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

[RickMachE]

yes, to first order. Certainly shows gross power and total energy. The time from point to point is usually 15 or 30 minutes. Most charger logs probably (?) would not pick up a short time use. That is the question, does MME only take long intervals of use, or does it take short sips from time to time? Would a 3 minute use show up on a regular charger log? A high resolution (time

Not only will a 3 minute charge show up, even a less than one minute charge shows up. I get a notification that the charger has initiated charge, and then that it stopped.

Here's a picture I posted previously,notice the quick blipsa:

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[generaltso]

That would be great, but it looks like a later model, sense flex. Even it could be done with the base model, mine is already using the aux input for the additional two clamps for the sense solar system monitor, bummer.

Sense says the add-on sensors will work with all generations, but yeah it would have to use the solar port, so I guess they won't work for you regardless if you're already using that for solar.

 

[phidauex]

I just looked quickly at my data, I have an eGauge connected to monitor my loads.

From a quick glance the car doesn’t use any energy unless it is charging, preconditioning based on my departure schedule or remote starting. So it isn’t like there is a daily draw just from it sitting there. Preconditioning in cold weather took as much as 3kwhs, but most other blips were less than 1 kWh.

If I get bored later maybe I’ll pull all historical data from the sensor, filter all true charge sessions, and see what is left.

For me, I leave it plugged in as a habit so I don’t have to remember whether I plugged it in or not, to increase the chance of getting OTAs (though I’m not sure it is helping), and for departure time conditioning.

 

[louibluey]

I just looked quickly at my data, I have an eGauge connected to monitor my loads.

From a quick glance the car doesn’t use any energy unless it is charging, preconditioning based on my departure schedule or remote starting. So it isn’t like there is a daily draw just from it sitting there. Preconditioning in cold weather took as much as 3kwhs, but most other blips were less than 1 kWh.

If I get bored later maybe I’ll pull all historical data from the sensor, filter all true charge sessions, and see what is left.

For me, I leave it plugged in as a habit so I don’t have to remember whether I plugged it in or not, to increase the chance of getting OTAs (though I’m not sure it is helping), and for departure time conditioning.

I think that is the question, is there any measurable use outside of regular charging or pre-conditioning. Also, are there very small power draws, such as for short times, or even if there is a short duration event, is it almost always kW type loads. And, even if there are short spikes showing on the charge log graph (e.g. spikes), are they being accurately totaled into the total power consumption data.

Also, how much extra 240V energy is used when very cold (unheated garage, or in the driveway and plugged in, say -10F.

I do agree that that part of the initial question, could MME be drawing say 40 Watts 24/7 is probably not a good model for MME. Most likely, the 240V relay is open, except for when there is some demand. I know when I'm doing things in MME while plugged in, when I start it, I often hear the relay close on Chargepoint flex.

 

[phidauex]

I think that is the question, is there any measurable use outside of regular charging or pre-conditioning. Also, are there very small power draws, such as for short times, or even if there is a short duration event, is it almost always kW type loads. And, even if there are short spikes showing on the charge log graph (e.g. spikes), are they being accurately totaled into the power consumption.

I do agree that that part of the initial question, could it be drawing say 40 Watts 24/7 is probably not a good model for MME. Most likely, the 240V relay is open, except for when there is some demand. I know when I'm doing things in MME while plugged in, when I start it, I often hear the relay close on Chargepoint flex.

I think the relay is generally open. My Grizzle shows solid green when connected to the car, but no request for power, and flashing green when there is a request for power. Usually it is solid green just waiting.

Here is a typical day when plugged in the whole night, the first load is an actual charge cycle, the second is preconditioning in the morning.

note that power is inverted in this view, so negative is consumption by the vehicle.

The zero power lines truly are zero watts. I see between 0 and 2W when the contactor is open, which is just the tiny idle draw from the charger.

This is just a snapshot, but most days look like this, either a significant draw or no draw. No low constant loads.

 

[BostonPete]

Couple of things...

This is from my Power Panel the other night, it was 19º and this was after my desired SOC was reached. All of these peaks are the car hitting the charger.

Today I added a dedicated Monitor to my Power Monitor for my Charger just to see how it goes.

I L1 charge at work and I several times I get to my desired SOC of 90% then at some point I will see the "Preparing For Drive" message in the App (actually happening right now). I don't have any Departure Settings whatsoever and even when I did it was only for my house.

