After 60,000 Miles of Charging to 100% Every Night, a Ford F-150 Lightning Owner Says His Battery Shows “Not One Single Percentage Point” of Degradation

Just a word of warning, there are numerous different chemistries for lithium batteries. Some are better at maintaining stability at a high state of charge. Also different manufacturers and even different models will have various management algorithms for state of charge and such. Most, if not all, batteries will shown 100% but are actually some point below that (perhaps 90-95%) to allow some safety overhead for thermal management or regen braking early into a trip.

This one example did well, as would many batteries, but generally speaking the practice of only charging past 90% when you know you'll need the range the next day goes true to a void excessive degradation.

Also, the Ford system that analyzes battery state of health *may* give a percentage based on expected value at the current mileage. So at 60k miles, if it expects 7% degredation and that's the result, it'll show 100% state of health.

This doesn't sound like he "broke every rule." The 100% battery charge has more to do with fast charging and also leaving it there for multiple days and even weeks at a time. L2 charging to 100 and then burning off that charge within a day or 2 isn't that big of deal and actually much better than frequently pushing the battery toward 10% or empty. If L2 charging to 100 every night was the only rule he broke it's take many more years to see the impact of that

And yet they still discontinued it lol.

I am going on 300k miles on my Hemi RAM, tell us when you get there. Still doesn't use a drop of oil, never been touched!

60k miles is absolutely nothing. My truck at 200k miles still can take me the same range as it had when it was under 60k miles. Will the lightning be able to do the same without having to buy a 20k priced battery.

I’m not absolutely certain but would find it incredible if the Ford EV charging system does not include a “shut-off” when the battery is 100% full.

Just like the Prius taxi cabs in NYC. Over a million miles on same battery.

Just like the Prius taxi cabs in NYC. Over a million miles on same battery.

The 2023 Volkswagen ID 4 pro s with 115,000 mi.

I drive Uber and I need as many miles as possible every single day so I charge to 100% everyday at home 32 amps . Maybe once a week at the DC charger.

My degradation is 11% after 2 and 1/2 years 115,000 miles. Very happy with that ,degradation is pretty much maxed out now .

You have to know that the reason they suggest 80% is for the battery warranty it's to protect the seller not the buyer. As long as you're charging at home at AC your batteries aren't going to swell or overheat at 32 amps or 40 amps it's just a nice slow charge overnight so charging to 100% should be no issue whatsoever. That said I'm really cold nights when it's below zero here in Minnesota there's times I'll schedule a charge to 90% and then get up in the morning before I leave I'll add that last 10% of the batteries a little under warmer side to start the day

Doubtful. Every battery degrades over time, even in the best of circumstances. Sounds like an advertisement, rather than a true testimonial. Buyer beware!

So simply charging the battery to 100% and keeping it there so you have a full charge is discouraged on a vehicle that only has a pitiful 200 mile range?? LOL and they wonder why they can't sell EVs.

If Ford came out with the extended cab with a 6.5 or 8 foot bed on the EV I'd be interested. Not interested in a 4 door with the little bed.

Perhaps the suggested ways to treat the vehicle were intended to be planned obsolescence. Kudos to you for beating the system, of which I’m sure they would never admit!

The Story, totally glasses over , how LOW the battery is taken on a daily basis.
Failure to submit all pertinent data, invalidates the paragraphs of boasting. Published range data is one thing, but real world weather, towing, and range daily can greatly effect these results.
I'm not against EVs, I own a hybrid, I just want to know the whole truth !

As a designer myself
you should understand
that things are designed
for a certain lifespan
let's say just like doctors
there is no money in The cure
so automobiles and trucks are designed
with a failure rate on certain parts
on many of them actually
they're not built like they used to be
when it started out
they were built to last
now they're built for obsolescence
on a schedule
the only way to keep you people
coming in the door
and spending your money
do you understand ?
It's called planned obsolescence

3 problems with your article. 1) you or the owner assumes Ford’s software result is true. (Let’s not forget the department of justice issued massive fines and jail time re the big Volkswagen SOFTWARE LIE, aka fake software results about how clean the emissions were (not). DOJ found the software itself was tweaked to make fake results and VW engineers and officers were party to it.

