2023 Ford F-150 Lightning only Charging to 78%

[Schmitty]

Hello, I have a 2023 Ford F-150 Lightning XLT with 16,700 miles on it. About a month ago I noticed a yellow service vehicle symbol come up on the dash and my truck dropped to 60% power (limp mode) and when I tried plugging my truck in at home I had a red ring on the charging port where it normally is blue. I brought it into my local Ford dealership since it was not charging at all and they stated it was a bad battery module #8 after testing. After they completed the battery module installation on my truck a little over a week ago now my truck will only charge to 78%. I usually have my truck set to charge to 70% since I do not commute much but I wanted to charge to 90% since I had a to run to a few places out of town and that's when I noticed my truck would only charge to 78% before the Ford app stated my truck was at 100% SOC when it was actually at 78%. I have been reading some other forums on this page and it looks like Ford has addressed this concern as SSM 52039 and states that the truck will reach its actual 100% SOC within 22 days. Has anyone had this issue as well with a battery module replacement and if so, did you batteries SOC go back to normal after time? I called the Ford dealership and they are not sure of this issue since they are newer with working on EV vehicles but wanted to ensure this truck was safe for not only myself, but also for my family. I love this truck so much but this issue definitely concerns me. Thank you!

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[KurtsRPMGarage]

It sounds like your dealer did not properly balance the battery before slapping it back in your truck. So basically one of your battery modules is hitting 100% before the rest. This triggers charging to stop early. If possible I would go to a different dealer. Either way the dealer needs to pull the battery and balance every module.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Yup, we've had a few reports from folks who had a module service done, and as Kurt points out the shop didn't spend much time balancing the replacement module to the rest of the pack, you can wait out the 22 days of charging /cycling it down and up and hopefully all will be well.

I would recommend testing the DCFC charging, especially if you have a longer road trip and the 78% is cramping your range needs, you want to know that it's also working normally and can fill the gap where needed.

BTW: welcome to the forum, stick around and let us know what you do and when the issue has been resolved.

 

[Schmitty]

Thank you both for your reply and for your help. I am kind of in a bind since the dealership by my house stated they followed the book on the install and have exhausted all their expertise from the EV techs on my trucks battery module replacement. I also called the Hudson Ford that is by me and the service department said they recommend having me go through the original provider/dealership that serviced the vehicle and the last dealership I called at Johnson Ford of New Richmond said they do not service EV vehicles since they do not have EV techs. It is just an idea but if the new battery module is at a higher state or charge would driving my truck down to 20% or a bit lower before charging back up speed up or help the truck balance more efficiently?

 

[TaxmanHog]

Thank you both for your reply and for your help. I am kind of in a bind since the dealership by my house stated they followed the book on the install and have exhausted all their expertise from the EV techs on my trucks battery module replacement. I also called the Hudson Ford that is by me and the service department said they recommend having me go through the original provider/dealership that serviced the vehicle and the last dealership I called at Johnson Ford of New Richmond said they do not service EV vehicles since they do not have EV techs. It is just an idea but if the new battery module is at a higher state or charge would driving my truck down to 20% or a bit lower before charging back up speed up or help the truck balance more efficiently?

They aren't lying to you, Ford gave the Tech's much more latitude with the service procedure, especially for shops who were jammed with work backlogs to get these services completed faster.

Driving it down lower and charging to the maximum it'll accept should speed the recovery process, I've not experienced the situation, hopefully a few members who have can give you best feedback.

 

[Schmitty]

I will definitely keep you all posted through this process just in case this happens to someone else. These trucks are amazing and the known battery module issues are very unfortunate, but I am happy Ford stands behind their trucks and the Lupient Ford in Baldwin, WI has been a huge help so far with providing me with a loaner vehicle while my truck was in the shop for about 3 weeks. I am hoping someone with a similar issue can fill us in on how they ended up resolving the issue or if the issue fixes itself over time. Looks like a quick Google search says the BMS will rebalance itself over the next several weeks which I am hoping is the case but it has been about 10 days since I picked up my truck from the dealership and the 78% SOC has not gone up.

 

[jwrezz]

Good luck with all this. Following.

 

[Grumpy2]

Ford gave the Tech's much more latitude with the service procedure

If failure to complete a necessary balancing procedure is the cause of this issue, it seems to be malpractice instead of more latitude....

 

[TaxmanHog]

If failure to complete a necessary balancing procedure is the cause of this issue, it seems to be malpractice instead of more latitude....

