply your mi/kWh efficiency by your battery capacity, either 88 kWh for extended range or 68 kWh for standard range. For example, if you are getting 2.6 mi/kWh in an extended range, 2.6*88 = 229 miles of range. Please note that in cold weather, the actual capacity of the pack will temporarily decrease some, so 80/62 kWh may be a better capacity figure to use for an estimate in cold weather. Full capacity will return next summer with warmer temps.

The amount of actual range loss may vary due to many factors, but to provide a generic reference, a loss of 35% at 20ºF/-7ºC would be typical in average driving. This would equate to a range of approximately 176 mi / 137 mi for extended/standard packs. The percentage range drop compared to summer is also inversely proportional to the speed you drive due to the heater’s percentage of total energy use. If you drive in a city you may see a 40% drop in range, vs. a 25% drop driving on the interstate.

In summary, remember the range display is always a pessimistic guess, and your actual range will be greater than indicated. Remember to get those dealer updates done to increase your satisfaction. Parking in a garage, plugging in, and using departure times will help keep the battery warm and increase your actual range. Enjoy driving your electric car after gaining an understanding of normal cold weather range loss and the pessimistic guessing of the range display, affectionally called the GOM (Guess-O-Meter).

now THIS is an awesome reply!!! Thank you!

 

[mkhuffman]

TL;DR - Range decreases due to cold weather, the range display is a highly pessimistic guess not to be taken literally, and you might update your software if you want to see a higher number.

I bookmarked your thorough response for future use when this question gets asked again, and again, and again. Unless you beat me to it, which is highly likely, I will post this in response. Attribution to you will be given! Thank you!

 

[c max]

Have a Select, RWD SR, charged last night, temp around 32 degrees, on a 120 line....charged to 94% (somewhat higher than I usually charge to) and estimated range was 252 miles......I have found over the last 8800+ miles, that the estimated range is very close to actual miles I get.....FWIW.....

 

[sockmeister]

I think we need a sticky/wiki on the forum landing page with @Mach-Lee 's response.
It does seem like there's a new thread about this every day.

 

[breeves002]

I bookmarked your thorough response for future use when this question gets asked again, and again, and again. Unless you beat me to it, which is highly likely, I will post this in response. Attribution to you will be given! Thank you!

He told me he wrote that response just to copy paste on these threads. Probably best to just post that and lock the thread ?

 

[Zoom-Zoom]

Yes and it seems at least a quarter of the folks who have seen it have instantly jumped on here and created yet another new thread on the topic.

Start going through the list of threads. You'll find a thread on just about every page about it.

Yes, I'm one of those. However, in my defense I did do a "search" but that didn't seem to bring up what I was looking for.

 

[AlbanyIan]

Hello, it looks like you are new and might be complaining about your cold-weather range decrease without having referenced the numerous threads on this subject. Due to high volume of questions, this is a pre-written response to help alleviate your concerns. Remember to use the search function before creating a new thread, as forum members are fatigued with new users asking this same question over and over again almost daily.

TL;DR - Range decreases due to cold weather, the range display is a highly pessimistic guess not to be taken literally, and you might update your software if you want to see a higher number.

First, understand that some range loss in cold weather is normal due to the laws of physics. Chemical reactions in the battery are more sluggish, the air is more dense to push through causing more drag, and your heater takes more electricity to run than A/C. The colder it is, the less your range will be because of these factors.

Second, know that the range you see on your display is just a guess. It can be off 40% or more from reality on some software versions. Do not take the number literally or you will be upset, nothing is wrong with your car, it is not the true range. Unlike other brands like Tesla, Ford has made the reading extremely conservative and sensitive to cold temperatures on purpose, so that you don’t strand yourself in cold weather. Expect a sharp decrease in the reading below about 50ºF/10ºC that is greater than reality.

Third, be aware that software updates have been released that increase the accuracy of the range display in cold weather significantly. If you haven’t had software updates done at your dealer yet, you should consider doing so because you are missing out on a lot of improvements (CSP 21P22 released Nov 22, 2021). After the update, you may see up to 30% more range displayed even though your actual range is unchanged.