This said each time I have seen this message I go to leave work and I have only 88% Battery even though it was charged to 90% so something is taking 2% of battery and for whatever reason it isn't charging back up to 90% or is it that it can not keep up?

I am not Remote Starting the Vehicle either.

 

[RickMachE]

I saw preparing for drive just before 11 tonight. Weird.

 

[Behoff]

Thanks for all the input. I think I can infer that the message on my dashboard is to make sure that, being plugged in, it can keep the battery above 32°. just how much that consumes depends on the environment. I have an insulated garage, so it is much less than someone who parks theirs outdoors. How much exactly? I guess I have to invest in a meter to tell me that. But I am guessing the metering system will cost more than the battery heating is costing me! Still, all of these extra e- draws add up to something that should be considered when comparing models, never mind BEV vs ICE.

 

[Eric_C_Boston]

I did a top up to 90 percent yesterday afternoon and noted the values from my OpenEVSE. I had temperatures down to 21 F last night. I got a preparing for drive message in Fordpass this morning. I do not have destination times set. Looking at the OpenEVSE, it used an additional 1.91 kWh for 15 minutes and 48 seconds overnight.

I also found some interesting heat related things when monitoring the car with torque pro. If I turn the car fully on while plugged into the EVSE in cold weather, the heater will turn on and warm the battery. I have a 40 Ampere limit on the EVSE and the result is all the charger power went to the heater and none to the battery.

I turned on the cabin heat during this time, which stops the electric heater from heating the battery. The HVB coolant temperature was about 40 degrees higher than the HVB temperature at the time. The HVB coolant was still circulated and the HVB coolant temperature dropped while the HVB temperature slowly increased.

 

[2GOfast54]

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.

Greg I have a question. I live in an area with mild winters like yours. I only drive ~15mi/day . Do I need to put car on charger every night or is as needed ok. I charge when @ 50% up to 85-90% S R.

 

[oliverames]

My question is, will the car still pull some power to warm the battery, even if it is set to "not charge" during a specific time of day with the charge schedule settings specified on the car (not the charger)?

Here's an example. The car is set to charge between 9:00 PM and 1:00 PM the next day. That means it shouldn't charge between 1:00 PM and 9:00 PM. This is the time that my utility charges peak rates. Will the car still pull enough power to run the HVB heating/cooling system from shore power during the 1:00 PM and 9:00 PM time frame, even though it is set to "not charge?"

I've tried to deduce this by listening to the car and watching the status lights on my charger, but I can't seem to figure it out. The temperature I'm experiencing ranges from 32 degrees F to -15 degrees F.

 

[RickMachE]

Greg I have a question. I live in an area with mild winters like yours. I only drive ~15mi/day . Do I need to put car on charger every night or is as needed ok. I charge when @ 50% up to 85-90% S R.

Living in LA, how can you use the term "mild winters"?

No, you do not need to put in on the charger every night. However, if you're going to let it sit for weeks without driving it, I would put it on the charger.

 

[BostonPete]

As mentioned you do not have to plug in your car at any temperature the car just suggests it as it will pull power from your charger to I believe keep the battery within a certain temp range. This is my Charger on the 11th which was in the single digits and a well below zero wind chill. The only one that was by me was the was at 1:30p, I remote started the vehicle.

 

[oliverames]

As mentioned you do not have to plug in your car at any temperature the car just suggests it as it will pull power from your charger to I believe keep the battery within a certain temp range. This is my Charger on the 11th which was in the single digits and a well below zero wind chill. The only one that was by me was the was at 1:30p, I remote started the vehicle.

During any of those spikes that you did not initiate was the car itself set to not charge during that period? I'm having trouble pulling similar data from my charger. Could you test it at all? I wanna make sure that the charge schedule in the car is not preventing it from pulling the little amounts of power that it needs to keep the battery warm. I want it to be able to keep the battery warm, regardless of the schedule.

 

[BostonPete]

During any of those spikes that you did not initiate was the car itself set to not charge during that period? I'm having trouble pulling similar data from my charger. Could you test it at all? I wanna make sure that the charge schedule in the car is not preventing it from pulling the little amounts of power that it needs to keep the battery warm. I want it to be able to keep the battery warm, regardless of the schedule.

I do not have any charging schedule set in my car (or charger), I would assume that if you do have a charging schedule set it wouldn't pull during that time unless it couldn't / wouldn't reach the desired / set SOC.

This info is coming from a dedicated Power Monitor right on the breaker for my EVSE.

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