How much power does Mach-E draw when plugged in but not charging?

[Behoff]

I have read recommendations to plug in the Mach-E every night, and now that it is cold out, the car displays a message saying it should be plugged in to protect the battery. How much power is that using every night? If it is even 2 kWh per night, that is Another 60 per month that should really be calculated into the mileage calculations. If I drive 900 miles per month, and get 3 miles / kWh, I use 300 kWh to drive. Add to that a 10% loss during charging and that’s 330 kWh / month. Another 60 to keep the battery conditioned brings it up to 390, so my real mileage is 2.3.

if I look at it as cost per 100 miles, my apparent cost, at 15c per kWh and 3 miles / kWh is $5.00. But if my all-in mileage is 2.3, that goes up to $6.50. Still good compared to a ICE getting 30 mpg and $3.50 gas which calculates to $11.66, but the more these phantom drains come up the more the advantage ebbs away. If the daily maintenance draw is more like 4 or 5 kWh it becomes a real issue.

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[hybrid2bev]

I have read recommendations to plug in the Mach-E every night, and now that it is cold out, the car displays a message saying it should be plugged in to protect the battery. How much power is that using every night? If it is even 2 kWh per night, that is Another 60 per month that should really be calculated into the mileage calculations. If I drive 900 miles per month, and get 3 miles / kWh, I use 300 kWh to drive. Add to that a 10% loss during charging and that’s 330 kWh / month. Another 60 to keep the battery conditioned brings it up to 390, so my real mileage is 2.3.

if I look at it as cost per 100 miles, my apparent cost, at 15c per kWh and 3 miles / kWh is $5.00. But if my all-in mileage is 2.3, that goes up to $6.50. Still good compared to a ICE getting 30 mpg and $3.50 gas which calculates to $11.66, but the more these phantom drains come up the more the advantage ebbs away. If the daily maintenance draw is more like 4 or 5 kWh it becomes a real issue.

In my experience it never draws extra power unless it's getting ready for a departure time or remote started.

It was around 25F last night. My car is in an un-heated garage. Here you can see it charged on schedule to reach my set level of 80% at 11 PM and no power draw after that all night.

 

[SnBGC]

I have read recommendations to plug in the Mach-E every night, and now that it is cold out, the car displays a message saying it should be plugged in to protect the battery. How much power is that using every night? If it is even 2 kWh per night, that is Another 60 per month that should really be calculated into the mileage calculations. If I drive 900 miles per month, and get 3 miles / kWh, I use 300 kWh to drive. Add to that a 10% loss during charging and that’s 330 kWh / month. Another 60 to keep the battery conditioned brings it up to 390, so my real mileage is 2.3.

if I look at it as cost per 100 miles, my apparent cost, at 15c per kWh and 3 miles / kWh is $5.00. But if my all-in mileage is 2.3, that goes up to $6.50. Still good compared to a ICE getting 30 mpg and $3.50 gas which calculates to $11.66, but the more these phantom drains come up the more the advantage ebbs away. If the daily maintenance draw is more like 4 or 5 kWh it becomes a real issue.

It varies. Very cold or very hot temps will cause the car to draw power from the plug to warm or cool the battery. If $9.00 per month is an issue for you then you can just leave the car unplugged or get an EVSE that has a schedule so the car can only draw power when you authorize it to.

It doesn't really get cold enough where I live to require battery heating but during the summer it gets very hot and battery cooling is something that I gladly will pay a little extra for.

 

[Behoff]

In my experience it never draws extra power unless it's getting ready for a departure time or remote started.

It was around 25F last night. My car is in an un-heated garage. Here you can see it charged on schedule to reach my set level of 80% at 11 PM and no power draw after that all night.

What app is that? If it’s in FordPass I can’t find it!

 

[hybrid2bev]

What app is that? If it’s in FordPass I can’t find it!

It’s from my ChargePoint Home Flex EVSE app.

