Considering buying a 2017 Energi

[DJ Will]

Hi,

 

I am looking at buying a 2017 Energi with 90k miles.  Any tips/suggestions from the knowledge base on what I should look at or have inspected before buying?  The car looks in great shape.

 

Thank you

[muzicman61]

Other than to check out the full charge of the battery.  I have a 2017 and used to get about 25pme... now I get about 14.  A little higher in the summer.

[DJ Will]

Thanks for the feedback.

[jsamp]

If they'll let you, do a full battery test.  It'll take up to an hour depending on the route you choose:

 

Start with a 100% full battery

set the car to EV mode

set a trip odometer to zero

gently drive a route that is <50MPH, preferably with as few stops as possible

drive until left screen says "EV mode not available" which is ~30 seconds after reaching 0% on the battery

Look on the trip odometer for both miles driven and especially kWh used.  Here's a guide on the health of the battery:

 

5 - 5.5 kWh - Great shape

4.5 - 5 kWh - good shape

4-4.5 kwh - fair shape

3.5-4 kWh - poor shape

3-3.5 kWh - awful shape

< 3 kWh run away!

 

With 90k miles I wouldn't expect the top tier, and even 2nd tier is unlikely though possible.  if it is at least 4kWh and a good price, I'd go for it.  Also pay attention to the miles you got in the test - is it enough for your intended use (commute) with some buffer for the cold days?

 

Edited February 17, 2024 at 04:36 PM by jsamp

[theterminator93]

Temperature has a huge impact on the EV mode kWh test. I've been thinking of recording results at various temperatures to graph the effect of temperature on usable EV capacity but haven't taken the plunge.

 

In the summer with our '17 approaching 80k, I still get close to 5 kWh and about 23 miles for the test. With the battery at 40F, I get about 4.1 kWh and 19 miles.

Edited February 24, 2024 at 03:24 PM by theterminator93

[jsamp]

 

Good point terminator.  Results are best around 70°F.  The ranges I show are related to that temperature.  I don't have a good reference for doing this test at a lower temperature.

 

[jj2me]

 

On 2/17/2024 at 11:34 AM, jsamp said:

< 3 kWh run away!

 

If plugging in is not a requirement, i.e., if DJ Will is looking at this Energi mainly because he's offered a great price for a car in great shape, won't an Energi with a badly degraded battery perform just like a Fusion Hybrid if he never plugs in?  Seems like it should, but I'm not sure if there's some downfall.

Edited February 19, 2024 at 10:04 PM by jj2me

[cr08]

On 2/19/2024 at 5:03 PM, jj2me said:

 

 

If plugging in is not a requirement, i.e., if DJ Will is looking at this Energi mainly because he's offered a great price for a car in great shape, won't an Energi with a badly degraded battery perform just like a Fusion Hybrid if he never plugs in?  Seems like it should, but I'm not sure if there's some downfall.

In theory there should be no problem doing this if there's no other reoccurring trouble codes. The only caveat I'd make for earlier model years if you plan to run it as a pure hybrid is to disable the EV+ mode. This permits the vehicle to deeply discharge the battery when reaching often visited destinations (ie: work/home) with the intent that it's going to be plugged in when you get there. Being this deeply discharged combined with the natural self discharge that happens as the battery sits/cools has the potential to bring it too low and cause further issues especially for a degraded battery with poor cells.

 

Off topic: TBH, I recommend disabling EV+ for hybrid models as well and without having a plug to charge them up, it's even more of something to worry about. And you're not gaining much out of it there anyways as it just means the ICE is going to work harder at the next start to charge the battery back up. There was one owner who posted here or on the Fusion Hybrid forum a while back that had to have their dealer bring in a large off-board charger after their HVB got deeply discharged from a camping trip when the vehicle was repeatedly 'woken up'/doors opened/etc.. The DC-DC converter actually does wake up and provide some low level ~13V charge even if it is not fully running but unlocked/woken. So based on this anecdote (and one or two others I've seen mentioned over the years with direct EV+ related issues) it seems like there's definitely enough of a 'loophole' in Ford's programming to allow it to discharge to an unsafe state.

[jsamp]

On 2/19/2024 at 2:03 PM, jj2me said:

 

 

If plugging in is not a requirement, i.e., if DJ Will is looking at this Energi mainly because he's offered a great price for a car in great shape, won't an Energi with a badly degraded battery perform just like a Fusion Hybrid if he never plugs in?  Seems like it should, but I'm not sure if there's some downfall.

 

That's a bit of a jump from "it's got a weak battery" to "just use it as a hybrid".  If he's looking at an Energi I presume he wants at least some EV miles out of it.  Otherwise no point in paying more for the Energi.

The added downfall is 33% less trunk space than a hybrid, which is already 25% reduced from an ICE fusion.