Battery Charging Advice Wanted

[kflats]

I ordered my 2022 Mach-E Premium AWD on 11/20/21 and took delivery one year later (11/26/22). Except for the long wait, I've been very happy in the two years I driven the car (9,014 miles - apparently, I don't get out much!). It is such fun to drive and a revelation to me, as i purchased my previous ride in 2004--cars have certainly improved in the interim.

I did have a question about the best charging practices. While I almost never charge beyond 80% (less then 5X to 100%), I almost never let it drop much below 50%. I've seen lots of commentary about not charging above 80%, but nothing about how low to let the SOC go before charging. I don't charge every day because of my low average daily miles, but i do wonder if i should "top off" every day, or let the SOC get into low double, or even single, digits. I could do this as I'm usually not too far from my home charger.

Does it help battery life to "go low" at times, or does it make no difference? I've been impressed with the wisdom and advice given on this forum, and happy to be a member. Thanks for your help.

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[Deleted member 19354]

90% is the new 80% I hear. Generally I charge to 85% and have gone low as 20%

 

[Teslaeata]

I wouldn’t let it go below 15% or anywhere near it, in fact, because the low voltage battery will charge even if car’s turned off at anything above 15%.

I go to 90% when I’m not going straight out on a run the morning after a night on charge.

Even with over 200 DCFC & c600 home charges over 103,000 miles and ‘Stangy’s HVB SOH is still 94% so the strategy seems to do little harm to the HV battery.

 

[RickMachE]

ABC - Always Be Charging. Charge to 90%, plug in every night, and leave it plugged in.

 

[JohnFoxeSheets]

My understanding from a forum expert is that what you're doing is fine. You obviously don't have a long daily commute or anything so charging to more than 80% isn't needed. The only thing you may want to add is to once or twice a year get the battery below 20%, let it sit for 12 to 24 hours, and then charge it up to 100%. This will help the BMS (battery management system) to provide more accurate range estimates. Not a requirement, but it could be useful.

 

[Mach-Lee]

While I almost never charge beyond 80% (less then 5X to 100%), I almost never let it drop much below 50%. I've seen lots of commentary about not charging above 80%, but nothing about how low to let the SOC go before charging.

There is nothing wrong with this strategy, it's better to charge more often than to do a large discharge.

The only negative with the above is that the BMS will have high error and potentially reduced kWh available due to the lack of calibration charges. So approximately twice a year you should follow the calibration procedure if you never charge to 100%: https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/hv-battery-calibration-procedure.23815/

 

[ChasingCoral]

I ordered my 2022 Mach-E Premium AWD on 11/20/21 and took delivery one year later (11/26/22). Except for the long wait, I've been very happy in the two years I driven the car (9,014 miles - apparently, I don't get out much!). It is such fun to drive and a revelation to me, as i purchased my previous ride in 2004--cars have certainly improved in the interim.

I did have a question about the best charging practices. While I almost never charge beyond 80% (less then 5X to 100%), I almost never let it drop much below 50%. I've seen lots of commentary about not charging above 80%, but nothing about how low to let the SOC go before charging. I don't charge every day because of my low average daily miles, but i do wonder if i should "top off" every day, or let the SOC get into low double, or even single, digits. I could do this as I'm usually not too far from my home charger.

Does it help battery life to "go low" at times, or does it make no difference? I've been impressed with the wisdom and advice given on this forum, and happy to be a member. Thanks for your help.

 

[ChasingCoral]

Don't let it sit at 100% or near zero.

Charge when you need to. 80 vs 90% really doesn't matter.

You might want to watch this:

 

[eponey]

It all basically comes down to avoiding extremes on the battery, not too cold (you cant DCFC a cold battery), not too hot (overheated battery directly causes damage), don't hold it completely full or empty for long periods of time (holding at voltage extremes also causes damage).

So basically if you plan on taking a long trip its absolutely fine to go to 100 then just go, you'll discharge down below the area of concern, and if you drive low, charge it up instead of letting it sit a few days at 5%.

Ford is EXTREMELY conservative with their batteries, we charge slow, capacity buffer.....they should last the whole warranty easy.

This is highlighted with our forum users that are >100k without much issue, however there is some degradation associated with time that we have not yet fully realized.

 

[kflats]

I ordered my 2022 Mach-E Premium AWD on 11/20/21 and took delivery one year later (11/26/22). Except for the long wait, I've been very happy in the two years I driven the car (9,014 miles - apparently, I don't get out much!). It is such fun to drive and a revelation to me, as i purchased my previous ride in 2004--cars have certainly improved in the interim.

I did have a question about the best charging practices. While I almost never charge beyond 80% (less then 5X to 100%), I almost never let it drop much below 50%. I've seen lots of commentary about not charging above 80%, but nothing about how low to let the SOC go before charging. I don't charge every day because of my low average daily miles, but i do wonder if i should "top off" every day, or let the SOC get into low double, or even single, digits. I could do this as I'm usually not too far from my home charger.

Does it help battery life to "go low" at times, or does it make no difference? I've been impressed with the wisdom and advice given on this forum, and happy to be a member. Thanks for your help.

It all basically comes down to avoiding extremes on the battery, not too cold (you cant DCFC a cold battery), not too hot (overheated battery directly causes damage), don't hold it completely full or empty for long periods of time (holding at voltage extremes also causes damage).

So basically if you plan on taking a long trip its absolutely fine to go to 100 then just go, you'll discharge down below the area of concern, and if you drive low, charge it up instead of letting it sit a few days at 5%.

Ford is EXTREMELY conservative with their batteries, we charge slow, capacity buffer.....they should last the whole warranty easy.

This is highlighted with our forum users that are >100k without much issue, however there is some degradation associated with time that we have not yet fully realized.

Thanks to all who took the time to respond. As I already knew, the members here are both knowledgeable and generous.

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