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

[ZuleMME]

Job 1 Car
90% (which is 80%, Ford does not let us access 10%)
99% of time I charge from home (12am - 6am).

Oh my word, stop saying 90% is 80% etc. The buffer is split between the bottom and top of the battery. Likely closer to 70/30 split at that. Because the most detrimental effects to your battery are hitting 0%, not 100%. So charging to 100 you likely get about 97% actual charge whereas at the bottom 0% you are likely closer to 7% actual.

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[67 Stang Convertible]

Oh my word, stop saying 90% is 80% etc. The buffer is split between the bottom and top of the battery. Likely closer to 70/30 split at that. Because the most detrimental effects to your battery are hitting 0%, not 100%. So charging to 100 you likely get about 97% actual charge whereas at the bottom 0% you are likely closer to 7% actual.

Ok, pull your panties out and relax; just giving approximations

 

[Thunderbuck]

My plan before I got my car was 80%, but once I learned what a large buffer Ford leaves unused I felt comfortable cranking that up to 90%.

 

[bpbailey]

Ditto

Double ditto

 

[RickMachE]

I think OP’s question is a little bit different, he is asking about whether 90% is the ideal charge to keep the battery at.

Answer to this is no, the 90% cap is like a ‘no higher’ figure, not an ideal target. Think of the 90% like the saturated fat or cholesterol amount on a food label - you don’t want to hit the max amount for the day, if you come in below you are better off.

Similarly, for a lithium ion battery like the one in the Mach-E, you want to avoid very high and very low states of charge. So if you are at 50% battery, you absolutely should not think ‘gee, I only need to drive 10 miles over the next five days and I’m at 50% charge now, I better charge up to 90% now for the sake of battery health’.

So in summary, if you are plugging in after every single drive to have your battery spend as much time as possible at 90%, you are doing your battery no favors. If the peace of mind of having a high state of charge is important to you, and you plan to charge as often as possible, I’d dial it back to 80% max charge.

I've got to disagree with this, but then again none of us are experts in battery technology.

Charging to 90% everytime is fine. If you're not going to use the car for 30 days, do what the manual says. There is no "if you come in below you are better off" that you or anyone can validate.
When we're not driving, it's plugged in, and charges to 90% the coming evening. It's exactly what Ford recommends.

 

[RickMachE]

Owners Manual:
"Additionally, setting the maximum charge level to be less than 100% for everyday usage reduces strain on the battery". pg 157

"Storage State of Charge You can increase the battery life by maintaining your state of charge below 100%. When you park your vehicle for an extended period of 30 days or more, we recommend your battery be at an approximately 50% state of charge. Storing your vehicle's high voltage battery at higher states of charge is less favorable than storing at lower states of charge." pg 158

Ford website:


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.

https://www.ford.com/mustang/ev-charging/mache/

Job 1 2021 manual said 90%.
Job 2 2021 manual said less than 100%
Job 1 2022 manual says 90%.

 

[Billyk24]

What is your battery temperature when charging at home? That is another factor to look at

 

[JohnFoxeSheets]

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.

This

If using DCFC (DC Fast Charge), 80% is recommended both for battery life and because over 80% the charging slows down considerably.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

We plug it in every day and charge to 90%. We drive a little bit most days. If we were going to store the car—with no charge/discharge—for three months or longer, we would bring it down to about 50% charge. If we're going to drive on a long trip, we'll charge it to 100% before we leave and use DCFC chargers to charge to 80-85%.

We use it like it's designed to be used.

 

[Blue highway]

Job 1 Car
90% (which is 80%, Ford does not let us access 10%)
99% of time I charge from home (12am - 6am).

It’s more like 5% on top of the charge and 5% at the bottom of the charge. 90 is more like ~85%

 

[Blue highway]

I've got to disagree with this, but then again none of us are experts in battery technology.

Charging to 90% everytime is fine. If you're not going to use the car for 30 days, do what the manual says. There is no "if you come in below you are better off" that you or anyone can validate.
When we're not driving, it's plugged in, and charges to 90% the coming evening. It's exactly what Ford recommends.

How do you know none of us are battery experts?

I believe Ford recommends not going over 90% daily. That’s different than recommending you charge to 90% daily

 

[alexgorod]

When it's near or below 40%, I charge to 90%.

With higher temperatures, I reduced the current from 40 to 20 amps so the car doesn't need to use the fan.

 

[Accord07]

I usually set mine to 90%, and 130% in winter so that I don't have the range issue others complain about.

 

[RickMachE]

How do you know none of us are battery experts?

I believe Ford recommends not going over 90% daily. That’s different than recommending you charge to 90% daily

The word "daily" is not present. So, no.

 

[Thunderbirdsoundsbetter]

I'm in the same boat as you. I commute 140 miles round trip everyday. I've charged it 100% every time I've plugged it in. I rarely keep a car longer than 3 years and after it bricking on me while driving, I don't have a lot of confidence in it. I'm currently waiting on the "Stop Safely Now" to pop up.

Currently eyeing the M50 BMW.

Don’t say that. I hope the stop safely doesn’t happen to you. It wasn’t fun for me lol. I put a deposit on a id4 to replace the Mach e later. That gets 3 years free charging at ea. The turn radius on that is crazzzy.

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