larryh

I hope that fixes the problem. If the temperature sensor is not working correctly, the battery could overheat and be damaged. At least yours was erring on the safe side--declaring the battery was warmer than it was. I wonder if there is an easier way for one to read the battery temperature than connecting a ScanGauge to the OBD connector. Ford should provide a diagnostic mode either on the console or MyFord Touch display to view information such as that. I guess you can monitor the Empower screen on the console. The blue outline should normally encompass four-fifths of the range.

What do the different shadings of the battery in My Driver >> Trip & Charge Log represent. For today only, there are three different shadings: gray, striped gray and blue, and blue. For all other days, the battery is entirely gray. It looks like the solid blue area represents the charge remaining after the trip and the striped blue region represents the charge used during the trip. And, the solid grey means the battery was not full prior to the start of the trip. Why do I have trips with negative mileage?

The procedure from manual (most recent revision--the above procedure was from an obsolete version) is as follows: Opening the Windows You can only open the windows for a short time after you unlock your vehicle with the remote control. After you unlock your vehicle, press and hold the remote control unlock button to open the windows and vent the moonroof. Release the button once movement starts. Press the lock or unlock button to stop movement Closing the Windows To close the windows and moonroof, press and hold the remote control lock button. Release the button once movement starts. Press the lock or unlock button to stop movement. Yes, you need to unlock the vehicle first, before pressing and holding the unlock button to open the windows.

You might want to read the following CMAX Energi thread which discusses battery temperature and the ICE turning on: http://fordcmaxenergiforum.com/topic/1293-scangauge-x-gauges-programming-c-max-ffh/ Also, the following article: http://ev.sae.org/article/11705

Here is another link regarding temperature and battery life: http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1077329_how-long-will-your-electric-car-battery-last-it-depends-where-you-live. For me, living in MN, the expected battery life is greater than for someone living in the South. Cooling the battery significantly increases its life expectancy. According to the article, operating the battery at temperatures above 86 degrees impacts battery life. With air cooling in Phoenix, battery capacity will be approximately 77% after 10 years. For Minneapolis, it will be about 86% after 10 years. Ford chose to use air cooling rather than liquid cooling to manage battery temperature. I would be concerned that battery temperature is managed properly to preserve battery life. If air cooling is not adequate, the only choice available is to turn on the ICE and stop drawing power from the battery. I'm not sure how much 8 miles of driving heats up the battery.

Each of the tick marks on the Engage or Empower display is not 1 kW--it is far more. The maximum power output of the car is 145 kW. So the last tick mark should be at least 150 kW. The more power used from the battery the faster the battery heats up. There must be a limit to the maximum power that can be drawn from the battery given the current battery temperature before the ICE turns on to prevent overheating the battery. That box you are referring to in the display indicates the maximum power the battery can output before the ICE turns on. Does the size of the box change depending on temperature or EV mode, or vary from day to day? Is it always that size? The trunk is quite warm at 115 degrees. I wonder if putting the rear seats down so cool air can reach the trunk would help. As indicated in the previous post, heat significantly reduces battery life so you want to protect your battery from it. I have a 16 mile round trip commute to work. I leave mine set on Auto EV. The temperature has not been more than 80 so far. The engine only came on twice now in two of months and only when I changed the mode to EV Now (which seems strange). I'm not sure why it did that. So I just leave it in Auto EV and I don't have a problem.

Remote start works fine for me. It preconditions the cabin, i.e. turns on the climate control system based on the last settings. It does not start the ICE (unless climate conditions are extreme).

To control when the car charges, you need to edit the default value charge profile in MyFord Mobile This allows you to set the value charge windows for weekdays and weekends. The light green regions are the times that it will prefer to charge when you choose the value charge option. You may also need to set go times for when you want charging to be completed. Unfortunately, there is only one default profile. So you can't have different charging times for different locations. That feature should be supported in some future release.

I just checked the car two hours later, the battery charge is now 7%. I suspect the 60 watts of electricity is being used to slowly charge the battery while waiting for the time to begin charging the battery specified by the Value Charge settings. If I set it charge the battery at 9:00 pm, it should not be charging the battery at all until 9:00 pm. It should not be consuming 60 watts of power to slowly charge the battery until then.

