Lots of talk about SOC 12V Bat.

[N1naz]

Being a new owner of a Mach-E, how does one keep the 12V batterie charged, what is/are the best practices?
If I have the car plugged in (with a 48amp charger) and the traction batterie is charged to 80 or 90% (max), which at that point the charge rate drops to a trickle (which it does), does that also keep the 12v batterie charged?
Do you have to drive it to keep the 12v batterie charged?
Will the OTA software install while the car is plugged in?

Questions, Questions, Questions

George M

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[zvez]

Being a new owner of a Mach-E, how does one keep the 12V batterie charged, what is/are the best practices?
If I have the car plugged in (with a 48amp charger) and the traction batterie is charged to 80 or 90% (max), which at that point the charge rate drops to a trickle (which it does), does that also keep the 12v batterie charged?
Do you have to drive it to keep the 12v batterie charged?
Will the OTA software install while the car is plugged in?

Questions, Questions, Questions

George M

the FIRST post in this thread will answer just about any question you have about the 12v battery. Short answer, in a normally functioning mach e, the HV Battery will keep the 12v topped up, this occurs when the car is fully powered on (avoid using accessory mode, it takes charge away from the 12v), or when car is plugged in and charging.
I do advise to read the first post in this thread below tho,
https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/12v-battery-faq.32744/

 

[MailGuy]

In my opinion, the 12v battery in the MachE is the most under engineered component in the car. Over 16 years I have owned 5 electric or hybrid vehicles with combined mileage over 700,000 miles. All but one have used Li Ion 12 v batteries. Only one of those Li Ions was replaced after 10 years of use and that was mostly user error on my son's friends fault. I honestly never paid attention to the 12v system. It just worked, or still works in two of the cars I still own. Not so with the MachE. The AGM in the MachE failed after 42 months and 30,000 miles.

 

[SonicBlue]

The easiest thing you can do is regularly charge your vehicle in your garage. The HVB replenishes the LVB while charging. Perhaps more effectively than while driving. Once a week should be sufficient in the summer. In the winter… hoo boy. I’d plug-in every night when the weather goes below freezing.

 

[Teslaeata]

Being a new owner of a Mach-E, how does one keep the 12V batterie charged, what is/are the best practices?
If I have the car plugged in (with a 48amp charger) and the traction batterie is charged to 80 or 90% (max), which at that point the charge rate drops to a trickle (which it does), does that also keep the 12v batterie charged?
Do you have to drive it to keep the 12v batterie charged?
Will the OTA software install while the car is plugged in?

Questions, Questions, Questions

George M

“How does one keep the 12V batterie charged, what is/are the best practices?”

You don’t!

The car will do it.

Whether on HV charge or not, the car will charge the 12V if conditions are right.

Whether car’s On & driving or not, the car will charge 12V if conditions are right.

When 12V batt drops to 40% car will charge it in 48hrs if HVB is at least 30% SoC.

If 12V batt drops to 30% car will charge it immediately so long as HVB is above 30%.

Sit back and enjoy the ride

 

[Maquis]

After 42 months and 40,000 miles, the only thing I know about my 12V battery is what comes up on this forum. I guess I have one…..I’ve never seen it.

 

[SonicBlue]

“How does one keep the 12V batterie charged, what is/are the best practices?”

You don’t!

The car will do it.

Whether on HV charge or not, the car will charge the 12V if conditions are right.

Whether car’s On & driving or not, the car will charge 12V if conditions are right.

When 12V batt drops to 40% car will charge it in 48hrs if HVB is at least 30% SoC.

If 12V batt drops to 30% car will charge it immediately so long as HVB is above 30%.

Sit back and enjoy the ride

It’s supposed to be this easy. It isn’t actually this easy. A TON of forum members have noted problems. Ford has acknowledged problems and even pushed updates OTA to hopefully improve the LVB management.

The only thing that seems to work reliably is to charge your car. I drive my car daily. And I’ve still received periodic LVB warnings. Plugging my car in overnight fixed the issue every time.

 

[Rudi Krupsdahl]

It is my guess that it is because Ford has deliberately made it so that HVB will first the LVB charges at around 30- 40% SOC, which thus destroys the LVB battery prematurely, instead of keeping the LVB charged from the HVB between 80 and 100% (This gives flow in product sales, now that the oil does not have to be changed, as with petrol cars about 3000 miles) because electric cars do not require so much maintenance, Which the dealers are not happy about.

