Charging at Home during Daylight Hours Strategy

[Mandretti]

We have a 2021 MME EXR AWD and I have a question regarding charging strategy, using our Ford provided home L2 charger. It takes 9 hours or so to charge from 20-90%. We have a solar array and given our local utilities method of calculating net usage, it’s financially advantageous for us to charge when our array is producing maximum power; from 10:30 - 5:30 during the day depending on time of year.
We do not have regular patterns of usage, but unless we are on a trip we’re typically traveling 0-30 miles a day. So our goals are:
1) Charge during the day whenever possible
2) Do this as automatically as possible. In other words minimizing the amount of plugging and unplugging the charger
3) Maintain good battery health.

So the obvious questions relating to this are.
1) Is it harmful to the battery to be plugged in most of the time, partially charging each day its at home during daylight hours? I.e 45-80% one day, 60-90% the next, some days 30% to 60% another 11-50% etc. And if so just how bad?
2) I haven’t used the FordPass charge scheduling capability, which would be part of any solution. So what would be the setup(s) for this, assuming that it’s possible.

I know I could probably piece together this information from the forum from a variety of searches, but I would appreciate anyone who has expert information on this. Also feel free to direct me via link to the subject.

Sponsored

 

[JRB100]

This is how I charge... during the day with solar array and reduced fees from the electric provider. I setup my charging schedule from the screen in the MME. (I have checked it from time to time in Ford Pass, but the app is not reliable enough. For example, setting pre-conditioning times may or may not work from the app.)

My advice... use the charging controls in the MME, not Ford Pass.

You'll see others mention ABC... Always Be Charging (as recommended by Ford).

 

[Blue highway]

In terms of battery health and longevity, Keeping the state of charge close to 50% is ideal. The "so what" is that lots of short charging cycles are fine.

If you only drive 30 miles a day, you can set the charge limit in the car to say 80% and let the solar bring the battery as close to that as it can. If you have enough solar, most of the time it will be between 50 and 80%. It can do this for a couple hundred thousand miles. Winters in Oregon... well... not sure you will have enough solar.

If the SOC gets below 20%, you are well served to not leave it in that state... and its nice to be able to jump in the car any time.

Lastly don't stress.

low depth of discharge will greatly extend the life of the battery... https://batteryuniversity.com/article/bu-808-how-to-prolong-lithium-based-batteries

 

[MW1515]

We have a 2021 MME EXR AWD and I have a question regarding charging strategy, using our Ford provided home L2 charger. It takes 9 hours or so to charge from 20-90%. We have a solar array and given our local utilities method of calculating net usage, it’s financially advantageous for us to charge when our array is producing maximum power; from 10:30 - 5:30 during the day depending on time of year.
We do not have regular patterns of usage, but unless we are on a trip we’re typically traveling 0-30 miles a day. So our goals are:
1) Charge during the day whenever possible
2) Do this as automatically as possible. In other words minimizing the amount of plugging and unplugging the charger
3) Maintain good battery health.

So the obvious questions relating to this are.
1) Is it harmful to the battery to be plugged in most of the time, partially charging each day its at home during daylight hours? I.e 45-80% one day, 60-90% the next, some days 30% to 60% another 11-50% etc. And if so just how bad?
2) I haven’t used the FordPass charge scheduling capability, which would be part of any solution. So what would be the setup(s) for this, assuming that it’s possible.

I know I could probably piece together this information from the forum from a variety of searches, but I would appreciate anyone who has expert information on this. Also feel free to direct me via link to the subject.

We don't have solar yet but in my research so far it sounds like it doesn't matter if I would use a solar kWh during the day or night bc any excess will be "banked" for future use. Is this not the case for you?

I don't think your plan would harm your battery. Just keep it between 20% and 90% as much as possible. You probably won't be charging from 20% that often and can do all the charging in one day (sun out) would be my guess. Leaving your car plugged in is not a problem. When I owned a Bolt they recommended leaving it plugged in all the time, charging or not. Fordpass will let you set maximum charge and a window for charging like you are planning to do.

 

[Mandretti]

Hey guys (do we ever get gals?) great information! Yes - very little solar generation 5 months out of the year in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. And our utility unfortunately does not do net banking. As a community owned utility It’s not regulated like the commercial companies, so they can do whatever they want unfortunately.

So my takeaways from your information. First, you all pretty much are in agreement so my comfort level with the quality of info is high! Second, set up my schedule in the car. Third, leave it plugged in.