Choosing the ChargeWise program from my electric company, Dakota Electric Association, is not going to save any money. It might even cost more. This morning, I took a long drive to my other home which depleted the battery. I plugged the car in with the charging option set to Value Charge. It immediately charged the battery up to 5% capacity and is now waiting until 9:00 pm to continue charging the battery. It consumed about 0.45 kWh of electricity charging the battery up to 5%. It is currently consuming 60 watts of power waiting to charge at 9:00 pm. So if arrive home from work at 4:00 pm with a depleted battery, the charger would consume 0.45 + 60*5/1000 = 0.75 kWh of electricity from 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm, at which time it would begin charging. I measured the energy consumption to completely charge the battery at 7.6 kWh. So it would have to consume 7.6 - 0.45 = 7.15 kWh of electricity to complete the charge. Using the ChargeWise programs rates, the cost would be: 0.75*0.3785 + 7.15*0.0585 = $0.70. If I simply retained my current rate plan, it would fully charge the battery using 7.6 kWh starting at 4:00 pm and then consume no more energy. The cost would be 7.6 * 0.10144 = $0.77. So the estimated savings from the ChargeWise program is $0.07 per day. I would never recover the installation costs of a submeter. Note that the MyFord Mobile web site says that it will immediately charge a depleted battery to 10% after plugging it in and then wait for the off peak rates to finish charging. So, my "savings" (now negative) may even be worse. Value Charge will not work with my Electric Company's ChargeWise program. If I wanted to use the ChargeWise program, I would have to install a timer to turn the charger off at 4:00 pm and back on at 9:00 pm.

Are you using a web browser to connect to MyFord Mobile? I have noticed problems with Internet Explorer showing the location the previous time I brought up the browser rather than the current position. The other information is correct--just the old location. I have been able to fix that by refreshing the web page. Also, on some of my computers, Internet Explorer refuses to show any location information at all. According to the MyFord Mobile web site, the following web browsers are required: Internet Explorer 9+Firefox 14+Safari 5.14+Chrome 20+ The location does not show on my computers with Internet Explorer version 8.0.

If you are using the 120 volt charging station that came with the car, you can tell if the car is consuming power by a flashing green LED on the charger. If it is behaving the way that mine is with the charging option set to Value Charge, the car charging port ring will not be illuminated, i.e. the car is not actually charging the battery, but it is still consuming some power (60 watts in my case). I thought I could emphasize renewable energy sources by delaying charging until night. But it appears that it might be more cost effective to charge the car immediately when I get home (during peak hours). After it is fully charged, it will not consume any additional power. Otherwise, if you delay charging, you will be consuming 60 watts of power until charging starts.

There is a far greater price difference in installation costs from different companies than the cost of the charger. I have seen prices range from $350 to $1000 for the same "standard" installation.

I have the option of selecting the Charge Wise program from Dakota Electric Association, which has rates, of $0.0585 off peak, $0.10144 normal, and $0.3785 peak, that only apply to a sub-metered charging station. The rest of my electricity would still be billed at flat rate of $0.10444 / kWh. I'm trying to decide if that option would save me any money. They claim that peak energy is very expensive to buy. However, there is abundant wind-powered electricity during off peak times which allow much lower rates. This afternoon, when I plugged the car in, the charge port ring and battery fans did not turn on. Yesterday, I had the charge settings set to Charge Now and switched them to Value Charge while the vehicle was plugged in. This time, charge settings was already set to Value Charge when I plugged it in. More software bugs--they forgot to program it to turn things off when you switch charge settings. However, it is still drawing 60 watts, doing who knows what.

This morning, the charger is only drawing 2 watts after the battery completed charging. While conditioning the car, the charger drew the maximum current of 12 amps or 1.3 kW. The charger drew 60 watts from the time I plugged it in at 5:30 pm until the time it started charging at 9:00 pm. If you have the car plugged in and value charge set, most likely you are not planning on driving anywhere until the battery is charged. So no gas will be consumed. The priority should be to minimize electric cost. The amount of charge remaining in the battery and the power it needs to consume to run the fans determines if the car has enough charge. If you wanted to drive the car later, you would have it plugged in and the charging options set to charge now so the battery charges and you can minimize gas consumption. Note during peak hours the rate is $0.3785/kWh. Driving on gas is slightly cheaper. During off peak, it is $0.0585. Running the fans from 5 pm to 9 pm cost $0.11. If instead, it used energy from the battery and recovered the electricity during off peak hours it would have cost $0.02.

