How often to charge to 100%?

[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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[drdirk]

in 3 years I have maybe once by mistake charged to 100%.

 

[DNap4]

The answer really is to just go by the manual recommendations. Charge to 90%. Plug it in often. Precondition. Charge to 100% when you need the range.

 

[JMD359]

Ok, thanks. Good to know.

If possibly low xharhe to 100 when the weather is cooler it’s far better for the battery . High temps and high SOC together are what degrade the battery .

 

[Calvin H-C]

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

That's what we do with the Lightning.

Here's some food for thought... My Focus Electric is over eight years old and has over 182,000 km (113,000 miles) on it. When you plug it in, it will charge to 100% unless you unplug it early. There's no ability to set a maximum SOC. At least not through the menus, not sure if it can be changed through ForScan.

So, over that time, I estimate it has been charged to 100% at least 2500 times. I pretty much get the same range I did when it was new. Maybe a percent or two less, but hardly noticable. Last summer, I got some of the longest ranges in the life of the vehicle. That may have been mostly due to more optimal weather, but battery degradation hardly had an effect.

Now, newer battery technologies may fair better by not always charging to 100%, but I suspect that the cell balancing that is done only when charging to 100% is necessary for the battery and should be done at least every one to three months.

My gut tells me that leaving the car sitting for days after charging to 100% is worse than just charging to 100%. When I go away on business, I've always made sure it is not at 100%.

 

[Lytning]

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.

At 11:59 in the video ... "Even if you do everything wrong, it (the battery) will still very likely last a very long time."

 

[Zprime29]

If you want to maximize your battery life, I suggest reading this thread by our resident battery expert:
https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...t-of-temperature-on-battery-cells-life.22914/

 

[mr.Magoo]

It’s actually been proven.

"Proven"...in accelerated / synthetic lab tests, yes.

Few of these tests mimics real life usage (because it would simply take a decade vs. 6 months or whatever it is).
For example, does it cause more harm to have your battery sit at a high SoC (80-90%) all the time compared to a deeper/extended charge cycle once a week ?
Nor do they look at a more realistic range of 30-80 vs. 70-80-90, but we take their 0/10-100% tests as proof that ABC is the "law" we shall all abide by.

Besides, if you're going to ABC it's probably better to be in the 40-60% span than it is to always charge from 70-90%.

 

[Peddyr]

With a SR battery and a commute of over 100 miles a day (plus kids activities), I charge to 100% about 4 times per week out of necessity.

 

[chl]

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%.

Just do what Ford recommends and charge to 90% most of the time, and to 100% only when needed for a longer trip and you'll be fine, unless there is some kind of battery defect.

 

[BluesClues]

don't overthink it.

use the device you bought.

it'll be fine.

 

[Joe Dablock]

I have a 22 MME ER (76k miles) and a 23 Lightning ER (56k miles) and I keep them both charged to 100 percent all the time, and they rarely drop below 50 percent. I also rarely use fast chargers. So far I haven’t seen any battery deterioration in either vehicle. On any given day, I need either vehicle available to go at least 200 miles in a moments notice and only 100 percent charge allows me to make a drive with total confidence.

 

[Theredshift]

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%.

Everyday.

 

[bc1]

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.

Well now, I didn't know the experts/manufacturer had a recommendation on morning constitutionals. Now I need to know what the experts recommend and particularly what the manufacturer recommends for morning constitutionals. I was planning on keeping my truck for the rest of my life but now I'm not sure if it will be me or the truck that dies first.

 

[abcut973]

100% when I have a road trip. So if i have 3 trips in a month i will hit 3 times 100% starting from home using level 2. I never do DCFC to 100 during the trip, max 90% generally for the return.
also target charge for daily use is at 90%. If i have months with no road trip I will charge to full at least once for balancing purposes.
Don't sweat it too much. Just enjoy driving your truck!

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