Low Battery Condition Overrides Charging Schedule?

[DC3]

Curious if anyone else has observed this behavior. I couldn't find anything specific regarding this situation in the manual, so thought I'd bring it up here.

To take advantage of lower rates, my charging schedule calls for charging to start at 11pm and end by 7am on weekends and weekdays when charging at my "home" location. I cap the charging at 90%. I use the basic Ford Mobile EVSE that came with the car and I always plug in when I pull into the garage. I have had the car for about a month and until yesterday the car has always honored the charging schedule, obediently waiting until 11pm to start charging.

Yesterday, I left my house w/ about 90% charge and drove my daughter to college. As expected, the "Low Battery" (<50 GOM miles) warning came on when I was about 3 miles from home. Pulled into the garage on a Sunday at about 3:00pm and 25% battery remaining (the battery SOC indicator had turned yellow to warn about low HV battery). This is the first time I arrived home with a low battery during non-charging hours.

A couple hours later (4:45pm) I had to run a quick errand. When I got into the car I surprised to see the SOC had gone from 25% to 34%. When I returned home from the errand, the battery was still at 34%. I plugged in and this time the car waited to start charging per normal.

Here's the question: Does the car's logic override the charging schedule when you plug in w/ a low battery condition?

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[bshaw]

I don't know the answer, but 25% doesn't seem that low.
It would be a nice safeguard if you plugged in with say < 10% and the car was like "I'm not waiting for the schedule".

 

[ZuleMME]

If the car determines it's charging schedule hours are not enough to reach the target charge it *WILL* add charge to the point it can get to the target and then it should stop.

 

[DC3]

If the car determines it's charging schedule hours are not enough to reach the target charge it *WILL* add charge to the point it can get to the target and then it should stop.

Thanks, that makes sense. I wonder where it would have stopped had I not had to unplug and run that errand. Is it smart enough to add just enough charge and then wait for the scheduled time to complete?

 

[ZuleMME]

Thanks, that makes sense. I wonder where it would have stopped had I not had to unplug and run that errand. Is it smart enough to add just enough charge and then wait for the scheduled time to complete?

Supposed to be; but it's a pessimestic guess so it's likely to overshoot what it really needs. Ford's trying to be intelligent about it while also being pessimistic to underrate what it'll really do.

 

[DYohn]

Yes, any time my car calculates the charger will not be able to reach the preset target charge within the scheduled time frame it will ignore the time and charge as soon as I plug in. I hate this behavior and wish I could set priority - either charge time regardless of battery level or target level regardless of time. The charging has to be overridden manually inside of Ford Pass (when the car starts charging, select charge details and stop it.)

Hoppefully this can be improved in the future.

 

[RickMachE]

This is why it makes sense to have an intelligent charger. You can then set the charger's hours to match the hours you want to charge, and the vehicle cannot override them.

And, it's quite simple to override them yourself.

If you're doing 110v charging, a WiFi outlet or wall timer (of sufficient rating) can handle this.

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