Ventilated Seats - Engine Required???

[Pavman]

I am ordering a FFE and living in Florida, the ventilated / cooled seats seemed like a worthy option, especially if I could turn them on during pre-conditioning.  During my research I downloaded the 2014 owners manual, which apparently is a combo manual  for both the Energi and the Hybrid - so perhaps there is a supplement for the Energi that I don't have, the manual states on pg 127 that the engine must be on and running with at least 350 RPM or the seat ventilation will turn off.  If this is true this would defeat my purpose for ordering this seat ventilation option as I plan on most of my driving being accomplished in EV only mode.  

 

Any input, conformation or correction is appreciated!

 

 

 

[shaggy314]

You want vented seat during summer period.

 

That said, when I precondition the car while on the charger, the whole inside was cool so vented seats wouldn't have mattered I think.

 

IMHO: Vented seat help when you jump in a hot car and yes, I wish I could've gotten them.

[wazer]

Everything else in this car can run off the HVB, except for MAX defrost, but that's understandable. I'll be very disappointed if the cooled seats can't.

 

I just looked at the regular gas model's owners manual and the text is the same. So, I'm going to assume that was something that just got copied over for the Hybrid/Energi owner's manual and wasn't updated.

Edited June 24, 2014 at 09:16 PM by wazer

[Rexracer]

Yeah I would hope they would function on battery power alone, since if they didn't they wouldn't get used for most of us most of the time.

[CapnBry]

I have an Energi Titanium with the cooled seats and I can confirm they work just fine in EV-only mode. I also had seen that information in the manual and was rather worried about it. You have to manually turn them on each time you start the car but I think that's true even with the batteryless vehicle. They show little power usage if any at all in the "climate" gauge (when used at the same time as the regular A/C).

 

I'm in Florida too and the A/C really cuts into the battery, 4.5kW reported when I get in and the car is hot (120-130F interior temperature). A 30 minute ride with that going all the time is about a third of the EV-only battery and we're not even talking about moving the car! Luckily it drops down over 5-10 minutes to about 1-1.5kW.

[Pavman]

I have an Energi Titanium with the cooled seats and I can confirm they work just fine in EV-only mode. I also had seen that information in the manual and was rather worried about it. You have to manually turn them on each time you start the car but I think that's true even with the batteryless vehicle. They show little power usage if any at all in the "climate" gauge (when used at the same time as the regular A/C).

 

I'm in Florida too and the A/C really cuts into the battery, 4.5kW reported when I get in and the car is hot (120-130F interior temperature). A 30 minute ride with that going all the time is about a third of the EV-only battery and we're not even talking about moving the car! Luckily it drops down over 5-10 minutes to about 1-1.5kW.

 

Great news!  thank you for chiming in!  I was alarmed to have read this in the manual, I guess Ford just did not proof that page, it really would not make sense if they turned off when the engine was not running, it would defeat my purpose!

 

Thanks Again

[Kybuck]

 They show little power usage if any at all in the "climate" gauge (when used at the same time as the regular A/C).

 

What about by themselves, without regular A/C?  How much power usage do they show (or how do they impact the battery range prediction)?

Edited June 27, 2014 at 03:47 AM by Kybuck

[CapnBry]

I'm a little slow to respond because I didn't know the answer and needed to test it out.

 

You can still use the ventilated seats with the A/C turned off and the energy gauge reports 0 climate power usage. However the seats never get cool, it is just blowing normal air (waited about 5 minutes in 90 degree heat). When I turned the ventilated seats off, the "other" energy use didn't drop though, which leads me to believe that the energy use of ventilated seats probably isn't counted by either gauge.

 

I think the battery range prediction doesn't seem to be affected by turning them on, only when I turn normal A/C on. It must have some effect, but I'm almost certain it just isn't accounted for.

[Kybuck]

Thanks, so it's like using the normal HVAC blower without A/C (no impact to range or energy meter) vs. with A/C (range decreases and big impact on energy meter).  Obviously cooling is limited without the compressor running, but it'd at least help circulate air on your back.  I wasn't sure if there was potentially a different cooling mechanism or a smaller (less energy usage) compressor just for the seats.

[CapnBry]

Thanks to forum member larryh for the PID codes, I looked at current consumption using an OBD adapter while the ventilated seats were on high vs off. The amount of power consumed is undetectable in the normal fluctuating power draw, which is to say it is less than an amp. Sitting at a traffic light with the AC on (fan low) and the ventilated seats on I was seeing about 4.0-4.5 amps total draw.