Are there long-term benefits for preconditioning?

[RickMachE]

Thanks, so is that the threshold it’s trying to stay above, just freezing? I’m in a garage but it still gets down into the mid 30s in there. Rarely below freezing, so maybe it wouldn’t be doing much. I may plug in for a week and see if I notice anything significant in my utility provider’s app.

My car is not heated, but stays warmer than outside. Last winter it hit the battery, in 15 minute bursts, maybe a handful of times.

Do folks just setup a departure schedule for the day of their trip if/when taking a longer trip where you want battery pre-conditioning? It seems it would be nice to have a one-time preconditioning event option, no? So that I don't have to remember to turn the departure schedule off after the planned trip?

My Mach-E is garaged, and I don't drive it every day. I don't always keep it plugged in, or "topped" off at 85%.

Yes, you have to reset it.

Tip - set a departure time for a trip. Then, right after doing that, set a reminder on your phone to delete the departure time a few hours after you leave, or the day after. Easy peasy.

There should be a setting on departure times for "one time only" vs. "repeating / reoccurring".

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[methorian]

My car is not heated, but stays warmer than outside. Last winter it hit the battery, in 15 minute bursts, maybe a handful of times.



Yes, you have to reset it.

Tip - set a departure time for a trip. Then, right after doing that, set a reminder on your phone to delete the departure time a few hours after you leave, or the day after. Easy peasy.

There should be a setting on departure times for "one time only" vs. "repeating / reoccurring".

I will say that I may or may not know that Ford knows there should be a one time battery preconditioning option, and I'm surprised we haven't seen it yet.

I don't take many longer trips or live in an extremely cold area, so I rarely care too much about it (plus it's garaged, so it's never really below 50-55F anyways).

 

[RickMachE]

I will say that I may or may not know that Ford knows there should be a one time battery preconditioning option, and I'm surprised we haven't seen it yet.

I don't take many longer trips or live in an extremely cold area, so I rarely care too much about it (plus it's garaged, so it's never really below 50-55F anyways).

Yes, they've clearly heard that as an issue. Given that it's a minor tweak to the software, shocking we don't have it yet.

 

[hawkeye3point1]

What do you pay per KWh there?

Recently increased to $.34, was $.18, and no off-peak rate. Expecting another bump before Spring. Could be worse I guess.

I have seen the GOM grow buy 25 to 35 miles as it does heat up. The batteries have to be in a better more efficient state after preconditioning.

Agree, L2 charge efficiency jumps from 90% to 120% due to the increase in energy capacity, unfortunately that is gone the next morning. Happiness is a warm HVB .

For me I no longer think twice and just set up a departure schedule if I can.

I would too if I was closer to the Arctic Circle like you or have a long drive. Most of my driving is short hops, so I dress for cold and bear it.

 

[Shayne]

Recently increased to $.34, was $.18, and no off-peak rate. Expecting another bump before Spring. Could be worse I guess.

Big jump. Generate electricity by what?

I would too if I was closer to the Arctic Circle like you or have a long drive. Most of my driving is short hops, so I dress for cold and bear it.

Mine are nothing under 40 miles so a bit different. A lot of 2 way highway so it makes sense here. Mine is also not used much.

Not sure what short hops are but at below -15C (5F) I would start thinking about it at the beginning of the day. If you use this new tech like designed it runs great and is pretty slick. At the temperature you would plug your ICE block heater in it may be time to set a departure schedule in the app and beam it to the car. That would be nice.

-15C about an hour 7x1x0.34 = $2.38 - added efficiency for coffee. Mine is working out less than gas so far.

 

[Msnwcpa]

Plugging in has a different temp set point than preconditioning. Plugging in when told to will keep the battery around 0°C (32°F) I believe, while using preconditioning heats it to 15°C (59°F). The pack isn’t actively heated while driving (at least I haven’t seen that yet), so it cools off as you drive unless you are using a lot of power or regen. Therefore a preconditioned pack will stay above the critical temp of 0 °C for longer while driving in the cold.

Whisper disables lift-off regen, but yes you still get some regen with braking. Neutral completely disables regen.

@Mach-Lee do the drive modes and One pedal have different levels of Regen?

The person who did my Ford virtual walkthrough mentioned pre-conditioning is better for me in winter since I am in PA

 

[timbop]

Does anyone know if simply leaving the car plugged in will trickle draw power to keep the battery at a stable temp without full preconditioning? Or will it only draw power to heat with a departure time?

I was using departure times, but felt I was wasting electricity because my commute is only like 2 miles and it appeared to draw like 5kw for an hour before departure. So I stopped preconditioning unless going on a longer trip, but wondering if it’s better for health to leave plugged in without a departure schedule.

I've often wondered the same thing myself. I work from home and don't even leave the house during the week, so there is no point to warming up the cabin with preconditioning at that time.

