Ford's Cold Weather EV Tips (do you follow these?) -- "Your EV Deserves a Little TLC" Message

[AKgrampy]

Here in Wichita, we'll get plenty of 0-20 degree stretches overnight during the winter, but this is nothing like Minnesota cold. I park in a garage and I plug in 2-3x a week just to stay between 50 and 90%. When I drive, it is almost exclusively for short 10-15 mile commutes - not road trips.

I've never set a departure time and I'm trying to decide if preconditioning my battery is really worth it. Does preconditioning (under my temp conditions and driving scenario described above):

1. meaningfully improve battery life?
2. meaningfully improve efficiency for my daily commutes such that it is worth consuming even more line-side electricity just to warm the battery?

Basically, if anyone knows whether battery preconditioning would be truly beneficial under my circumstances, or if this is just one more thing to nerd out on, that'd be super helpful. Thanks.

If you parked outside and did more than your short commutes preconditioning may be beneficial. Parked in a heated garage there really is no need or benefit. I do start my car now to warm it up before I head out into the cold but no preconditioning. I am retired so no planned departures anyway.

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[Mathington]

I don't park in a garage but do try and follow all of these as best I can. This morning was a bit chilly at 4-5 celcius (41 F) and managed to get shockingly good efficiency during my morning commute this morning by running only the seat and steering wheel heaters while having the HVAC system off.
Over the 33.9km of city/highway driving, I managed 6.7km/kWh efficiency! While the cabin was cooler than my wife would be comfortable with, I was very comfortable in my blazer coat. The seat heater was only set to 1 as I found setting 2 or 3 was too hot.

I did notice that the steering wheel heater seemed to turn off after a while. The setting was still on but it stopped feeling hot. I wish that this would just stay on the entire time so it would always feel warm/hot.

 

[HuntingPudel]

1. No, parked in the driveway
2. I only charge a couple of times a week
3. Yes
4. Yes
5. DCFC, what a novel concept!
6. Duh, I check several times a month and every time there is a big swing in temperature
7. Snow? Wassat?
8. Trying to not blow the HVBJB so I’m driving like there’s an egg on the go pedal.

 

[MSRPMACHE]

Lmao. Who turns off the heater while DCFC? Great way to get more EV adoption. The colder it gets, the slower it chargers, and the colder you get sitting in your car for 45 minutes while it chargers at 35kw on a 350kw charger!

No need to be at a 350kw charger. The Mache can barley utilize all the 150kw.

 

[timbop]

No need to be at a 350kw charger. The Mache can barley utilize all the 150kw.

Not necessarily true. Since watts=volts X amps and the Mach-E is limited to 360 to 380 volts (depending on state of charge), the max amperage (current) the charger can put out is the determining factor for how much power (kw) you'll be able to get. The spec sheet below is for the chargers EVgo put on the expressway near me. They put in the chargers rated at 200kw, but that is only at 950 volts. When charging a car like the Mach-E or ID.4 that are nominally rated at 400V the most power you can get is 70 to 80kw. The 350kw units would output a max of 135kw or so.

You can see the constant complaints on plugshare: https://www.plugshare.com/location/423220

 

[billy_at]

I live in New Jersey, where it gets cold often over the winter. I don't have a garage, so the car lives in my driveway.

I've had the car since summer 2021, and the only change I make in the winter is keeping the car plugged in at home when the temperature is under 40 degrees.

The winter range for my CA Route 1 on a full charge is usually between 190 and 240 miles, depending on the temperature.

 

[PaulClement]

Here in Wales we have had our first icy morning since buying the car. The door seals were iced up but the force of the door opening mechanism overcame the stiction and the door opened albeit with quite a crunch.

This made me wonder for those of you in really cold places do you have to treat the door seals to ensure the door opening mechanism doesn’t fail and what happens if it does, can I still open the door once the seal has defrosted?

Just wondering…

 

[ChasingCoral]

More from Ford:
https://media.ford.com/content/ford...hares-important-tip-for-driving-your-ele.html
READY FOR WINTER: FORD SHARES IMPORTANT TIP FOR DRIVING YOUR ELECTRIC VEHICLE IN THE COLD
DEC 21, 2022 | DEARBORN



All electric vehicles experience a decrease in range during cold temperatures. To get ready for longer commutes during the winter, preconditioning lets customers pre-heat their EV battery and cabin with electricity from the charger, instead of their vehicle’s battery. This helps Ford EVs work smart, not hard, to preserve range.

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