New Mach E Owner

[Marion]

After, a year of waiting our Premium AWD Extended Battery has arrived! Yeah!!! We live in Albany, NY and it is currently snowing and temperatures can go below zero in the winter. I am confused about preconditioning the battery. We set charging to 90% from 11:00 pm to 7:00 am. My schedule varies greatly, so I don't have a specific departure time on most days.

If the car is finished charging but still plugged in is anything happening?

Can I just start the car in the garage prior to departing to precondition the battery? How long does this take?

If I am parked outside for 4 -5 hours, does it make sense to start the car prior to leaving in winter?

So appreciate your guidance!
Marion

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[HuntingPudel]

Congrats on your new MME! ??

The battery only preconditions during the set departure schedule. Starting the car only warms or cools the cabin of the car (which can in itself be really nice if it's really cold or really hot outside). The reason the battery preconditions only with a set departure time is that the amount of time the battery takes to precondition varies greatly based on the battery's temperature. The car starts trying to heat or cool the battery as necessary to get it within the optimal operating range in time for your scheduled departure. Not knowing your battery's temperature and departure times, it would be a shot in the dark as to whether preconditioning the battery would get you into its desired range at the time you're going to be leaving. ?‍?

If oyu are parked outside and it's really cold out, yeah, it makes sense to pre-warm the cabin prior to getting in. Brrrr! ??

 

[AKgrampy]

The car will only precondition when plugged in and if you have a departure time set. Auto starting the car will only heat the cabin. Likewise a set departure time and not being plugged in will only take care of the cabin heat - no battery preconditioning. Preconditioning will give you a bit more range but you do not have to do it before driving. My understanding is that if your car is outside and plugged in then the car will maintain the health of the HVB and heat it if it gets too cold. I do not park outside so no experience with leaving it outside in the cold plugged in. Congrats on your new car.

 

[ChuckA]

Set departure.times for all days and then change the time 10 minutes before you plan to leave and the car will precondition. I see no harm if the car preconditions on a day you don’t plan a departure. @AKgrampy states that the car only preconditions when plugged in. I assume he validated that with an OBDIi app though I’m not sure.

I have a ‘21 Premium AWD ER and it’s a wonderful car. You’ll love it. I live in CT but haven’t yet driven in snow. My ‘02 Honda CR-V is my snow car, sled.

 

[HuntingPudel]

<SNIP>
@AKgrampy states that the car only preconditions when plugged in. I assume he validated that with an OBDIi app though I’m not sure.
<SNIP>

Ford’s information on the car agrees with what @AKgrampy posted. ??

 

[AKgrampy]

Ford’s information on the car agrees with what @AKgrampy posted. ??

The only thing I am not sure of is if the car will precondition the batteries on L1 charging. I did read that the car will condition the cabin based on the level of the charging source. It also states that the HVB will supply some energy toward cabin conditioning when connected power (L1) is insufficient. Some people think the HVB will also precondition on L1 but I am not sure that is the case.

 

[Gullwingdmc]

@AKgrampy states that the car only preconditions when plugged in.

From a letter Ford sent to dealers.

 

[Gullwingdmc]

Can I just start the car in the garage prior to departing to precondition the battery? How long does this take?

Like others have said it will not condition the battery, however it will do the cabin and use your house electricity to do that. So while it’s not as good as setting a departure time, it’s better than nothing.

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