New Owner Charging Question.....

[LinkRS]

Hi Everyone,

I went through about 5 pages of this category before deciding to make this post. So my apologies in advance if I am posting a question that has already been answered.

In the HTML manual provided for my new 2023 Mach-E GT, it says that for daily use it recommends only charging to 90%. This is info I have seen referenced in this forum, with some folks even taking it down to 80%. However, what I am unable to find, and is NOT mentioned (at least as far as I can find) is if you should plug the car in daily, irrespective of the charge level? I just had a Ford Connected Charge Station installed, so I think it would be "ok" to plug it in daily, but can anyone share their guidance or thoughts, or better yet a reference from Ford on what you *should* do? Thanks!

Rich S.

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[Mach-Lee]

Correct, keep it under 90% for daily use. Lower is better. No, you do not need to plug the car in daily. I only plug in when I'm below about 50%, or if I want to use preconditioning the next morning before leaving. Some people like to plug in daily and there's nothing wrong with that either. I plug in much more often in the winter than the summer in order to keep the battery warm.

 

[LinkRS]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for reading this post. I have another question, and figured I would attach to my own post, vices creating a new thread. I just noticed that the installer for my L2 charger replaced the existing 60A breaker with a 50A one. He actually mentioned that to me, but I blew it off at the time. The Ford Connected Charger is configured for the full 48A, is this 'ok'? The city will be inspecting the installation this coming Friday. I assume they will say something if it is not? Thanks!

Rich S.

 

[Maquis]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks for reading this post. I have another question, and figured I would attach to my own post, vices creating a new thread. I just noticed that the installer for my L2 charger replaced the existing 60A breaker with a 50A one. He actually mentioned that to me, but I blew it off at the time. The Ford Connected Charger is configured for the full 48A, is this 'ok'? The city will be inspecting the installation this coming Friday. I assume they will say something if it is not? Thanks!

Rich S.

No, it’s not OK. You can take the cover off the Charge Station and set the dip switches to 40A. See manual.

 

[Rob S]

Your breaker has to be 20% over the draw from your charger. So for a 50 amp breaker, the max your charger can provide is 40amps. A 60 amp breaker will allow a max of 48amps.

 

[LinkRS]

Your breaker has to be 20% over the draw from your charger. So for a 50 amp breaker, the max your charger can provide is 40amps. A 60 amp breaker will allow a max of 48amps.

Thanks (@Maquis too). I just sent a note to the install company, bringing this to their attention. I have actually only plugged my car in once since the install, and seemed Ok, but I am hesitant to plug it in again. I am a little concerned that a company that is supposed to specialize in doing EV EVSE installs, would not know the correct configuration. Then again, the installer kept remarking how I had the old model of the Ford Connected Charger, and that it didn't support WiFi, when it clearly does.

 

[RedRocker]

You should never exceed 80% of the circuit breaker rating. So a 50A breaker => 40A load. Circuit breaker size is determined by the wire gauge and circuit length. 4gage for 60A and 6gage for 50A are typical, you can always go bigger (lower gage). Short answer is to lower charger to 40A, until you have an electrian confirm/upgrade to a 60A breaker. I have a 60A circuit but chose to lower the programamble wallbox power to 40A (that is still plenty fast for overnight charging - probably not worth spending more money).

 

[Mach-Lee]

Thanks for reading this post. I have another question, and figured I would attach to my own post, vices creating a new thread. I just noticed that the installer for my L2 charger replaced the existing 60A breaker with a 50A one. He actually mentioned that to me, but I blew it off at the time. The Ford Connected Charger is configured for the full 48A, is this 'ok'? The city will be inspecting the installation this coming Friday. I assume they will say something if it is not? Thanks!

As mentioned that is incorrect, the charger can only be set to use a maximum of 80% of the breaker's rating. The wire size is also a consideration, you cannot exceed the limits.

A 60A breaker (48A charge rate) requires the use of wire in conduit. If Romex was used (no conduit) then the max breaker size is 50A, and the charger has to be set to max 40A. It's possible the breaker size was reduced due to the use of Romex NM-B.

Here is a reference with all this information: https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/ev-charger-breaker-wire-size-reference.8367/

 

[satchel prefect]

Hi Everyone,
... However, what I am unable to find, and is NOT mentioned (at least as far as I can find) is if you should plug the car in daily, irrespective of the charge level? I just had a Ford Connected Charge Station installed, so I think it would be "ok" to plug it in daily, but can anyone share their guidance or thoughts, or better yet a reference from Ford on what you *should* do? Thanks!

Rich S.

Just in case your search didn't already uncover how depth-of-discharge can affect battery performance over time:

Depth of Discharge Basics for Every EV Owner

If this article is correct, the battery maintain higher capacity for a longer time if it is "topped up" more frequently rather than letting it drain to a lower level before plugging in. I'll let someone more knowledgable than I address whether this applies more for specific battery designs than others.

Note that the concept of "charging cycles" seems to be confused from time to time with what are actually charging sessions. For a 91 kwh battery, a single charging cycle consists of using and replacing a total of 91 kwh, regardless of the use and recharge are broken up into individual sessions. So if one buys an extended range MME with an 80% charge, uses 10% of battery every day for the next ten days, topping it back up from 70% to 80% each time, that would be one charging cycle, with a 10% depth of discharge on each day.

Anyhow, I'll stop before my words exceed my knowledge level. That doesn't take much nowadays. Hope this helps anyhow.

 

[Hammered]

I'm set at 85% and charge when it gets into the 60s. One benefit of keeping it plugged in is that if something comes up and you decide you want 100%, on your ford app on the phone, you can simply hit "charge to 100%". W/ my charger it takes ~5 minutes per 1% added.

Another benefit of remaining plugged in is that you can remote 'start' and begin heating or cooling using AC power. If charging every 48 hours I'd not exceed 85%.


In winter, it's best to set a charge / departure time so that charging completes right about the time you're ready to depart -- that allows you to retain the charging heat and not have to expend additional energy to warm up the battery. Charging naturally warms the battery and that's the absolute best way to go about it. In summer, charge when the sun is hiding.

My OTD power cost from 11pm to 7a is ~3.5 cents / kWh.

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