How often to charge to 100%?

[Highpi]

Just wondering if it's good for the battery to charge to 100% every once and awhile. I've had the truck since August of last year and it was 100% when I picked it up. I did a max charge for one mid range trip and that's about it.

I normally charge to 80%.

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[jamelski]

You can charge to 90% everyday. 100% once a month to balance the cells or more of when you need max miles

 

[Tfarrell73]

I charge to 100 every 3 months or so.

 

[FloridaMan655321]

I charge to 85% every day. I put on my calendar for a quarterly task of charging to 100% and disconnecting the 12v battery for 20+ minutes. Seems like a good thing to do quarterly.

edit: sorry, I don't charge *every* day, but just whenever I charge. I have a short commute so it's usually just 2-3 times a week.

 

[Highpi]

You can charge to 90% everyday. 100% once a month to balance the cells or more of when you need max miles

Ok, thanks. Good to know.

 

[Highpi]

I charge to 85% every day. I put on my calendar for a quarterly task of charging to 100% and disconnecting the 12v battery for 20+ minutes. Seems like a good thing to do quarterly.

edit: sorry, I don't charge *every* day, but just whenever I charge. I have a short commute so it's usually just 2-3 times a week.

Ok, thank you. I charge a coupe of times a week, maybe a week and a half. Bring it down to 35-40, then up to 80 again.

I'll setup a schedule where I bring it to max.

 

[jamelski]

Ok, thank you. I charge a coupe of times a week, maybe a week and a half. Bring it down to 35-40, then up to 80 again.

I'll setup a schedule where I bring it to max.

It’s actually been proven. Little small charges of 10% every day for example are better than draining to 30 then charging 50% in a sitting

ABC (always be charging) to your max you like if it 70/80/90 whatever.

 

[RickLightning]

Every time I use the truck I plug in, ABC.

 

[SpaceEVDriver]

Unless there’s a good reason not to have it on the charger, it’s always on the charger. I have a default max charge level of 90%. I’ll charge to 100% at least once every couple of months and every time I need to go on a long trip, which also seems to be at least once every couple of months. So at least once a month the truck is charged to 100%.

Note that charging to 100% and then using the vehicle in a day or two is not bad for the battery. Storing (for many months) at 100% can be detrimental. And charging to 100% on a DCFC is really slow (relative to 0% to 80% on the DCFC) so people recommend you don’t do that.

All of that means people conflate all of these things into an idea that ever charging to 100% is bad for the battery. It’s not. Charge to 100% whenever you need it and sometimes even if you don’t need it and will be using the vehicle in the next week or so.

 

[Heliian]

Charge to 100% when you need the extra range and use it as soon as practicable. Ford recommends keeping it under %90 for daily driving.
If you look back in the forums you'll find that cell matching/balancing after a battery replacement takes time at lower states of charge. Until I see guidance from ford about charging periodically to 100 I will just keep up with the current recommendations. I charge to 100 at least 12 times a year for range purposes regardless.

 

[swajames]

Ford's recommendation to charge to 100% once a month or so is for their cars with LFP batteries, which we don't have. For our NCM batteries, Ford recommends setting the maximum charge to 90% for daily driving. It's fine to go up to 100% when you need it, but you don't have to.

 

[bc1]

Since last October when I got mine, I plug in every night and charge to 100%. No messing around. I drive to the VA in Wichita often enough or who knows when I might decide to drive over 200 miles in a day. I'm not interested in getting caught somewhere with a low battery trying limp home. Sometimes I only drive 30 miles or maybe a 100 miles but if I wake up one day and decide to go for a long drive, I want to be ready. Those are the drives that I don't want to have to resort to the Prius or Subaru Forester.

 

[DNap4]

I am on the road often and charge to 100% 1-2x/wk. Battery health still shows 97% on a 22’ XLT SR Battery.

 

[Newton]

There have been times when I have been caught out but a quick stop at a fast charger solves it. Even with our substandard fast charging rate it doesn’t take long to add 40-60 miles. That has always been enough for comfort in that case. If I had an unexpected long trip it would just mean one more fast charging stop than the ideal.

 

[RickLightning]

These threads always make me laugh. Ford recommends X, then the armchair experts (i.e. owners) recommend 37 different scenarios from 23 different people.

It is quite simple - charge to 90%, daily, unless you are taking a trip that needs 100%. It has been proven that multiple short charges are better than one bigger charge.

Further, leaving it plugged into 240v allows the battery to be warmed in cold temps. Some live in warm temps where that would never happen.

My 2022, bought in May 2023 (so it sat for a year accumulating under 500 miles), had some battery packets replaced 2 years ago, had a 99.5% SOH early this year, which increased to 100% during a trip.

On the Mach-E forum, Mach_Lee, who has a very advanced knowledge of these vehicles, has recommendations for both 12v and high voltage battery care. He recommends that twice a year the high voltage battery be drawn down to a low percentage, sit for a short period, then charged back to 100%, sit again, and then used. This allows the battery system to recalibrate.

When you charge to 100%, if you measured the energy used, you would find it using more kWh than the battery holds. This is the cells balancing. I have observed more than 10kWh extra. In short, those that always charge to 100% are spending unnecessary money for cell balancing that does nothing for their battery health, and unless they need the range is totally wasted.

So, in short, asking on a forum how to charge the vehicle is like asking people what their morning constitutional is. Some empty out in the morning, some are still full of crap, and few actually do what is recommended by experts / manufacturer.

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