Plugging in at night... am I doing it wrong?

Hey folks living in cold places… how do you handle charging your EV overnight?

Right now I set mine to charge from 12am to 5am and stop at 80%, but I’m wondering if there’s a way to keep the battery warm without actually charging. It feels weird that there’s no setting to charge only when it drops below a certain level, like 30%.

Am I just overthinking this? Charging every day to 80% can’t be that different from letting it drop and charging once or twice a week, right? What do you all think?

You might be overthinking this a little. Here’s what you need to know:

  • Ford suggests charging to 90% for daily use. The 80% advice mostly applies to Teslas.
  • When the truck is plugged in, it uses power to keep the battery above freezing (32°F).
  • If you set a departure time, the truck will heat the battery to 60°F before you leave.
  • Lithium-ion batteries last longer with shallow charge cycles. So charging 80%-90% daily is better than 30%-90% once a week.

There’s no option to only charge below 30% because it’s actually worse for the battery. Instead, you can set preferred charging times to save money with off-peak electricity.

My suggestions:

  1. Set the limit to 90%.
  2. Use preferred charge times for cheaper rates.
  3. Set departure times if you commute regularly.
  4. Plug in whenever you’re home.
  5. Let the truck handle it.

I’ve been doing this for 20 months and 30,000 miles. My battery health is still at 100%. Keeping it simple works best.

@Skyler
Thanks for breaking this down!

I’m having an issue where my truck doesn’t seem to heat the battery, even when plugged into a Level 2 charger. Departure times don’t work either. Any idea what could be wrong?

@Chen
That sounds like a defective pack heater. Someone else mentioned this issue recently. You could use an OBD2 scanner to check the battery temperature and current draw to confirm.

@Chen
Definitely sounds like a bad heater. Lithium batteries must stay above freezing when charging, or they can be permanently damaged. Use an OBD2 scanner to check, and if it’s not heating, you should take it to a dealer.

@Skyler
The 80% rule applies to lithium batteries in general. Devices like laptops and phones also stop charging at 80% when you enable battery saver. The reason Ford recommends 90% is that their batteries have extra capacity built in, so 90% displayed is less than the actual capacity.

@Vero
Exactly. Ford’s strategy is conservative. A 90% charge is more like 80% on a Tesla. That’s probably why we’re seeing minimal degradation in these batteries. After 20 months and 30,000 miles, mine still shows 0.0% degradation.

@Skyler
This is such a helpful response. Thanks for explaining everything so clearly!

Zya said:
@Skyler
This is such a helpful response. Thanks for explaining everything so clearly!

Totally agree. Best explanation I’ve seen about this truck so far!

@Skyler
How do you check your battery health?

Zen said:
@Skyler
How do you check your battery health?

You can use a BLE OBD2 dongle and a scanner app like ABRP or similar.

It’s been pretty cold here in Pennsylvania. I plug mine in every night, not just for charging but to keep the battery ready.

Vale said:
It’s been pretty cold here in Pennsylvania. I plug mine in every night, not just for charging but to keep the battery ready.

Same here. Not looking forward to the next few days of even colder weather!

@Sam
Yeah, next week’s going to be brutal. Stay warm out there!

Would setting a departure time condition the battery for better performance in the cold? I don’t deal with extreme cold in my garage, so I haven’t tried this.

If the truck is plugged in, it automatically keeps the battery above freezing, even if it’s not actively charging.

I just got my Lightning yesterday, and the dealer told me to charge it to 100% at home. Is that wrong?

Max said:
I just got my Lightning yesterday, and the dealer told me to charge it to 100% at home. Is that wrong?

Yep, that’s not great advice. Ford recommends 90% for regular use and 100% only for long trips. Many dealers don’t fully understand EVs yet.

Max said:
I just got my Lightning yesterday, and the dealer told me to charge it to 100% at home. Is that wrong?

Yeah, that’s wrong. Most EV owners know more than dealers at this point. Stick to 90% for daily use and 80% for DC fast charging.

I charge to 100% and use the app to precondition the battery and cabin before I leave. It’s a bit of a manual process since my charger doesn’t allow multiple schedules.