OTA Software Update 10.3.0 - Powertrain, Battery, Parking Brake

[klossfam]

I think there’s been plenty of previous DPs where people have hit max charges like this, but the second part would be a MUCH bigger deal if true. The lower part of the curve has typically been around ~120 kw until now. Getting ~140-150kw after the initial surge would be huge, since that is the longer part of most charges.

Agreed and that's why I posted. My truck is parked outside and granted I had 30+ miles of use with 10 miles of preconditioning for this session. It was 27 F so still cold. Lowest I saw until 80% was 129 kw which is very solid. If you removed the 80-83% at 54 kw, I'd estimate the true average rate on this charge as 140 Kw.

That is very good and having owned an 800V car since Feb 2022, I can say charging curve is what is important. Another thing never talked about (esp with Hyundai EGMP) is in summer they get so hot charging, that your first 10 miles back out on the highway are NOT efficient as coolant pump and fans are cranking and you will see only 2.0-2.4 mi/KW until things cool down. So your 240 KW rate is cool 'on paper' but due to the initial efficiency loss, your range can be hampered.

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[luebri]

I think there’s been plenty of previous DPs where people have hit max charges like this, but the second part would be a MUCH bigger deal if true. The lower part of the curve has typically been around ~120 kw until now. Getting ~140-150kw after the initial surge would be huge, since that is the longer part of most charges.

Odd complete opposite experience for me, I have ~always maxed between 170-179 for ~10 minutes & have always held in the 140-150 range in my 2022. That said, my DCFC is fairly minimal maybe 10 sessions overall and never for more than 25 minutes.

 

[pjell]

Agreed and that's why I posted. My truck is parked outside and granted I had 30+ miles of use with 10 miles of preconditioning for this session. It was 27 F so still cold. Lowest I saw until 80% was 129 kw which is very solid. If you removed the 80-83% at 54 kw, I'd estimate the true average rate on this charge as 140 Kw.

That is very good and having owned an 800V car since Feb 2022, I can say charging curve is what is important. Another thing never talked about (esp with Hyundai EGMP) is in summer they get so hot charging, that your first 10 miles back out on the highway are NOT efficient as coolant pump and fans are cranking and you will see only 2.0-2.4 mi/KW until things cool down. So your 240 KW rate is cool 'on paper' but due to the initial efficiency loss, your range can be hampered.

Yes, curves are very important. And for those that don’t know, the Lightning’s charge curve is very unique. Most all other EVs follow their curve the same every time, and it’s all based on SOC. But with the Lightning you will usually get a 10 minute burst around 170 before it settles to ~120 until 80%. So it’s peak is lower than a lot of other vehicles today, but has this advantage.

 

[Zprime29]

Since I usually don't charge until I'm in the 15-25% range, I'm not going over 75-80% by the time I have my Chargepoint shut off at 7 am. Still, I used the Target Charge for our cottage and condo also and it was nice to not have to think about it if you didn't want to.

Just an FYI, battery life will be improved by charging more often. Plenty of data out there to back it up.

FWIW, the thing I'm most looking forward to is a pre-heating function for the battery pack. I know the newer 24s have it, but I'd love to have a button to pre-heat the pack for fast charging. Having it tied to route planning is a bit... as we used to say in the UK, Naff.

Switching to Tow/Haul or Sport mode will condition the battery. I've tested this with my ODB adapter. Which means folks who like to drive in Sports mode in good weather are taking a small hit to their efficiency, as the coolant pump is running while in this mode.

On the charge curve, I've never managed to hold 140+ kW after the initial boost phase (which also rarely lasts more than 5 min for me). Maybe it's the older chargers I'm stuck using in my neck of the woods. Tesla is building some v4 in Lordsburg, I can't wait to give those a go. An OTA to improve the charge curve would be huge, I often take 35-40 min to get 50% due to speeds dropping to 100kW after the boost. Good weather, bad weather, doesn't seem to matter much.

 

[pjell]

Just an FYI, battery life will be improved by charging more often. Plenty of data out there to back it up.


Switching to Tow/Haul or Sport mode will condition the battery. I've tested this with my ODB adapter. Which means folks who like to drive in Sports mode in good weather are taking a small hit to their efficiency, as the coolant pump is running while in this mode.

On the charge curve, I've never managed to hold 140+ kW after the initial boost phase (which also rarely lasts more than 5 min for me). Maybe it's the older chargers I'm stuck using in my neck of the woods. Tesla is building some v4 in Lordsburg, I can't wait to give those a go. An OTA to improve the charge curve would be huge, I often take 35-40 min to get 50% due to speeds dropping to 100kW after the boost. Good weather, bad weather, doesn't seem to matter much.

Interesting, I’ll have to try the trick to switch to sport mode. I’ve got the adapter so I can monitor if the battery starts to heat up.

I never held 140+ either. And my initial boost is usually 10-12 min, so maybe that is due to chargers?

 

[Zprime29]

Interesting, I’ll have to try the trick to switch to sport mode. I’ve got the adapter so I can monitor if the battery starts to heat up.

