Battery charging in cold weather question

[mjames06]

Ok my first electric vehicle so im a newbie. Love my CT and everythinf about it. Purchased in sept but now going thru my first winter with it here in MD.
But anyway when i go to charge now i always precondition battery and still it only charges to 73%. Now ive done my research and know its to protect the battery life but even preconditioning for 20 mins it still only charges to 73% is this normal??? And any tips for my first winter greatly appreciated.

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[Cybersurfer88]

Yes it is probably normal. It will jump up closer to 80% at normal temps without doing anything.

Set it higher than 80 if it makes you sleep well.

There seems to always be a certain percentage that is hidden maybe 5-10%. For all sorts of reasons we can go on and on about.

 

[JCERRN]

Are you saying it stops charging at 73 or it charges to 80 but when you come out the next day it shows 73?
Depending on how cold it is, and if the car is plugged in, you can lose some charge from the battery keeping itself warm, and from less range being available due to the pack being cold. Leaving the truck plugged it during cold usses the charging system rather than the battery for preconditioning. Docs say it also keeps the battery warm but i havent seen this as much personally

 

[mongo]

Ok my first electric vehicle so im a newbie. Love my CT and everythinf about it. Purchased in sept but now going thru my first winter with it here in MD.
But anyway when i go to charge now i always precondition battery and still it only charges to 73%. Now ive done my research and know its to protect the battery life but even preconditioning for 20 mins it still only charges to 73% is this normal??? And any tips for my first winter greatly appreciated.

The read out says 73%, but the look at the bar graph it will be at ~80, with 7% blue unavailable energy.
Here's mine from this morning , 72% but really 77% with 5% blue.
After 90 minutes of preconditioning and charging, it got up to 80% with 1% blue.

 

[Cybersurfer88]

I don't actually know how it is programmed but:

The percentage calc is probably based on variables like total rated capacity, how many Ah have gone in, how many Ah have been drawn, and the battery voltage, summed up as SOC%. It should be fairly accurate. A full charge drain cycle once in a while at normal temps will keep it more accurate.

Basically when its cold the energy in the battery cannot get in or out as easily, and it needs to maintain the hidden 5-10% at all times.

 

[Coolhandz]

This is good information. I'm going on a family vacation and will be parking my truck outside at my son's house for about a week. I plan on plugging the mobile charger into the truck on a 50ft extension cord. Hopefully with Colorado temps it will be sufficient. Thought about airport ev charging/parking but they want $200+ for the length of time we'll be gone.

 

[Cybersurfer88]

I don't actually know how it is programmed but:

The percentage calc is probably based on variables like total rated capacity, how many Ah have gone in, how many Ah have been drawn, and the battery voltage, summed up as SOC%. It should be fairly accurate. A full charge drain cycle once in a while at normal temps will keep it more accurate.

Basically when its cold the energy in the battery cannot get in or out as easily, and it needs to maintain the hidden 5-10% at all times. Like having a reserve tank that borrows from your regular tank when its really cold out.

 

[Cybersurfer88]

This is good information. I'm going on a family vacation and will be parking my truck outside at my son's house for about a week. I plan on plugging the mobile charger into the truck on a 50ft extension cord. Hopefully with Colorado temps it will be sufficient. Thought about airport ev charging/parking but they want $200+ for the length of time we'll be gone.

You may want to arrive with a good amount already charged If you haven't tried this setup. 110-120V can a long time to charge in general and that is without an extension and cold weather added in.

 

[Coolhandz]

You may want to arrive with a good amount already charged If you haven't tried this setup. 110-120V can a long time to charge in general and that is without an extension and cold weather added in.

I planned on getting there with 80% so hopefully it can keep it topped up. If I can get out of there with 20%, I can easily make it to a supercharger.

 

[mongo]

I planned on getting there with 80% so hopefully it can keep it topped up. If I can get out of there with 20%, I can easily make it to a supercharger.

You should not lose 60% in a week, especially if you turn on low power mode.
If you arrive with 80%, you might be better off not plugging in. If the pack gets cold, then loses charge, then turns on charging, the 120V charging might not be sufficient to heat the pack resulting in less energy than not charging at all.

 

[Coolhandz]

You should not lose 60% in a week, especially if you turn on low power mode.
If you arrive with 80%, you might be better off not plugging in. If the pack gets cold, then loses charge, then turns on charging, the 120V charging might not be sufficient to heat the pack resulting in less energy than not charging at all.

Fair point. I was planning on just plugging it in and not letting it charge unless it fell to a certain percentage. I imagine it will be fine. Just my first time leaving it out in the cold for an extended period of time and it has got me nervous.

 

[mongo]

Fair point. I was planning on just plugging it in and not letting it charge unless it fell to a certain percentage. I imagine it will be fine. Just my first time leaving it out in the cold for an extended period of time and it has got me nervous.

People have had success in winter with 120V when arriving at low SOC and the truck charges the whole time.
If you'll have app access, there's no harm in having it plugged in with a low charge limit that you could change later.

 

[koolio]

The read out says 73%, but the look at the bar graph it will be at ~80, with 7% blue unavailable energy.
Here's mine from this morning , 72% but really 77% with 5% blue.
After 90 minutes of preconditioning and charging, it got up to 80% with 1% blue.

This is the answer.

The truck is not stopping the charging at 73% when the charge limit is set to 80%.

 

[koolio]

Fair point. I was planning on just plugging it in and not letting it charge unless it fell to a certain percentage. I imagine it will be fine. Just my first time leaving it out in the cold for an extended period of time and it has got me nervous.

Just to reiterate what others have said: if it's really cold outside and you're charging from a 120v outlet, it may not be enough to actually charge the pack because it can't get the pack warm enough. I'd say that's rare; what you're more likely to see is it'll be 24h+ to charge it.

 

[mjames06]

The read out says 73%, but the look at the bar graph it will be at ~80, with 7% blue unavailable energy.
Here's mine from this morning , 72% but really 77% with 5% blue.
After 90 minutes of preconditioning and charging, it got up to 80% with 1% blue.

The read out says 73%, but the look at the bar graph it will be at ~80, with 7% blue unavailable energy.
Here's mine from this morning , 72% but really 77% with 5% blue.
After 90 minutes of preconditioning and charging, it got up to 80% with 1% blue.

ok wow ive never noticed that but im not charging at home neither only at a supercharger. So your saying your battery set it to 72% and then you manually chsrged it for 90 more minutes and precondition got it to 80%?

also well the CT reach a full 80% charge when the weather breaks and gets warm again?

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