Best procedure for long term vehicle storage?

[lakeguy55]

I realize this horse died a while ago, but please bear with me for a few more lashes. I'm putting mine up for a long winters nap (about 3 months). I've read the manual and all the replies here but I still have a few questions.

It's in an insulated but unheated garage. The garage is mostly below grade so it rarely goes below 40 degrees in there. SOC is 56%. I do not have access here to my normal L2 charger.

I have found conflicting info from Ford and on here relating to the LVB. The manual says to disconnect it and put it on a trickle charge. But the attached graphic from Ford says disconnect OR put it on a trickle charge.

Ideally I'd like to keep the LVB connected with a trickle charger on it so I can remotely monitor status and perhaps get any updates that may occur in that time. It is in close proximity to my wifi.

What would be the downsides to keeping the LVB connected vs disconnected. In either case, I would put the charger on it.

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[RickLightning]

The manual says disconnect, nothing about a trickle charge. Given your circumstances, leave it connected and on a properly connected trickle charger (negative to ground, not battery).

You likely won't get updates, because driving the car trips you to get them.

 

[The Weatherman]

What @RickLightning said ^.

Use the jumper points in the passenger side fender for attaching my trickle charger as needed. Has worked flawlessly for the past 8months.

 

[lakeguy55]

I put the truck in the garage on December 26th. LVB still connected with trickle charger on it. When I put it away, SOC was 56%. Garage never went below freezing and was in the mid-30s for most of the winter.
Took it out yesterday. SOC was still 56%. Didn't lose a bit over 3.5 months. Everything seems fine.

 

[Barrels]

I put the truck in the garage on December 26th. LVB still connected with trickle charger on it. When I put it away, SOC was 56%. Garage never went below freezing and was in the mid-30s for most of the winter.
Took it out yesterday. SOC was still 56%. Didn't lose a bit over 3.5 months. Everything seems fine.

Me too. I got back after 5 months. Left the Ligtning at 49% with the 12v battery disconnected and on a trickle charger. Put it back in, started up, and SOC was 49%!

 

[Alex in Silver City]

Appreciate this thread. Leaving mine for 4 months this winter. Will leave SOC at 50% per recommendations and disconnect/put LVB on tender. But what about the tires? Is there no concern about tire damage from not moving for 4 months with full weight of vehicle on them? Was wondering if I should lift the truck a little...

 

[Barrels]

I had no noticeable damage from my 5 month storage at the recommended 36psi on the OEM Hankooks. Of course I have just disposed of those pieces of garbage at 19K due to outside and inside edge wear and a too severe to repair blow out. Hopefully the Falken Wildpeaks I bought will do as well this winter

 

[Barrels]

It is now much later and I wish to add to this thread for prosperity.

The Ford manual says to disconnect the 12v which I have done each year. The HV battery is left at 50% SOC and so far has been good until this year. I have multiple errors and warnings now on reconnecting the 12v which is a good battery kept on a tender.

The issue appears to be that after a long storage the BEMS isnt operating and the HV cells voltages drift and get out of balance. The truck went into a protective mode and I am unable to charge. I am off to the dealer to try rebalancing and hope the module isnt bad.

I am considering what to do to keep 12v going to the truck during a long sleep.

One thing to consider might be the ambient temperatures and the protective active heating and cooling operations in the Lightning or any other modern EV.

I don't know exactly how the Ford handles the active heating/cooling, but I presume it requires the 12V battery to run the computing that detects HV battery temperature and implements the cooling or heating, just a guess.

So if you are storing it in an area subject to 'extreme' high or low temperatures, unless the Lightning is in a heat/cooled garage, I'd say be sure to keep the 12v battery on a trickle charger and don't disconnect it

I think Ford says to disconnect the 12v battery because the background processes of the Lightning, and other electrical leakage will discharge it. 12v batteries like to be kept 100% charged for longevity. Even so-called deep-cycle ones will last longer if kept fully charged.

For what it's worth, back in the 1970s when I was studying engineering, and battery tech, I learned that the very best way to store any lead-acid battery long term is, after disconnecting it, 1) fully charge it and then 2) drain the battery acid from it and put it in a cool dry place. That's the way the manufacturers did it, or used to anyway, with the battery acid being added at the point of sale when purchased and put in a vehicle. But now there are sealed batteries, and gel pack batteries, and batteries turn over faster at retailers, etc., so maybe that doesn't apply anymore except the 100% charge aspect.

The HV battery is not going to discharge much from the 50% level in 'several months' so keeping it connected to the L2 EVSE should not be needed. I only connect my Leaf to the L2 EVSE when it needs a charge, charging it 3-4 hours after 1 am to keep the electric bill minimized. I never noticed any HV discharge even after storing it for 2 months unplugged from L2.

I keep my 2012 Nissan Leaf 12v on a trickle charger when not in use and not parked in the sun where the roof solar cell trickle charges the 12v battery.

One year, I had it stored for about a month unused without a battery tender when I first got it and the 12v battery discharged running the charge timer and telemetrics so the Leaf was stuck in my garage until I bought a long enough jumper cable to reach it. Lesson learned. My salesman had assumed that with the L2 EVSE connected that the HV battery would maintain the 12v battery - wrong. The HV battery only charges the 12v when the vehicle is on - go figure. Still wondering why that is since having a fully charged 12v battery would be a good thing and it wouldn't take much stored energy from the HV battery to do it.

Maybe another option if you don't have the trickle charge availability would be to remotely turn the Lightning on for a period of time to let the HV battery recharge the 12V? The pre-conditioning function. Maybe that could be programmed into the vehicle to run every day?

 

[The Weatherman]

It is now much later and I wish to add to this thread for prosperity.

The Ford manual says to disconnect the 12v which I have done each year. The HV battery is left at 50% SOC and so far has been good until this year. I have multiple errors and warnings now on reconnecting the 12v which is a good battery kept on a tender.

The issue appears to be that after a long storage the BEMS isnt operating and the HV cells voltages drift and get out of balance. The truck went into a protective mode and I am unable to charge. I am off to the dealer to try rebalancing and hope the module isnt bad.

I am considering what to do to keep 12v going to the truck during a long sleep.

I think I would leave it connected with a low power trickle charger attached to the 12v. I believe you are right in with the 50ish % on the HVB.

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