In extreme cold, when plugged in does Mach-E warm the battery occasionally?

[aschan]

It's around noon, and it's warmed up to -24C I got back from a (brief) walk with the dog, and heard the car in the garage humming; like it was prepping for a departure - but there's no departures programmed for several days. Just wondering if, when plugged in, in very cold temps it will warmup the batteries on occasion to avoid any adverse effects to them.

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[aschan]

I just found this, that answers my question Mach-Lee's Cold Weather Charging Strategies | MachEforum - Ford Mustang Mach-E News, Owners, Discussions, Community

 

[TheRock]

Yes

 

[Ruthie B]

I will admit to being the lone wolf and not always following the pack. Preparing for the extreme cold weather in NC this weekend I did my grocery stop Thursday after work, arrived home and charged 42% - 90% overnight , unplugged Fri morning to stay parked on my driveway and not drive again until Tues morning. No plastic tarp on the windshield and wipers down on the glass. I don't want the charge door open all this time although I believe it to be watertight and safe while plugged in.
The level 2 charge cord is hung on it's stand and protected from the possible snow and ice. Monday evening will be the time for me to plug in and have my departure time set for 8 am Tues. with remote start 10 minutes before I walk out the door.
Which reminds me....... cancel Monday's 8 am departure time.

 

[TheRock]

I will admit to being the lone wolf and not always following the pack. Preparing for the extreme cold weather in NC this weekend I did my grocery stop Thursday after work, arrived home and charged 42% - 90% overnight , unplugged Fri morning to stay parked on my driveway and not drive again until Tues morning. No plastic tarp on the windshield and wipers down on the glass. I don't want the charge door open all this time although I believe it to be watertight and safe while plugged in.
The level 2 charge cord is hung on it's stand and protected from the possible snow and ice. Monday evening will be the time for me to plug in and have my departure time set for 8 am Tues. with remote start 10 minutes before I walk out the door.
Which reminds me....... cancel Monday's 8 am departure time.

Your charger will be fine. Unless it's the Ford charger.

Our Mach-E and FLO charger sleeps outside 365 days a year 24/7, in hot, cold to extreme cold in snow, ice storm and rain without a problem.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Here’s a graph of mine heating the battery this afternoon. The main overnight charge is on the left, and the small spike on the right is the standby heating. I don’t have any departure time scheduled today. It used about 3 kWh. My garage is about 20°F. Standby heating will only occur during preferred charging hours.

 

[AliRafiee]

I will admit to being the lone wolf and not always following the pack. Preparing for the extreme cold weather in NC this weekend I did my grocery stop Thursday after work, arrived home and charged 42% - 90% overnight , unplugged Fri morning to stay parked on my driveway and not drive again until Tues morning. No plastic tarp on the windshield and wipers down on the glass. I don't want the charge door open all this time although I believe it to be watertight and safe while plugged in.
The level 2 charge cord is hung on it's stand and protected from the possible snow and ice. Monday evening will be the time for me to plug in and have my departure time set for 8 am Tues. with remote start 10 minutes before I walk out the door.
Which reminds me....... cancel Monday's 8 am departure time.

The warming of the battery is to keep the battery healthy. If you don’t care about battery degradation, then going against the grain is not bad advice.

 

[MadMatt]

I woke up and checked my Ford app for fun, saw this

notice no scheduled departure set. Just decided to warm the battery and cabin? On its own.

was very cold out, like -28c or something.

 

[Elmst-e]

I assume everyone is referring to L2 charging. I don’t believe battery warming will work at L1-110 volt levels?

 

[E90alex]

I assume everyone is referring to L2 charging. I don’t believe battery warming will work at L1-110 volt levels?

It will try, but won’t do very well especially if it’s significantly below freezing.

In extreme cold, 120V may not get the battery warm enough to even be able to charge so you can have it plugged in all day and night and gain 0%.

 

[Maquis]

It will try, but won’t do very well especially if it’s significantly below freezing.

In extreme cold, 120V may not get the battery warm enough to even be able to charge so you can have it plugged in all day and night and gain 0%.

There is a guy on the Lightning forum who actually lost charge overnight when plugged in to L1 in extreme cold.

 

[Elmst-e]

There is a guy on the Lightning forum who actually lost charge overnight when plugged in to L1 in extreme cold.

The garage we are in has been in the teens the last few days. Thr car has charged as usual at L1 and has appeared to be warming the battery and cabin occasionally, even though no times are assigned to do so. I’m not positive it is heating, it just seems it is. As long as it is always plugged in, I can’t see it losing charge. As a guy who’s first car was a ‘64 dodge dart, the cars ability to take care of itself just amazes me.

 

[jmath07]

I park outside, so the car is warming itself quite often in this week's deep cold, roughly every 8 hours or so.

I also limit my charge rate to 25A in order to accomplish the "long charges are better for the 12V battery" technique. But I wonder if letting it go at the max my breaker allows would use less energy for all these warming sessions, considering that I have the heat pump. I've noticed it always maxes the power even for the warming sessions (6kW at 25A). Would it be more efficient at higher power?

@Mach-Lee any thoughts on this?

 

[Mach-Lee]

I park outside, so the car is warming itself quite often in this week's deep cold, roughly every 8 hours or so.

I also limit my charge rate to 25A in order to accomplish the "long charges are better for the 12V battery" technique. But I wonder if letting it go at the max my breaker allows would use less energy for all these warming sessions, considering that I have the heat pump. I've noticed it always maxes the power even for the warming sessions (6kW at 25A). Would it be more efficient at higher power?

@Mach-Lee any thoughts on this?

I haven't evaluated a 2025 for that, but my recommendation is to set Level 2 to 32A or greater to allow for full power battery heating. I don't think the heat pump is used when it's cold enough for battery heating, it's mostly the PTC heater.

 

[jmath07]

Today it was about 15F and it was running a heating session with the front flaps open + the fan (my assumption is this means heat pump action). But I'd believe you if you said it always does that even when it's just PTC heating.

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