Low Voltage Battery low notification

[Mach-Lee]

I am new to this Forum. I have a 2021 Premium extended battery Mach-E with only 2600 miles on it. I keep getting the following notification "Please plug in Mach-E to recharge its battery. Its voltage is low, which could make it difficult to start your vehicle". This notification only happens when my vehicle is unused and unplugged for about 5 days. When I last got this notification the HVB was at 99% and the LVB was at 13.43 volts. Do they monitor the 12-volt battery by the length of time it is off the battery charger? Thanks for your help.

13.43 volts means the car is on or charging the 12V battery. If you want to check the resting voltage properly, you need to open the hood, then come back in 30 minutes to read the voltage on the battery. If you open or close any doors or have your fob or phone in your pocket near the car during that time, you will wake up the car and the reading won't be accurate.

The same thing has been happening to my car too. I took it to the dealership and they said there was no codes showing when they ran the diagnostics. They kept my car for almost 2 weeks trying to figure out what was wrong with it. They also said someone at Ford told them to make sure we didn't sign into other apps using the my ford account login cause that would interfere with the car system. They told me to take the car back if i continued to get the 12V faults, which I still do but the car runs fine.

That is correct, 3rd party apps or home automation can cause 12V battery drains. Aftermarket things wired into the car can also cause them, or simply welcome lighting from too many activations (not all cars ignore subsequent activations).

If you get the 12V drain message more than once a week, you should address it.

See this topic for more ideas about 12V drain causes: https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/how-to-recondition-service-your-12v-battery.11069/

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[Beachbum]

For me to get that 13.43 volt reading, I had to turn on the car so I could open the frunk and then measure the voltage at the battery terminals. I can see that this could have started the charging of the LVB.

 

[generaltso]

For me to get that 13.43 volt reading, I had to turn on the car so I could open the frunk and then measure the voltage at the battery terminals. I can see that this could have started the charging of the LVB.

Why did you have to turn on the car to open the frunk?

 

[Beachbum]

The frunk release on the inside of the car will not open without having the car turned on. I might be mistaken

 

[Jtbuster]

13.43 volts means the car is on or charging the 12V battery. If you want to check the resting voltage properly, you need to open the hood, then come back in 30 minutes to read the voltage on the battery. If you open or close any doors or have your fob or phone in your pocket near the car during that time, you will wake up the car and the reading won't be accurate.



That is correct, 3rd party apps or home automation can cause 12V battery drains. Aftermarket things wired into the car can also cause them, or simply welcome lighting from too many activations (not all cars ignore subsequent activations).

If you get the 12V drain message more than once a week, you should address it.

See this topic for more ideas about 12V drain causes: https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/how-to-recondition-service-your-12v-battery.11069/

Excellently written.

 

[Mach-Lee]

The frunk release on the inside of the car will not open without having the car turned on. I might be mistaken

You open the driver’s door and pull the hood release handle twice. Car doesn’t need to be on.

 

[CalGal]

I am new to this Forum. I have a 2021 Premium extended battery Mach-E with only 2600 miles on it. I keep getting the following notification "Please plug in Mach-E to recharge its battery. Its voltage is low, which could make it difficult to start your vehicle". This notification only happens when my vehicle is unused and unplugged for about 5 days. When I last got this notification the HVB was at 99% and the LVB was at 13.43 volts. Do they monitor the 12-volt battery by the length of time it is off the battery charger? Thanks for your help.

I am so tired of getting that same message, and there’s no consistency to when it appears. I drove my car all day today and this same message just appeared on my Ford Pass. This is very disconcerting and it’s the only problem I’ve ever had with my 2021 MME Premium.

 

[Beachbum]

I am trying to be systematic in trying to solve this issue. I have added access openings to check the 12-volt battery voltage. I have not been operating the vehicle while checking the voltage. After 4 days the voltage is down to 12.34 volts. There are no notifications or alerts yet. I will continue monitoring the voltage until I get an alert. My high voltage battery was at 99% when I started and probably the same now. I do not want to wake up the vehicle until I stop monitoring the LVB. After I get this info I will go to the dealer and hopefully, he will have an answer. I will keep you all informed. Ford is monitoring this post also. This has been the most fun vehicle I have ever owned.

