How often do you charge your Mach E?

[Lord Polymath]

My commute is about 2 miles one way so I don't need to charge often. Generally, I'll charge to 90 once every other week or so when I get below 50%. I've pretty much taken the "charge when you want" attitude. However, a few things have made me question that philosophy lately:

1) Needed to go to the big city for a Dr. appointment, 50 miles each way. We use our hybrid van for longer trips, but on that day, the van had a meltdown on the way there. Lost all electronics/power steering, everything went haywire. We *could* have taken the Mach-e but I hadn't charged it the night before and it didn't have enough range. Had to cancel the dr appointment. Toyota could not find anything wrong with the van.

2) A tornado hit my town and we lost power for 5 days. Car was at 50% - plenty to drive to work for a while and charge all of our phones but it would have been better if it was at a higher SOC because I had no idea how long we would be without power.

3) Recently an OTA update failed to install and I suspect it was due to a low charge on the 12v battery, which can be an issue apparently in use cases like mine (lots of short trips). I understand that when you plug in to charge, the 12v battery gets charged too.

So, having said all that, maybe I should plug in every day. Remembering to do so is another challenge lol

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[Phill62]

My wife normally drives 8-10 miles a day. But I put it on charge every evening for morning pre-conditioning.

 

[BilLongua]

I charge every night to90%. My commute is 70-100 miles a day (depends on if I'm swinging by my daughter's school) and occasionally there are events in the evening that can almost double it. I've forgotten to charge (or not completely pushed the cable in) a few times and it's enough to get me through a 2nd day, but I'd prefer not to push it.

That is one hell of a commute!

 

[BilLongua]

I typically charge the car Sunday night, Tuesday night & Thursday night (it’s actually the next day, because my charging doesn’t start until after midnight to take advantage of cheaper rates from 12am to 6am weekdays). 40 to 50 miles total commuting. Charge to 85%. Usually not below 40% most days unless I forget to plug it in. I’ll leave it plugged in more often during the winter time.

 

[Zekester]

This does make a difference when you have a GT, as I find preconditioning it ensures that I have no jail bars, plus a nice warm seat when I get in.

What are jail bars?

 

[Nygman]

The small

What are jail bars?

The small gray bars on the right hand side of the energy bar. As your battery gets lower you start to see more lines. They limit power. The easiest way you can see these is if you accelerate for over 5 seconds, then you'll see your blue bar limited by a large gray bar. These are the jail bars. I find I don't see them in my day today when charging to 90%, but if I get in the '70s I start to see them more.

 

[dbsb3233]

The small
The small gray bars on the right hand side of the energy bar. As your battery gets lower you start to see more lines. They limit power. The easiest way you can see these is if you accelerate for over 5 seconds, then you'll see your blue bar limited by a large gray bar. These are the jail bars. I find I don't see them in my day today when charging to 90%, but if I get in the '70s I start to see them more.

GT only, in case he was wondering.

 

[Nygman]

GT only, in case he was wondering.

Correct, if I precondition I don't see them, if I hop in without preconditioning that day, and it's really cold I see them, also I think they come on a lot quicker when it's lower in charge so keeping it around 90 seems to work for me. I also top up to 100 at least once a month.

I do wonder If performance is degraded in non-GT version when it's cold and they haven't preconditioned. Even though the jail bars aren't there, I would think it would still have a similar limitation on full power.

 

[dbsb3233]

I do wonder If performance is degraded in non-GT version when it's cold and they haven't preconditioned. Even though the jail bars aren't there, I would think it would still have a similar limitation on full power.

I assume so. Cold reduces battery output.

Not that performance has ever been an issue for me. Way more power in my 4X than I ever use. It's a rocket ship as it is, but of course I don't take it to the track. Just normal driving.

Only thing the cold battery matters to me for is it's impact on road trip range.

 

[Namdrof]

Have you checked your HV SOH (battery percentage life) now that you are at 90K?

I currently have 92,835 miles and my SOH is 94%

 

[Reign of Ravens]

I charge nightly, but that's partly a matter of juggling my Powerwalls with my vehicles. Commuting a bit over 30 miles daily leads to 8-10% off the battery (extended range battery), depending on whether I needed to stop off at a relative's house to pick up or drop off children. Charging back to 80% (my preferred limit) uses about 8 kWh.

I have three Tesla Powerwalls. Each Powerwall has a capacity of 13.5 kWh. Compare that with the extended range battery in the Mach-E, which I believe is currently at around 91 kWh being usable. Charging for the day uses more than half of one Powerwall, and then my wife is also charging her vehicle. If I were to wait until I was down to 20% I'd be hitting the grid pretty heavily after totally draining the Powerwalls. By charging daily, on most days I don't draw from the grid at all, everything is covered by the solar I generate and store, and driving costs me nothing in electricity. Really puts into perspective just how much energy is needed for transportation - my average daily house usage, including running multiple mini split air conditioners, is around 10-15 kWh.

 

[George Knighton]

ABC = (A)lways (B)e [C]harging.

Even if you're charging only to 75%-90%, the car should still be plugged in so that the 12 volt battery and drive battery are conditioned in the most beneficial way.

You might walk into your garage and wonder why the car's making noise. It's just conditioning the drive battery, and using your house current.

 

[dbsb3233]

ABC = (A)lways (B)e [C]harging.

Even if you're charging only to 75%-90%, the car should still be plugged in so that the 12 volt battery and drive battery are conditioned in the most beneficial way.

You might walk into your garage and wonder why the car's making noise. It's just conditioning the drive battery, and using your house current.

ABC at home in your garage, maybe. Although I just wait until it gets below 50% instead of plugging in every night. I don't have a daily commute that puts a lot of daily miles on.

But ABC around town at stores and restaurants like some push is awful, IMO. One that 90% of mainstream drivers won't put up with. It becomes an annoying game of musical chairs chasing chargers at your local restaurant or grocery store. Which are quickly becoming overloaded (and often broken) anyway. It's just not worth the effort or the exercise in frustration to try and live that way. 200+ miles overnight at home is usually plenty for the day for the vast majority of locals.

And if I didn't have cheap/easy/dedicated L2 where I sleep, I wouldn't even buy an EV.

 

[Dude]

I plug in my 2021 Standard Range AWD Select Edition every evening(Unless I have a Senior moment) to 90%. Daily Usage varies. I also top off the batteries mid day if I need to plan for a long afternoon drive. I want to avoid public chargers because some users are disrespectful with their regard to public property. ABC rules.

 

[thekat03]

Plug in at home daily, charging to 90%. Preconditioning the battery and car before driving in cold weather is nice.

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