Parking outside in cold weather

[carinquiryad]

Hi - I live in NH and am planning to get a Mach E Premium AWD with extended range. We live in an apartment building where we have chargers but we do not have covered parking.

It does get pretty cold in the winter here. I am wondering if parking outside in the cold weather causes any (long term) problems with the battery?

Also - what is the range drop off if we precondition the car when plugged in and not use too much heat while on the road? Any thoughts on this are greatly appreciated. Thank you for your kind help.

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[generaltso]

It’s fine, but you lose a lot of range in winter. I lose about 40% in Vermont.

 

[21st Century Pony]

I think the key is to precondition both the battery and the cabin while the car is still plugged into the L2. That way, you're using the wall juice for preconditioning. This was our experience with two Fusion Energis in previous Winters.

 

[SnBGC]

Hi - I live in NH and am planning to get a Mach E Premium AWD with extended range. We live in an apartment building where we have chargers but we do not have covered parking.

It does get pretty cold in the winter here. I am wondering if parking outside in the cold weather causes any (long term) problems with the battery?

Also - what is the range drop off if we precondition the car when plugged in and not use too much heat while on the road? Any thoughts on this are greatly appreciated. Thank you for your kind help.

From what I understand, the cold weather will affect range but it is temporary. The range returns when it warms back up again. The battery doesn't appear to be damaged by cold weather.

 

[carinquiryad]

Thank you to all. How much range reduction do you see in winter weather?

generaltso from VT mentioned a 40% drop off. Wanted to see if others have any such ballpark estimate for range drop off they might have seen in colder climates such as those in New England.

 

[AKPat]

Thank you to all. How much range reduction do you see in winter weather?

generaltso from VT mentioned a 40% drop off. Wanted to see if others have any such ballpark estimate for range drop off they might have seen in colder climates such as those in New England.

About 40% is my experience here in Anchorage.

 

[hawkeye3point1]

It’s fine, but you lose a lot of range in winter. I lose about 40% in Vermont.

Welcome neighbor, I can second this, January was a month long cold soak here as you probably remember. 40% drop was what I calculated overall, always parked outside. It was less severe for the rest of the winter.

I do not worry about the HVB's health in the cold. MME is my second EV and in 4 winters I have not seen the HVB suffer. Not saying EVs do not have issues in the cold, just that to me worrying about the battery is pointless.

Some things to be aware of:
The GOM will lose 20+ mis. overnight in the cold, that is where much of the range loss occurs, its a chemistry thing.
DCFC charge rate is slower than in the warmer months due to a cold HVB.
Preconditioning is optional to me regardless of what Ford believes. With electric rate increases coming it is a luxury I can forego, to each his own of course. If you have a very long commute or are taking a road trip, preconditioning can be of value.

It is a great car and EVs bring many driver options that an ICE vehicle can not. If you are techie, you'll have a new hobby.

 

[Billyk24]

Thank you to all. How much range reduction do you see in winter weather?

generaltso from VT mentioned a 40% drop off. Wanted to see if others have any such ballpark estimate for range drop off they might have seen in colder climates such as those in New England.

Tesla owners on their forum also report of 30 to 45 percent range hits. Charging is also slower.

 

[Guss-E 2021]

I think the key is to precondition both the battery and the cabin while the car is still plugged into the L2. That way, you're using the wall juice for preconditioning. This was our experience with two Fusion Energis in previous Winters.

I'm in NH as well. Fortunately, I have a garage. I normally don't even leave the mobile charger plugged into my NEMA outlet when not charging because I'm sure it still draws current. Yah, trying to be real miserly with my electrical use until I can get solar.

Anyway, winter is coming and like @carinquiryad said, it gets cold here. I plan on plugging in every night before work to allow the car to precondition from the grid's electrons. Is anyone doing this? Any idea how much more this adds to your electric bill? Truth be told, no matter the cost, I'm going to chalk it up to the cost of comfort.

At 100%, my GOM says 284 miles. I only drive 30 miles per day average. Even at a massive 40% drop in range (170 miles) that's still five days of driving. I knew this before getting the car though.

 

[generaltso]

Anyway, winter is coming and like @carinquiryad said, it gets cold here. I plan on plugging in every night before work to allow the car to precondition from the grid's electrons. Is anyone doing this? Any idea how much more this adds to your electric bill? Truth be told, no matter the cost, I'm going to chalk it up to the cost of comfort.

