How often to charge

Studly

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The TRUTH:
Max battery life is to always be 45 - 65%.
The batteries can go down near zero and up to 100, but that is a lot of stress near zero and 100.
Under 20% is more wear, over 90% is more wear. This is going to happen, and it's designed for it.
Keeping the battery ready for a journey above 65% is for the range and security of arrival.
Charging to 80 or 90 is fine to have the car ready to go. 100 is fine if you want the range available.

If you aren't driving much, hang in the 45-65% zone and charge higher when you need the range.
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Didn't read all of the posts, but 20-80% is relatively easy on the battery components and allows me to charge once a week at 240v/40 amps for about 5 hours. It keeps the cord out of the way 90% of the time, and I'm not worried about something going wrong out in the garage with the charging system.
I occasionally walk into the garage during charging to make sure all is well and nothing is more than warm around the charging box and cables.
 

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I pretty much keep it in all the time and charge to 90%. The only time I don't is when the washing machine, dish washer, dryer, and heat or air conditioning are also running. That's a little stressful for the original 1980s electrical system.
 

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It seems as if most people on this thread plan to keep their vehicle for decades. Who knew?
 


RickMachE

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It seems as if most people on this thread plan to keep their vehicle for decades. Who knew?
What people say, and what people do, is very often not the same. Some are "early adopters" that are very focused on the green element, and therefore keeping it a long time is the norm.

Many are going to be blown away in the future by battery capacity and technological advances, and either won't keep it or will relegate it to the shorter driving distances.
 

roamtheworld

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What people say, and what people do, is very often not the same. Some are "early adopters" that are very focused on the green element, and therefore keeping it a long time is the norm.

Many are going to be blown away in the future by battery capacity and technological advances, and either won't keep it or will relegate it to the shorter driving distances.
We have over the past 15 years replaced cars every 2-3 years. We never “lost” money selling or trading back to dealership. Our past three vehicles didn’t travel much more than 15K in a single year and we have already put 10K on the Mach E since May. I plan on using this car a minimum of 5 years but more likely 8 as that’s when the battery warranty expires. Our kids might get the car in a few years since you point out many advancements are going to happen in the next 3-5 years in the EV space.
New LFP batteries from CATL look promising and who knows we might buy really fun car like EV convertible once both our kids are driving. Years of exciting EV manufacturing ahead.
 

Sunlessinseattle

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Question (from a Newby who has had car for 24 hrs): if i have it scheduled to precondition for departure at 8am, when can I unplug/what happens if I unplug while it is conditioning? Thanks! And how do I set it to just warm seat and maybe steering wheel but not entire car?
 

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Isn't 100% set through the Charge settings really 85% as Ford built in a buffer?
 

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I wish I had the room and the cord was long enough to do that in my garage. I have to drag the cord along the floor a lot. :(

Leaving it plugged in doesn't hurt anything to agree with your post and the OP has L2 and can leave it plugged in.
I bought a couple of cable guides that you can walk or drive over and made a post with a holster. The guides help me to know when I’m far enough in the garage.
 

RickMachE

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Question (from a Newby who has had car for 24 hrs): if i have it scheduled to precondition for departure at 8am, when can I unplug/what happens if I unplug while it is conditioning? Thanks! And how do I set it to just warm seat and maybe steering wheel but not entire car?
If you unplug while it's conditioning, then... it stops conditioning.

When you set a departure time, you can pick Cool, Medium, Warm and Off. I don't know what happens if you pick Off but have the car set to do the wheel and seat. Test and let us know.

Isn't 100% set through the Charge settings really 85% as Ford built in a buffer?
It is not.

91kw / 98.7kw = 92.2%.
 

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We are retired, so I would say that you should charge depending on how much you drive. We currently charge our car just about weekly when it gets down to 20% or lower to 90% for everyday driving. We will charge to 100% for a trip. We charge when rates are the lowest, between 9PM & 6AM. It cost approximately $5US per charge or about $20 per month.
 

RickMachE

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We are retired, so I would say that you should charge depending on how much you drive. We currently charge our car just about weekly when it gets down to 20% or lower to 90% for everyday driving. We will charge to 100% for a trip. We charge when rates are the lowest, between 9PM & 6AM. It cost approximately $5US per charge or about $20 per month.
Just so you are clear, there is ZERO difference in the impact to the battery between charging once a week from 20 to 90%, and 7 times a week from 80 to 90%. Same amount of "charge cycles", i.e. 70% of a battery.

There COULD be a difference in very hot weather (I note you're in Florida), where by being plugged in the car decides to cool itself, and doesn't if it's not plugged in. That would be rare.

So, whatever floats your boat. I'd charge every day so I always had 90% range, but that's me.
 

Jppumper

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Just so you are clear, there is ZERO difference in the impact to the battery between charging once a week from 20 to 90%, and 7 times a week from 80 to 90%. Same amount of "charge cycles", i.e. 70% of a battery.

There COULD be a difference in very hot weather (I note you're in Florida), where by being plugged in the car decides to cool itself, and doesn't if it's not plugged in. That would be rare.

So, whatever floats your boat. I'd charge every day so I always had 90% range, but that's me.
Whatever floats your boat Rick
 

Mach-e4x

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Just so you are clear, there is ZERO difference in the impact to the battery between charging once a week from 20 to 90%, and 7 times a week from 80 to 90%. Same amount of "charge cycles", i.e. 70% of a battery.

There COULD be a difference in very hot weather (I note you're in Florida), where by being plugged in the car decides to cool itself, and doesn't if it's not plugged in. That would be rare.

So, whatever floats your boat. I'd charge every day so I always had 90% range, but that's me.
My 2 cents-
I thought we should avoid doing really deep charge cycles by not going below 20% to above 90% if possible, especially with DCFC, probably doesn't matter as much with L2 at home.
The one negative thing about plugging in every night, if you don't need to, is the extra wear on the door (finger prints), plug and port. In the summer I can get away with plugging in once a week.
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