 

[Mach-Lee]

I am trying to be systematic in trying to solve this issue. I have added access openings to check the 12-volt battery voltage. I have not been operating the vehicle while checking the voltage. After 4 days the voltage is down to 12.34 volts. There are no notifications or alerts yet. I will continue monitoring the voltage until I get an alert. My high voltage battery was at 99% when I started and probably the same now. I do not want to wake up the vehicle until I stop monitoring the LVB. After I get this info I will go to the dealer and hopefully, he will have an answer. I will keep you all informed. Ford is monitoring this post also. This has been the most fun vehicle I have ever owned.

FYI the 12V won't recharge until it gets down to 40-50% SoC, which is about 12.1V. You'll get a message when that happens. Based on your 12.34V reading the battery is at about 52% SoC currently. So you probably have another day or two before it gets down to 12.1V and recharges.

So what other troubleshooting steps have you taken to find the source of your drain? You haven't said much about that. Again, suggestions:

• Remove any hardwired dashcams, radar detectors, or tracking devices
• Remove anything plugged into the OBDII port under the dash
• Disable welcome lighting and store your key fobs >25' from the car
• Force quit the FordPass app on your phone or disable Bluetooth permissions for it
• Change your FordPass password to block 3rd party app access

 

[hack-e]

I really appreciate all the great information on how the LVB is maintained. Somehow (just hasn't been an issue with my Mach-E until recently) I've missed these details even though I've been around this forum for a while. Ford really should fix that message. Kudos to @DevSecOps and @Mach-Lee for making sure the right information isn't missed.

 

[Auto Motive]

13.43 volts means the car is on or charging the 12V battery. If you want to check the resting voltage properly, you need to open the hood, then come back in 30 minutes to read the voltage on the battery. If you open or close any doors or have your fob or phone in your pocket near the car during that time, you will wake up the car and the reading won't be accurate.



That is correct, 3rd party apps or home automation can cause 12V battery drains. Aftermarket things wired into the car can also cause them, or simply welcome lighting from too many activations (not all cars ignore subsequent activations).

If you get the 12V drain message more than once a week, you should address it.

See this topic for more ideas about 12V drain causes: https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/how-to-recondition-service-your-12v-battery.11069/

I had this 12v fault and susp fault comming up several times a month. Dealer updates required and after several months fixed.

 

[Lord Polymath]

I just got the "plug in to maintain 12v battery" and "electrical system drain service required" messages in FordPass today. This is the first time it's happened since I got the car about 13 months ago. I don't plug in every day, I guess I need to start doing that. I do have a hard wired dash cam, but it turns off when the car is off. Maybe I should just take it out.

 

[HuntingPudel]

I just got the "plug in to maintain 12v battery" and "electrical system drain service required" messages in FordPass today. This is the first time it's happened since I got the car about 13 months ago. I don't plug in every day, I guess I need to start doing that. I do have a hard wired dash cam, but it turns off when the car is off. Maybe I should just take it out.

I had my dash cam plugged into a hot fuse location and used to get notifications about drainage. I moved it to a switched location and haven’t gotten a notice since. I don’t think your dash am is the issue unless it’s not really attached to a switched fuse. It’s got to be something else. ??

 

[Lord Polymath]

I had my dash cam plugged into a hot fuse location and used to get notifications about drainage. I moved it to a switched location and haven’t gotten a notice since. I don’t think your dash am is the issue unless it’s not really attached to a switched fuse. It’s got to be something else. ??

I'm powering my dash cam from the rear view mirror with this adapter: https://dongar.tech/products/ford5pin

That should be ok, right?

 

[MachEShmauchE]

I have a 2022 Select RWD,

I have had this issue and wanted to shed some light . My problem comes down to the Mobile Chargers (EV Go, EA and Charge point) not charging the low volt side and then me not driving the car for extended periods adds to the drain. I have no access to a home charger so yeah. Also I haven't experienced any other low volt draws from accessories. Also I was told my my tech that the software updates could also give these issues, but for me specifically its the stated above!

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