Cold Weather & Acceleration

[Scooby24]

Has no one tried to use a lithium battery power tool in the cold before?

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[AKgrampy]

Try setting a departure time (even if you are not intending to go anywhere) and go out and see if preconditioning eliminates the bars.

 

[Larva]

I've tried preconditioning and that does not help. There are still 10 bars.

I'm actually on my second Mach E (long story) and have the same issue. So it is either expected behavior in the cold (below 20 degrees sometimes, anything in the single digits or lower happens all the time) or something I'm doing (perhaps something about one of the two primary charging stations I use).

 

[Larva]

Has no one tried to use a lithium battery power tool in the cold before?

The battery will not last as long. No one is questioning that. What we are questioning is why the car is limiting the amount of power that can be drawn from it. It seemed like I was the only one experiencing the 10-bars issue. Sounds like there may be a few others, but I may be the only one driving it regularly in extreme cold (therefore experiencing it much more frequently).

If this is expected behavior, it would be nice if someone from Ford would acknowledge that. Instead I was directed to bring it into the shop. There they told me the issue was caused by a bad connection to a DC fast charger. I hadn't hooked mine up to one for some time, but couldn't refute the issue. Now I'm on my second Mach E, which hasn't been hooked up to one (as far as I know) and seeing the same issue.

 

[Scooby24]

The battery will not last as long. No one is questioning that. What we are questioning is why the car is limiting the amount of power that can be drawn from it. It seemed like I was the only one experiencing the 10-bars issue. Sounds like there may be a few others, but I may be the only one driving it regularly in extreme cold (therefore experiencing it much more frequently).

If this is expected behavior, it would be nice if someone from Ford would acknowledge that. Instead I was directed to bring it into the shop. There they told me the issue was caused by a bad connection to a DC fast charger. I hadn't hooked mine up to one for some time, but couldn't refute the issue. Now I'm on my second Mach E, which hasn't been hooked up to one (as far as I know) and seeing the same issue.

Because capacity is not the only limiting factor on batteries in cold weather. The chemical reaction is slower and overall power output is lower as well.

 

[Larva]

I don't doubt that. So this is expected behavior? I'm under the impression that a few bars is expected behavior, not 10. If 10-bars is reasonable, then it would be nice for Ford to confirm (vs sending me to the dealership).

 

[Benny’66]

My GTPE has had full grey bars (maybe 10, they are so small I can’t count them) all winter long. Yesterday and today have been the first days above 30degF since getting the car in January and I only had 1 or 2 bars this morning after preconditioning. The last two days have been in the mid 50s. I could definitely tell the difference in acceleration.

 

[Scooby24]

I don't doubt that. So this is expected behavior? I'm under the impression that a few bars is expected behavior, not 10. If 10-bars is reasonable, then it would be nice for Ford to confirm (vs sending me to the dealership).

This is expected when it's very cold. I park in the garage so it rarely is below freezing in there. Preconditioning will only occur if it's plugged in with a defined departure time. If it's unplugged or if I remote start it (plugged in or not), it's not preconditioning, just warming up the cabin.

The only time I saw the gray bars overtake a majority of available power was when it was parked outside for a couple of hours at the gym in near zero degree temps.

 

[Norseman]

Yes, some acknowledgement from Ford that this is normal would be nice. 0-60 in the 3's on my way to work and what feels like the 6's on the way home. Not like I'm far North either. Just Philadelphia.

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