Charging unattended

[RustyMitchell]

Hey everyone ! I literally picked up my 2023 F-150 Lariat with the extended battery last Wednesday afternoon and then unfortunately had to leave town the next morning.

I plugged the truck into a standard wall socket using the mobile charger that came with the truck. As advertised and expected it took almost 4.5 days to charge it to 100%.

My question is whether it’s ok to leave it hooked up to the charger after it already hit 100% ? Or should I have a neighbor disconnect it ?

I’m still out of town until this coming Tuesday so it will be another 3 days before I can “pull the plug” So to speak

thanks

Rusty

Sponsored

 

[TheWoo]

Won't hurt anything to leave it plugged in. In fact, Ford recommends leaving it plugged in.

What I would suggest is to lower your target charge at home, though, so you aren't constantly charging to 100%. That's not great on these batteries. I have mine set to 70% and change it to a higher level when I know I'm going to need to leave for a road trip.

 

[Jim Lewis]

I would suggest is to lower your target charge at home, though, so you aren't constantly charging to 100%. That's not great on these batteries.

I agree. I am a low-mileage driver as an old retiree. Since my truck is "in storage" most of the week except for my few 10- to 20-mile trips, usually on separate days, I only charge to 50% on a daily basis (the Ford-recommended SOC for long-term storage). My usual long trip is to Austin, TX and back in a single day (~170 miles). And for that, I charge to 80% and typically arrive home with 30% charge left.

Besides the battery SOC, one might worry about where one leaves the truck. If you're in a hot summer climate like I am, it's good to keep the truck in a garage or at least in the shade. That will help the battery long-term. I bought a 14,000 BTU portable room air conditioner that exhausts its compressor heat (mostly) out a garage vent in an attempt to keep the (insulated) garage at no more than 85 deg F when it's 106 deg out. So, I'm not exactly being green with my truck, but I don't fancy running out of range down the road and certainly not buying a new vehicle (or a new battery!) any time soon.

P.S. To stay close to my 85 deg target temperature (the garage floor temperature around the truck as read by an infrared thermo gun), I only need to run the portable AC unit from about 6 pm until sometime around 10 or 11 pm. The attic and the brickwork around the garage cool down during the night and only reach max temperature around 5 to 6 pm on any hot summer day. So, as the sun goes down, the garage proper is still warming up from the accumulated heat of the day in the brickwork and the attic, and that's the main thing that the portable AC unit is competing against. It gets a free ride most of the nighttime and earlier daytime hours except on the most extreme heat days.

 

[RustyMitchell]

Won't hurt anything to leave it plugged in. In fact, Ford recommends leaving it plugged in.

What I would suggest is to lower your target charge at home, though, so you aren't constantly charging to 100%. That's not great on these batteries. I have mine set to 70% and change it to a higher level when I know I'm going to need to leave for a road trip.

Thanks Thought I had read somewhere that it was ok to leave plugged in. But, I also started to read where some of the mobile chargers have been over-heating.

copy about lowering the target charge at home …. It was a bit of a whirlwind the night before leaving town. I’ll certainly set it lower when I get back

thanks again !

 

[TheWoo]

Thanks Thought I had read somewhere that it was ok to leave plugged in. But, I also started to read where some of the mobile chargers have been over-heating.

copy about lowering the target charge at home …. It was a bit of a whirlwind the night before leaving town. I’ll certainly set it lower when I get back

thanks again !

For sure - it won't hurt that you charged to 100 this time, or really any time as long as you aren't staying there for long durations. If you drive a lot every day and are running through the battery quite a ways regularly, you can probably get away with charging higher (like 85). If you don't drive a lot I'd set it lower (say, 70 or even 50/60 if you drive very little).

I agree. I am a low-mileage driver as an old retiree. Since my truck is "in storage" most of the week except for my few 10- to 20-mile trips, usually on separate days, I only charge to 50% on a daily basis (the Ford-recommended SOC for long-term storage). My usual long trip is to Austin, TX and back in a single day (~170 miles). And for that, I charge to 80% and typically arrive home with 30% charge left.

Besides the battery SOC, one might worry about where one leaves the truck. If you're in a hot summer climate like I am, it's good to keep the truck in a garage or at least in the shade. That will help the battery long-term. I bought a 14,000 BTU portable room air conditioner that exhausts its compressor heat (mostly) out a garage vent in an attempt to keep the (insulated) garage at no more than 85 deg F when it's 106 deg out. So, I'm not exactly being green with my truck, but I don't fancy running out of range down the road and certainly not buying a new vehicle (or a new battery!) any time soon.

This is, I believe, a reason to leave it plugged in. If the batteries get too hot because of the environment, the cooking system will work to keep them cool if the truck is plugged in.

 

[RustyMitchell]

For sure - it won't hurt that you charged to 100 this time, or really any time as long as you aren't staying there for long durations. If you drive a lot every day and are running through the battery quite a ways regularly, you can probably get away with charging higher (like 85). If you don't drive a lot I'd set it lower (say, 70 or even 50/60 if you drive very little).

This is, I believe, a reason to leave it plugged in. If the batteries get too hot because of the environment, the cooking system will work to keep them cool if the truck is plugged in.

Great information !
Thanks
Rusty

 

[Jim Lewis]

This is, I believe, a reason to leave it plugged in. If the batteries get too hot because of the environment, the cooking system will work to keep them cool if the truck is plugged in.

