Got a few questions about battery preconditioning:
Is there a way to precondition the battery for cold weather (or other reasons) when it’s NOT plugged in? Specifically when I’m leaving work in the evening.
I have a scheduled departure set for my morning commute, but is there a quick way to do this for one-off trips? Like if I need to run errands on the weekend. Setting up a new routine in the Ford app takes too long—it’d be great to just have a simple ‘Prepare for departure’ button.
How do you prep the battery for fast charging on road trips? I know using the truck’s navigation helps, but do I need to pay for the data package after the free trial to keep this feature? And will Apple CarPlay eventually support it through an app like ABRP or Google EV?
Only precondition if you really need the extra range, like before a long trip. If you’re just driving home, it’s not worth it—the battery will just cool down again. Just use the climate button in the app to warm the cabin.
Preconditioning while driving gets you to the same battery state anyway, but doing it while plugged in saves battery power by pulling from the charger instead. It’s mostly useful for keeping your charge level higher.
Like others said, preconditioning for short trips is a waste of energy. My truck can spend an hour doing it and use 8 kWh, but I don’t see any real benefit for quick local drives.
Right now, it’s 20°F, and my truck is parked outside, plugged into my Tesla charger. It’s already pulled 3 kWh just to keep the battery warm. That’s where my electricity usage really adds up, but I have no choice since my truck doesn’t fit in the garage. Annoying, but it is what it is.
@Lyle
I found a way to stop my truck from constantly pulling power to keep the battery warm—set the charger to 30A so it charges slower overnight, and keep it on a schedule so it only charges when I want it to. That way, even if it’s plugged in all day, it won’t draw power unless I allow it. If I need a full charge before a trip, I crank it up to 48A. Works great so far.
@Jules
Yeah, mine has already used 2.8 kWh today and I haven’t even driven it. I’ll check later to see how much it uses by the end of the day, but it’s crazy to waste that much power just to keep the battery warm.
I don’t think I’ll buy another EV truck. Not sure how long I’ll keep this one, but my next truck will probably be gas unless fuel prices skyrocket. Seems like it’s all political at this point.
For question 2—yes, the FordPass fan button only warms the cabin, but it does seem to improve range estimates. Probably because you’re not draining the battery as much to heat the cabin while driving. It also pulls about 10 kW of power from the wall, so I wonder if it’s warming the battery a bit too.
If you don’t need max range, preconditioning isn’t really worth it. The climate button is a good alternative for one-off trips.
@Nuri
Yeah, the HVAC system pulls the most power when it’s heating up from a cold start. If you have your truck plugged in, it’ll use wall power instead of draining the battery.
Nope. You need to be on a Level 2 charger to precondition.
Yeah, the scheduled departure system is flawed. I agree—a simple ‘Start preconditioning’ button would be way better. Most people don’t realize preconditioning can take 3-4 hours in extreme cold. If you wake up at 6 AM and want to leave by 7, it’s not going to be ready.
I don’t bother prepping for fast charging on trips. If I’m stopping to charge after driving for hours, the battery is already warmed up. Preconditioning is mainly useful for people who can’t charge at home and rely on fast chargers.
Unless you’re doing a long drive (30-50+ miles) or need max range, preconditioning isn’t worth it. The energy used to heat the battery usually outweighs any efficiency gains. If range is your priority, then sure, but otherwise, it’s not really necessary.