80% charge or 90% charge for daily use?

[kdonnel]

How often have you had a few hundred mile “emergency” to deal with?

Me? Never in my life.

But if it did happen……. Borrow a car, get a ride with a friend, rent a car, or Uber are all viable options.

People spend a lot of time, energy and money worrying about the “unlikely what ifs” in life.

I prefer not to have that kind of anxiety.

There is no anxiety in charging every day.

There is anxiety in the unlikely what if of having to borrow a car, get a ride, rent a car, uber, or DCFC.

It takes about 20 seconds each day to plug in the cars.

One of the advantages of an EV is that you can wake up "full" every day with little to no effort.

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[RockwallRick]

I generally charge about once a week when the battery gets down between 40 and 50%. Mostly charge to 90% with an occasional charge to 100%. I like to have at least 150 miles of range for random trips up to Orlando and back.

 

[new to mach-e]

Been charging to 85% here at work every few days.. Might go to 90% in the winter

 

[Motomax]

I wonder how many of the “I only charge once a week or less” people got the extended range ?.
I charge to 85% every day. Thats enough to comfortably make two trips to work if I forget to plug it in one day (or if the car doesn’t feel like charging lol). If you live somewhere very cold or very hot, it’s best to plug it in every day even if it’s not charging (set you limit).

 

[DadzBoyz]

No, but I live in Florida. Pre-conditioning isn’t necessary.

Preface: I live in Tampa, Florida and I don’t have mine yet…

That said, I would think it would make sense to at least pre-cool (run your AC) before unplugging. In this area, the interior of a car can get to 120+ degrees, F, easily. I would think pre-cooling would save a little range by not requiring so much power to cool the car down while driving.

 

[4sallypat]

Waiting for my ever delayed 2022 MME order but it will be her car and will charge to 100% once a week.

My current ride is F150L and I charge her every weekend to 100%.

 

[mdraptor]

Currently I only have a 110 outlet so I plug in every night and max is set to 90%. I Generally don't reach 90% on a nightly charge, only after a longer weekend charge. Once a month I take it to 100%. Once my 220 outlet is installed I will charge every other night, but nightly in the winter when a want the cabin conditioned in the morning.

 

[mkhuffman]

It's an odd situation for the EV world... Here's what I mean

Not all battery tech is treated equally doesn't matter what company your EV is from Tesla, Ford, Rivian etc....

Batteries will become degrading over time with access full charging wearing it out. When I was with Tesla I had a 21' Model I always charged 80% daily... Then when I went on trips, I'd top is off to 100% I didn't need the range even at 80% but it was a good rule of thumb in the Tesla community...

With the new batteries that Tesla is coming out with they are saying you can charge to 100% daily because of the chemical makeup of them... Same with Ford, they just came out and stated that they are getting the same makeup/chemical as Tesla to push your charge to 100% daily if you want...

Now a gas car filling to 100% isn't the same by ANYMEANS

I'd say for less deterioration and longer life span of the battery I'd do between 80/85% unless you have to charge to 100% because of your daily commute then I'd do that... But also I'd hold off till the new batteries coming out by Ford..

Keeping in mind that the actual battery capacity is 99 kWh and 100% is 91 kWh (but often less), so charging to 100% isn't really.

 

[Blue highway]

It's an odd situation for the EV world... Here's what I mean

Not all battery tech is treated equally doesn't matter what company your EV is from Tesla, Ford, Rivian etc....

Batteries will become degrading over time with access full charging wearing it out. When I was with Tesla I had a 21' Model I always charged 80% daily... Then when I went on trips, I'd top is off to 100% I didn't need the range even at 80% but it was a good rule of thumb in the Tesla community...

With the new batteries that Tesla is coming out with they are saying you can charge to 100% daily because of the chemical makeup of them... Same with Ford, they just came out and stated that they are getting the same makeup/chemical as Tesla to push your charge to 100% daily if you want...

Now a gas car filling to 100% isn't the same by ANYMEANS

I'd say for less deterioration and longer life span of the battery I'd do between 80/85% unless you have to charge to 100% because of your daily commute then I'd do that... But also I'd hold off till the new batteries coming out by Ford..

The "charge to 100% daily" batteries are not yet in Fords... Not yet sure I'd want one. They are available in lower trim level Teslas. lots of threads on the plus and minus of Lithium Iron Phosphate (which the "new" ones are) vs Lithium Nickel Manganese, (which is what we all have).

+1 on don't charge higher than you have to.

One more thing... the many quotes of the manual telling users to "charge to 90%" are essentially missing the intent. it says Don't charge to more than 90% daily.

 

[Fixbear]

Thank you everyone for the answers. I don’t commute to work so I will be using the vehicle for occasional trips into town, with a long drive (177 kms) to visit family about once every three weeks. Interesting to see so many different points of view.
I’ll ask a follow up question if you don’t mind. For those who don’t charge daily, do you leave your vehicle plugged in? Are you able to pre-condition before your daily drive with the vehicle unplugged?

Living in northern NY, we charge to 85% when we get below 45%. Roughly 3 times a week in the warmer months. Once the temp goes below 40F at night we leave the car plugged in. It's awful nice to precondition in the winter when there is snow or ice on the car. Light brush of the hood and roof and away you go. With ICE it was a lot of windshield and window scraping. But don't trip the rear hatch in a ice storm till fully warmed and clean. The weatherstrip on the sides is heated but has to have time to warm. otherwise, it rips off and requires replacement. We had a 1/2-inch last Dec. and I had to wait for the part for 5 months.

 

[Fixbear]

The "charge to 100% daily" batteries are not yet in Fords... Not yet sure I'd want one. They are available in lower trim level Teslas. lots of threads on the plus and minus of Lithium Iron Phosphate (which the "new" ones are) vs Lithium Nickel Manganese, (which is what we all have).

+1 on don't charge higher than you have to.

One more thing... the many quotes of the manual telling users to "charge to 90%" are essentially missing the intent. it says Don't charge to more than 90% daily.

I believe they are Lithium Nickel Cobalt Manganese. (ie; NCM) Don't remember exactly, but I think Ford spec was for a 833 percentage.

 

[Blue highway]

I believe they are Lithium Nickel Cobalt Manganese. (ie; NCM) Don't remember exactly, but I think Ford spec was for a 833 percentage.

I think you are right... I'll blame defective coffee

 

[Jim D]

I charge to 85%, which is close to 80% of the battery’s gross capacity. I charge once or twice a week. ??

me too

 

[DadwithaMach]

The "charge to 100% daily" batteries are not yet in Fords... Not yet sure I'd want one. They are available in lower trim level Teslas. lots of threads on the plus and minus of Lithium Iron Phosphate (which the "new" ones are) vs Lithium Nickel Manganese, (which is what we all have).

+1 on don't charge higher than you have to.

One more thing... the many quotes of the manual telling users to "charge to 90%" are essentially missing the intent. it says Don't charge to more than 90% daily.

Yup!

 

[iam-s-Hon]

How often have you had a few hundred mile “emergency” to deal with?

Me? Never in my life.

But if it did happen……. Borrow a car, get a ride with a friend, rent a car, or Uber are all viable options.

People spend a lot of time, energy and money worrying about the “unlikely what ifs” in life.

I prefer not to have that kind of anxiety.

Aksually, NONE of those 4 options are viable to me in a sudden and emergent situation. Especially compared to being always being plugged in at 90%. Set it and forget it, get in and go (except for my ChargePoint that likes to trip occasionally for no apparent reason).

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