I never held 140+ either. And my initial boost is usually 10-12 min, so maybe that is due to chargers?

Sounds like it. I've had varied experiences at Tesla SC as well. Had one location never give me the boost and settled at 90kW. No idea what was up, I tried swapping stalls and got the same rate.

I prefer to switch to Tow/Hual mode, as it doesn't change the regen when "coasting".

 

[astrand1]

Ford should just get rid of this stupid “you have to charge first to set a location” crap. You ought to be able to pull up to a location and truck has gps and you can then save that location and the charge level that you desire. This really is not that hard. Ford is over complicating a situation that is not complicated.

 

[Karlos]

Switching to Tow/Haul or Sport mode will condition the battery. I've tested this with my ODB adapter.

What sensor are you reading on the ODB to see battery conditioning ? I've driven exclusively in Sport mode in both my 2022 & 2023 LER and only notice HVB coolent inlet temperature rise when get close to a DCFC in Navigation screen. Normally driving around, HVB coolent inlet temp is close to OAT, with highway driving and high OAT's driving it higher.

 

[Zprime29]

What sensor are you reading on the ODB to see battery conditioning ? I've driven exclusively in Sport mode in both my 2022 & 2023 LER and only notice HVB coolent inlet temperature rise when get close to a DCFC in Navigation screen. Normally driving around, HVB coolent inlet temp is close to OAT, with highway driving and high OAT's driving it higher.

Further discussion about it here: https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...perature-faster-using-tow-haul-mode-🌡️.21558/

All that testing was done while it was still very hot and only confirmed it would cool the battery. I saw the HVB coolant inlet temp drop upon switching to one of those modes. It doesn't get especially cold here to test if it warms the battery. There wasn't any follow up in that regard.

 

[Horsey]

Further discussion about it here: https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/cool-down-high-battery-temperature-faster-using-tow-haul-mode-?️.21558/

All that testing was done while it was still very hot and only confirmed it would cool the battery. I saw the HVB coolant inlet temp drop upon switching to one of those modes. It doesn't get especially cold here to test if it warms the battery. There wasn't any follow up in that regard.

so we're still stuck with no way to pre-condition the battery whilst using CarPlay/AA for navigation? I totally intended to never use any of the stock nav on my truck because it's inferior to CP/AA and also will cost money in the future.

 

[Zprime29]

so we're still stuck with no way to pre-condition the battery whilst using CarPlay/AA for navigation? I totally intended to never use any of the stock nav on my truck because it's inferior to CP/AA and also will cost money in the future.

Yes and no. There's an OTA (I forget which one) that enable's battery pre-condition in AA. CarPlay TBD???

If you need to cool the battery (a major concern for those of us in the south/south west) then switching drive mode can help. As @Firn pointed out, this is not full on pre-conditioning. That said, when I travel in the summer, I have noticed my average charge rate is lower than in the spring/winter. I'll lose my Nav subscription this June and will plan to use the mode switch when I travel for the July 4th weekend as a proxy for pre-conditioning the battery.

 

[Horsey]

I live in Tucson too, so I'm literally in the same boat as you lmao. I'd prefer not to kill my battery trying to charge it at ambient temps in June ??‍

 

[Zprime29]

I live in Tucson too, so I'm literally in the same boat as you lmao. I'd prefer not to kill my battery trying to charge it at ambient temps in July ??‍

You'll see the temp meter for the battery move to the right over the summer. For the most part, it's not a big deal. I haven't noticed any degradation to my range yet (beyond the additional energy used to crank the A/C). But I do keep an eye on it when I know I need to DCFC. Tow/Hual mode takes it back to peg the middle in about 15 min if you need it.

 

[ctuan13]

I might finally bite the bullet and reconnect my TCU to get this update. Still running 4.1.3 right now ?

 

[3121]

Attempt number 2

Left home at 45% SOC and used AA to route to a charger (I'm on 10.1.1). Again no conditioning of the battery was observed.

Tried the charger and saw 180kw, but the heater was running at 8kw. Max amperage was 450 into the battery. Heater ran until the charger again faulted (same charger), At this point the battery was in the 70s.

Tried the other cable on the same pedestal and charging kicked off, hitting 171-172kw, but no heater. I have never seen the 180s before, but I have seen the low 170s. However, power into the battery was the same 450A. The charger then faulted again and dropped to 30kw or so, so I gave up and went home.

I would like to believe the reports here of charging at 195kw, and the sustained 145kw would be awesome. I don't know how accurate my test was, what with the charger faulting so many times, but I think it's reasonable to think 10.1.1 is peaking at 450A, or roughly 170kw. If 10.3.0 shows up then maybe we can see.

These are not total system software versions. They are update numbers. Each update is for a specific module in the truck.
10.1.1 updated the gateway module which controls interconnects to other modules on the truck. It has zero to do with charging or the hv battery.

10.3.0 updates the powertrain modules including the battery control module.

Tesla does more total system software updates.
Don’t expect big sweeping changes with each update. Each update in the series (eg 10.x.x) is part of a whole package. You need all the updates over 6-12 months to complete the package.

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