[Thomas1920]

I was doing some research on recommended EV charging to extend battery life. One EV owner referenced a 20/80 rule meaning you should try not to go below 20% charge or above 80%.
Has anyone else heard of this or whether it would apply to Ford’s battery technology? Obviously factors such as this may impact the practical range.

 

[dbsb3233]

I don't have direct experience with BEVs yet (until I get my Mach-e), but from what I've read, EVs typically prevent users from going "too low" into the batteries. In other words, "0% LEFT" really isn't 0%, it's probably more like 10% or 20% to protect the battery. So we shouldn't need to worry about the bottom end from a battery-protection standpoint. (Of course, we very much need to worry about it from a range anxiety standpoint, i.e. not getting stranded).

What seems less sure is whether there's similar protection on the top end. Sounds like some EVs limit that more and some less. So it might be wise to not fully charge unless you're planning a long drive the next day. I think the vehicle software typically allows a limit to be set, so if you plug it in overnight it will automatically stop at whatever point you set that at.

I'm sure others with more EV experience will correct that if it's wrong, but that's what I've been reading.

 

[Thomas1920]

I’d be interested to know if Ford considers this when they quote ranges. I reserved the standard range AWD model which quotes 210 miles. It would be good to know if that’s a real 210 or a sticker number.

 

[dbsb3233]

For the moment it's just a computer estimate. Hasn't even been evaluated for EPA rating yet.

Agreed that it would be really helpful to know more about that (and a number of other things) before we finalize our orders. That's why I'm still probably just 50-50 on whether I'll actually buy this thing or not. Lots of unknowns.

 

[Thomas1920]

Agreed.

 

[dbsb3233]

I had originally reserved RWD ER in order to get maximum range (300 miles) for road trips. But upon further research, I'm planning on reversing that to AWD SR when I actually place the order. I came to the conclusion that even the "300 mile" version would be insufficient for any road trips I take. They'd all involve 75-80 MPH interstate speeds where you typically lose another 30% off of range (BEV efficiency plummets at high speeds). Since I'll still have a nice ICE vehicle in my garage too, I'll simply take it on any road trips. There's just too much compromise to drive the BEV on road trips for my tastes.

So just I'll spec it exclusively for daily around-home needs. I think the 210 mile version will be sufficient for that. Part of that could still be at 75 MPH, in bad weather, running climate control full time. But even staying within a 10%--80% charge window, I think that's 120 miles of safe range at worst (that I could jack up to maybe 170 with full charge if needed). That's still more than enough for all of my daily needs, as long as it's relegated to the home-base car that charges at home in the garage every night.

 

[silverelan]

Ford specifically says not to charge to 100%. They've got multiple videos on the subject.

Electric Vehicles | FORD

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

 

[Thomas1920]

I agree. Based on my commute and a second gas fueled car, I couldn’t see spending another $6k for the additional miles.

 

[Thomas1920]

Ford specifically says not to charge to 100%. They've got multiple videos on the subject.

Electric Vehicles | FORD

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

www.youtube.com

I think these are two different topics. Based in the ad you shared, I think Ford is trying to educate people on owning an EV. Basically, you don’t have to continually top off the battery as long as you have enough range plus contingency. My question is regarding what’s healthy for the battery. For example, when the car goes to 100%, is it really at 90% and Ford built that into the brain and their range estimates... or does the owner have to be more mindful.

 

[macchiaz-o]

I plan to just "use the defaults" that the manufacturer sets up for charging... until and unless they provide some reasoned guidance suggesting that it may be better to do otherwise.

Also, I believe the EPA ranges, whatever they end up being, will be based on "using the defaults" to get a "full" charge.

 

[Thomas1920]

I plan to just "use the defaults" that the manufacturer sets up for charging... until and unless they provide some reasoned guidance suggesting that it may be better to do otherwise.

Also, I believe the EPA ranges, whatever they end up being, will be based on "using the defaults" to get a "full" charge.

This would make the most sense. Let the software worry about the battery and the mileage quotes take all of it into account.

 

[dbsb3233]

This would make the most sense. Let the software worry about the battery and the mileage quotes take all of it into account.

Except there may be times you want the option to push the battery further once in a while if it's not going to do significant damage. If it really is better for the battery to only charge to 80% most of the time, and if that's enough for daily around-home driving, that's fine. But if you do take it on a road trip, and it won't really hurt to charge to 100% just occasionally, then you'd want the ability to do that.

