Battery Preconditioning how does it work?

[Madams5440]

I'm wondering how battery Preconditioning on my 2024 Lariat works. I plug in at home and the charger kicks on from 11pm to 7am.
I always warm the truck up before leaving? Is that preconditioning? I've read that there's an option on the app but don't see it on my updated app

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[RickLightning]

Many threads on this. If you set a departure time, while plugged into to 240v, it will precondition the battery, then the cabin. For local short drives, there is little advantage to this, just do a Remote Start via the Climate button in FordPass. For a trip, this improves the efficiency on your first leg.

When navigating to a DC fast charger, it will also precondition as you get ~20 miles from the charger.

 

[Grumpy2]

Here is a good place to start about preconditioning:

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...-preconditioning-pre-heat-your-battery.13693/

Regarding updates to the app, there may be changes, I haven't tried preconditioning since last year.

 

[WXman]

So does it prove harmful to battery longevity to have it plugged up to 240v every night through the winter? I will only *need* to charge once per week. But it'll start getting pretty cold around here after Christmas.

 

[Madams5440]

So does it prove harmful to battery longevity to have it plugged up to 240v every night through the winter? I will only *need* to charge once per week. But it'll start getting pretty cold around here after Christmas.

Good question

 

[Pioneer74]

So does it prove harmful to battery longevity to have it plugged up to 240v every night through the winter? I will only *need* to charge once per week. But it'll start getting pretty cold around here after Christmas.

ABC

Always
Be
Charging.

Plug in every night

 

[Grumpy2]

One big advantage of always plugging in while at home is the ability to hit the start button and gain 10% more battery if a unexpected trip out of town comes up. Or the morning is colder than you expected, just do a remote start using the grid power to warm up the cabin.
If we are home, it is plugged in. I have the power cable hanging on the wall right by the driver's door.

 

[RickLightning]

So does it prove harmful to battery longevity to have it plugged up to 240v every night through the winter? I will only *need* to charge once per week. But it'll start getting pretty cold around here after Christmas.

No. In fact it should be always plugged in AND charged every night.

Charging from 80 to 90% seven nights a week uses 70% of a charge cycle.
Charging from 20 to 90% one night a week uses 70% of a charge cycle.

Many threads on this. ABC, Always Be Charging.

 

[Nikos]

So does it prove harmful to battery longevity to have it plugged up to 240v every night through the winter? I will only *need* to charge once per week. But it'll start getting pretty cold around here after Christmas.

No, it will not be harmful to your battery.
Yes, plug your truck every night and set a schedule for departure even though you going nowhere. You do this thru the FordPass app. You can control the preconditioning thru your app anytime of the day to keep your battery warm on cold nights or mornings. Play with the departure times and watch the truck do its thing.

 

[WXman]

What kind of electricity draw should I expect when pre-conditioning is set up? I assume it's not a lot, since it's simply going to turn on some systems to warm the cabin but if it's done every night that could add up and blow a lot of the EV savings.

 

[csukoh78]

So does it prove harmful to battery longevity to have it plugged up to 240v every night through the winter? I will only *need* to charge once per week. But it'll start getting pretty cold around here after Christmas.

Absolutely not. It's actually the complete opposite. The mantra is ABC = Always Be Charging.

The vehicle will always be doing things in the background and if it's not plugged into the wall, it will use its own battery power creating a constant drain. When plugged into the wall, it uses the wall power and preserves the battery. It also makes warming up the vehicle or cooling it off in the summer much easier.

Always always always keep your vehicle plugged in and definitely do not go more than a week without having it plugged in, that's almost the worst thing you can do.

 

[RickLightning]

What kind of electricity draw should I expect when pre-conditioning is set up? I assume it's not a lot, since it's simply going to turn on some systems to warm the cabin but if it's done every night that could add up and blow a lot of the EV savings.

Many threads on this.

You are not understanding the difference between a departure time and a remote start. A remote start, i.e. the Climate button, heats the cabin for up to 15 min, 30 min if you extend it.

A Departure Time warms the battery (if memory serves to 60 degrees, but it is in the threads), then does the cabin. Depending on battery temperature, it could begin 90 minutes before departure.

Therefore, it could use 6x the energy...

That is why the forum recommendation is to set a departure time for trips, to improve efficiency on leg #1, and just use remote start for a short local drive, as the payoff (higher efficiency) isn't there locally.

