Fast charging - to 80% or 90%?

[carinquiryad]

Hi - We just purchased a Mach-E 2022 Premium AWD ER. I have read somewhat old threads that indicate that the fast charging goes up to 80% and slows down significantly beyond that point. I also read that they may have changed that DC fast charging limit to 90%, but it is not very clear to me if it applies to cars in the US. If you have any experience or thoughts about this, please do share.

Thank you for your kind help.

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[roamtheworld]

90% easy peasy unless you have a road trip and need more.
That's Ford recommendation
From the manual “
Overnight Charging
You can increase the longevity and performance of your high voltage battery by using the charge scheduling and departure and comfort settings on your touchscreen or in the FordPass app.
With Charge Scheduling you can improve the high voltage battery's longevity by delaying the start of charging and setting a maximum charging limit. It is recommended to set your preferred charging times to be at least 2-3 hours after your typical plug in time. This allows the battery to cool before charging begins. Additionally, setting the maximum charge level to 90% for everyday usage reduces strain on the battery”

 

[HuntingPudel]

L3 charging still slows down at 80%, just a lot less than before (40-ish KWh vs. 12-14KWh). There is a gradual tapering off up just past 90%. Then it has another charging cliff.

 

[carinquiryad]

90% easy peasy unless you have a road trip and need more.
That's Ford recommendation

So to confirm - you can fast charge to 90% before the "fast" charging becomes slow charging?

 

[mkhuffman]

So to confirm - you can fast charge to 90% before the "fast" charging becomes slow charging?

Not exactly. Just slower fast charging.

 

[roamtheworld]

So to confirm - you can fast charge to 90% before the "fast" charging becomes slow charging?

All of the YouTube charging videos and most of the published data is from the 2021 MY. The 2022 and recent updates have improved the charging curve. As stated at the 90% mark it drops off a big cliff so not much value going beyond that for day to day use.
I updated my reply above with quotes from the 2022 manual.

 

[zephiyr]

So to confirm - you can fast charge to 90% before the "fast" charging becomes slow charging?

Up to 80 - “fast”
80-90 - “quick”
90-100 - “slow”

If you are road tripping and can comfortably make it to your destination/another DCFC on 80 it will be more time efficient to do so. Waiting to 90 isn’t terrible anymore though.

 

[Mach-Lee]

You should only charge to 80 or 90% if you need to in order to reach your next stop. It slows down significantly past 80% and is also much worse for the battery pack to go above 80% while DCFC. Plus it also ties up the charger. If people are waiting to charge nobody should be charging past 80% unless you won't make it.

If you plan a route in the Nav, it will tell you what % you need to charge to in order to get to the next stop. That should be your guide of when to stop charging. You might only need to charge to 64% for example.

So if you are deciding if you should stop at 80 or 90% while DCFC, you are going about it wrong. If you have no idea what you need, stop at 80%.

 

[roamtheworld]

You should only charge to 80 or 90% if you need to in order to reach your next stop. It slows down significantly past 80% and is also much worse for the battery pack to go above 80% while DCFC. Plus it also ties up the charger. If people are waiting to charge nobody should be charging past 80% unless you won't make it.

If you plan a route in the Nav, it will tell you what % you need to charge to in order to get to the next stop. That should be your guide of when to stop charging. You might only need to charge to 64% for example.

So if you are deciding if you should stop at 80 or 90% while DCFC, you are going about it wrong. If you have no idea what you need, stop at 80%.

Straight from the Ford manual about DCFC
“We recommend limiting the amount of DC charges, and ending DC charges at 80% state of charge as charging between 80 and 100% can incur high charging costs due to the time to completion. Frequent use of DC charging could result in reducing your battery’s efficiency and lifespan. This is more pronounced on the standard range battery pack versus the extended range battery pack.”

 

[Socalsp3]

90% easy peasy unless you have a road trip and need more.
That's Ford recommendation
From the manual “
Overnight Charging
You can increase the longevity and performance of your high voltage battery by using the charge scheduling and departure and comfort settings on your touchscreen or in the FordPass app.
With Charge Scheduling you can improve the high voltage battery's longevity by delaying the start of charging and setting a maximum charging limit. It is recommended to set your preferred charging times to be at least 2-3 hours after your typical plug in time. This allows the battery to cool before charging begins. Additionally, setting the maximum charge level to 90% for everyday usage reduces strain on the battery”

This is for level 2. He was asking about level 3 which is 80%

 

[roamtheworld]

This is for level 2. He was asking about level 3 which is 80%

See reply right above your reply in thread noting L3 recommendations.

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

Even the manual recommends not DCFC above 80%, it “due to cost.” I live in a state where DCFC is paid by the kWh so the only cost is my time.
For OP,
Since you bought a 2022, you shouldn’t have the hard cliff of a sudden drop to 9KE speed at 80%. It will drop to 40kw speed (or somewhere around there) and then slowly taper. But even above 90% SOC, it’s still going faster than your level 2 charger at home. And the slowing down is there to prevent cooking your battery. Still not a great thing to do on the regular, but not going to toast your battery in a week either.

 

[mkhuffman]

It isn't easy finding the new charging curve data in this forum, and I have not done a complete charge myself. But @Mach-E VLOG created a spreadsheet and graph here:

In this test, at 80% it slows down to 42 kW, and at around 95% it slows down to 36 kW. Above 96% it slows down to 28 kW, which is still a lot faster than L2, but too slow if you are on a trip. The test stopped before 100%, but the charge speed probably keeps slowing down as it approaches 100%.

 

[Garbone]

Honestly this entire subject is over analyzed. Fast charging above 80% is really a situational choice. Are you going thru a charging desert, do you have the time, will you have a chance to charge elsewhere at a better rate (home), is the wife lost in time shopping the Walmart clearance aisle?

All external factors not really related to the curve.

 

[Mach1E]

Straight from the Ford manual about DCFC
“We recommend limiting the amount of DC charges, and ending DC charges at 80% state of charge as charging between 80 and 100% can incur high charging costs due to the time to completion. Frequent use of DC charging could result in reducing your battery’s efficiency and lifespan. This is more pronounced on the standard range battery pack versus the extended range battery pack.”

Wasn’t that written before they updated the charging curve?

But yeah, what everyone else said is right about the speed.

Just charge what you need to each your next destination. Most seem to stop at 80% due to the speed drop and cost.

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