If value charge is set and the battery has enough charge, it would be cheaper if it would use energy from the battery rather than from the outlet when electric rates are high. Whenever possible, it should only consume power from the outlet when electric rates are the lowest. The highest electric rates are from 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm, during the time when I come home and plug in the car. It should use battery power, rather than from the outlet, during this time and then begin charging at 9:00 pm.

Yes--that works! Strange--why would they display the numbers backwards?

Another item to add to your checklist. Make sure your entry code for keyless entry pad on the driver's door works. I can't find my code written down anywhere. I followed the procedure in the manual that displays the entry code on the console. However, when I attempt to enter it, it does not work either on the door or for MyFord Touch. I'm going to have to ask the dealer to provide me with the proper code.

I just purchased a Kill A Watt electricity usage meter to measure the amount of energy consumed by the Energi. I usually plug the car in when I get home from work. I set the charging options to value charge so the battery does not begin charging until around 11:00 pm. However, I notice that fans for the battery run continuously after I plug it in and the car seems to be consuming about 60 watts of power doing something. The ring around the charge port remains illuminated showing the remaining charge in the battery. I wonder why it is using 60 watts of electricity running the fans for the battery and whatever else it is doing while it is waiting to charge. Conditioning the battery for some reason? Would it make any difference on the longevity of the battery whether I leave it plugged in or not while it is waiting to charge? I will have to check tomorrow morning to see if it is still consuming electricity after it has finished charging.

The 240 Volt/32 amp Ford/Leviton charger (model EVB55-3VF) is still available from Leviton for $879. It compares favorably in price with the other Leviton chargers. You don't need the pre-wire kit with this model. It includes the mounting bracket.

I am very pleased so far with the Energi. My main reason, initially, in selecting the Energi was for significantly improved gas mileage. It has exceeded my expectations in that respect. I regularly get more than the advertised 21 miles range for a fully charged battery and exceed the EPA fuel estimates of 43 combined MPG. Yes, it is a difficult argument to make that fuel savings alone will make up for the higher initial cost of the Energi. And yes, it does feel like a larger, heavier car than others in its class. But it does provides better isolation from the road and a very quiet ride. EV mode provides a very unique driving experience. I would not want to go back to a gas-only powered car. Hopefully, by the time I am ready for the next car, all electric vehicles will become much more affordable.

I received the estimate. Installation is $900. The permit is $40. The unit itself is $593. I also called my Electric company, again, regarding installing a submeter and asked about Mr. Electric's estimate of $2,500 to install it They replied that they could recommend an electrician to have it installed for less than $200. I called Mr. Electric and told him what the electric company told me. He said they would call them and update the estimate. Mr. Electric should have called my Electric company to find out the requirements for installing the submeter, rather than making the incorrect assumption that I needed to install a completely separate electric service and giving me incorrect estimate of more than $2,500 for the submeter installation. The submeter goes between the service panel and the charger. I told him multiple times prior to him coming out and during his survey, what the electric company told me, that it would not be a expensive installation. I should not have to tell him how to install a submeter. I am going to get estimates from other electricians (installing a Leviton charger). I'm not sure I trust this electrician. As an aside, Best Buy still seems to offering the Ford/Leviton Charging Station at their bestbuyforbusiness.com website. It is listed under Home / Health & Fitness / Outdoor Recreation / Electric Vehicle Charging Stations. I'm not sure how they expect anyone to find it under Health & Fitness. I didn't know it could be healthy and recreational at the same time :drop: .