The only time I get under 20% is when I’m on a trip.
Actually very simple thankfully.

Thanks again! See you back on the forum.

 

[Mandretti]

Ok here’s what I really need for the Cadillac ( sorry Ford) automated system. Connect my solar system app which is Internet connected and reports power generation, and the MME charging app with schedule etc. So the MME will charge after a scheduled time, unless the solar system is not producing juice, and there’s still 30% left on the car.. All parameters configurable. Maybe even get the weather forecast for cloud cover involved.

 

[AliRafiee]

If you ask me, you’re overthinking it.
My LEAF lost less than 10% capacity in 10 years and 90K miles.
I charged whenever and wherever, at any and all charge levels. I also charged to 100% everyday because I needed the range.

 

[woody]

Charge L1 daytime directly from solar array( we have two EVs, one is charging directly[L1] from solar most of the daylight hours); or L2 if you continuously produce more than 8kW daytime.
L2 or L1, no worries/no difference. % charge of no consequence(cannot charge MME to 100% regardless of supply choice).
Should you decide to keep it over 15 years, put in a new battery.
Otherwise, recycle it. In ten years or so, Li battery recycling will be profitable and in demand. They may even let us have solid state by then.

Hey guys (do we ever get gals?) great information! Yes - very little solar generation 5 months out of the year in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. And our utility unfortunately does not do net banking. As a community owned utility It’s not regulated like the commercial companies, so they can do whatever they want unfortunately.

So my takeaways from your information. First, you all pretty much are in agreement so my comfort level with the quality of info is high! Second, set up my schedule in the car. Third, leave it plugged in.

The only time I get under 20% is when I’m on a trip.
Actually very simple thankfully.

Thanks again! See you back on the forum.

Utility companies by definition do what they want. Regulation is simply politics.

 

[Old_Norm]

We don't have solar yet but in my research so far it sounds like it doesn't matter if I would use a solar kWh during the day or night bc any excess will be "banked" for future use. Is this not the case for you?

I don't think your plan would harm your battery. Just keep it between 20% and 90% as much as possible. You probably won't be charging from 20% that often and can do all the charging in one day (sun out) would be my guess. Leaving your car plugged in is not a problem. When I owned a Bolt they recommended leaving it plugged in all the time, charging or not. Fordpass will let you set maximum charge and a window for charging like you are planning to do.

It does matter. When you use solar power to charge during the day you are only missing banking that energy at the cost of the electricity itself. If you charge at night you are not only paying for the electricity but the delivery charge, taxes and any assessments added on by the utility. In my case in Ohio, when I send energy back to the utility they credit me $0.075 per kWh. When I use electricity I pay for the electricity and other fees. For example, last month I used a net 13 kWh. I paid $0.98 for the electricity, $.0.43 cents for transmission service, $3.72 for distribution and a $10.00 customer charge. That works out to $1.16 per kWh.

 

[Old_Norm]

We have a 2021 MME EXR AWD and I have a question regarding charging strategy, using our Ford provided home L2 charger. It takes 9 hours or so to charge from 20-90%. We have a solar array and given our local utilities method of calculating net usage, it’s financially advantageous for us to charge when our array is producing maximum power; from 10:30 - 5:30 during the day depending on time of year.
We do not have regular patterns of usage, but unless we are on a trip we’re typically traveling 0-30 miles a day. So our goals are:
1) Charge during the day whenever possible
2) Do this as automatically as possible. In other words minimizing the amount of plugging and unplugging the charger
3) Maintain good battery health.

So the obvious questions relating to this are.
1) Is it harmful to the battery to be plugged in most of the time, partially charging each day its at home during daylight hours? I.e 45-80% one day, 60-90% the next, some days 30% to 60% another 11-50% etc. And if so just how bad?
2) I haven’t used the FordPass charge scheduling capability, which would be part of any solution. So what would be the setup(s) for this, assuming that it’s possible.

I know I could probably piece together this information from the forum from a variety of searches, but I would appreciate anyone who has expert information on this. Also feel free to direct me via link to the subject.

Edited: I had it backwards
Here is my situation. I have 38 solar panels. I have the FordPass set up to charge the vehicle at 9 pm anytime up to 90%. In my Emporia charger app I have the schedule set to charge from 9 pm to 8 am. The Emporia app has I have the option to charge now. So on a sunny day I use the Emporia app to charge now. The settings in the Ford Pass won't let the charge exceed 90%. On cloudy days I let the Emporia app FordPass control the charge and the car charges to 90% after 9 pm (off peak).