You can calculate your actual range yourself by simply noting the battery percentage before and after a trip greater than 20 miles. For example, if a 25 mile trip took 12% battery, 25/.12 = 208 mile range at full charge. Another method is to multiply your mi/kWh efficiency by your battery capacity, either 88 kWh for extended range or 68 kWh for standard range. For example, if you are getting 2.6 mi/kWh in an extended range, 2.6*88 = 229 miles of range. Please note that in cold weather, the actual capacity of the pack will temporarily decrease some, so 80/62 kWh may be a better capacity figure to use for an estimate in cold weather. Full capacity will return next summer with warmer temps.

The amount of actual range loss may vary due to many factors, but to provide a generic reference, a loss of 35% at 20ºF/-7ºC would be typical in average driving. This would equate to a range of approximately 176 mi / 137 mi for extended/standard packs. The percentage range drop compared to summer is also inversely proportional to the speed you drive due to the heater’s percentage of total energy use. If you drive in a city you may see a 40% drop in range, vs. a 25% drop driving on the interstate.

In summary, remember the range display is always a pessimistic guess, and your actual range will be greater than indicated. Remember to get those dealer updates done to increase your satisfaction. Parking in a garage, plugging in, and using departure times will help keep the battery warm and increase your actual range. Enjoy driving your electric car after gaining an understanding of normal cold weather range loss and the pessimistic guessing of the range display, affectionally called the GOM (Guess-O-Meter).

The sentence above in bold needs some clarification. Yes, cold air is denser than warmer air but the density “delta” probably does not cause more drag when the car pushes through it. “Drag” kills efficiently at speed and for the most part manufacturers trying to build a car that is efficient at high speeds will try to eliminate it. Drag is caused by the vacuum pulling on the surface of the car opposite the direction of motion and is created when the air is displaced and forced around an object. I’m honestly not sure to what degree the density of air affects the force of the vacuums (and amount of drag) that is created but I suspect it is very little. Planes do fine flying in lower density air masses (unless they have icy wings ?) and rely on “drag” to keep them aloft.

Not trying to be an ass but if you’re citing the laws of physics, be accurate.

 

[Mach-Lee]

The sentence above in bold needs some clarification. Yes, cold air is denser than warmer air but the density “delta” probably does not cause more drag when the car pushes through it. “Drag” kills efficiently at speed and for the most part manufacturers trying to build a car that is efficient at high speeds will try to eliminate it. Drag is caused by the vacuum pulling on the surface of the car opposite the direction of motion and is created when the air is displaced and forced around an object. I’m honestly not sure to what degree the density of air affects the force of the vacuums (and amount of drag) that is created but I suspect it is very little. Planes do fine flying in lower density air masses (unless they have icy wings ?) and rely on “drag” to keep them aloft.

Not trying to be an ass but if you’re citing the laws of physics, be accurate.

Density (ρ) is a variable in the drag equation. As you can see drag is directly proportional to fluid density. Cold air is more dense, 20°F air is about 12% more dense than 75°F air so drag would be 12% higher. The force of drag is related to creating pressure differentials in the fluid, both positive and negative. You refer to the low pressure effect but drag is also caused when high pressure areas are created (such as in front of the car). Both high and low pressure zones are created by the moving object doing work on the fluid, so both steal energy. The more dense the fluid, the more mass has to be displaced, the more energy is required, the more drag is created, etc.

 

[RockwallRick]

The only way to know for sure is to drive it down to Florida and see if your range improves.

We already have too many northerner’s down here!! Lol

 

[Motoinfo]

Have a Select, RWD SR, charged last night, temp around 32 degrees, on a 120 line....charged to 94% (somewhat higher than I usually charge to) and estimated range was 252 miles......I have found over the last 8800+ miles, that the estimated range is very close to actual miles I get.....FWIW.....

I dream about range like that. Haven't been over 198 yet (Select AWD minimal usage of comfort items, Whisper mode)

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