Charge anxiety?

[ohmslaw]

I was out of town for a week and when I got back i discovered my wife had been charging the Mach-E to 100% every night and now I can't stop crying and am on alprazolam and I can't stop thinking about all the poor dead electrons inside my battery cluttering it up and reducing its effectiveness.

Now this is the type of response I’m looking for. Both comforting and mocking my absurd anxieties.

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[SpaceEVDriver]

The thing I don't like about this is that perfect lab conditions at 25C is a lot different than a rattling car that can range from 0C to 45C ambient temperature with 10 degree swings in one day. I charge to 80% myself because I don't need to charge more. If I ever do, I will charge to 100 and go on my trip. I agree though, a few times to 100 at a few days isn't going to hurt much.

Sure, but every battery model is laboratory-based. The ones that claim we'll lose our batteries in two or five years are similarly based on either lab conditions or previous assumptions.

My point isn't that you can expect precisely this many years from your battery if you do this exact thing. It's that the FUD about batteries being delicate glass flowers is designed to make us afraid of buying these cars. Ford is well-known to be conservative; following its recommendations in the manual is going to preserve your battery for as long as you own the car (barring some manufacturing defect or damage to it), and many years after.

 

[Mach1E]

Sure, but every battery model is laboratory-based. The ones that claim we'll lose our batteries in two or five years are similarly based on either lab conditions or previous assumptions.

My point isn't that you can expect precisely this many years from your battery if you do this exact thing. It's that the FUD about batteries being delicate glass flowers is designed to make us afraid of buying these cars. Ford is well-known to be conservative; following its recommendations in the manual is going to preserve your battery for as long as you own the car (barring some manufacturing defect or damage to it), and many years after.

Are these the same labs that tell me the LED bulbs in my house will last 30 years but in reality burn out in 9 months?

Real life doesn’t happen in a controlled lab setting.

 

[phidauex]

Are these the same labs that tell me the LED bulbs in my house will last 30 years but in reality burn out in 9 months?

Real life doesn’t happen in a controlled lab setting.

Ha, usually the actual diode is fine - it is the shitty power supplies that tend to burn out... Details details... Same problem in battery life. The cell might be fine, but what about the DC/DCs, and the contactors, and the coolant pumps... A lot can cause a battery to fail that isn't the cell itself.

Hmm as I understand it the chemistry of the MME battery is lithium manganese cobalt. Not lithium iron phosphate covered in the article. They behave a bit differently. A lot of manufacturers are switching to lithium iron phosphate including Tesla and most of the Chinese manufacturers. Ford is working on it for commercial vehicles but aren’t there yet.

True, almost all EVs in the US use lithium NMC batteries (and probably some NCM and NCA), which have higher energy density than LFP, and better early-life degradation behavior. LFP is more common in buses and trucks right now since the density thing isn't such a big deal. I buy a lot of very large LFP batteries and they are all supplied in the same enclosures they slide right into the bus frames.

LFP isn't necessarily better or worse - in my experience the manufacturing quality makes a bigger difference than the chemistry in battery performance and longevity, thickness of separators, electrolyte stabilizer cocktails, solder tab consistency, etc.

But to the OP, don't worry about it. You are welcome to geek out with us if you want to, but this is all well understood stuff, Ford has taken a conservative position on battery life, and you don't need to worry. Just follow the general recommendations and don't sweat the details.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Hmm as I understand it the chemistry of the MME battery is lithium manganese cobalt. Not lithium iron phosphate covered in the article. They behave a bit differently. A lot of manufacturers are switching to lithium iron phosphate including Tesla and most of the Chinese manufacturers. Ford is working on it for commercial vehicles but aren’t there yet.

I think you're right.

I had the F150-Lightning and the rumors that it would have the LiFePO4 battery on my mind when I did my lit search.

The chemistries aren't so different. The same basic conclusion can be made: These batteries aren't going to fail in a few short years if they're charged to 100% a few times.

 

[ReelSweet]

I'd be happy to swing by your place and take your MME out for spin to bring you back down to 80% (or even lower if you want) wherever you'd like.....just let me know when ?

 

[BMT1071]

It's been a while since I posted this link:
What can 6,000 electric vehicles tell us about EV battery health? | Geotab
Don't purposely abuse your battery and you'll be fine. Hell, I've seen anecdotal evidence that you can abuse your battery (almost exclusive DCFC over 60k+ miles) and still be fine. Besides, the battery is under warranty for 8 years/100k miles. Just breathe. Woo sah.

 

[zhackwyatt]

I was out of town for a week and when I got back i discovered my wife had been charging the Mach-E to 100% every night and now I can't stop crying and am on alprazolam and I can't stop thinking about all the poor dead electrons inside my battery cluttering it up and reducing its effectiveness.

Not only that but the extra weight of those electrons making it even more inefficient.

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