I don't know the specifics as to HOW MUCH latitude, could be THE OP's case is not within the intended and has an issue that should be reworked, let's see what happens in 23 days from most recent service.

 

[Schmitty]

My truck is currently at 65% charge so I plan to drive it today and tomorrow to get it down to around 20% and will set my charge to 100% and will see how much the battery will let me charge it up. I know it won't hit the (actual) 100% but hoping with driving it down lower than normal that it may help to balance the new module with the old ones. I will keep you all posted.

 

[chl]

Not to sound alarmist but an imbalance like that is a very bad thing for your battery.

If you google "what happens when battery module are not balanced correctly" you will see the problems that could arise.

They should have put the all the modules to the same charge state before assembly.

If it were me I would call Ford directly and get them to fix the issue.

The BMS will take a heck of a long time to adjust that imbalance, the 22 days estimate.
Charging and discharging will not fix the issue - the high state of charge modules will either stop the charging (best case scenario) or they could get overcharged (worst case scenario).

The lower SOC modules will not reach the limit the charge is set for in the first scenario as you have experienced resulting in less than your full capacity. If the BMS didn't the higher SOC modules could over charge and lead to a fire (thermal runaway).

This is a critical safety risk where a severely overcharged or over-discharged cell can generate uncontrollable heat. This creates a chain reaction that can spread to adjacent cells, potentially leading to a fire or explosion.

When charging, the BMS stops the process once the "strongest" cell reaches its maximum voltage. This prevents the other cells from reaching a full charge, so the overall pack never reaches 100% capacity

DIscharging is likewise an issue. The lower SOC modules will discharge further than the higher SOC modules and stop the discharge even when the high SOC modules still have capacity, or if the BMS didn't stop it, it could result in taking them too low and cause permanent damage.

So you it will effectively limit the charge range between the low end of the low SOC modules and the high end of the high SOC modules. This is referred to as the "barrel effect."

A battery pack is only as strong as its weakest cell, a principle often referred to as the "barrel theory". During discharge, the BMS will shut down the entire pack to protect the "weak" cell from being over-discharged, even if other cells still have energy left. This significantly reduces the total usable energy.

Leaving it like this will shorten battery life.
And it is asking for more serious problems down the road, like battery damage, and thermal runaway should the BMS not do its job.

During charging, the stronger, higher-voltage cells can get pushed past their safe voltage threshold. This can cause irreversible damage and accelerate degradation.

So either wait the 22 days for the BMS to rebalance the HV battery modules, or take it to Ford and have them do it right.

Small imbalances can be handled by the BMS overnight or in a short period of time.

But if they told you 22 days, that is a serious imbalance!

 

[TaxmanHog]

But if they told you 22 days, that is a serious imbalance!

This guidance has been the policy for many months.

Is the above and preceding more Ai carp?

 

[Sealevel]

I am one of the members of the "battery module failure" club and posted the process my XLT SR went through successfully on another thread this past summer. The service tech tried to follow the repair procedure from Ford, but found omissions and assumptions that he had to work through. I consider myself lucky that it all worked out and I've not had any problems after the cell replacement. I use my Level2 charger most of the time and only Fast Charge to 80 to 90% when I'm driving longer distances. My tech gave feedback to Ford on the missing information and I hope they have incorporated that into the repair/replacement procedure. The good news is my battery was properly balanced and it has worked well for 3+ months. Once you get the balance straight, you should be able to enjoy your normal experience. Best of Luck.

 

[chl]

This guidance has been the policy for many months.

Is the above and preceding more Ai carp?

Not sure what you are referring to as "AI carp."

It seemed to me that the OP charges to 100% but only gets 78% overall, and that is what I would call a significant imbalance in modules. That would give me pause given all the things that could go wrong.

Not sure what Ford's SOP guidance is, but generally, I think the best practice would be to bring all the modules into balance, up to the same SOC, before connection. It ccould be a time consuming process which may be why Ford sticks them together and lets the BMS in the truck do it over a period of many days rather than have the customer wait.

Until the BMS gets everything balanced, the truck is not going to be operating at 100% - it will only be as good as the cells with the lowest SOC.

If AI says the same thing, then maybe AI got it right?

 

[TaxmanHog]

I've advised the OP to reach out to our resident Lightning Engineer on the forum to see if he should pursue bringing the truck in for additional service or just follow the '22 days to perfect' policy.

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