 

[BMT1071]

What app is that? If it’s in FordPass I can’t find it!

That is the ChargePoint app.

 

[Chicago-E]

Ah, another question related to Teslas awful phantom/vampire drain. this gets them pretty good too. Funny the Tesla fanboys dont mention this when the hype their efficiency numbers.

 

[Neil4Real]

In my experience it never draws extra power unless it's getting ready for a departure time or remote started.

It was around 25F last night. My car is in an un-heated garage. Here you can see it charged on schedule to reach my set level of 80% at 11 PM and no power draw after that all night.

Interesting, so it doesn't draw at all, or at least not unless it is really cold or hot? Or else why would they recommend it be kept plugged in, even if you're not needing to charge it?

Does anyone have any idea how much battery loss you get daily from the car sitting? Like, if you go away for 2 weeks at 50%, when you come back will it be at 50% or 49% or something more drastic like 40%? Unplugged, that is.

 

[RickMachE]

I find that it will charge, several times during a 24 period, for under 1 minute. I get an alert from my JuiceBox that tells me this.

See the tiny blip to the left of the graph and then on the right.

I parked, plugged in, last week at 91% charged (was serviced), my max level is 90%. I find that walking in the garage with the phone can get it to start, then stop charging. I also cut off my charger during peak hours, and find when it again activates at 7pm for off peak, it does the same. My car has used 1.13 kw from 12/15 until now, sitting in the garage. I did one remote start and then stopped it within 30 seconds in that time period.

 

[BMT1071]

Interesting, so it doesn't draw at all, or at least not unless it is really cold or hot? Or else why would they recommend it be kept plugged in, even if you're not needing to charge it?

Does anyone have any idea how much battery loss you get daily from the car sitting? Like, if you go away for 2 weeks at 50%, when you come back will it be at 50% or 49% or something more drastic like 40%? Unplugged, that is.

Reports I've seen here on the forum indicate 1-2% loss per week.

 

[Nklem]

Here’s my Morning precondition at 18F and a setting to Warm today, a 6:25 departure, but I left at 6:20.

 

[Murse-In-Airy]

Left my car at the Syracuse NY Airport for 9 days. Outside temps were 20-40° during that time. Car lost 1% battery while I was gone.

 

[timbop]

Interesting, so it doesn't draw at all, or at least not unless it is really cold or hot? Or else why would they recommend it be kept plugged in, even if you're not needing to charge it?

Does anyone have any idea how much battery loss you get daily from the car sitting? Like, if you go away for 2 weeks at 50%, when you come back will it be at 50% or 49% or something more drastic like 40%? Unplugged, that is.

Left my car parked at the cruise terminal in Florida for a week in October; when I returned it had the same SoC as when I left it.

 

[kltye]

I park my car in an unheated underground garage with no power outlets, and sometimes I come back to it the next day with 1-2% SoC more than when I left it ?.

From my OBD observations, the car is very reluctant to warm up the battery, unless the pack gets substantially below freezing. Since the pack has a large thermal mass, it'll take quite some time for it to fall below freezing if you drive it every day, unless you live in a place with subzero temps more often than not. I believe the warning message is to encourage you to plug it in in case the pack temperature drops too low.

As far as phantom drain due to electronics, the car doesn't seem to draw more than 300 watts when turned on in accessory mode. That's 7.2 kWh in a day, but obviously the car doesn't draw that much when turned off.

 

[Nklem]

It does keep it warm at night!

Last night was the coldest so far at home and for my Mach E. It was/is 10F to 7F. I plugged it in, but not charging last evening at 16F. Anyway, it did condition the battery twice last night, CHargePoint power curve shown here.

So in extreme cold, below 10F, it does keep it warm. It was not insignificant either. Using 4.52kWh, about $1. worth of power. I guess if it keeps the battery happy, it’s good. No complaints as 90% of my power so far has been free from work.

If anyone’s curious, showing 180 miles of range at 100%. So at 10F an expected 33% loss from EPA.