High Temperature - Leave plugged in

[andrew]

Hello,

I just got an interesting message on the dash when I placed the car in park. It is 93 F outside, but the car’s temperature reading says it’s 111 F. The message suggested that due to the heat, I should leave the car plugged in. I’m able to do that, so I did. I assume this allows the AC to run for the battery to keep it cool. That’s a nice feature.

I was wondering if there was a way to enable this feature when the car isn’t plugged in. I usually have way more charge than I need in the car, so I don’t always plug in. I was wondering if there was a setting that would allow the car to use the battery to cool itself. Is this something I can enable?

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[SnBGC]

Not available. Ford doesn't allow thermal management of the HVB while parked off plug. Not sure why.

 

[Mathington]

It seems like an odd choice to not regulate the battery temp while packed in hot weather and not plugged in. If it's serious enough to warn you to plug in while in hot weather, you would think the passive battery drain would be worth it.

Perhaps the power usage is too high if it's going that? That is the only reason I can think of.

 

[Mach-Lee]

It seems like an odd choice to not regulate the battery temp while packed in hot weather and not plugged in. If it's serious enough to warn you to plug in while in hot weather, you would think the passive battery drain would be worth it.

Perhaps the power usage is too high if it's going that? That is the only reason I can think of.

Yes it would drain power. Teslas do it, but the battery thermal management stops when the HV battery gets down to 20%. Teslas are known for "phantom drain" because of this, so you'd have to plug in while parked every few days if you live in a hot climate. Ford has not decided it implement anything like this yet, a lot of us would like to see it as an option in the future.

 

[Mike G]

Okay so here's a question on that....

Let's say it's hot....car wants to be plugged in to manage the heat.

So I plug the car in and it's the middle of the afternoon. My charging times don't start until 1900 and end at 0700.

Is the car making use of being plugged in even when it's not within the scheduled charging times?

Mike

 

[RickMachE]

Okay so here's a question on that....

Let's say it's hot....car wants to be plugged in to manage the heat.

So I plug the car in and it's the middle of the afternoon. My charging times don't start until 1900 and end at 0700.

Is the car making use of being plugged in even when it's not within the scheduled charging times?

Mike

Absolutely. Similarly, in the winter if it's cold it will pull house current to warm the battery.

If you have peak and off-peak rates, the only way to stop this from happening during peak rates is either to unplug, or to use an intelligent charger that has the same hours set. That's what I do.

People need to understand that these cars are made to be driven. While they ask to be plugged in, the car will be fine if it's not.

 

[joebruin77]

Interesting discussion and info in this thread. Here is a related question:

I have a Tesla Model 3 and my wife's MME will arrive in the next few weeks. The cars can be plugged in at the same time, but they have to share a total of 48 amps between the two of them. If the MME is plugged in but is only able to draw 24 amps, will that be enough to power the thermal management of the HVB?

 

[generaltso]

Absolutely.

Are you sure about that?

 

[breeves002]

Interesting discussion and info in this thread. Here is a related question:

I have a Tesla Model 3 and my wife's MME will arrive in the next few weeks. The cars can be plugged in at the same time, but they have to share a total of 48 amps between the two of them. If the MME is plugged in but is only able to draw 24 amps, will that be enough to power the thermal management of the HVB?

The MME cannot be set to draw less current. If you put it on a 48A charger it will pull 48A. You'd have to use a 24A EVSE or set your EVSE to 24A max if you wanted it to only pull 24A.

To answer your question though yes I do think 24A is enough for battery thermal management.

 

[breeves002]

Absolutely. Similarly, in the winter if it's cold it will pull house current to warm the battery.

Pretty sure the way Ford has the software now the car will not regulate the battery temp if outside of a scheduled charge time. It will not turn on the charger at all. This is a gross oversight IMO. Because of this I don't set charge times I just set the limit lower if I don't want it to charge but want thermal management.

It probably should be an option to allow battery thermal management outside of scheduled charge times but it should be on by default. Just like the option to regulate battery temp when unplugged. In the summer it really doesn't use a whole crazy amount of energy to do this. Unless you don't drive the car much or don't plug it in much it shouldn't be an issue.

 

[emersonsdad]

Does this happen with a lvl 1 evse or do you have to be using a lvl 2? I don’t really charge at home (free at work) so to limit the amount of power being drawn when not fully charged, plug in using the 120v plug on the ford mobile evse while at home? If what I’m asking makes sense to anyone but it does in my head

 

[breeves002]

Does this happen with a lvl 1 evse or do you have to be using a lvl 2? I don’t really charge at home (free at work) so to limit the amount of power being drawn when not fully charged, plug in using the 120v plug on the ford mobile evse while at home? If what I’m asking makes sense to anyone but it does in my head

It will try to regulate with L1 yes. In the summer L1 likely is enough to keep the pack cool but you won't get any power into the battery.

 

[RickMachE]

Are you sure about that?

Pretty sure the way Ford has the software now the car will not regulate the battery temp if outside of a scheduled charge time. It will not turn on the charger at all. This is a gross oversight IMO. Because of this I don't set charge times I just set the limit lower if I don't want it to charge but want thermal management.

It probably should be an option to allow battery thermal management outside of scheduled charge times but it should be on by default. Just like the option to regulate battery temp when unplugged. In the summer it really doesn't use a whole crazy amount of energy to do this. Unless you don't drive the car much or don't plug it in much it shouldn't be an issue.

That's how it worked last year. I can tell you that my Mach-E, which is scheduled to charge from 7PM to 11AM, tried to pull power during the peak hours (11 - 7PM), but couldn't because the JuiceBox charger would not let it.

I have not re-tested this.

 

[breeves002]

That's how it worked last year. I can tell you that my Mach-E, which is scheduled to charge from 7PM to 11AM, tried to pull power during the peak hours (11 - 7PM), but couldn't because the JuiceBox charger would not let it.

I have not re-tested this.

I personally haven't tested it but I heard from others the way I described it is how it works. I guess I should try. I know it will pull power if you remote start though.

 

[RickMachE]

I personally haven't tested it but I heard from others the way I described it is how it works. I guess I should try. I know it will pull power if you remote start though.

Correct on the remote start, also on a Departure Time.

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