But i do love the car, and think it is the coolest electric car bye fare on the market when you compare prices for another electric car. And love the interior

Of course, that's just my opinion

 

[Rudi Krupsdahl]

This is a day between.
Had to use an external charger to get LVB up to 99%. So it goes down fast, and it will make the LVB battery bad in record time

 

[SyNRG]

It is my belief that it is because Ford has deliberately made it so that HVB will first the LVB charges at around 30- 40% SOC, which thus destroys the LVB battery prematurely, instead of keeping the LVB charged from the HVB between 80 and 100% (This gives flow in product sales, now that the oil does not have to be changed, as with petrol cars about 3000 miles) because electric cars do not require so much maintenance, Which the dealers are not happy about.
Of course, that's just my opinion

Rudi, I agree, I've arrived at the same conclusion (in terms of FMC trying to keep dealer service centers "happy"). I used to put in the Optima Red Top battery in all of my cars in the past and they lasted a very long time but being that it was an AGM, never allowed the voltage to drop below 50% (12.1 volts) because it would damage it.

 

[Teslaeata]

It’s supposed to be this easy. It isn’t actually this easy. A TON of forum members have noted problems. Ford has acknowledged problems and even pushed updates OTA to hopefully improve the LVB management.

The only thing that seems to work reliably is to charge your car. I drive my car daily. And I’ve still received periodic LVB warnings. Plugging my car in overnight fixed the issue every time.

Can only speak from my own experience.

I never had a problem in 38mths & 94,000 miles (maybe just been lucky) but then I’m not forever flapping over 12V SoC, misunderstanding when a 12V battery is happy, and it’s charging system, and then meddling with it & overriding the charging of 12V battery with chargers, conditioners and so on.

Also don’t subscribe to the conspiracy theory that Ford deliberately designed a 12V electrical system that is programmed to fail to add to their profits which seems to be the slanderous claim some are making.

Of course everybody can believe what they want but if forever fiddling and taking over control of something that should be under control anyway means it’s impossible to conclusively say it’s the car and it’s systems that are failing and not external intervention.

Only an opinion based upon my own experience.

 

[rreddy3]

In my opinion, the 12v battery in the MachE is the most under engineered component in the car. Over 16 years I have owned 5 electric or hybrid vehicles with combined mileage over 700,000 miles. All but one have used Li Ion 12 v batteries. Only one of those Li Ions was replaced after 10 years of use and that was mostly user error on my son's friends fault. I honestly never paid attention to the 12v system. It just worked, or still works in two of the cars I still own. Not so with the MachE. The AGM in the MachE failed after 42 months and 30,000 miles.

With all due respect, that is not at all responsive to OP’s question. OP is a new, evidently enthusiastic Mach e owner who wants to understand what he can do to best maintain the 12v battery. He doesn’t need you to rain on his parade. A more useful approach might be to suggest there are some perceived issues in the 12v system that can be addressed by ‘x, y, z etc’. I fully expect a snarky response from you, and others, and really don’t care. Have a nice day.

 

[rreddy3]

After 42 months and 40,000 miles, the only thing I know about my 12V battery is what comes up on this forum. I guess I have one…..I’ve never seen it.

Love it!

 

[rreddy3]

Can only speak from my own experience.

I never had a problem in 38mths & 94,000 miles (maybe just been lucky) but then I’m not forever flapping over 12V SoC, misunderstanding when a 12V battery is happy, and it’s charging system, and then meddling with it & overriding the charging of 12V battery with chargers, conditioners and so on.

Also don’t subscribe to the conspiracy theory that Ford deliberately designed a 12V electrical system that is programmed to fail to add to their profits which seems to be the slanderous claim some are making.

Of course everybody can believe what they want but if forever fiddling and taking over control of something that should be under control anyway means it’s impossible to conclusively say it’s the car and it’s systems that are failing and not external intervention.

Only an opinion based upon my own experience.

Well said

 

[Silver Pony]

I have a 2021 MME with 38,000 miles. I plug it into my home level 2 charger whenever I am not using the car. I get this error message about once a week, so often that I now ignor it. I have brought the car to the dealer about 5 times now and asked them to look into this. Each time they say they did a software upgrade to fix it, then I get the same message a day or two later.

I love the car and it runs great, but these messages are a bit anoying. Does anyone know how to fix this?

Silver pony.

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