How to Charge to 100% only Once in a While

[eStang]

Slow charging to 100% occasionally is not a problem.

https://www.geotab.com/blog/ev-battery-health/

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[Mach1E]

I wander what all the beef is about charging to 100%. I have my GT for four years now and always charge to 100% and I haven’t noticed any reduction on the mileage on the battery thus far. I just plug it in and let it rip!!

I’ve always thought it ironic that the people obsessed with range loss will purposefully give their cars less range for years (charging less than 100%) out of fear of having a few percent less range in a decade (usually way after they’ve sold the car).

Maybe it matters for the very few keeping their cars past 10 years, but all the studies show a very small (a few percent) degradation difference based on charging habits.

And then of course there is always the irony of doing everything “right” and the car still breaks.

Yes, charging to 90% is better per Ford. But I’m convinced they just tell you that to decrease the likelihood they’ll be replacing your battery in 8 years.

Oh, and you noticeably lose horsepower even starting at 95% charge.

Just charge what you need and let it rip.

 

[Bad Dolphin]

Anybody able to verify the claim of losing horsepower with a charge under 95% by any tested empirical measurement?

 

[Byrus]

I believe that if you push the "Start Charging" button in the app at any time, it will think you want to start charging now to 100%. This overrides any other departure time, schedules or limits that you have set.

A feature that I don't like because sometimes I'd like to start charging outside my charging window but I never want to exceed the charge limit I've set on the slider. But should work great for your stated need.

Agreed, this is so annoying and dumb.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Okay, all. What is your best method for the occasional need to charge to 100%? I have my 23 GT preset to 85% charge level over night, and next week I have a day of travel that is just outside this range. Last time I tried adjusting the departure time and charge level, nothing worked and I ended up having to reset all sorts of ridiculous things to get back to ground zero (eg: delete phone, delete Ford app, reset PAAK, spent 2 hours on tech support, etc to resolve).

So, for those once every 6 months times when I need to charge to 100%, what is the method to use that is simple and works? TIA

Press the "Start charging" button in the app. Then it goes to 100% one time.

Or drag the slider to 100% and it will ask if you want to charge to 100% one time or not.

 

[Budmen]

I would love to have a smarter Ford app that I could tell something specific as I want my charge limit to go to 100% on Friday, January 23, 2026..

 

[Mach1E]

Anybody able to verify the claim of losing horsepower with a charge under 95% by any tested empirical measurement?

Yes. Dragy app. Also time slips at the drag strip.

Another is looking at the grey bars on the power meter. Above 95%, the grey bars don’t show up until 75 mph. Below that it’s 72 mph.

But you can also feel the difference. This car gets noticeably slower as charge levels go down.

Every EV does this, just some more so than others.

 

[Bad Dolphin]

Very interesting.

But since most of us are not drag racing, do you have any recorded data from your drag racing experiences? For example, your zero to sixty times at 100% of charge and at 80% of charge? Very curious to see the difference quantified through empirical data.

That would be zero to sixty time at 80% first, before the car has been subjected to extreme acceleration. And then again after charging to 100%. Otherwise, the car might be responding to successive hard accelerations, rather than to SOC at the beginning of the acceleration, per se.

Thanks!

 

[Mach1E]

Very interesting.

But since most of us are not drag racing, do you have any recorded data from your drag racing experiences? For example, your zero to sixty times at 100% of charge and at 80% of charge? Very curious to see the difference quantified through empirical data.

That would be zero to sixty time at 80% first, before the car has been subjected to extreme acceleration. And then again after charging to 100%. Otherwise, the car might be responding to successive hard accelerations, rather than to SOC at the beginning of the acceleration, per se.

Thanks!

It’s not successive hard accelerations.

Successive runs and any loss of power from that can be seen on the power meter by grey bars showing up. Those absolutely KILL power, but that’s not what I’m talking about here.

I don’t have any personal timeslips. Just data from reading 4 years of others with dragy app times and their timeslips.

All their personal best times are at very high charges (95% plus). And plenty of slower times as the charge % is less.

Then when you get below 50% it’s significantly slower.

I wish we had dyno tests for this car, but 4+ years later and still zero dyno runs for any GT. But that would clearly show the exact horsepower loss.

More data out there for Teslas, but they don’t lose nearly as much power as the Mach E:

 

[Bad Dolphin]

It’s not successive hard accelerations.

Successive runs and any loss of power from that can be seen on the power meter by grey bars showing up. Those absolutely KILL power, but that’s not what I’m talking about here.

I don’t have any personal timeslips. Just data from reading 4 years of others with dragy app times and their timeslips.

All their personal best times are at very high charges (95% plus). And plenty of slower times as the charge % is less.

Then when you get below 50% it’s significantly slower.

I wish we had dyno tests for this car, but 4+ years later and still zero dyno runs for any GT. But that would clearly show the exact horsepower loss.

More data out there for Teslas, but they don’t lose nearly as much power as the Mach E:

Wonder why more drop off on the GT's? Different battery chemistry or different BMS than Tesla?

 

[Mach1E]

Wonder why more drop off on the GT's? Different battery chemistry or different BMS than Tesla?

Ford is extremely conservative how they tuned this car.

For example, the motors are capable of 580 hp instead of 480.

Also Tesla is on the aggressive side. They’re one of the only manufacturers that allows full available power all the time (no boost mode, launch control or time limit).

The rest of the “why” is simply how batteries work.

 

[Kamuelaflyer]

I’m convinced they just tell you that to decrease the likelihood they’ll be replacing your battery in 8 years.

You do understand the point is not have your HVB drop below 70% of its original capacity, right? There just might be a connection between consistently cramming max electrons into the car and increased HVB degradation, hence the 90% recommnedation. If that's not of concern to you, continue on.

Agreed, this is so annoying and dumb.

The button is literally labelled "Start charging." What's confusing about that?

 

[Byrus]

You do understand the point is not have your HVB drop below 70% of its original capacity, right? There just might be a connection between consistently cramming max electrons into the car and increased HVB degradation, hence the 90% recommnedation. If that's not of concern to you, continue on.

The button is literally labelled "Start charging." What's confusing about that?

I didn't say it was confusing. I said it was dumb. I usually only want to charge to 50 or 60% bc rates may go up dramatically over the next few hours. So if rates are low and I "start charging now" I have to remember to check the rates regularly and see if I want to stop the charging. It's dumb.

 

[Mach1E]

You do understand the point is not have your HVB drop below 70% of its original capacity, right? There just might be a connection between consistently cramming max electrons into the car and increased HVB degradation, hence the 90% recommnedation. If that's not of concern to you, continue on.

I understand that’s the goal for Ford. They don’t want a warranty claim. It wasn’t that serious of a point, more just a jab at Ford for telling people not to fully charge.

Best thing for a long term owner would be to get it to 68% in 7 years and get a free brand new battery.

But no matter how you charge, that isn’t happening. Only degradation like that comes from a failure, which also doesn’t matter how you charge.

Either way, I think most people worry about charge % way too much.

 

[robi]

When I am planning a longer trip, the night before I adjust my slider to 100% and it asks me if this is one time only and I say yes so next time it goes back to my usual 80% setting that typically meets all our local travel needs. What does catch me by surprise sometimes is I have my Emporia smart charger set to only charge between 7pm and 2pm the next day to get my rate discount. Usually I’ll plug it before 7pm and the charger will stay off as it should until in the time window for the lower rate. It does though start automatically once in the time window. Not a problem but sometimes I have to remind myself that is the way I have it set to work.

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