Battery thermal management?

[Rt1AWD]

You don't need to worry. You don't need to do anything. The vehicle is equipped to know how to deal with harsh weather conditions - either hot or cold.

Is it true only if it is hooked up to power or all the time?

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[Rt1AWD]

Right when you turn off the car you'll see the message if the car is in the extreme heat condition at that time (e.g. turning it off in the morning in Phoenix when its still relatively cool won't show anything but in the afternoon when its 100 out turning off the car will show "plug me in". Likewise, here in Michigan, turning it off in really cold weather "plug me in" but if its warm out before getting cold...no message).

The Focus Electric had the same behavior.

If I turned it off when it was normal, but then it got hotter...... it is still not good for the car, right?

 

[RickMachE]

Is it true only if it is hooked up to power or all the time?

All the time.

 

[Rt1AWD]

All the time.

Which means if it is very hot or cold outside then the battery will be drained faster while the car is idle, right?

 

[RickMachE]

"drained faster"?

No. You don't have to worry that if you park with 80% battery capacity, you'll come back to a vehicle with 50%. You might find that your 80% capacity changed to 79 or 78% while you were gone for a day though.

You need to remember that you're on a forum of "early adopters", a large number of which are overly "geeky" and focused on the minutiae of the car. The vast majority of the American plug is not knowledgeable about these things nor going to take any special measures to prolong battery life. Ford has taken this into account when designing the Mach-E, and made it "idiot proof".

Relax, don't worry, and drive your car.

 

[Rt1AWD]

"drained faster"?

No. You don't have to worry that if you park with 80% battery capacity, you'll come back to a vehicle with 50%. You might find that your 80% capacity changed to 79 or 78% while you were gone for a day though.

You need to remember that you're on a forum of "early adopters", a large number of which are overly "geeky" and focused on the minutiae of the car. The vast majority of the American plug is not knowledgeable about these things nor going to take any special measures to prolong battery life. Ford has taken this into account when designing the Mach-E, and made it "idiot proof".

Relax, don't worry, and drive your car.

But that means that if I leave it for 2 weeks and there is a heatwave, when I come back it will be 30% less charge. This makes mach -e not a good choice to leave it at the airport parking.

 

[RickMachE]

But that means that if I leave it for 2 weeks and there is a heatwave, when I come back it will be 30% less charge. This makes mach -e not a good choice to leave it at the airport parking.

If you have that much anxiety about the Mach-E, perhaps it's not the right vehicle for you. No, it's not going to go from 80% to 30% at the airport in 2 weeks. The vehicle is built for extreme cold, and extreme hot conditions. It's built for normal people that don't carry about the details to own.

 

[benk016]

But that means that if I leave it for 2 weeks and there is a heatwave, when I come back it will be 30% less charge. This makes mach -e not a good choice to leave it at the airport parking.

The airport here in Tulsa has like 50 parking spots for EV's to charge while they are away on a trip.

 

[RickMachE]

The airport here in Tulsa has like 50 parking spots for EV's to charge while they are away on a trip.

That is amazing, and not the norm, but hopefully it will be in the future.

 

[Lord Polymath]

While I generally won't worry about it and trust the car to reasonably take care of itself, this is straight from the owner's manual:

Overnight Charging and Storage
You can increase the longevity of your high voltage battery by using the preferred charge times feature. Preferred charge times can keep your battery at the optimal temperature and state of charge based on your settings and usage. Allowing your battery to cool before charging and setting the maximum state of charge to 90% for everyday usage improves longevity of your high voltage battery.
Storage Temperature
Storing your vehicle in temperatures between 32°F (0°C) and 113°F (45°C) is the most beneficial for the high voltage battery.
Storage State of Charge
You can increase the battery life by maintaining your state of charge below 100%. When you park your vehicle for an extended period of 30 days or more, we recommend your battery be at an approximately 50% state of charge. Storing your vehicle's high voltage battery at higher states of charge is less favorable than storing at lower states of charge.

 

[Rt1AWD]

If you have that much anxiety about the Mach-E, perhaps it's not the right vehicle for you. No, it's not going to go from 80% to 30% at the airport in 2 weeks. The vehicle is built for extreme cold, and extreme hot conditions. It's built for normal people that don't carry about the details to own.

I thought the forum is for those "not normal" who care about the details

 

[RickMachE]

I thought the forum is for those "not normal" who care about the details

It is. All I'm saying is that if one has a lot of anxiety and worry about being an early adopter, wondering what they will screw up on the vehicle, perhaps they shouldn't buy until it's more mainstream.

My wife appreciates how the vehicle drives. She likes it a lot. She would NOT have purchased it for herself (even though it's "her car") unless I figured out all the charging details, planned charging on trips, etc. Not a chance. She can't be bothered, nor does she have interest, in those details.

With our PHEV, it was clear that to get optimum battery usage, one would drive in EV only mode locally, then go to EV Later mode for the highway (highway driving rapidly depletes the battery), then switch to EV only mode as one exited the highway, and then repeat the cycle on the way home. This would result in maximizing battery efficiency, and minimizing the use of the gas engine. I explained this, and demonstrated this. She tried it for one day, and then said "am I hurting the vehicle by leaving it in Auto mode"? Answer - no. "Then I'm leaving it in Auto mode". She just wants to drive.

 

[Rt1AWD]

It is not anxiety..... it is pure curiosity....... I want to know all the little hurdles and details beforehand for more efficient usage and planning.

 

[RickMachE]

I found these very helpful. And watching Darren Palmer's video where he explains how the vehicle was designed for extreme weather conditions.

https://www.ford.com/support/vehicle/2021/Ford/Mustang Mach-E/discover-your-ford/add-trim/

https://www.ford.com/support/vehicle/2021/ford/mustang mach-e/how-to-videos/video-library/

https://www.ford.com/support/vehicle/Mustang Mach-E/2021/owner-manuals/

 

[JimmyMachE]

Are there any temperature sensors on the battery? Is it possible to monitor the thermal state of the battery?

As mentioned earlier, a cheap obd2 adapter will show you this information on a smartphone.

Bjorn Nyland uses CarScanner Elm Obd2 app:

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