2) if you understand how modern lithium ion battery chemistry works, it is an electrochemical principal and physically impossible not to degrade at some rate while sitting at any voltage higher than 50% state of charge. Gets exponentially worse the closer to 100% SOC for any length of time. (Let’s not forget the massive lawsuit where Apple caved in and fined millions for hiding battery degradation from customers), Apple using a software curve ball of their own in an attempt at showing limited transparency, but it was still misleading and not true degradation measures,, where and Apple was still found guilty. Finally Apple was forced to adjust their software to reveal true battery degradation on iPhones and MacBooks.

3) weather by accident or by some measure of nefarious purpose like Apple was found guilty of like VW was found guilty of, that kind of battery abuse with very well-known battery chemistry, we’re in the best of the best scientists for Tesla and LG and other top battery makers across the world strive to achieve zero degradation and nobody can even come close, it literally defies the laws of physics to have that battery still have 100%, zero degradation after all that. Your article is either dangerously naïve or dangerously ill informed and now you have caused others to become just as ill informed.

I'm pretty sure this recommendation comes from folk in the industry that don't really know the differences between rechargeable batteries.

Nickel-Cadmium batteries and Nickel Metal Hydride batteries were notorious for developing what people called a 'memory' or a tendency when charged repeatedly to lose capacity greater than the repeated charge. This led to the rule of thumb always to drain the battery completely before charging it.

Lithium Ion do not perform the same way. The 'memory' that occurred in previous generations of batteries were caused by a chemical development in the battery causing crystals to form on the electrode, reducing surface area and limiting the available charge. This could be 'fixed' by full discharge cycle which breaks down the crystal build up (to a point).

Lithium Ion do not have this issue as the chemistry of operation is different. In fact draining Lithium Ion batteries completely can have more negative effects over time than excessive charging. There are concerns regarding number of charging cycles, but these are in the thousands to hundreds of thousands depending, so the odds of encountering that issue charging once a day is pretty slender. Even if it was 1000 you're talking around 3 years before you reach that number. Charging to 100% every single day. I charge mine to 100% about once a week on average and have had no issues for multiple years. Tesla model 3.

I sold batteries for years, learned quite a bit about how they work and operate over time and I thought it extremely odd that they did not recommend regular charging for EV health. I still may not recommend daily charging unless you genuinely drive that much, but definitely going to encourage people to top off periodically. (The usual reason for charging less than 100% isn't because of the above issues, it's because it takes more energy per watt to charge above a certain point. Charging isn't linear, it's easiest at the lowest value and gets increasingly difficult the closer you get to the top. So the last 10~20% take significantly more energy to fill than the other 80-90%.)

This article is useless cause Ford dropped their Lighting faster than a hot rock. In fact their entire EV program is gone due to over $18 billion in losses. Imagine that.

I have to call BS for two reasons:

No degradation at all is not possible. It breaks the laws of physics

And

The dealer ran the diagnostic who (a) probably dont know much about EV batteries to begin with, and ( b) wanted to sell this guy another one.

If the guy had been knowledgeable, he would have been able to check the HV battery SOH himself by running the BMS stats from the OBD2 port. But he wasnt so you cant trust a dealer claim especially when the customer knows even less than the dealer.

People don't realize the damage to charge to 100% is caused by DC Fast Charging not by using a level 1/2 charger. Imagine drinking energy drinks everyday for 3 years when you felt tired.... It doesn't give you the rest you need and just drains you more. Same concept for fast charging it's giving a lot of power upfront but will affect the battery life.

but 2 years is only 770 charge cycles.
I would not expect significant degradation until 2000, so 6 years.

What the author has not mentioned (and I wonder he even knows it) that his Ford with standard range comes with LifePO4 battery, which is very robust and unaffected by 0 to 100 charge. However Ford extended range comes with NMC battery, which is not as good.

How much does a gasoline car degrade filling to 100% for 20 years. None is the point.

Great story. In Dec/25 Ford announced the discontinuation of the Ford F150 Lightning.

Perhaps Ford finally did one smart thing and designed the battery so it could never be truely completely charged. Not likely, but possible.

100k miles in 4 years is insane.