New MME - Charging (In)Frequency Question

[Doug&Julie]

I see a lot of people who charge their MMEs regularly, sometimes nightly, even when the battery is "only" down to about 70%. I have to admit, one of the reasons we went for the long range battery is so we don't have to worry about charging often. I mean, we wouldn't run it down to 10% regularly or anything, but I certainly don't see the need to even think about charging until we're below 50% (unless we're planning a trip, of course). Do any of our experts see infrequent charging as a problem? ..something that will harm the car long term?

One other factor (maybe)...my wife and I work from home, so we only drive the car 2-3 times a week for fairly short trips (again, unless we're going on a longer day-trip or weekend trip). So, realistically we may not charge for a couple of weeks, if that. Now that we're almost in winter, I'm sure it will be more frequent. But when its warmer, if we don't take trips...I could see a long time before charging.

Does anybody else here go a long time between charges?

Note - I'm talking about L2 home charging...here's our setup FWIW...

 

[ChasingCoral]

I set my program to charge to 80% and usually plug in when I'm down to around 40%. Of course, if I have a long drive coming up I charge it to 80% whenever or to 100% if I need the full range.

 

[phil]

Yeah, same for me. I charge to 85%, and just plug it in if I notice the battery is below half-full, or if I have a longer drive coming up. I just don't get to drive that much since I work at home now. I'm not worried about any damage to the car or battery.

 

[macchiaz-o]

I plug in anytime the charge is below 80% on my standard range car. But my plug in arrangement is a far more convenient than yours appears to be. No obstacles to worry about and no cord slack to roll up. Maybe that plays a big role in the decision.

 

[timbop]

The beauty of having a BEV is that you can always start every morning with a "full" charge and all it takes is 5 seconds to plug it in when you get out of it at home. I quoted "full" because it is better for the battery not to charge it to 100% all the time. Ford suggests setting it to max out at 90% for general use, but if you are going on a road trip or longer drive then charging to 100% is fine. I have the ER battery and cap my charging at 80% because I just don't drive very often, and I generally don't bother to plug in every night either. I let it get down to 50% or so before plugging in most of the time. However, now that colder temps are approaching I will probably plug it in on below freezing days just so I can warm it up on grid power rather than using the battery to warm up the car/precondition it.

You don't "have" to do anything, but some things you do are better for the car than others. It's no different than things like how frequently you change the oil in a regular car: some people change synthetic oil every 5000 miles and others at 7500 miles. It's not necessarily "wrong", it's just what you're comfortable with.

 

[MajesticBeast]

I don't understand this forum and people who simply don't want to plug in their vehicle every night as if it is some sort of hassle. Do you have to hike uphill through the snow (both ways) to hook up and unhook your charger?

Do it not only to keep your max range for the next day, but also because its what you should be doing according to every EV owners manual in the last 10 years.

Directly from the Mach-E owners manual...
"When you leave your vehicle left unplugged, it periodically uses energy from the high voltage battery to recharge the 12 volt accessory battery when needed "

"You can increase the longevity of your high voltage battery by using the preferred charge times feature. Preferred charge times can keep your battery at the optimal temperature and state of charge based on your settings and usage"

Take the 10-15 seconds to plug it in.

 

[phil]

Take the 10-15 seconds to plug it in.

No.

 

[Doug&Julie]

Thanks all for the input.

No, it's not hard at all to plug in our car. But the car sits outside, and while we live in a safe neighborhood, I'm not comfortable leaving it charging overnight. Also, since we work at home, we don't have a regular "routine" where we go to work, then come home and need to plug in before walking into the house. And also because we don't have that "routine", we don't need a full charge every morning.

FWIW we have our home charging max set to 90%. I think we'll stick to our plan and just plug in when it gets "low". ..ish.

Thanks again!

 

[MajesticBeast]

No.

Yoo do you boo, more power to yoo.

@Doug&Julie - Sounds like you have a reason for not doing it every night. ?

 

[generaltso]

Do any of our experts see infrequent charging as a problem? ..something that will harm the car long term?

I get free charging at work, so I rarely plug in at home. And since I’m still mostly working from home, I only end up plugging in about once every 2 weeks when I go into the office. Do what works for you. It’s fine.

 

[ChasingCoral]

I don't understand this forum and people who simply don't want to plug in their vehicle every night as if it is some sort of hassle. Do you have to hike uphill through the snow (both ways) to hook up and unhook your charger?

Do it not only to keep your max range for the next day, but also because its what you should be doing according to every EV owners manual in the last 10 years.

Directly from the Mach-E owners manual...
"When you leave your vehicle left unplugged, it periodically uses energy from the high voltage battery to recharge the 12 volt accessory battery when needed "

"You can increase the longevity of your high voltage battery by using the preferred charge times feature. Preferred charge times can keep your battery at the optimal temperature and state of charge based on your settings and usage"

Take the 10-15 seconds to plug it in.

Not a hassle at all to plug in. All of the the best research on lithium batteries says they last the longest when operated at around 50% capacity, doing your best to avoid going below 10% and not leaving the car sitting at 100%. Yes, I know there is a few percent buffer on either end of a Mach E battery that we don't use. Even so, the manual clearly states:

"Overnight Charging and Storage
You can increase the longevity of your high voltage battery by using the preferred charge times feature. Preferred charge times can keep your battery at the optimal temperature and state of charge based on your settings and usage.

Allowing your battery to cool before charging and setting the maximum state of charge to 90% for everyday usage improves longevity of your high voltage battery." (my emphasis added)

You seem to have read the first paragraph and forgotten to mention the second one.

I have absolutely no issue with charging as full as I need when I need it. I also prefer to keep the battery as healthy as I can. I plan to have Marlin for a long time.

 

[RickMachE]

In the winter, if you're only going to charge every few weeks, make sure you keep an eye on the battery level. And keep in mind that when you want to set a Departure Time, or Remote Start, you're going to be using battery, not house current.

 

[Sneezy]

This time of year in Central NY, the Mach E tells me to plug it in because of cold temps. So I do. Even when it was outside. The freezing rain did suck one day..... but now that my Trans Am is in storage, the Mach E gets the garage and plugged in every day when not in use.

 

[Doug&Julie]

This time of year in Central NY, the Mach E tells me to plug it in because of cold temps. So I do...

Yeah, for sure I'll be plugging it in more often than "usual" during the winter, just to keep it well out of "dead" range.

The freezing rain did suck one day.....

OMG Julie freaked out when she unlocked the car for the first time after getting freezing rain...she hit the unlocking button and heard a sickening crunching sound and thought something was terribly wrong with the car! ..but it was just ice breaking off the mirrors as they unfolded. ?

 

[Utahridge]

Here is what I have settled on for now and I will adjust as I evolve with the Mach-E.

In the summer months I am plugging in about every third day and charge to 85%. At this point I'm at a 35-45% SOC before I plug in.

Now that it's Winter here in Michigan, I plug in (notice I didn't say charge) every day but charge every other day. I do this by lowering my max charge setting for at home to 60% (below the percentage you are plugging in at) on the days that I don't want to charge. This way the car is plugged in case it needs to wake and warm the batteries – which it has done on several occasions during the coldest days so far this Winter. The next day I change my max charge setting back to 85% just after I unplug, and when I get home that night the Mach-E charges to its Target Charge Level of 85%.

Like I said, this is just what I do and I'm not making any recommendations for anyone to adopt this technique.

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