I recently took my truck up to the mountain for a ski day. It wasn’t super cold, about 30°F. The truck sat in the parking lot for about 6 hours, and when I came back, it was showing 92% ‘power’. It’s charging fine now, and no warning lights are on. About two weeks ago, I got a ‘high voltage battery warning,’ but it went away after restarting the truck. Are these issues related, or was the truck just reacting to the mild cold weather?
I just learned about this a few days ago thanks to this forum. When the battery is low and it’s cold, the voltage drops. The 92% means that if you step on the gas, you’ll only get 92% of the power to the motor. Nothing’s wrong with your truck; it’s just the cold and a lower battery charge.
My 24 Flash does this too, it scared me at first. These trucks still have plenty of power, even at 80%.
@Jamie
Yeah, there’s no power issue on the road, just surprised that I couldn’t get the full 100%. Thanks for the reassurance!
Patrice said:
@Jamie
Yeah, there’s no power issue on the road, just surprised that I couldn’t get the full 100%. Thanks for the reassurance!
Yep, totally normal. Mine drops to about 50% power when it’s cold and the battery’s low (we get freezing temps here in Minnesota).
@Jamie
My truck has seen temperatures as low as -20°C while plugged in overnight, and the power dropped to the high 50s. It wasn’t happy, but it recovered once it warmed up or got plugged in.
@Jamie
It’s not just the cold, the power reduction can happen in the summer too. It started after an update in '23. It’s a feature to protect the battery from high discharge rates.
Ford hasn’t really explained this well. The power reduction is because of the cold and the lower battery level. The truck is limiting battery use based on your current conditions, and it will be different for everyone. It’s designed to protect the battery.
@Quinby
Thanks a lot for the explanation! I guess if Ford isn’t going to educate us, we’ve got the forum!
Patrice said:
@Quinby
Thanks a lot for the explanation! I guess if Ford isn’t going to educate us, we’ve got the forum!
Thanks for posting this. I’ve had my truck for about two years, and I’ve noticed this happening in the last few weeks. Must’ve been one of those hidden software updates.
Patrice said:
@Quinby
Thanks a lot for the explanation! I guess if Ford isn’t going to educate us, we’ve got the forum!
It wouldn’t hurt if Ford added something like ‘power reduced due to temperature’ on the dashboard or something.
@Quinby
Yep. Teslas do the same thing, they just don’t tell you!
Peyton said:
@Quinby
Yep. Teslas do the same thing, they just don’t tell you!
They do, just less obviously. Little buffer dots appear at the top of the acceleration bar.
Peyton said:
@Quinby
Yep. Teslas do the same thing, they just don’t tell you!
They do, just less obviously. Little buffer dots appear at the top of the acceleration bar.
And there’s a snow icon near the battery indicator.
@Quinby
Ford could just put a QR code on the screen and link to a video explaining all of this. That would be so simple.
Oli said:
@Quinby
Ford could just put a QR code on the screen and link to a video explaining all of this. That would be so simple.
That’s a solid idea. A simple FAQ based on these common questions would help a lot.
@Quinby
Yep, and you’d learn more than the dealer could explain. I had to figure out everything about the Lightning and Mach-E myself!
Oli said:
@Quinby
Yep, and you’d learn more than the dealer could explain. I had to figure out everything about the Lightning and Mach-E myself!
I’d rather have bought the truck directly from a QR code than deal with the awful sales experience I had!
@Quinby
Tesla uses a snow icon to show this. Ford really needs to step up their software.
I believe the truck reduces power as the battery level drops. I’ve noticed the same thing.
I forgot to mention, the truck is charging fine at home on level 2. I’ve read that when the battery module fails, they can’t get a charge to work.