Does Anyone Drive an EB Infrequently and for Short Trips With No Battery Charge Issues?

[Gschaef]

The more I read about the battery monitoring system (BMS) the more I learn and the more confused I get. One trend becoming more apparent is that a BMS equipped vehicle being driven infrequently (2-5 days a week for short distances) should be prepared to make regular use of a battery tender or charger just to ensure the vehicle will start as it should. It seems like it starts to show up after a few months of ownership. Which seems ridiculous for a new vehicle.

I understand how BMS works and why it can cause this. So I would like to know if there are any EcoBoost owners who drive infrequently and make mostly short trips (20 miles or less) who have not had any battery or charging issues? And if so would you please include your current odometer reading and whether or not you have an AGM battery if you know? Hybrids and those who drive frequently and for longer distances are a different set of issues.

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[V-blue Mav]

The more I read about the brake monitoring system (BMS) the more I learn and the more confused I get. One trend becoming more apparent is that a BMS equipped vehicle being driven infrequently (2-5 days a week for short distances) should be prepared to make regular use of a battery tender or charger just to ensure the vehicle will start as it should. It seems like it starts to show up after a few months of ownership. Which seems ridiculous for a new vehicle.

I understand how BMS works and why it can cause this. So I would like to know if there are any EcoBoost owners who drive infrequently and make mostly short trips (20 miles or less) who have not had any battery or charging issues? And if so would you please include your current odometer reading. Hybrids and those who drive frequently and for longer distances are a different set of issues.

2022 XL AWD, 4800 miles on the odometer.Yup, no battery issues for me, other than the notification on Ford Passapp that it's offline to preserve the battery after about 10 to 14 days of sitting.

 

[bgn]

Note that folks could have wildly different experiences depending on the battery in their EcoBoosts. I had issue with two of the OEM enhanced flooded batteries. Others with AGMs have had no issues.

 

[Gschaef]

Note that folks could have wildly different experiences depending on the battery in their EcoBoosts. I had issue with two of the OEM enhanced flooded batteries. Others with AGMs have had no issues.

Thank you. That is a good point about battery type and I have added that to the question.

 

[Exranger]

2444 miles since 4/27/23. No issues or notifications so far. Only issue was rodents chewed the Ac wires, had to pay dearly at the dealer. Most trips are short, under 20 mi. Stock battery is installed, oem.
Update 4/3/24. Did get the ford pass warning after about 2 weeks of sitting. In colder weather. Put the tender from my lawn tractor for a couple days and it went back to normal. I’ll drive it tomorrow…wuhu! Still smile every time I drive it.🛻

 

[jewc75]

flooded battery is garbage, i had issues. Replaced with an agm battery and zero issues now.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

Regularity use a maintainer if you want battery to last, PERIOD! pretty much all cars nowadays. AGM's are excellent long life batteries if taken care of with some designed to last 10-12 years but depending on use even with proper care expected life can be 2-4 years. This is extract from excellent brand battery warranty NOTE THE >14 day requirement...
Allowing Prolonged storage (>14 days) of vehicles with fuel injection computers, alarms, GPS and other
electrical devices that require continuous battery power to support active memories; this power drain must be offset with a maintenance-float
charger, periodic charging or disconnecting the Battery to prevent irreversible damage to the Battery plates.

 

[OleFordGuy]

I've had mine for 14 months now. It has sat for over a week numerous times without being even cranked. Very common for it to not be used for a day or two. Common for short trips, like picking up grandkids at school, grocery run etc, all just a few miles away. You can hear it making clicking noises fairly often communicating with ford and ford pass i assume. I've had ZERO issues, battery or otherwise, with the little truck, not even a squeak or rattle, solid as a rock. Guess I'm blessed.

I've never owned a battery tender or charger or jump box in all my life. Total Bull Shit in my opinion that any brand new vehicle should even need such. Yes I've had to put new batteries in my vehicles over the years like after 5-6 years, thats normal IMO. I don't take kindly to unreliable vehicles, being stranded etc. unless its something really minor or due to my own fault. If they give me numerous problems, that sucker is traded in on something else.

No idea what battery is in mine, its dark. I'll try to remember to look tomorrow and see whats in it and update my post if that helps you any.

Oh, also the wife drives a 2018 Ford Expedition with the 3.5 V6 EB that I'm pretty sure uses the battery monitoring system also, has like 50K miles on it, still has original battery still working fine. Only problem we've had with it was the cam phaser tick/rattle on cold idle startup. There was a TSB or recall for had for that which was corrected under warranty. Other than that, it's been rock solid also.

 

[Ranch]

I have 1486 miles on my Maverick EB since I got it last June. Came with the AGM battery and I've not had a battery or no start problem yet.

 

[Ranch]

I've had mine for 14 months now. It has sat for over a week numerous times without being even cranked. Very common for it to not be used for a day or two. Common for short trips, like picking up grandkids at school, grocery run etc, all just a few miles away. You can hear it making clicking noises fairly often communicating with ford and ford pass i assume. I've had ZERO issues, battery or otherwise, with the little truck, not even a squeak or rattle, solid as a rock. Guess I'm blessed.

