How often to charge

[MachLovin]

Rick is spot on!
If you have L1 (110V) you will need to leave it plugged in most of the time because of charging speed. If you have 240V that supports L2 charging you can unplug more often since your charge speed is so much faster.
L3 (DCFC) should be used for long trips or if you can't charge at home. Extended periods of DCFC use will degrade the battery life.

Rick's always spot on.

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[jeffvick2005]

Leave it plugged in on Level 2 charging. If it's at your desire charge level, it's all set. Then, temps drop and it says "hey, I want to warm the battery up a bit". If it's plugged in, it will use house current to warm it up. If not, it will use its own power, and you'll come back to less than your set charge level and wonder why.

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

If you have the charger plugged in all the time, but have a charge time for a certain range of hours, will is still pull current/charge outside of those hours? I'm picking up my MachE today...

 

[RickMachE]

If you have the charger plugged in all the time, but have a charge time for a certain range of hours, will is still pull current/charge outside of those hours? I'm picking up my MachE today...

Yes.


There are circumstances where it will pull outside the hours. One example is when it cannot achieve the level you want before the end of the hours, so it starts early.

Another example would be Remote Start. Or Departure Time.

You can prevent this from happening by having a smart level 2 EVSE such as the JuiceBox. I have it set to prevent using electricity during my peak hours. I can easily override that if I wish, but it prevents me from having an expensive bill that I wasn't aware of.

Many utilities offer rebates, and you can get a 30% tax credit for 2022.

 

[roamtheworld]

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.

Mad skills!

Love that cardboard fab work

Looks like you got the 20 ft https://ev-lectron.com/collections/level-2-ev-chargers/products/lectron-j1772-extension-cable
They also have a 40 ft https://ev-lectron.com/collections/...2-extension-compatible-with-j1772-ev-chargers

Wanted to provide the links in case someone else was searching.

 

[jeffvick2005]

Yes.


There are circumstances where it will pull outside the hours. One example is when it cannot achieve the level you want before the end of the hours, so it starts early.

Another example would be Remote Start. Or Departure Time.

You can prevent this from happening by having a smart level 2 EVSE such as the JuiceBox. I have it set to prevent using electricity during my peak hours. I can easily override that if I wish, but it prevents me from having an expensive bill that I wasn't aware of.

Many utilities offer rebates, and you can get a 30% tax credit for 2022.

Thanks. I have a Juicebox - good to know. My concern is my 125 amp panel. Between the Juicebox and hot tub, I fear a may trip some breakers if they are all going at once, so I'll need to manage the charging times...or upgrade my panel.

 

[AndyP]

Mad skills!

Love that cardboard fab work

Looks like you got the 20 ft https://ev-lectron.com/collections/level-2-ev-chargers/products/lectron-j1772-extension-cable
They also have a 40 ft https://ev-lectron.com/collections/...2-extension-compatible-with-j1772-ev-chargers

Wanted to provide the links in case someone else was searching.

Thanks for the links!!
I got the 40' - it reaches anywhere at the top of my driveway.

 

[MellowJohnny]

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

My dogs say “thank you”

One thing on the charging schedule - I've noticed that making changes to Preferred Charging Times / Departure Time via the FordPass App did not always move the changes over to the car (seems to have done it once, on initial setup), even though it saved successfully. Others here seem to have had similar experience.

I compared the settings in the car today vs. FordPass and they are not the same - I needed to make the changes in the car's Charging settings to get them to stick.

 

[OrchidMania]

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.

I tend to only charge when I get between 40 and 50% SOC, unless I happen to be at a store that has free charging and there is a vacant space. I still have level 1 charging and usually charge once or twice a month. Been charging overnight at 4 Mph, I think that its too hot outside in Miami to charge in daytime with no garage..
The 50% is just me, even in ICE cars I didn't like to get under 50% So alot has to do with your comfort level...So far the L1 has met my personal needs but will get a charger when I get a few things off my husbands honey-do list.

 

[Aggie PT]

Try suspending the cord from the ceiling.

Do you happen to have a picture or more detailed description of how you do that? Thanks!

 

[Aggie PT]

Yes.


There are circumstances where it will pull outside the hours. One example is when it cannot achieve the level you want before the end of the hours, so it starts early.

Another example would be Remote Start. Or Departure Time.

You can prevent this from happening by having a smart level 2 EVSE such as the JuiceBox. I have it set to prevent using electricity during my peak hours. I can easily override that if I wish, but it prevents me from having an expensive bill that I wasn't aware of.

Many utilities offer rebates, and you can get a 30% tax credit for 2022.

Where do I find info on that 30% tax credit? It covers install and the equipment if I just save the receipts for my tax return? Does that go away in 2023? Thanks!

 

[MyLittlePony2022]

I used to charge twice maybe 3 times a week but now I charge daily to 80%. We had a great discussion in another thread and @satchel prefect provide some great reading showing small charge cycles are best. I love the combined brain power of this forum.

 

[MoonRiver]

I only charge mine at home with 110 v since mine hasn’t been driven a lot, but I plug in every night, schedule for overnight charging up to 90%. It has enough range and some leftover everyday. I’ll be in a 1200 miles drive in a couple of days. I’ll charge it up to 100% the night before. Once I hit the road it’ll drop real fast.

 

[Mini166]

Rick is spot on!
If you have L1 (110V) you will need to leave it plugged in most of the time because of charging speed. If you have 240V that supports L2 charging you can unplug more often since your charge speed is so much faster.
L3 (DCFC) should be used for long trips or if you can't charge at home. Extended periods of DCFC use will degrade the battery life.

I'm appreciative of this info too. I haven't taken delivery yet (fingers crossed for the estimated 12/7-12/13 date), but wanting to learn. In my mind I think of ion lithium batteries, and how the rule with cell phones (and I'm sure my ignorance is showing here...sorry) was always to wait until it gets down very low before charging to preserve battery life and prevent degradation. I'm sure this is an improved technology these days though.

 

[Mirak]

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!

I had free charging very close to the office for nearly a year. It was awesome. Then the chargers started to break down and the local utility that provided them just removed them. So now I charge at home and have to pay to charge my car. Ugh. Now that I'm paying anyway, I plug in more often but still not every night. I just try to stay between 50% and 90%. I've never hassled with setting a departure time, preconditioning, etc. I'm a little skeptical as to whether the added efficiency of preconditioning really offsets the extra juice required for the preconditioning to any meaningful extent?

 

[SigSauer]

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.

Brian, I have seen garages where they take your charging cable up and over the car and attach it to the ceiling. Good luck,

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