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Benefit of leaving the truck plugged in when the weather is cold?

2426 Views 22 Replies 10 Participants Last post by ChasingCoral, 5 mo ago

Art p

Discussion Starter · 6 mo ago

Now that the weather has turned cold, every time I shut down the truck, I get a message on the screen that because of the outside temperature I should leave the truck plugged in.

My question is if I am not charging and have not set a destination time, what is the benefit, if any, to leaving the truck plugged in during cold weather?

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odo1957

· #21 · 5 mo ago

chillaban said:
What I see on my Lightning using a JuiceBox EVSE is that overnight it will briefly draw a few kW for a minute or two every few hours from the wall, presumably to warm the battery pack a little.
I don’t know what happens if you’re unplugged but it’s either that it’ll use its own battery to do the same or it won’t try to warm the battery pack as much / at all.

I saw your post regarding plugging in the Lightning in cold weather. I am a snowbird and will leave my truck in an unheated garage for 4+ months. Ford's Owner's manual says to charge the truck to 50% and then disconnect the 12V battery for long term storage. Do you have any idea if I disconnect the 12V battery but leave the truck plugged in, will it still draw a few kWs to warm the HV battery? Any other advice on this? Ford's online support just basically repeated what the Owner's Manual said. Thanks. Jim

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ChasingCoral

· #22 · 5 mo ago

odo1957 said:
I saw your post regarding plugging in the Lightning in cold weather. I am a snowbird and will leave my truck in an unheated garage for 4+ months. Ford's Owner's manual says to charge the truck to 50% and then disconnect the 12V battery for long term storage. Do you have any idea if I disconnect the 12V battery but leave the truck plugged in, will it still draw a few kWs to warm the HV battery? Any other advice on this? Ford's online support just basically repeated what the Owner's Manual said. Thanks. Jim

If you plan to keep it plugged into the charger, you need to keep the 12v battery connected. The 12v powers all of the many brains of the computer. No brains, no charging.

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ChasingCoral

· #23 · 5 mo ago

New benefits to keeping your Ford BEV plugged in to keep the battery from getting too cold and pre-conditioning even if you don't know what time you plan to leave. This video has great winter advice.

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