On a cold night, it can use up to around 7kWh keeping the battery warm if you leave it plugged in. That adds up enough for me to leave it unplugged. One cold night would likely use more power than an entire year of leaving your mobile charger plugged into your NEMA outlet all the time.

 

[Guss-E 2021]

On a cold night, it can use up to around 7kWh keeping the battery warm if you leave it plugged in. That adds up enough for me to leave it unplugged. One cold night would likely use more power than an entire year of leaving your mobile charger plugged into your NEMA outlet all the time.

I'm actually glad to hear this. Regardless of what I just said about the cost of comfort, I don't think I'll be leaving it plugged in while rates are so high. Thanks a bunch @generaltso.

 

[21st Century Pony]

On a cold night, it can use up to around 7kWh keeping the battery warm if you leave it plugged in. That adds up enough for me to leave it unplugged. One cold night would likely use more power than an entire year of leaving your mobile charger plugged into your NEMA outlet all the time.

Based on our Prius Plug-in and Fusion Energi histories, I learned to think of using "wall box pre-conditioning" as akin to the old school engine block heaters (both my Prius and later my Ford Energi had engine heater blocks added). Meaning, one would not (I didn't anyway) use engine block heating all the time when parked... just within the 2 or 3 hours prior to likely departure in the morning, depending on how low the temp would drop. This way, the water jackets in the engines were warm at my GO times and I would force the engine in both cars to work when starting, which would rapidly heat the cabin... and then as soon as the engines would shut off after 2 min of driving, I'd switch to pure battery drive.

Although this is my 1st year with the Mach E, I imagine when cold weather comes I'll set "departure time" or whatever it's called on this car to have pre-conditioning switch on far enough before so that the cabin, and in theory the big battery, are pre-conditioned when I get in. That's how Sonny Boy pre-conditions his used Audi E-tron Sportback he was lucky enough to get last October.

Use of a pre-set timer would thus both pre-condition the battery and the cabin before the likely morning departure time, and not needlessly "pre-condition all night". Does that make sense? Do Vermonters and other far Northerners on this blog pre-condition for "just in time" or "all the time when plugged-in" to achieve a good effect? I really am curious here... WInter hasn't come yet to Virginia.

 

[generaltso]

Based on our Prius Plug-in and Fusion Energi histories, I learned to think of using "wall box pre-conditioning" as akin to the old school engine block heaters (both my Prius and later my Ford Energi had engine heater blocks added). Meaning, one would not (I didn't anyway) use engine block heating all the time when parked... just within the 2 or 3 hours prior to likely departure in the morning, depending on how low the temp would drop. This way, the water jackets in the engines were warm at my GO times and I would force the engine in both cars to work when starting, which would rapidly heat the cabin... and then as soon as the engines would shut off after 2 min of driving, I'd switch to pure battery drive.

Although this is my 1st year with the Mach E, I imagine when cold weather comes I'll set "departure time" or whatever it's called on this car to have pre-conditioning switch on far enough before so that the cabin, and in theory the big battery, are pre-conditioned when I get in. That's how Sonny Boy pre-conditions his used Audi E-tron Sportback he was lucky enough to get last October.

Use of a pre-set timer would thus both pre-condition the battery and the cabin before the likely morning departure time, and not needlessly "pre-condition all night". Does that make sense? Do Vermonters and other far Northerners on this blog pre-condition for "just in time" or "all the time when plugged-in" to achieve a good effect? I really am curious here... WInter hasn't come yet to Virginia.

I don’t typically precondition at all. But preconditioning aside, if you leave the car plugged in when it’s very cold, it will draw power from the wall to keep the battery warm, and there’s no way to stop it. That’s one of the reasons I don’t leave it plugged in.

 

[Maquis]

I’d add that the reasons to precondition are 1) You are driving far enough that you need to maximize range; 2) You want the cabin nice and toasty when you depart.
You will always use more electricity preconditioning than not.

 

[coulomb]

On a trip from Ontario to Quebec last winter I also had a ~40% range reduction. Temps were about -16C/0F.
On a 800kms/500mi trip, it was the low charging speeds that was annoying but that may have been due to the chargers themselves, will be curious to try another brand this coming winter.

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