Are other EVs this bad?

[ChasingCoral]

I researched. I didn’t see anything about charges sometimes draining your battery. Learned the hard way.

Please explain what happened with that one. It’s the first time I’ve ever heard of this happening.

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[shutterbug]

The range thing has me a bit confused. I fully expected a reduced range in the winter, but not by 30% when it's 55 degrees out. I suspect this isn't a "problem", but just how the cars - EVs - degrade when temperatures dip below 60. What got me salty was Ford's inability to address my questions on this. So I agree: I probably had unrealistic expectations.

The actual (real) range depends on a bunch of things.

1. External temperature. 55 degrees shouldn't be a problem.
2. Climate use. Heating is much worse than cooling. Again, at 55 degrees shouldn't be a problem, unless you've set heating to sauna level.
3. Road conditions. Wet roads are somewhat worse than dry.
4. Speed. Highway driving is somewhat worse than surface streets.
5. Road elevation. Going uphill is much worse than going downhill, but you aren't always going uphill, so it should balance out.
6. Driving style. If you are always driving like a bat out of hell, you range will suffer. I drive like an old lady, so my range fluctuates between 300 and 350, compared to 265 on the sticker.

The airpot thing may be a charger issue, but the car shouldn't be so easily disabled by something that has a reasonable chance of happening anytime I use a public charger. It was disappointing to know that simply plugging in my new car would result in such a hassle. I guess we'll have to wait for the technology to mature on this, and I should think of an EV and supporting infrastructure as more experimental than as a reliable commodity.

If you have a problem with 12V battery discharging, it probably has nothing to do with putting the car on a charger. In a little over 3 years I had my 2021, I went through 4 battery replacements. In 2004 I had a completely dead battery after 3 weeks of ownership. And that wasn't EV. When you get to the car, if it doesn't start, try resetting BMS by disconnecting the battery for a few minutes, and then have the battery checked (do this even if it starts).

 

[Skyman63]

Do you know what they call someone not driving an EV by 2030?

Pedestrian!

Well since EPA regulations pushing the change over to EV’s and infrastructure funds to support it have been killed by Executive Orders and/or DOGE, I’m thinking 2040 at the earliest before this statement is possible.

 

[cyeung]

The airport has 150 free level 2 chargers for the very reason of leaving your car there as you fly.

150 free level 2 chargers?!?! ?

 

[johnnycombo]

Well since EPA regulations pushing the change over to EV’s and infrastructure funds to support it have been killed by Executive Orders and/or DOGE, I’m thinking 2040 at the earliest before this statement is possible.

Don’t forget the rest of the world! I would think that car manufacturers won’t built ICE vehicles just for part of the US market. Just Ford has 5.8 billion invested in the Blue Oval City just for electric vehicles, charging infrastructure is also continuing to be built.
I would think the US manufacturers know that 4 years isn’t forever and they will stay the course.
https://www.caranddriver.com/news/a40989700/california-ban-new-gas-car-sales-after-2035/

 

[LudlowLawyer]

This is an incorrect assumption, as the one action isn’t causal to the effect that you experienced. Charging the HVB has nothing to do with your 12V system other than the logic for the charging module running off of 12V power. There are many reasons for the 12V battery to have gone flat. Some 2024 models are affected by a logic issue that causes a drain (as was mentioned in an earlier post). A third party piece of software may be keeping the car awake, causing drain. A third party piece of hardware may be causing a drain. There are many other possible reasons. Stating that charging the HV battery causes the 12V battery to die is like saying that the reason I bagged a Canada Goose is because a robin pooped on my car. ??

You think it's random luck that having the 12v battery drain immediately after hooking the car up to a charger is likely a coincidence? Agree to disagree.

Someone on here suggested that due to the faulty connection, the 12v was drained because it repeatedly tried to reconnect until it drained down to zero. To me, that seems far more likely than the batter randomly decided to drain as soon as I had a failed charging connection.

 

[LudlowLawyer]

Please explain what happened with that one. It’s the first time I’ve ever heard of this happening.

I plugged the car in. I left for my flight. I got an alert that the charging failed. I got an alert that the battery was draining. I got an alert that the car door was opened and the alarm went off (unlikely). The 12v battery was dead. All in 4 hours.

 

[LudlowLawyer]

150 free level 2 chargers?!?! ?

And it's difficult to find an open one!

 

[ChasingCoral]

Ok, let’s see if we can get the details straight.

I plugged the car in.

I assume you were charging the High Voltage Battery. What did you plug your car into? Was this a level 1 or a level 2 charger?

Was this equipment supplied by the airport or your charger plugged into an airport outlet?

I got an alert that the charging failed.

So this was an alert that charging of your High Voltage Battery failed?

I got an alert that the battery was draining.

So was this an alert that your 12v battery was draining?
I’ve never heard of an alert that a high voltage battery was draining.

I got an alert that the car door was opened and the alarm went off (unlikely). The 12v battery was dead. All in 4 hours.

It sounds like you may have left a door open or there was a vehicle fault. Have you taken the car to the dealer to have the fault codes read to diagnose what happened?

Remember that you have two different power systems, the High Voltage Battery and the Low Voltage (12v) battery.