I've never owned a battery tender or charger or jump box in all my life. Total Bull Shit in my opinion that any brand new vehicle should even need such. Yes I've had to put new batteries in my vehicles over the years like after 5-6 years, thats normal IMO. I don't take kindly to unreliable vehicles, being stranded etc. unless its something really minor or due to my own fault. If they give me numerous problems, that sucker is traded in on something else.

No idea what battery is in mine, its dark. I'll try to remember to look tomorrow and see whats in it and update my post if that helps you any.

Oh, also the wife drives a 2018 Ford Expedition with the 3.5 V6 EB that I'm pretty sure uses the battery monitoring system also, has like 50K miles on it, still has original battery still working fine. Only problem we've had with it was the cam phaser tick/rattle on cold idle startup. There was a TSB or recall for had for that which was corrected under warranty. Other than that, it's been rock solid also.

I had the cold cam phaser rattle on my old 02 Explore. If it sat for more than two days it would make a really loud rattle at startup.

I watched a YT video by @FORD BOSS ME about "flood mode". You push the gas pedal to the floor and crank the engine. It will not start but it will pump oil throughout the engine and prevents the rattle. Also good practice when doing an oil change.

 

[Montana]

No issues so far but monitoring it doesn't give me hope. We'll see in the future how it goes. I also don't have the AGM in my '22 Lariat. Bought used with 11k on it in June of this year. My first fuel recording was at 11,530.8 and I'm currently at 14,8something. It's written down in the truck and I haven't added it to fuelly yet, but I fueled up yesterday. Average trip is about 25 miles both ways, with shut offs in between.

The Escape Hybrid I had before it was the same year and same mileage when I sold it and I had 3 no starts. I put 9k of those miles on it the first year and the other 2k in the following 6 months before I sold it. Even with long trips it didn't help. Battery was always dead. I was using the app on that car, and I'm not on the Maverick. In fact, I totally removed anything associated with the account and the truck entirely.

The EB Maverick has been the opposite for me, but there are folks that report the same issues that hybrids on this platform are seeing. It's a shit show all around unfortunately. I'm gonna go find some wood to knock on until my knuckles bleed...

 

[Jump Start]

2022 Lariat AWD 2.0 EcoBoost, I have owned it for 23 months, 12,700 miles, and not a moment's trouble with sleep mode or dead battery. It is not uncommon for my truck to sit for three or four days, and most trips are less than twelve miles. I can not tell you what type of battery I have, as I opened the hood for the first time last week to clean leaves out from under the hood. Buying a brand-new vehicle and then having to buy a battery tender for peace of mind makes little sense to me. I would be driving something else if that was the case. From reading the threads, the deep sleep issues appear to be a problem with the Hybrids, no doubt a result of Ford saving money and trying to hit a price point.

 

[Mavericksport]

2022 Lariat AWD 2.0 EcoBoost, I have owned it for 23 months, 12,700 miles, and not a moment's trouble with sleep mode or dead battery. It is not uncommon for my truck to sit for three or four days, and most trips are less than twelve miles. I can not tell you what type of battery I have, as I opened the hood for the first time last week to clean leaves out from under the hood. Buying a brand-new vehicle and then having to buy a battery tender for peace of mind makes little sense to me. I would be driving something else if that was the case. From reading the threads, the deep sleep issues appear to be a problem with the Hybrids, no doubt a result of Ford saving money and trying to hit a price point.

I have a 2022 ecoboost. I drive only 3k to 4k a year. I have had deep sleep on mine. This is in the winter time only. I put it on the battery maintainer on a Saturday or Sunday.

 

[Tim d]

Our

The more I read about the brake monitoring system (BMS) the more I learn and the more confused I get. One trend becoming more apparent is that a BMS equipped vehicle being driven infrequently (2-5 days a week for short distances) should be prepared to make regular use of a battery tender or charger just to ensure the vehicle will start as it should. It seems like it starts to show up after a few months of ownership. Which seems ridiculous for a new vehicle.

I understand how BMS works and why it can cause this. So I would like to know if there are any EcoBoost owners who drive infrequently and make mostly short trips (20 miles or less) who have not had any battery or charging issues? And if so would you please include your current odometer reading and whether or not you have an AGM battery if you know? Hybrids and those who drive frequently and for longer distances are a different set of issues.

The longest Our ecoboost has sat is 5 days so far without driving ,in northern michigan.no battery issues so far.

 

[CajunMick]

New 2023 XLT, 400 miles so far, brought Oct 14. Sits in driveway Mostly. If driven, not very far. So far no issues with battery. Some mention battery maintainer. I have a fancy smart charger and a 10 watts small solar panel. I suppose if battery fails, I could hook it up with one of these charger.

Now I beginning to wonder why I brought this truck. I could have got an old truck with plain old carburetor, distributor with points for ignition.

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