UK Customers

[SteveUk]

A little concerned that our US friends seem to be experiencing 12v battery issues. Already have had reports of their cars losing charge and having to use the emergency bonnet opening feature to get to the battery to boost it. I did think of getting little booster power pack just in case but if I keep it in the car and can't open the doors because the battery is flat then there is no point. Hopefully the Ford breakdown cover will extend to this side of life as well. Worth checking with your dealer me thinks. Not good that this is happening after only a couple of weeks. I thought the HV battery was supposed to monitor the 12v battery and keep it topped up. Ooooppppsssss

...and I have seen in some photos over the last months when it's in a showroom, sometimes there is a battery charge cable connected up. anyone else noticed that? have those cars in the showroom had their battery left to run dry?

Also i hope the buzzing display issue is not on a significant number of cars!

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[Iwantonenow]

The MachE sign on the door is the give away. No number 4 or X. And the moustache is the RWD one.

One day I will be as knowledgeable as you! Thank you

 

[portlandg]

One day I will be as knowledgeable as you! Thank you

I have had well over a year to dig into the nitty gritty and even my knowledge is out shone by others on here

 

[portlandg]

Ship update.
Grande Houston is now in the Gulf of Mexico heading towards Houston where she is due in at 2100 UTC tomorrow. It appears she is on schedule. Then on to Veracruz. I'm not stalking her honest ?
I'm going to look pretty stupid if this isn't 'our' ship aren't I?

 

[Wonky_Donkey]

The way I understand it is that when charging on AC the speed is not really a concern. It is only recommended not to 100% regularly. Too many fast DC charges is more of an issue. I am sure the more experienced EV owners on here (@Wonky_Donkey ) will correct me if I am wrong, seeing that I am a newbie at all this.

Morning all - blimey you've had a busy morning while I've been in meetings LOL

So to give reassurances on charging...

If you look at the plug that goes into the car you'll notice a circle of pins (not all used) at the top, and then two big pins side by side underneath the ring.

The ring is often referred to as a "Type2" or "Mennekes" connector and is used when charging the car from an AC power supply (your domestic electricity supply)

Charging from an AC supply is routed through the car's own power system, and is limited by the onboard power regulator in the car to 11 kWh. In the grand scheme of things this is the equivalent of a slow and steady charge rate, and is not detrimental to the battery. It's not so rapid that it causes a lot of heat in the battery systems when being used. Think of it like an IV drip in your arm would be like, slow and steady.

The two pins at the bottom when combined with the top ring is called a "CCS" connector and you will normally only see this type of plug where DC fast charging services are available.

Charging from a DC Fast charger is only really possible at commercial locations that have very high voltage capabilities and switchgear. The Standard Range battery pack can cope with 115kW max, the Extended Range can manage 150kW. If we go back to our IV drip analogy DC charging is like using a big syringe straight into the arm - it can pump a lot in over a very short time. The downside is that this generates quite a lot of heat, and if not managed well can cause damage to the cells of a battery.

So what I'm alluding to here is that if you are using any type of AC charger you are not likely to cause any issues with long term battery longevity as long as you're not always trying to top off the battery to 100% full all the time every day. Set your car to charge up to 80% of maximum, but when you want to do a long journey by all means top up to 100% beforehand to get your maximum range. Doing this every now and again is absolutely fine.

Use DC Rapid charging when you need to get that quick injection of energy - like when you are running low on a long trip - but again only go to 80%. Don't use it as your primary/only charging method.

Keep your battery bouncing around between 10% - 80% and it will stay happy for many many years.

 

[Mjsd]

Morning all - blimey you've had a busy morning while I've been in meetings LOL

So to give reassurances on charging...

If you look at the plug that goes into the car you'll notice a circle of pins (not all used) at the top, and then two big pins side by side underneath the ring.

The ring is often referred to as a "Type2" or "Mennekes" connector and is used when charging the car from an AC power supply (your domestic electricity supply)

Charging from an AC supply is routed through the car's own power system, and is limited by the onboard power regulator in the car to 11 kWh. In the grand scheme of things this is the equivalent of a slow and steady charge rate, and is not detrimental to the battery. It's not so rapid that it causes a lot of heat in the battery systems when being used. Think of it like an IV drip in your arm would be like, slow and steady.

The two pins at the bottom when combined with the top ring is called a "CCS" connector and you will normally only see this type of plug where DC fast charging services are available.