I'd be fine with a "default" setting that caps at 80% (or whatever the recommended number), but I'd also want the ability to go to 100% if needed. (But only if doing so just occasionally really doesn't do significant damage.)

 

[Thomas1920]

I agree. Just to be clear, these parameters may not apply. Hopefully Ford will provide more info on charging and capacity later.

 

[Generaltso]

I'd also want the ability to go to 100% if needed. (But only if doing so just occasionally really doesn't do significant damage.)

If charging an EV to 100% occasionally caused significant damage, the entire EV industry would be in serious trouble. You're overthinking this.

 

[mpvitry]

I wonder if the Mach-E will be setup for bidirectional charging. So we can use it as a battery backup during a power outage.

 

[Generaltso]

I wonder if the Mach-E will be setup for bidirectional charging. So we can use it as a battery backup during a power outage.

Very unlikely.

 

[Baker59]

Having a little Smart Electric, at 20% the car advise me and ask if I want to find out a charge station, if yes it show me the charge station around my position. I never goes under 15%. On the Hyunday Kona you can control the maximum of charge that you want via the center touchscreen, hope that Ford will have something similar.

 

[micha]

All EV come with a buffer build in, some are bigger, some are smaller. VW/Audi for example is very conservative on this and have a bigger buffer, others go more to the edge like Tesla and have a small buffer. So as bigger the buffer build in, as less you have to think about this. As EV goes more mainstream the buffer will get bigger I think. I live on top of a hill and when I drive down fully loaded my Ioniq still does recuperate and gain miles but my Twizy does not...

My Ioniq only has a range of around 120miles, so I need to charge all the time on trips, but it charges very fast. So normally I only charge 5-10 minutes on the freeway rest areas and go on. for long trips the battery capacity is less important than the charging speed, at least in Europe where I never have troubles to find a fast charger.
Best play around with a A Better Routeplanner to find out how a typical Trip you do will look like. As car choose the Hyundai Kona that has a smaller battery but is more efficient.

 

[guyofthesky]

I had originally reserved RWD ER in order to get maximum range (300 miles) for road trips. But upon further research, I'm planning on reversing that to AWD SR when I actually place the order. I came to the conclusion that even the "300 mile" version would be insufficient for any road trips I take. They'd all involve 75-80 MPH interstate speeds where you typically lose another 30% off of range (BEV efficiency plummets at high speeds). Since I'll still have a nice ICE vehicle in my garage too, I'll simply take it on any road trips. There's just too much compromise to drive the BEV on road trips for my tastes.

So just I'll spec it exclusively for daily around-home needs. I think the 210 mile version will be sufficient for that. Part of that could still be at 75 MPH, in bad weather, running climate control full time. But even staying within a 10%--80% charge window, I think that's 120 miles of safe range at worst (that I could jack up to maybe 170 with full charge if needed). That's still more than enough for all of my daily needs, as long as it's relegated to the home-base car that charges at home in the garage every night.

Just curious. How many road trips of more than 400 miles do you make in a year?

 

[guyofthesky]

I don't have direct experience with BEVs yet (until I get my Mach-e), but from what I've read, EVs typically prevent users from going "too low" into the batteries. In other words, "0% LEFT" really isn't 0%, it's probably more like 10% or 20% to protect the battery. So we shouldn't need to worry about the bottom end from a battery-protection standpoint. (Of course, we very much need to worry about it from a range anxiety standpoint, i.e. not getting stranded).

What seems less sure is whether there's similar protection on the top end. Sounds like some EVs limit that more and some less. So it might be wise to not fully charge unless you're planning a long drive the next day. I think the vehicle software typically allows a limit to be set, so if you plug it in overnight it will automatically stop at whatever point you set that at.

I'm sure others with more EV experience will correct that if it's wrong, but that's what I've been reading.

I have a Bolt with maybe 40,000 miles on it. Like all Lithium-Ion batteries, it is theoretically true that keeping the charger level near 50% all of the time will maximize battery life. But in real life, this worry is way overblown. EV batteries are lasting way longer than even the optimists expected.

If you need a full charge, charge it up. If you don't, stop early, mostly because you can still have the regen braking, not to save the battery. If you have to run it all the way down to get somewhere, do that.

It isn't a big deal. Really.