How often to charge

[EasyPass]

Took delivery of my Rapid Red AWD EXTD MME on 7 November and have only done 107 miles to date so I am not exactly burning rubber. Still running on the original 100% charge from the dealership which is now down to 64% or 178 miles. I am new to all this and would appreciate advice as to how often to charge up overnight as I will not be doing a great deal of driving at least not until the spring. My dealer said to just leave the vehicle plugged in all the time but that does not seem right to me. Obviously before any long journey I will charge up but what about on a daily basis when I am not doing any driving?

I must say that I am 100% delighted with my MME, gorgeous to look at and drives like a dream. I was really pleased to find the frunk release on the screen next to the boot (liftgate) button.

It seems to me that there are two parts to answering this question.....one is personal and one is technical.

My rule of thumb for technical is limit charging to 90% (set in the App or on the center console) on AC (240v in my case at home), and 80% on DCFC (likely done interactively). The exception for the upper limit is if you have a long trip that will mostly deplete the battery anyway, occasional charging to 100% on AC is OK. Just be sure to start your trip ASAP once reaching a full charge so the battery pack doesn't remain at that level any longer than necessary. As for 120v, it likely doesn't matter so much, I believe, and I'd consider this rate mainly for low level requirements like, for example, pre-conditioning unless you have lots of time available. As for when to charge, if your use case supports it I'd go with 20-30% SOC as the cycle lower boundary for optimal use.

For personal, I only charge when there is a need. With the amount of driving I do it can sometimes be a week or more before I get to 20% SOC. If I know that I'll have a larger trip in the middle of that interval, I'll pre-plan to charge in front of that. If I miss that opportunity I'll fall back to a local DCFC session.

Overall, IMHO, there is no right answer if you work within the technical guidelines to preserve the life-cycle of your battery pack.

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[Womps]

I don't think it will ever use battery power to keep the battery warm when parked off plug.

i agree, if this were the case the 3 Mach E‘s at our dealership would have dead batteries in no time when sitting outside in -20c weather.

 

[generaltso]

i agree, if this were the case the 3 Mach E‘s at our dealership would have dead batteries in no time when sitting outside in -20c weather.

This is the reason I don't keep my car plugged in. I don't want it consuming power all winter long to keep the battery warm while parked.

 

[dmastro]

Charge as frequently as you need to meet your driving needs. You can charge every day to start the next morning with a full (or nearly full) battery. Or you can run the battery down a few days before topping it off.

I juggle three EVs, so they don't all get plugged in every day. Thankfully they all have sufficient range that I don't need to charge a couple more than once a week.

 

[Bram12]

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 an EV Charger Extension cable as I was having same issue with charger being on opposite side of garage from the charge port. With extension, I was able to easily run charging cable along ceiling and now perfectly positioned for where the Mach E charge port is.

 

[MellowJohnny]

Took delivery of my Rapid Red AWD EXTD MME on 7 November and have only done 107 miles to date so I am not exactly burning rubber. Still running on the original 100% charge from the dealership which is now down to 64% or 178 miles. I am new to all this and would appreciate advice as to how often to charge up overnight as I will not be doing a great deal of driving at least not until the spring. My dealer said to just leave the vehicle plugged in all the time but that does not seem right to me. Obviously before any long journey I will charge up but what about on a daily basis when I am not doing any driving?

I must say that I am 100% delighted with my MME, gorgeous to look at and drives like a dream. I was really pleased to find the frunk release on the screen next to the boot (liftgate) button.

I also recently took delivery and although I drive a decent amount each day - sometimes 100km - given the dropping temps and my standard range battery I charge back to 90% every night.

Beautiful dogs by the way!

 

[Oldlawman]

Thank you everyone fir your advicecwhich is much appreciated. I will set a charging schedule and leave her plugged in.

I also recently took delivery and although I drive a decent amount each day - sometimes 100km - given the dropping temps and my standard range battery I charge back to 90% every night.

Beautiful dogs by the way!

My dogs say “thank you”

 

[roamtheworld]

I bought an EV Charger Extension cable as I was having same issue with charger being on opposite side of garage from the charge port. With extension, I was able to easily run charging cable along ceiling and now perfectly positioned for where the Mach E charge port is.

When I had the outlet installed I optioned to install it right next to the service box and not incur extra costs installing it in a more optimal location.
Pulling the cable around is a small pain but worth it to my wallet.
I thought about getting an extension cable but worried about the quality of the cable and the extra fire risk. Maybe in the future but so far it's not that bad.

 

[AndyP]

When I had the outlet installed I optioned to install it right next to the service box and not incur extra costs installing it in a more optimal location.
Pulling the cable around is a small pain but worth it to my wallet.
I thought about getting an extension cable but worried about the quality of the cable and the extra fire risk. Maybe in the future but so far it's not that bad.

Can you switch the car positions placing the BEV next to the outlet?
For my application, I bought an extension and built a mount for it that allows me to charge in the driveway.

 

[Mirak]

There is ZERO REASON TO NOT PLUG IN THE CAR WHEN AT HOME.

Well… unless you’ve got free charging at work. That’s a pretty big reason to not plug in at home.

 

[RicoSuave1911]

I have a Level 2 charger at home. I only plug up as needed. I charge to 90% and let it get down between 20%-30% before charging again. My garage doesn't get very cold, so I don't worry about pre-heating.

 

[roamtheworld]

Can you switch the car positions placing the BEV next to the outlet?
For my application, I bought an extension and built a mount for it that allows me to charge in the driveway.

That is a SWEET setup!
Do you have any links to the cables and brackets you could share?

 

[dmastro]

Well… unless you’ve got free charging at work. That’s a pretty big reason to not plug in at home.

Good point, I do much of my charging at work on our complimentary charger, and my daughter uses the complimentary charger at the city-owned parking garage when she's working. Now if I could only get my wife to start working in the office again so she could hit up their charger!

 

[AndyP]

That is a SWEET setup!
Do you have any links to the cables and brackets you could share?

Thanks!!!
I got the extension from Lectron and built the mount/hanger.
I designed the mount using CAD (cardboard aided design) and fabricated it. It works exactly as I had hoped.

 

[Maquis]

Several mentions of 120V. The question was asked from the UK. There is no 120V.

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