 

[Tampamike]

I plugged the car in. I left for my flight. I got an alert that the charging failed. I got an alert that the battery was draining. I got an alert that the car door was opened and the alarm went off (unlikely). The 12v battery was dead. All in 4 hours.

Could it be that the charge failure was a symptom of the 12 v dying? Perhaps you’re 12v was on its last legs, unbeknownst to you (as usually happens), and then it died shortly after you plugged the car and left.

 

[HuntingPudel]

You think it's random luck that having the 12v battery drain immediately after hooking the car up to a charger is likely a coincidence? Agree to disagree.

Someone on her suggested that due to the faulty connection, the 12v was drained because it repeatedly tried to reconnect until it drained down to zero. To me, that seems far more likely than the batter randomly decided to drain as soon as I had a failed charging connection.

There is zero engineering reason that a high voltage DC charger would affect the low voltage system. The only link between the two is the high voltage battery, connected to the one way DC-DC converter that supplies voltage to the 12V system including the 12V battery. It is a one way voltage conversion. ??

The only glitch that we know of that has anything to do with the HV system is one in which the Dc-DC converter does not engage. This allows parasitic drains to pull the 12V battery flat since it isn’t being charged. ?‍?

 

[LudlowLawyer]

Well since EPA regulations pushing the change over to EV’s and infrastructure funds to support it have been killed by Executive Orders and/or DOGE, I’m thinking 2040 at the earliest before this statement is possible.

The government is likely to help one EV company, and hurt all the others.

 

[LudlowLawyer]

Could it be that the charge failure was a symptom of the 12 v dying? Perhaps you’re 12v was on its last legs, unbeknownst to you (as usually happens), and then it died shortly after you plugged the car and left.

Interesting suggestion. I wonder if there's a way to determine that.

 

[Thesmoothdome]

I know range is affected by cold, so maybe losing 30% of range under 60 degrees is normal? I drive gently and don’t use the cabin heat because I know that really sucks down the battery.

As for more detail:
The plastic on the mobile charger adapter snapped off the 3rd or 4th time I used it and pulled it from the car. Ford said it’s the dealer’s responsibility, and the dealer says it’s Ford’s. I’ve owned mostly Toyotas in the past, and they always stood behind their products. Sadly, not Ford.


My airport has dozens of free chargers in their garage. I used one a few weeks ago and it worked great. But the next time I did, it ended up draining the battery, leaving me stuck. Ford responded: never charge the car unattended, so I guess that was my fault. I have no idea if this is a normal Mach E thing, or a normal EV thing. I wish the app would have warned me asap that the charger was draining my battery - I didn’t get an alert until 2 hours later just before the battery was drained empty. I was boarding the plane by then.

I drive a 2021 eRWD premium. Bought it off a lot new back in '21 and love the car.

1. You're in a town of Ludlow? All Ludlows I've found are in cold weather areas. No, range loss shouldn't be 30% at under 60 degrees, but I lose about 30% of range on the coldest days in Virginia. Oh, and the guess o meter will always leave you wondering. Learn your m/Kwh. Summer I get 3.0/3.5 driving conservatively. Winter, I see about 2.2/2.4 unless I'm driving fast freeways where it'll drop to 1.8 or so. Don't ever expect the guess o meter to be accurate. Driving conditions change constantly.

2. IFord chargers were $700 when I bought and the early reports were horrible. There are plenty of chargers out there. I went with Juicebox, which pulled out of the US this year. Not very happy, but the charger has never had an issue.

3. One thing you learn when you try to connect with Ford is that it's very dependent on who you speak to. Of course, you can charge your car when you are not standing right next to it. I know certain ev's like the Lightning have the ability to provide power from their battery. This isn't the case with the Mach e though. There's no way you should be able to drain a battery when charging. I'd have that right into the dealership. Have you tried to replicate the issue? Is it possible the alert was for the 12v battery?

4. I've found the best customer service to be from finding the right dealer who will write it up to satisfy Ford or, believe it or not, from the Ford team that monitors this forum.

Good luck. It's been a great car. I hope you have the opportunity to enjoy it.

 

[LudlowLawyer]

Ok, let’s see if we can get the details straight.

I assume you were charging the High Voltage Battery. What did you plug your car into? Was this a level 1 or a level 2 charger?

Was this equipment supplied by the airport or your charger plugged into an airport outlet?


So this was an alert that charging of your High Voltage Battery failed?


So was this an alert that your 12v battery was draining?
I’ve never heard of an alert that a high voltage battery was draining.


It sounds like you may have left a door open or there was a vehicle fault. Have you taken the car to the dealer to have the fault codes read to diagnose what happened?

Remember that you have two different power systems, the High Voltage Battery and the Low Voltage (12v) battery.

I actually haven't returned from my trip yet. I'm kinda dreading dealing with a dead, locked car late at night tonight in a cold airport pay garage. At least I won't have my family with me too.

To your point - I'm definitely going to take the car in to get as much info as possible.

The airport has 150 well maintained free L2 chargers in it's pay garage.

The door wasn't left open - I was in no rush, the spaces aren't wide, and there were cars on both sides. I would have had to purposely try to leave the door open in such a situation.

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