Of course it depends on your electricity cost, and whether you care about wasting energy.

I only remote start when it is below 30 or so in my garage, if I remember.

 

[WXman]

Interesting. This is the exact opposite of what has been taught about smaller lithium battery packs in other devices over the last couple of decades. More frequent charging reduces battery life, and there is a number of cycles a battery can go through before degrading heavily.

I guess I assumed that though larger, the same would be true on these vehicles.

When cold weather arrives I will play around with the pre-conditioning, monitoring electricity usage closely with my Emporia app, and make a decision from there about whether it is worth it or not. It'll be a couple more months before I get there.

 

[luebri]

Interesting. This is the exact opposite of what has been taught about smaller lithium battery packs in other devices over the last couple of decades. More frequent charging reduces battery life, and there is a number of cycles a battery can go through before degrading heavily.

I guess I assumed that though larger, the same would be true on these vehicles.

When cold weather arrives I will play around with the pre-conditioning, monitoring electricity usage closely with my Emporia app, and make a decision from there about whether it is worth it or not. It'll be a couple more months before I get there.

I was unsure on the best method regarding more frequent small charges vs less frequent larger charges. I found this video informative, at least to this layman.



Regarding the preconditioning I agree with @RickLightning there are a lot of variables involved including personal preferences & value determiation. The fact you are thinking about and have an energy monitoring system tells me you'll have no problem figuring out what's best for you! For what I consider the Mild winters you experience in Central Kentucky (especially if garaged) it's probably not a huge factor all the way around.

Also one little additional tip, not many think about. The act of 240v charging itself does provide battery warming (though not necessarily all the way to the target precondition temp) so I set my charge window to only occur in the 2 to 3 hours prior to my departure as then there is less of a delta for the precondition to get from current battery temp to ideal precondition battery temp. This also aligns perfectly with the end of my cheap Time of Use electricity rate so for me I precondition every weekday in winter as my truck is in my insulated garage and with cheap electricity the convenience and comfort is worth whatever minor "waste" I experience.

 

[Vulnox]

Interesting. This is the exact opposite of what has been taught about smaller lithium battery packs in other devices over the last couple of decades. More frequent charging reduces battery life, and there is a number of cycles a battery can go through before degrading heavily.

I guess I assumed that though larger, the same would be true on these vehicles.

When cold weather arrives I will play around with the pre-conditioning, monitoring electricity usage closely with my Emporia app, and make a decision from there about whether it is worth it or not. It'll be a couple more months before I get there.

I don't know that I have heard of more frequent charging being harmful on its own. Most likely what is being left off that statement is that small batteries have a small thermal mass and charging produces a good amount of heat.

Heat is doing most of the harm (if it's fairly high temps). So frequently doing small charges on your cellphone where it repeatedly heats up the battery and you are keeping the battery at a high SoC can be harmful.

The basics of this are the same for an EV battery but there are a few things that change the rules. For one, unlike your cellphone, your EV is capable of cooling or heating the battery as needed. So the heat issue for frequently charging your cellphone is essentially eliminated. If your EV is sitting in 120 degree temps with the sun beating down, it could struggle on the cooling part a bit, but generally should be fine as that isn't likely the every day state.

The other part is high SoC. All the talk of ABC does not mean ABC to 100%. If you have an ER F-150, you should follow the manuals guidelines of not charging above 90% except for trips/as needed. For the SR it does advise you to charge to 100% I think weekly... but again consult the manual.

Your cellphone has almost always tried charging to 100%, and leaving batteries at high SoC, truck or cellphone, is one of the leading causes of degradation. It's only been more recent that more cellphone manufacturers are introducing charge limit options which helps reduce the heat and high SoC concerns.

But this should all be fairly obvious in the same way a modern lawn mower engine and a 5.0L Coyote are both engines and operate under similar core principles, but nobody would assume that the operating needs of the lawnmower engine will be identical to the Coyote. Their thermal mass, cooling capabilities, fuel requirements, oil requirements, and so much more, is potentially very different in what keeps them healthy. It would be a big problem if you read your lawnmower engine maintenance manual as the reference for how to maintain your Coyote. So nobody should be comparing their cell phone battery to a modern EV battery in what keeps them happy.

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