That's true. A Ford rep told me that the cooling only comes on when the batteries are 100 deg F. And also, my truck is in a closed system. It's like running a portable AC unit in a room with no vent to the outside. And outside, it's even hotter than inside (as much as 106 deg this summer). So, there is nowhere for the heat to go if the truck decides to cool itself. A potential positive feedback loop. With the portable AC unit, I don't have to wait to hit 100 deg F but can keep the batteries quite a bit cooler while I help contribute to global warming. So far, it hasn't made much of a dent in our utility bill, even though the SEER rating of the unit is only something like 6.5. Cooling a ~400 sq. ft. garage to 85 deg with an inefficient unit is a lot cheaper than cooling the rest of a 3400 sq. ft. house to 81 deg with a 15 SEER unit! I've tried just leaving the door from the house to the garage open, but the wife does not like the slight whiff of fumes from various chemicals stored in the garage oozing into the house. There seems to be a bit of convection air flow from the cooler air in the house dropping down the foot or so to the garage floor at the backhall entrance and then slowly drifting out the garage vents, which are at floor level. The wife also thinks mosquitoes and other bugs are going to invade the house if I leave the door to the garage cracked open, perhaps because the screen built into the garage vents is not fine enough.

 

[Silenze]

I think you can use the fordpass app to stop the charging

 

[RustyMitchell]

I think you can use the fordpass app to stop the charging

Yes I think you can, but I don’t see where I can change the “target” charge on the app Think I saw that in the truck

It’s already at 100% so kind of a moot point this time

Rusty

 

[TheWoo]

Yes I think you can, but I don’t see where I can change the “target” charge on the app Think I saw that in the truck

It’s already at 100% so kind of a moot point this time

Rusty

You need to save your home as a charging location and then you can set the maximum charge level.

 

[Maquis]

You shouldn’t leave the battery sit at 100% charge for extended periods.

See “Setting the charging schedule and preferences” in the manual.

 

[RickLightning]

Running AC in the garage is totally unnecessary.

I think you can use the fordpass app to stop the charging

Nope. It will just restart. Need to save the location and set parameters.

 

[Adventureboy]

Lots of good suggestions in the thread. The reality is that Ford has accounted for the impact of owners charging to 100% continuously and leaving it plugged in. The battery warranty numbers are built into that calculation.
I wouldn't leave it plugged in at 100% for longer than a day or so normally but don't worry about it in the short term if it stays plugged in for a few days. While Ford has accounted for this with a bit of capacity overhead, it is a bit harder on the battery health. It won't kill it, but it will wear it a bit faster than lower SOCs. Any SOC 90% or lower (90% SOC is actually about 80% of the cell capacity as configured by Ford) is healthier for your battery pack. My sweet spot is 85% SOC and I'm comfortable leaving it plugged in at that SOC. I pop it up to 95% or 100% only when I know I'm hitting the road for a longer trip within the next 8 hours or so (I do this from the app).

If you have the FordPass app set up, you can set the location parameters with maximum SOC set to something under 100% and activate the location profile. This will adjust in real-time with the truck and stop charging at the set SOC for that location. I agree with RickLightning on stopping with the FordPass app - it doesn't work.

 

[Maquis]

Lots of good suggestions in the thread. The reality is that Ford has accounted for the impact of owners charging to 100% continuously and leaving it plugged in. The battery warranty numbers are built into that calculation.
I wouldn't leave it plugged in at 100% for longer than a day or so normally but don't worry about it in the short term if it stays plugged in for a few days. While Ford has accounted for this with a bit of capacity overhead, it is a bit harder on the battery health. It won't kill it, but it will wear it a bit faster than lower SOCs. Any SOC 90% or lower (90% SOC is actually about 80% of the cell capacity as configured by Ford) is healthier for your battery pack. My sweet spot is 85% SOC and I'm comfortable leaving it plugged in at that SOC. I pop it up to 95% or 100% only when I know I'm hitting the road for a longer trip within the next 8 hours or so (I do this from the app).

If you have the FordPass app set up, you can set the location parameters with maximum SOC set to something under 100% and activate the location profile. This will adjust in real-time with the truck and stop charging at the set SOC for that location. I agree with RickLightning on stopping with the FordPass app - it doesn't work.

Using FordPass isn’t necessary to set charging parameters. In fact, setting them in the truck is easier and more reliable.

 

[RustyMitchell]

Lots of good suggestions in the thread. The reality is that Ford has accounted for the impact of owners charging to 100% continuously and leaving it plugged in. The battery warranty numbers are built into that calculation.
I wouldn't leave it plugged in at 100% for longer than a day or so normally but don't worry about it in the short term if it stays plugged in for a few days. While Ford has accounted for this with a bit of capacity overhead, it is a bit harder on the battery health. It won't kill it, but it will wear it a bit faster than lower SOCs. Any SOC 90% or lower (90% SOC is actually about 80% of the cell capacity as configured by Ford) is healthier for your battery pack. My sweet spot is 85% SOC and I'm comfortable leaving it plugged in at that SOC. I pop it up to 95% or 100% only when I know I'm hitting the road for a longer trip within the next 8 hours or so (I do this from the app).

If you have the FordPass app set up, you can set the location parameters with maximum SOC set to something under 100% and activate the location profile. This will adjust in real-time with the truck and stop charging at the set SOC for that location. I agree with RickLightning on stopping with the FordPass app - it doesn't work.

Thank you for information. As soon as i get back to town ill reset the target charge to 85%……. Appreciate the help !

Rusty

Sponsored