Preconditioning Improves Range up to 20% [Ford Brochure]

[RSF]

No question about the importance of Preconditioning. The frustration is Ford Pass broke this function for a subset of phones last year. Everything else works except Departure Times. Usually after 5 attempts, you might get it to take. It does work from the car but for me, I am on call and running out to the car to set a departure time for 45 min later at night in the winter isn't practical. I along with many other people have repeatedly reported on this but Ford has not fixed it.

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[RickMachE]

NOT preconditioning reduces battery lifespan. Preconditioning keeps the battery in its happy range so it doesn't degrade. Especially when cold, trying to charge or regen into a freezing battery causes lithium plating and permanent capacity loss.

While we're clarifying things...

- There is no benefit to preconditioning the battery, i.e. setting a departure time, when you have no plans to depart. Set daily 7AM departure, but only use the car 2 of those days.

- While there is benefit to keeping the vehicle plugged in, if it's in a garage you'll find (at least I do in SE Michigan), that it rarely tries to warm the battery in during winter while it's sitting. I probably have had a dozen 15 minute hits to warm it. Most attached, unheated garages don't get cold enough that it will seek to warm itself while sitting overnight and for days.

- As has been said before, there is a benefit to preconditioning even if you leave a few hours later (i.e. you don't want to do it during peak rate hours, so you have it complete prior).

 

[ronco]

Well you get a FordPass notification when it's ready for departure, so that would be the easiest way to confirm the departure time ran. Otherwise you can look at the power draw on a smart EVSE to verify heating/cooling occurred. If the battery temp is already in the 50ºF to 95ºF range it won't be heated or cooled.

I got FordPass messages when I was conditioning the cabin, but not since I set that to off. Maybe it’s not doing any conditioning because the battery is warm enough to begin with.

 

[HuntingPudel]

<SNIP>
Effect of Payload:

The max payload for the Lightning varies depending on trim, but it's around 2,000 lbs here. You can see that even with an extra 2,000 lbs, there is only a 7% decrease in range. It is a common misconception that weight has a much bigger effect on range than it actually does. Speed and aero are much more important. Weight only significantly affects range if you are driving up an incline to a higher elevation. On flat land it's not a big effect. The payload of the Mach-E is roughly half that of the F150 Lightning (~1000 lbs) so a fully loaded Mach-E would only have about a 2% range penalty.

Effect of Trailer:

The Mach-E isn't rated to tow, but you can see pulling a trailer has a huge effect on range. I want to emphasize that it's not the weight, it's mostly the aero (frontal area) that saps the range. It takes a tremendous amount of energy to push a large flat box through the air at speed. This is why you want as short and as aerodynamic trailer as possible if towing. If you are adding a cargo box to the Mach-E, you want to put it behind the car in the wake, not on top:

An aerodynamic box in the back can actually INCREASE the range of an EV (compared to no box) because it makes the overall shape of the vehicle more like a teardrop and improves the drag coefficient. The box must be placed correctly in the wake behind the vehicle as shown above.

Anyway, hopefully you learned something. Read the PDF brochure below for more details:

Regarding weight, I have been saying this all along. It matters mostly when accelerating (either when changing speeds or climbing a incline). It makes comparatively little difference on steady-state travel.

Regarding a “short” trailer, I assume you are referring to the vertical dimension since “short” can relate to height or length. Decreased horizontal length increases the coefficient of drag due to the turbulent effect on the air that a longer object would have. Horizontal width and vertical height affect frontal area, which affects raw drag, so decreasing either of these dimensions (within reason for the purpose of the object) will decrease the amount of drag. And whether it’s a trailer or a hitch-mounted cargo rig, yes “hiding” it in the aerodynamic shadow of the vehicle will minimize any range impact. Additionally, fairing the gap between the vehicle and its following object will further minimize the effects that gap has on turbulence (and therefore drag).

 

[Sam2084]

This is great information. Thanks for posting.

Just keep in mind that improved range from preconditioning comes at a cost. Greater range is not the same as greater efficiency.

TANSTAAFL.

There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.