Sorry for the confusion.

 

[RickMachE]

Here is my situation. I have 38 solar panels. I have the FordPass set up to charge the vehicle at 9 pm up to 90%. In my Emporia charger app I have the option to charge now. So on a sunny day I use the Emporia app to charge now. The settings in the Ford Pass won't let the charge exceeed 90%. On cloudy days I let the FordPass control the charge and the car charges to 90% after 9 pm (off peak).

Your explanation doesn't jibe with reality. If FordPass or car is set to charge from 9PM until ____, then hitting Charge Now on the EVSE app won't override the car.

Example - car is set for 9PM to 7AM. At 2PM you hit Charge Now in the Emporia app. Nothing happens.

What is the ending setting, i.e. 9PM to ______?

 

[Old_Norm]

Your explanation doesn't jibe with reality. If FordPass or car is set to charge from 9PM until ____, then hitting Charge Now on the EVSE app won't override the car.

Example - car is set for 9PM to 7AM. At 2PM you hit Charge Now in the Emporia app. Nothing happens.

What is the ending setting, i.e. 9PM to ______?

Thanks for the correction. I had it backwards. FordPass is set to charge to 90% anytime the car is plugged in. The Emporia app is set to start charging at 9 pm. The Emporia app won't let the charging begin until 9 pm. But it does allow me to Charge Now. Say it is a sunny day. I hit the charge now icon in the Emporia app and the EVSE charges the MME up to 90%. If it is a cloudy day I let the EVSE use it's scheduled time and it starts charging at 9 pm, up to 90% Thanks again for the correction. Sorry for the confusion. BTW the ending time is 8 am (9pm to 8am off peak hours).

 

[JRB100]

We don't have solar yet but in my research so far it sounds like it doesn't matter if I would use a solar kWh during the day or night bc any excess will be "banked" for future use. Is this not the case for you?

I don't think your plan would harm your battery. Just keep it between 20% and 90% as much as possible. You probably won't be charging from 20% that often and can do all the charging in one day (sun out) would be my guess. Leaving your car plugged in is not a problem. When I owned a Bolt they recommended leaving it plugged in all the time, charging or not. Fordpass will let you set maximum charge and a window for charging like you are planning to do.

Buyback plans have changed over the last few years and (in Texas) are not as advantageous to homeowners. My excess energy has a buyback rate of 9.15 cents/kWh BUT my charge for energy imported from the grid is 13.3 cents/kWh. This is why I charge on days with maximum sunlight.

 

[Ev Blau]

Hey guys (do we ever get gals?) great information! Yes - very little solar generation 5 months out of the year in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. And our utility unfortunately does not do net banking. As a community owned utility It’s not regulated like the commercial companies, so they can do whatever they want unfortunately.

So my takeaways from your information. First, you all pretty much are in agreement so my comfort level with the quality of info is high! Second, set up my schedule in the car. Third, leave it plugged in.

The only time I get under 20% is when I’m on a trip.
Actually very simple thankfully.

Thanks again! See you back on the forum.

I’m a gal and brand new to this forum. I’ll probably be asking lots of questions - sorry all you guy gear heads!

 

[MW1515]

It does matter. When you use solar power to charge during the day you are only missing banking that energy at the cost of the electricity itself. If you charge at night you are not only paying for the electricity but the delivery charge, taxes and any assessments added on by the utility. In my case in Ohio, when I send energy back to the utility they credit me $0.075 per kWh. When I use electricity I pay for the electricity and other fees. For example, last month I used a net 13 kWh. I paid $0.98 for the electricity, $.0.43 cents for transmission service, $3.72 for distribution and a $10.00 customer charge. That works out to $1.16 per kWh.

Interesting. We have Potomac Edison/1st Energy in central/western Maryland which I think also services a lot of Ohio. So you are saying that your transmission and distribution charges are not based on the net kWh you use but are instead based on how much is fed to your house no matter what the net usage is? So if you use a ton of electricity at night, for example, you could wind up with a sizable bill even if your net kWh usage was zero? Looks like our customer charge is $5.70. Did yours go up after getting solar? I thought the amount of $ they credit you only factors in at the end of the year if you are net negative and the kWh banking works like cell phone roll over minutes month to month.

Sponsored