Cold Weather range is no joke

[Kamuelaflyer]

Honolulu looks much better than that crazy cold….good. Now just need my flight to actually get there.

Funny thing. I head to Kona tomorrow morning around 6:30 am. I'll need to turn the heat on before I leave, then off again in about 15 miles or so. I'll also need to turn the air conditioning on in Kona when I leave my first appointment around 9:30 am, as the temps will be into the 80s. They'll be in the low 90s when I leave for home at noon or so. An hour and change later? Daily high in the high 60s. For now.

Life is tough, I tell you.

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[Space_Pony]

Funny thing. I head to Kona tomorrow morning around 6:30 am. I'll need to turn the heat on before I leave, then off again in about 15 miles or so. I'll also need to turn the air conditioning on in Kona when I leave my first appointment around 9:30 am, as the temps will be into the 80s. They'll be in the low 90s when I leave for home at noon or so. An hour and change later? Daily high in the high 60s. For now.

Life is tough, I tell you.

I'm sorry you have to sweat through those hot temperatures. We're keeping cool up here with 10" of snow and the temps have gone up to 30.

 

[atllauren]

I have a 2025, but this is my first EV so I don't have a lot to compare to in terms of heat pump v. not. When I left for work yesterday morning and it was in the high 20s, my car was at 79% and I had 225 miles of range. Typically I would expect that to show closer to 250. My commute is about 15 miles but I was down to about 180 range when I arrived. So I did notice quite a dip in the range on the guess-o-meter, but nothing like I have seen stated from other EV owners so I take that as the heat pump is doing something?

I need to read more on how to optimize the heat pump usage -- I assume pre-warming the car is a big part of it, but not sure if there is something else I should be doing. I don't use departure times as my schedule varies a lot. If I remember to turn on remote climate, I probably don't do so in enough time to benefit the battery conditioning ... just the interior climate. Does the car have to be plugged in to benefit from battery pre-conditioning?

 

[Norcolboulder]

Third Colorado winter with the GTPE and home charging. Wanted opinion and experience with departure preconditioning. I now leave car plugged in ( yes fully charged to limit) and activate climate - temp and seats and wheel - b4 I leave . I noted the MME now begins requesting more power.
May not be much but is this also preconditioning the battery before I leave ?
We seldom have a consistent departure time. And a cold North facing garage .
Thank you

 

[kevin1024]

Third Colorado winter with the GTPE and home charging. Wanted opinion and experience with departure preconditioning. I now leave car plugged in ( yes fully charged to limit) and activate climate - temp and seats and wheel - b4 I leave . I noted the MME now begins requesting more power.
May not be much but is this also preconditioning the battery before I leave ?
We seldom have a consistent departure time. And a cold North facing garage .
Thank you

The car is using plug power instead of your battery, even to run climate. I don't know of an option to prevent that, but you might get answers from someone that has charge time restrictions.

I think some EVSEs can also restrict on a schedule, but as far as I know the Ford Charge Station Pro doesn't.

 

[Norcolboulder]

It would appear a true destination or departure time action would preheat the battery in winter. The question for the experts is - if plugged in to a level two charger and climate settings are activated - and the car is taking some charge ( blinking) are we getting anyb battery warming benefits ? 2023 GTPE

 

[ChrisO]

I have a 2025, but this is my first EV so I don't have a lot to compare to in terms of heat pump v. not. When I left for work yesterday morning and it was in the high 20s, my car was at 79% and I had 225 miles of range. Typically I would expect that to show closer to 250. My commute is about 15 miles but I was down to about 180 range when I arrived. So I did notice quite a dip in the range on the guess-o-meter, but nothing like I have seen stated from other EV owners so I take that as the heat pump is doing something?

I need to read more on how to optimize the heat pump usage -- I assume pre-warming the car is a big part of it, but not sure if there is something else I should be doing. I don't use departure times as my schedule varies a lot. If I remember to turn on remote climate, I probably don't do so in enough time to benefit the battery conditioning ... just the interior climate. Does the car have to be plugged in to benefit from battery pre-conditioning?