I definitely get better efficiency after preconditioning because the car doesn’t have to waste battery energy to heat the battery to a decent range. Unfortunately preconditioning was pretty expensive, at least $20/month so I stopped doing it every day. It’s a trade off of battery cycles vs electricity cost.

 

[kulaga]

Now if only there was a way to precondition on demand! I work from home, so I don't have a regular departure time. Best I can do is start the car 15 minutes early and extend the time once for an additional 15 minutes.

 

[Jimbo]

The range testing was done

on a dynamometer in an indoor facility. Preconditioning includes one hour of preconditioning with a cabin temperature setting of 72°F (22°C). All tests used a constant cabin temperature setting of Auto 72°F (22°C) throughout, with vehicle starting the test at the listed ambient temperature and the test chamber maintaining the listed ambient temperature throughout the test.

Real-world would cut these improvements down significantly, no? Sounds like this was a car sitting still (relative to air) in a cold box. Actually driving through below-freezing air at 50mph (or whatever) would sap the heat out of the battery (and cabin) pretty quick, I'd think

 

[JohnFoxeSheets]

Thanks! I understood about storing more when warmer. I was just wondering if the precondition process also packed in additional electrons while it warmed the batteries.

Thanks for asking the question, Mike. I had exactly the same question

 

[2Gremlins]

Now if only there was a way to precondition on demand! I work from home, so I don't have a regular departure time. Best I can do is start the car 15 minutes early and extend the time once for an additional 15 minutes.

This is my problem too. Does starting the car plugged in accomplish the same thing?

 

[generaltso]

This is my problem too. Does starting the car plugged in accomplish the same thing?

No. Remote start just conditions the cabin, not the battery.

 

[Womps]

Here is how I know my pre conditioning worked. Had the batteries preconditioned and backed out of my garage. Temp was -30 Celsius. Stopped on driveway and got out of vehicle. Tons of steam protruding from underneath the Mach E. Obviously batteries were toasty warm.

 

[GreaseMonkey]

Thank you for posting. It’s very helpful and educational as always.

Many folks underestimate the aero impact on efficiency. I drove my Prius once with four bikes mounted on the roof. My fuel efficiency dropped from 52 to 24 mpg and couldn’t go any faster than 75 mph (literally flooring it) on the smallest of inclines of the highway. Also unfortunately killed two birds.

 

[mbrownwvu]

I definitely get better efficiency after preconditioning because the car doesn’t have to waste battery energy to heat the battery to a decent range. Unfortunately preconditioning was pretty expensive, at least $20/month so I stopped doing it every day. It’s a trade off of battery cycles vs electricity cost.

I agree that it felt expensive the times I did It regularly, but it was also really cold outside so never knew exactly how much it added to my electric bill. Anyone have insight as to how much this would roughly cost us daily to precondition for departure in the winter (attached garage)?

 

[RickMachE]

I agree that it felt expensive the times I did It regularly, but it was also really cold outside so never knew exactly how much it added to my electric bill. Anyone have insight as to how much this would roughly cost us daily to precondition for departure in the winter (attached garage)?

Depends what you pay for electricity. I vaguely recall 1.7kW for one session, that would be 25 cents for me.

The only time I set a departure time is for a trip. Otherwise, for local driving, a remote start is adequate.

 

[Bayviews88]

Ford just released a very informative brochure detailing things that affect range with test results. It's for the F150 Lightning, but the effects would be very similar and relevant for the Mach-E as well. If you want to jump straight to the full brochure, I've attached the PDF at the bottom. Let me discuss some of the highlights:

Effect of Preconditioning:

As you can see, the colder it is outside, the larger the range improvement from preconditioning (setting a departure time). If we extrapolate with this data, the effect would be +20% improved range at -4ºF(-20ºC). Warmer batteries store more energy, so that's why heating the battery improves range. Preconditioning also has a slight improvement of range when it's very hot outside as well. For more information on how to precondition your battery when you don't have a regular schedule, see my cold weather strategy topic.

This is wild because here in the SF Bay Area where 50F/10C is a common outdoor temperature at night and morning along the coast/Bay. I’ve noticed outside temperature usage being a factor for consuming energy while driving. I don’t have a garage so preconditioning is more difficult, but this means my car should be plugged into a shared charger in my condo complex more often before departure.