Battery Preconditioning: Some measured data.

[Hammered]

So we effectively need 2 options (buttons?) as I see it, and expect manufacturers to implement them based on competition....
1) Provide the customer the option to 'store' heat in the battery to maintain range when needed pre-departure, while AC connected.

2) Pre-condition battery for DCFC and not having it tied to factory nav.

Right now they just seem to all be quiet about these issues, but people are becoming more and more aware through various social media. I think we'll see one (probably tesla) start advertising these type of things to set themselves apart more, especially with the heat pump. Questions I regularly get are about range and charging. With the media at large latching onto the 'cold' factor, manufacturers best get to work on features and education. Ford's latest numbers today aren't looking so hot, and in this market over the next 2 years, companies need to work their asses off to set themselves apart. GM's numbers weren't much better -- there was no profit in their EVs, and they're switching to 4680 cells as well.

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[Mathington]

You don’t need to navigate to only a DCFC, it works on level 2 chargers as well as long as you select from the chargers list in the ford navigation.
I tested this with my Mach-e and the battery heating turns on for any speed chargers you navigate to.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

You don’t need to navigate to only a DCFC, it works on level 2 chargers as well as long as you select from the chargers list in the ford navigation.
I tested this with my Mach-e and the battery heating turns on for any speed chargers you navigate to.

Good to know. I hadn't considered testing that. Do you know if it tries to warm to the same temperature for all chargers?

If you don't have the data, I'll test it in a day or two when I have the time.

 

[kkmoon]

I did a quick test of this. Maybe someone else has already done this, but I didn't see it.

I was in my car last night making a couple Forscan changes, and I decided to test this out. With vehicle on, carscanner showed coolant temp at 59F. I used built-in nav to route me to a DCFC about 4 miles away, and coolant temp immediately started to rise. Got up to about 80F (and still climbing). I then got out and plugged into my L2 charger with the car and nav still running. I heard the pump shut off and coolant temp started to drop immediately.

So I guess that answers the question of whether or not you can use that method to precondition while on L2?

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I did a quick test of this. Maybe someone else has already done this, but I didn't see it.

I was in my car last night making a couple Forscan changes, and I decided to test this out. With vehicle on, carscanner showed coolant temp at 59F. I used built-in nav to route me to a DCFC about 4 miles away, and coolant temp immediately started to rise. Got up to about 80F (and still climbing). I then got out and plugged into my L2 charger with the car and nav still running. I heard the pump shut off and coolant temp started to drop immediately.

So I guess that answers the question of whether or not you can use that method to precondition while on L2?

Thanks!

It sounds like Ford doesn't think a warm battery is necessary for L2 charging, which I don't entirely disagree with. Did you happen to keep tracking to see what temperature the coolant/battery fell to?

 

[Mach-Lee]

Thanks!

It sounds like Ford doesn't think a warm battery is necessary for L2 charging, which I don't entirely disagree with. Did you happen to keep tracking to see what temperature the coolant/battery fell to?

It will warm to 5°C on L2, which I think is enough.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

It will warm to 5°C on L2, which I think is enough.

Great.
I agree.
That's plenty for the ~0.2C charging rate from a L2 charger.

 

[kkmoon]

Thanks!

It sounds like Ford doesn't think a warm battery is necessary for L2 charging, which I don't entirely disagree with. Did you happen to keep tracking to see what temperature the coolant/battery fell to?

No I did not continue to track it, or collect the data. Just a quick test.

I thought the idea we are trying to get at here is: Will the car precondition the battery for optimum DCFC temperature (which we know it will when the nav is set for a DCFC destination), and do it while turned on and plugged into an L2 (to maintain the battery). The answer to that question appears to be no.

 

[Keeperofthe7keys]

You don't need to walk to the car, just set a departure time 30-45 minutes in the future with the app and it will warm the battery+cabin.

I try to use this but it always fails to set from the app for me for some reason.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

I try to use this but it always fails to set from the app for me for some reason.

I'm not impressed with the FordPass App. There are too many failure conditions. We have a schedule set, but it doesn't always follow it. I'm thinking I'll try to set up a HomeAssist server here to interface with Ford, but I suspect that still won't solve all of the problems.

 

[Mach-Lee]

I try to use this but it always fails to set from the app for me for some reason.

Reboot your phone and pull fuses #11 and #21 in your car.

 

[Mathington]

Good to know. I hadn't considered testing that. Do you know if it tries to warm to the same temperature for all chargers?

If you don't have the data, I'll test it in a day or two when I have the time.

From what I could see in my testing, the power usage for heating in car scanner seemed the same between preconditioning for both L2 and DCFC.

 

[Hammered]

I'm not impressed with the FordPass App. There are too many failure conditions. We have a schedule set, but it doesn't always follow it. I'm thinking I'll try to set up a HomeAssist server here to interface with Ford, but I suspect that still won't solve all of the problems.

One of my low power bluetooth modules keeps throwing a DTC saying antenna short to ground. Dealer says its fine and refuses to do anything about it because it doesn't illuminate the MIL. App works fine however. I put the service advisor's advice as to "what's good" somewhere between the answer a 5yr old and 9yr old's response to whatever it is I asked them would be.

Due to its location, I'll wait until I rip out all of the interior to take a look at it myself.

 

[Mach-Lee]

One of my low power bluetooth modules keeps throwing a DTC saying antenna short to ground. Dealer says its fine and refuses to do anything about it because it doesn't illuminate the MIL. App works fine however. I put the service advisor's advice as to "what's good" somewhere between the answer a 5yr old and 9yr old's response to whatever it is I asked them would be.

Due to its location, I'll wait until I rip out all of the interior to take a look at it myself.

Those are normal RFA codes, you'd be wasting your time chasing them down since they are a software glitch.

 

[Keeperofthe7keys]

Reboot your phone and pull fuses #11 and #21 in your car.

Interested in the reason why pulling the fuses in the car would cause an app feature to start working? Weirdly although fordpass is slow it's the only feature that dosen't work for me, despite other's complaints about PaaK never had a problem there.

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