 

[atllauren]

thank you! Probably not something I will use often, as I never use departure times and only charge every 7-10 days. Takes me that long to get close to 50%, which is usually when I plug in.

I would use departure times more if I could schedule a one off more easily. I can't schedule a tomorrow at 8 a.m. departure, only a Thursdays at 8 a.m. so I would have to remember to cancel it before next Thursday.

 

[RickMachE]

There is no more "Start", it's now "Climate".

 

[ChrisO]

thank you! Probably not something I will use often, as I never use departure times and only charge every 7-10 days. Takes me that long to get close to 50%, which is usually when I plug in.

I would use departure times more if I could schedule a one off more easily. I can't schedule a tomorrow at 8 a.m. departure, only a Thursdays at 8 a.m. so I would have to remember to cancel it before next Thursday.

Yeah, I don't use departure times either. I'm basically retired so it makes no sense, and on top of that it is a mild climate here and the car is in the garage that never gets that cold.

 

[Maquis]

I have a 2025, but this is my first EV so I don't have a lot to compare to in terms of heat pump v. not. When I left for work yesterday morning and it was in the high 20s, my car was at 79% and I had 225 miles of range. Typically I would expect that to show closer to 250. My commute is about 15 miles but I was down to about 180 range when I arrived. So I did notice quite a dip in the range on the guess-o-meter, but nothing like I have seen stated from other EV owners so I take that as the heat pump is doing something?

I need to read more on how to optimize the heat pump usage -- I assume pre-warming the car is a big part of it, but not sure if there is something else I should be doing. I don't use departure times as my schedule varies a lot. If I remember to turn on remote climate, I probably don't do so in enough time to benefit the battery conditioning ... just the interior climate. Does the car have to be plugged in to benefit from battery pre-conditioning?

Unless you need maximum range for that day’s driving, battery preconditioning just uses more electricity overall than not preconditioning.

 

[KidGalahad]

This is something I wish I had been more aware of when I got my first Mach-E. I actually got into a fairly dangerous situation with my original Standard Range when I was driving my kids to my grandparents house, which is around 110 miles away, in 20-degree temperatures at night. I started with a 90% charge, and I was on 0% for more than a few minutes. Some very anxious moments.

 

[atllauren]

Yeah, I don't use departure times either. I'm basically retired so it makes no sense, and on top of that it is a mild climate here and the car is in the garage that never gets that cold.

I don’t have a garage, so I am victim to the cold morning air. But I live in a fairly mild climate— cold here is 35-40, which does impact range but nothing like what people in northern climates deal with. I work hybrid so totally varies what day I go in and even what time. I’d end up wasting battery conditioning the cabin and then not getting in the car.

 

[atllauren]

Unless you need maximum range for that day’s driving, battery preconditioning just uses more electricity overall than not preconditioning.

This is good info. I almost never need the full range in a day. Not a road tripper. The furthest I drive is a 65 miles each way to my college town for a football game. It’ll be chilly coming home on Saturday but I will charge to 100% and would still expect to have 40%+ battery when I get home

 

[Rustic Roads]

We're down to the 30s now, with daytime temps in the 40s and low 50s at best.

My '25 Premium got 2.7 miles/kWh on the freeway (75mph average) in 29° temps on Sunday. I had to run a quick errand (8 miles) and was getting 3.0 miles/kWh in suburban city driving in 50° temps. As a new EV driver, It was interesting to leave at 90% and return still at 90% (no 1-pedal).

The car is now predicting 201 miles of range at 90% while sitting in my 55° garage. I seem to recall that it would estimate a total of ~280 miles of range back in September when we were in the 80s.

The heater in this car is more than enough in these mildly chilly temps, and it will be interesting to see what it does when it actually gets cold, but I don't anticipate any issues given its performance so far.

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