It will, but that temp is not as high as what preconditioning will do. And it's not really a trickle as the heater will kick on and off as the battery warms and cools. On a very cold night, it could use as much as 7kWh keeping the battery above freezing.

Not to split hairs, but is there any empirical evidence from those with smart chargers that can actually confirm this?

 

[generaltso]

Not to split hairs, but is there any empirical evidence from those with smart chargers that can confirm this?

Yes, that was my own observation last winter, and the reason I stopped leaving the car plugged in.

 

[Shayne]

I've often wondered the same thing myself. I work from home and don't even leave the house during the week, so there is no point to warming up the cabin with preconditioning at that time.


Not to split hairs, but is there any empirical evidence from those with smart chargers that can actually confirm this?

It comes on plugged in once a day here lately for about 15 minutes if below about 20F. I hear it precondition (heater but not the cabin). I think it has been note that is not for conditioning for driving and is just maintaining. Charge the 12V and I am all set.

For the cost of it we are really splitting hairs. It is not like fill up a tank with gas. Jerry cans now have me gagging. If it is real cold and sat for a few days I would do it just to enjoy the ride. I am good with plug it and forget it.

 

[Auto Motive]

I plug in and charge when the battery gets around 20% in the summer and have it set to charge to 85%. They say you should not charge it to 100% if it can be avoided and based on your schedule it appears setting a charging schedule up and charging it to 90% or something lower than 100% would work no problem. It should not sit at 100% if it can be avoided.

I also follow what they recommend and plug into L2 and stay plugged in when it is cold. I have seen it come on by itself and heat the pack when cold and plugged in. Becoming a daily event when below around -5C (20F) this winter. I just leave my schedule but lower it to 80% SOC. Therefore every trip I come home, plug in and it will charge the first night and my batteries almost never get down to 20% in the winter.

Maybe at a fast charger. This 240 is so slow I doubt any damage can happen in twice a month charging..

 

[timbop]

Yes, that was my own observation last winter, and the reason I stopped leaving the car plugged in.

Hmm, very interesting. Did you stop leaving it plugged in because you don't think the battery really needs to be kept warm, because you always precondition/remote start to warm it up, or some other reason? I'm asking because last year I would leave mine plugged in, but since my wife got a PHEV this year she is frequently using our only EVSE. I was thinking about getting a second EVSE so I could leave my car plugged in if indeed the battery does get proactively warmed. I don't want to spend the money and effort if it's unnecessary.

*** EDIT ***
Our cars sit outside on the driveway, and in our part of NJ it does not often go below 20F and only below 10F 1 or 2 nights per winter

 

[Shayne]

Maybe at a fast charger. This 240 is so slow I doubt any damage can happen in twice a month charging..

Plug in and precondition are numbers 2 and 3 on the Ford your EV deserves a little TLC list. Did not do all that programing for nothing . I do not do number 1. In an unheated garage there is no solar gain in the day so it is normally colder than outside in the sun if you keep the snow off the vehicles anyway. Not sweating that one. Don't think you need to sweat any of them. I am not going to freeze when DCFC either; that is not going to happen. 20F I may think about turning the cabin heat off in 0F not.

 

[generaltso]

Hmm, very interesting. Did you stop leaving it plugged in because you don't think the battery really needs to be kept warm, because you always precondition/remote start to warm it up, or some other reason?

I stopped plugging in because the amount of electricity it was using to keep the battery warm was not insignificant. I almost never precondition or remote start. I just drive the car and don't worry about it. If that means the battery will have higher degradation in 10 years, I don't really care. It will be somebody else's problem by then.

 

[dbsb3233]

Ford recommends plugging in to precond. So range isn't compromised. We charge twice a month to 100pct and no it's under 30 deg we plug in everyday as recommended by ford to to precond.

All Ford is really saying there is that using electricity out of the plug instead of out of the battery to warm up the car first will leave more in the battery for that drive (range). It doesn't mean you'll use less electricity in total. In fact, you'll really use more to precondition/remote start, because you're turning the car on sooner and using juice longer.

Ford's recommendation to precondition is just in the context of if needing to maximize the range on that particular drive session. In other words, leaving your house and being able to get 257 miles on that "tank" instead of 253. But all you're really doing is shifting a little of that juice to being from the plug instead. It's like topping up your cell phone a little just before you leave home.

 

[dbsb3233]

I stopped plugging in because the amount of electricity it was using to keep the battery warm was not insignificant. I almost never precondition or remote start. I just drive the car and don't worry about it. If that means the battery will have higher degradation in 10 years, I don't really care. It will be somebody else's problem by then.

Same here. I often remote start when it's cold though, just for comfort. If that happens to warm the battery a little too before the drive, fine, but I doubt that makes any significant difference. My car stays in the garage where it rarely drops below freezing so it's not really an issue for me. If I parked it outside at 20 below, I'd probably do more. But a 2-3 minute remote start gives a really nice head start for this car.

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