The car is in hybrid mode when the battery display on the left console no longer shows the estimated range remaining from the plug-in energy stored in the battery. Instead, it only shows the fill level representing the charge remaining in the battery with no miles of range information. By definition, EV mode means electric vehicle operation--the ICE is not on. The Energi doesn't use gas in EV mode--only energy from the battery. However, gas is occasionally consumed to charge the battery when in hybrid mode or the ICE turns on. I also keep the car in Auto EV. The ICE does not turn on until the battery is depleted. Until the battery is depleted, you are getting pure EV operation and no gas is consumed. After that, the car enters hybrid mode. Gas is used to propel the car and to charge the battery. In hybrid mode, the car frequently turns off the ICE and operates in EV mode using the energy from the battery that was generated by the ICE. I have not noticed any difference between Auto EV and EV now modes. There is no need to reset the Lifetime Summary status everytime you fill up. Simply use one the Trip 1 or Trip 2 odometers to keep track of the information since the last fill-up. I use trip 1 to keep track of the mileage driven, kWh of plug-in energy used, and gas used since I last filled up. I use trip 2 to keep track of the current trip.

If you did not reset the lifetime summary before you left the dealer, you will be including someone else's driving in your MPGe. The more you drive using plug-in energy, the higher the MPGe number. Driving on city streets (55 mph), I get between 135 and 150 MPGe using plug-in power only. If you drive a lot in hybrid mode, the MPGe numbers will be lower. Driving on freeways/highways in hybrid mode I get around 43 MPG. In hybrid mode MPGe and MPG are the same. So your Life Time Average MPGe will be highly dependent on whether you drive mostly using plug-in energy or gas (maybe as high as 150 MPGe if you use electric only power and no gas, to 40 MPGe if you never plug in the car and use only gas). I would use the trip 1 and 2 odometers to measure what you are currently getting for MPGe to see if you are getting similar numbers to what I get. If you are using a lot of air-conditioning or heating, the numbers will be significantly lower. For example, if I use the heater, my MPGe for city driving drops to around 100 MPGe. In hybrid mode, in cold weather with heating and with a strong head wind, it drops to 37 MPG. However, if it is warm, no heating or air conditioning, and there is a strong tail wind, I get 47 MPG. Also, if you turn your car on, drawing power from your battery or outlet (especially with air conditioning or heating), for long periods of time to familiarize yourself with the controls in the car (or forget to turn it off), and not going anywhere, you will lower your MPGe. Currently, my car displays 55.3 MPGe in the Lifetime Summary screen.

Lifetime summary MPG is going to show around: 882 / 11 = 80 MPG. The EV miles and Regen miles both contain miles from when the vehicle was driven in hybrid mode (as well as miles when the vehicle was using plug-in energy). The car does not separate miles driven using plug-in energy vs. gas. EV miles show the number of miles the vehicle was propelled by only the electric motor. Some of those EV miles came from plug-in power, and some came from the ICE running the generator to recharge the battery or the vehicle coasting and recharging the battery. Similarly, regen miles are from the regenerative braking system recharging the battery. This could occur while the vehicle is in hybrid mode or when it is running on plug-in energy. The only reliable way to determine your mileage in hybrid mode is to deplete the battery until the ICE turns on and then use the trip odometer to determine the mileage and gas used. However, I'm not sure how accurately the car measures gas consumed. If you did not reset your lifetime summary before you left the dealership, then the lifetime summary is going to contain mileage that you did not drive. Note the lifetime summary MPGe is going to show: 882 / x, where x is the amount of gas producing the equivalent amount of plug-in electric energy consumed from the power company to charge the battery plus the amount of gas consumed. The question now is why is Lifetime Summary showing 72 MPG rather than 80 MPG? The first time I filled up the gas tank, I had 908.6 miles and put in 11.291 gallons for 80.5 MPG. However, the Lifetime Summary showed 70.5 MPG (which means I consumed 12.888 gallons of gas). So I have very similar results to yours. Does the car really overestimate fuel consumption by 1.597 gallons. That does not seem right. I reset the Lifetime Summary before I left the dealer. Could it be excluding the regen miles from the MPG computation? I did have around 110 regen miles which would explain the discrepancy. Why would they exclude regen miles from the computation? In your case if I exclude the regen miles, I get: (882 - 118) / 11 = 69.5 MPG You probably rounded the amount of gas consumed to 11 gallons so the above computation is isn't quite 72 MPG.