Charging from a DC Fast charger is only really possible at commercial locations that have very high voltage capabilities and switchgear. The Standard Range battery pack can cope with 115kW max, the Extended Range can manage 150kW. If we go back to our IV drip analogy DC charging is like using a big syringe straight into the arm - it can pump a lot in over a very short time. The downside is that this generates quite a lot of heat, and if not managed well can cause damage to the cells of a battery.

So what I'm alluding to here is that if you are using any type of AC charger you are not likely to cause any issues with long term battery longevity as long as you're not always trying to top off the battery to 100% full all the time every day. Set your car to charge up to 80% of maximum, but when you want to do a long journey by all means top up to 100% beforehand to get your maximum range. Doing this every now and again is absolutely fine.

Use DC Rapid charging when you need to get that quick injection of energy - like when you are running low on a long trip - but again only go to 80%. Don't use it as your primary/only charging method.

Keep your battery bouncing around between 10% - 80% and it will stay happy for many many years.

That is the best answer of my question!
Thank you

 

[SteveUk]

There also appears to be issues with charging in the US where they say the car isn't preconditioning before charge stations and/or a cold weather issue.

 

[Wonky_Donkey]

There also appears to be issues with charging in the US where they say the car isn't preconditioning before charge stations and/or a cold weather issue.

In this scenario I'm not sure if it's actually a problem, or an unrealistic expectation of the users.

From what I've read their gripe is that the battery is not being pre-warmed for optimal charging in cold weather. But how the battery would know that while on a journey you were going to be charging it in 30mins time I don't know. It's not like there's a button or switch to that effect.

What will be happening is that in extreme cold conditions when they actually plug in, there will be a delay in optimal charging speed while the battery management system makes sure everything is at it's best.

I'm not sure - I may have totally misunderstood the issue - but you do find that some ultra tech consumers will get worked up about something that realistically isn't that big of a deal.

 

[Wonky_Donkey]

On a separate topic I have had to lock down access privileges to the Google Sheet with our order summary info on it. Everyone can still view, but only I can edit it.

Someone had gone in and gone a bit wild with both the UK and Norway sheets - and had deleted data and messed with the formatting. (they made a serious mess of the Norway sheet!)

Luckily Google sheets takes backups every time changes are made, so I have restored everything to how it was.

If you would like any data updating just drop me a direct message or post in this thread.

 

[Tim03]

On a separate topic I have had to lock down access privileges to the Google Sheet with our order summary info on it. Everyone can still view, but only I can edit it.

Someone had gone in and gone a bit wild with both the UK and Norway sheets - and had deleted data and messed with the formatting. (they made a serious mess of the Norway sheet!)

Luckily Google sheets takes backups every time changes are made, so I have restored everything to how it was.

If you would like any data updating just drop me a direct message or post in this thread.

That’s terrible, can you see who’s done that?
thanks for still keeping it up to date tho!!

 

[SteveUk]

One person was driving at minus 23c or thereabouts! And was pointing out a their range was diminished! I didn't think it was possible to even have that temp on a road!

 

[Wonky_Donkey]

That’s terrible, can you see who’s done that?
thanks for still keeping it up to date tho!!

Unless someone actually logs in with their Google account it's all logged as "anonymous user".

The Norway one looked malicious - ours just looked like someone had tried to play with the data to do some analysis and ended up doing some stuff they didn't intend to do.

No harm - that's why we have backups

 

[portlandg]

On a separate topic I have had to lock down access privileges to the Google Sheet with our order summary info on it. Everyone can still view, but only I can edit it.

Someone had gone in and gone a bit wild with both the UK and Norway sheets - and had deleted data and messed with the formatting. (they made a serious mess of the Norway sheet!)

Luckily Google sheets takes backups every time changes are made, so I have restored everything to how it was.

If you would like any data updating just drop me a direct message or post in this thread.

I was about to say something as I noticed earlier it wasn't in numerical order any more but instead was in status order. I thought you might have changed it yourself.

 

[Wonky_Donkey]

I was about to say something as I noticed earlier it wasn't in numerical order any more but instead was in status order. I thought you might have changed it yourself.

It's no biggie - but should say if people want to have filters and sort orders easily available just yell and I'll add them as view options.

 

[SteveUk]

I'm glad you locked it, when I browse it i'm always paraniod that I accidently bodge the data.

I just got this popup. The batmobile might be moving!

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