How long can you leave a Mach-E parked in your garage before 12v battery dies?

[efisher]

I wonder how this is handled from a Tesla perspective as a point of comparison?

One of the reasons I did not buy a Tesla is they have about a 10 mile per day phantom drain on the HVB. There have been times where I have had to take business trips that extended over a month and did not want to worry about having a car with a dead battery sitting in the airport parking lot when I returned.

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[efisher]

Ford recommends that you disconnect the 12V battery if storing the car more than 30 days (really more to preserve the high voltage batteries).

https://www.fordservicecontent.com/...&userMarket=USA&div=f&vFilteringEnabled=False

To me this seems like an unreasonable ask. I will never do it. Unless they provide a simple battery disconnect switch in the cabin (And then provide a way to easily enter a locked vehicle.)

 

[JSW]

Shayne, I’m not sure how I’ll know if the 12v battery is being charged or not. I just assume it’s more likely during a charge (as opposed to just being plugged in since folks have been bricked while plugged in), and more likely while on/preconditioning (as opposed to off/sitting since folks have been bricked while off/sitting).

I wish I had more to offer you than supposition, but I’m eating my own cooking on this and doing what I suggest...

 

[eltonlin]

To me this seems like an unreasonable ask. I will never do it. Unless they provide a simple battery disconnect switch in the cabin (And then provide a way to easily enter a locked vehicle.)

Yeah agree. Sounds great in theory, but looking at the hassle to even access the jump ports, not sure it's easy task to disconnect anything from the batter.

Perhaps it was a copy/paste from another EV manual.

 

[AEtherScythe]

We had this problem, because we weren't driving our car and due to a software bug, the LVB wasn't getting charged from the wall-charger like it should have been.
Check with your dealer to see if they have access to the required software fix. Ours is fixed now, 100% confirmed. But it may take some doing for your dealer to get the software fix, in lieu of an over-the-air update.

The software fix is for the case where the car is not ever being driven and is just left plugged into power. Though the HVB could have charged the LVB (as it does when being driven), there is logic to say don't do that because the car is plugged in.
The LVB was supposed to be charged from the wall charger, but that wasn't happening.
The software update fixes that.

BTW, the reason I know ours is 100% fixed is because I am able to snoop on what the FordPass app is doing and there is an API that shows the 12 volt battery status. It used to show:

"battery": {
      "batteryHealth": {
        "value": "STATUS_LOW",
        "timestamp": "02-23-2021 22:39:58"
      },
      "batteryStatusActual": {
        "value": 12,
        "status": "CURRENT",
        "timestamp": "02-24-2021 19:01:19"
      }
}

But now I can see that when the Mach-E is doing a "conditioning" cycle, every six hours, it is actually topping off the battery:

"battery": {
      "batteryHealth": {
        "value": "STATUS_GOOD",
        "timestamp": "02-25-2021 16:39:58"
      },
      "batteryStatusActual": {
        "value": 15,
        "status": "CURRENT",
        "timestamp": "02-25-2021 13:01:19"
      }
}

15V Is also what the 12V accessory socket shows when the Mach-E is running and the LVB is being topped off constantly by the HVB. This behavior proves to me that the LVB is getting topped every 6 hours.

 

[Franchise]

I wonder how this is handled from a Tesla perspective as a point of comparison?

Google bricking a Tesla. Bunch of roadster owners not happy with their giant paperweights.

 

[Stang68]

We had this problem, because we weren't driving our car and due to a software bug, the LVB wasn't getting charged from the wall-charger like it should have been.
Check with your dealer to see if they have access to the required software fix. Ours is fixed now, 100% confirmed. But it may take some doing for your dealer to get the software fix, in lieu of an over-the-air update.

The software fix is for the case where the car is not ever being driven and is just left plugged into power. Though the HVB could have charged the LVB (as it does when being driven), there is logic to say don't do that because the car is plugged in.
The LVB was supposed to be charged from the wall charger, but that wasn't happening.
The software update fixes that.

BTW, the reason I know ours is 100% fixed is because I am able to snoop on what the FordPass app is doing and there is an API that shows the 12 volt battery status. It used to show:

"battery": {
      "batteryHealth": {
        "value": "STATUS_LOW",
        "timestamp": "02-23-2021 22:39:58"
      },
      "batteryStatusActual": {
        "value": 12,
        "status": "CURRENT",
        "timestamp": "02-24-2021 19:01:19"
      }
}

But now I can see that when the Mach-E is doing a "conditioning" cycle, every six hours, it is actually topping off the battery:

"battery": {
      "batteryHealth": {
        "value": "STATUS_GOOD",
        "timestamp": "02-25-2021 16:39:58"
      },
      "batteryStatusActual": {
        "value": 15,
        "status": "CURRENT",
        "timestamp": "02-25-2021 13:01:19"
      }
}

15V Is also what the 12V accessory socket shows when the Mach-E is running and the LVB is being topped off constantly by the HVB. This behavior proves to me that the LVB is getting topped every 6 hours.

Is this the software update/TSB that was applied to any Mach Es built before the first week of February? Trying to decide if my early April build should stay plugged in or not while I'm away for a week. Don't want any 12V issues.

 

[machefan]

Is this the software update/TSB that was applied to any Mach Es built before the first week of February? Trying to decide if my early April build should stay plugged in or not while I'm away for a week. Don't want any 12V issues.

If built after February it’s a non issue. Ford fixed that issue with an update around that time. You will be fine.

 

[Ponypower50]

I was on vacation for a week. Got home and the car started right up. I have a early build date.

 

[Mopey]

Is this the software update/TSB that was applied to any Mach Es built before the first week of February? Trying to decide if my early April build should stay plugged in or not while I'm away for a week. Don't want any 12V issues.

I left my January build, unplugged, outside in winter for 6 weeks. No problems. Started right up.

 

[Dnorwood98]

To me this seems like an unreasonable ask. I will never do it. Unless they provide a simple battery disconnect switch in the cabin (And then provide a way to easily enter a locked vehicle.)

My 2006 Infiniti has the same recommendation: if it is going to be stored 30+ days, disconnecting the battery is recommended. And it's an ICE.

 

[AEtherScythe]

I left my January build, unplugged, outside in winter for 6 weeks. No problems. Started right up.

The bug only happened when plugged in. When unplugged the high-voltage battery keeps the low-voltage battery maintained. When plugged in the bug was the HVB was told not to maintain the LVB, because another module should be maintaining the LVB from the wall-power, but that wasn't happening.

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