70%, 80%, 90%?? For those charging at home, what threshold do you use?

[Orangeeater]

New owner, slightly confused
Here is a link where they say
WHAT CHARGE LEVEL SHOULD I SET MY VEHICLE TO?
For most Ford electric vehicles, the recommended charge level is 90%. Avoid charging to 100% when you don’t need that range, though 100% charge is is recommended before beginning a longer trip.

In the 2022 owner's manual it states "
Use AC charging when possible and minimize the use of DC charging. It helps to preserve your high voltage battery's efficiency and lifespan.
We recommend ending DC charges at 80% state of charge."
and
"With Charge Scheduling you can improve the high voltage battery's longevity by delaying the start of charging and setting a maximum charging limit. It is recommended to set your preferred charging times to be at least 2-3 hours after your typical plug in time. This allows the battery to cool before charging begins. Additionally, setting the maximum charge level to 90% for everyday usage reduces strain on the battery."

So...if charging at home (which is AC I guess) is 90% preferred or the maximum recommended? Is there any advantage to lower thresholds? Any engineers, electricians, or scientists in the forum?

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[connoisseurr]

I keep the useable state of charge between 20-90%, and charge to 100% only on days where I’m driving in excess of 100 miles.

 

[KevinS]

I plug in almost every night and charge to 90% as recommended by Ford. My charge happens after 9pm to take advantage of my utilities' lowest rates.

 

[Djynn81]

Same 20-90% I maybe wrong but 90% charge is technically only 80% of the battery capacity seeing they limit the full use of the battery. I charge 12am-10am. Well after I drive last to equalize the battery

 

[heisnuts]

I think you are fine setting it to 90% or below. For me, I have mine set to 85% and will hit the charge to 100% button when it is charging at night if I know I will be going on a trip the next day that is 150 miles or more.

 

[Maquis]

90%.

 

[2FlyMache]

I plug in almost every night and charge to 90% as recommended by Ford. My charge happens after 9pm to take advantage of my utilities' lowest rates.

Ditto

 

[DrJay32]

I’ve set mine to charge to 90% between 10pm and 6am (mostly to allow the battery to cool).
I think that with the extra battery overhead, you’re totally safe at 90%, but you could be more conservative and go with 85%, as this would roughly work out to 80% of the total battery capacity.

For SR battery: 75.7 kWh x 0.8 = 60.56 kWh
60.56 kWh/70kWh = 86.5%

 

[saurez7777]

90%

 

[StrWhtMME]

80% scheduled at 12am

 

[WyldStallyn]

With most of my driving being local:

• In the winter I charge to 70% since I'm plugging in daily for preconditioning
• Outside of winter I charge to 90% and don't charge again until I get below 30%

In both cases I have a scheduled charging time to try to make sure the battery has cooled.

 

[MetrowestZ]

Use a 120volt charger so this is never problem!

 

[generaltso]

Use a 120volt charger so this is never problem!

I'm not sure I understand the correlation. Are you saying that 120V charging is so slow that you never have enough time to get to 90%?

 

[hybrid2bev]

80% and always plugged when we return home. Schedule set to off-peak utility rate time with an independent electrical meter.

Don’t need 90% of the range on a daily basis. May not make much difference to the battery health but I feel better charging to a number closer to the 50% happy place. But while still having enough range for impromptu local trips.

 

[mkhuffman]

So...if charging at home (which is AC I guess) is 90% preferred or the maximum recommended? Is there any advantage to lower thresholds? Any engineers, electricians, or scientists in the forum?

You are correct - all home chargers are AC.

There has been a lot of discussion in this forum about the best charge level. Lithium batteries are the least stressed when the battery charge is between 40% and 80%. However, the charge level shown on the display is not the actual charge level of the battery.

Ford provides a buffer and does not give us full access to all 98kWh. As another poster mentioned, 90% on the display is probably equivalent to around 80% of the actual battery capacity. I suspect it is more like 85% since the buffer is not just on the top end, there is a buffer when the car display gets to 0% as well.

But Ford is correct to recommend 90% as the typical charge level. If you want to be especially nice to your battery, you could charge it to 70% or 80%. I would not let it get below 40% on a regular basis but it is not likely to have a measurable impact if you do. I definitely would not go below 20% unless you have to.

Personally I charge to 90% at home. I never know when I might need to take an emergency trip and having the car at 90% makes it relatively quick to charge to 100% if needed.

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