Faulty Battery? I get alerts periodically that remote features have been turned off due to low battery levels.

[xaiverson]

I've had the Powerboost for just under a year now. I have gotten that alert to my phone maybe 3 -4 times now since owning it. It always started and hasn't given me issues so I have just ignored it. I decided to hook it up to my charger today since we are going on a longer trip and the charger stated the battery was at 50%. Any thoughts?

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[Snakebitten]

More common than you might think.
(The 50% State Of Charge, I mean)

 

[xaiverson]

More common than you might think.
(The 50% State Of Charge, I mean)

Thanks for the reply. Are you implying it's normal?

 

[Snakebitten]

Sorry for not being clearer....

It's sadly "normal" for these Powerboost to find their 12V system (12V AGM under the hood and auxiliary 12V battery under the back seat) at a low SOC. Especially if the truck has sat for a few days or if the truck only is driven short distances.

Anything under 12.3V is just begging for the various faults and warnings we read so much about here.

Your truck sounds like it dropped below that threshold. Putting it on a charger is a good idea, although I would recommend a "smart charger" that knows how to charge an AGM battery.

The good news is that you are fixing to go for a long drive. Your Powerboost will charge up into the 80% range if you make a lengthy run.

 

[xaiverson]

Sorry for not being clearer....

It's sadly "normal" for these Powerboost to find their 12V system (12V AGM under the hood and auxiliary 12V battery under the back seat) at a low SOC. Especially if the truck has sat for a few days or if the truck only is driven short distances.

Anything under 12.3V is just begging for the various faults and warnings we read so much about here.

Your truck sounds like it dropped below that threshold. Putting it on a charger is a good idea, although I would recommend a "smart charger" that knows how to charge an AGM battery.

The good news is that you are fixing to go for a long drive. Your Powerboost will charge up into the 80% range if you make a lengthy run.

Thanks again! Any steps I can take to stop the drain?

 

[Snakebitten]

Thanks again! Any steps I can take to stop the drain?

Other than charging externally, or driving more often/longer?
I don't know of anything significant.

There are some long and distinguished threads that have been discussing this in great depth. For many months. But I don't think anyone has yet found a method to alter (increase) the puzzlingly conservative 12V charging strategy that Ford is using on these trucks.

 

[RickBullotta]

Many of us have eliminated these issues by replacing the OEM battery with a high quality aftermarket AGM H7. It seems feasible that many of the trucks that sat for months after manufacturing waiting for parts or for transport may have had some non-obvious damage done to the battery. FWIW I haven't had another battery related incident since I swapped out my battery. For $200-250 and an easy DIY job, it was the first thing I wanted to try rather than trying to schedule dealer visit(s) and downtime/inconvenience.

 

[Gros Ventre]

Agreed. Batteries that sit without "working" can have funny things happen. The issue is that impurities in the manufacturing process can plate out on the active material reducing the surface area available. The battery will show as good since when its at low load it produces the required voltage, yet at a higher load it has problems because of the reduction in available surface area for the chemical reactions.

 

[Gros Ventre]

One question one might have is why don't they make exceptionally pure materials for batteries... Well it costs real money. Sometimes they do, though, my 2006 Escape Hybrid's traction battery (NiM-Hydride)is still going strong in 2023. Ford was embarrassed when they didn't see the failures initially predicted and lost some bucks with excess replacement batteries on the shelf. I think they split for very pure batteries in them.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

I've had the Powerboost for just under a year now. I have gotten that alert to my phone maybe 3 -4 times now since owning it. It always started and hasn't given me issues so I have just ignored it. I decided to hook it up to my charger today since we are going on a longer trip and the charger stated the battery was at 50%. Any thoughts?

Hi there, I'd be happy to look into your F-150 concerns on my end. Will you send us a message with your VIN and dealership info? I can look into things on my end.

 

[EcoB259]

My 22 EB does the same. I don’t drive it everyday and sometimes it will sit for two weeks. I have had to charge the battery 3 times from sitting two weeks. I am going to put an Odyssey battery in it before winter.

 

[xaiverson]

My 22 EB does the same. I don’t drive it everyday and sometimes it will sit for two weeks. I have had to charge the battery 3 times from sitting two weeks. I am going to put an Odyssey battery in it before winter.

Ours gets driven quite a bit. We will probably have around ~17k miles on it this first year of ownership. The most it has sat was maybe two days, and besides the occasional quick run to the gas station, most of our basic commutes are 15-30miles so it should have plenty of long runs to charge the battery.

 

[Graygoose2021]

Changed my OEM battery to an AutoZone, best they had...no issues since.

 

[alejflor]

I drive my truck 2-3 days a week and I have seen this message a few times. This weekend, I had some extra time so decided to check the battery voltage. It was at 12.3v so decided to charge it with the negative termina disconnected. The charge was left plugged in for about two hours and it went up to 13.3V before it said it was fully charged. Will see if that does the trick but suspect this will continue to happen due to my low driving habits.

 

[HammaMan]

Try keeping your HVAC blower motor at setting 5 or above, works on the powerboost models anyway. To override the BMS's desire to consume the 12v batts, have keyfob in the truck, doors closed, and blower motor at setting 5 or above and you'll keep the 12v generation alive. I'd bet this logic isn't limited to the powerboosts as the BMS controls 12v generation voltage.

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