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Charging the Energi battery from gas-engine in hybrid mode


Fusion-SarasotaBay
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On a 2014 Fusion Energi Is it possible to charge the high-voltage Energi (7.6 kWh Lithium-ion) battery from excess electrical energy generated by the gas-powered engine and/or regen braking system when in hybrid power mode?


 


The left-side multi-function display seems to indicate that more power is going into the battery while in hybrid mode, but the EV battery level never seems to increase.


 


Or is there a separate EV mode battery from the hybrid mode battery?


 


Anyone know the details on how the hybrid charging works and whether it is charging the same battery used in EV mode?


 


Thanks.


 

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While in hybrid mode, the ICE will put energy back in to the pack, but only up to a certain point before it float charges hybrid mode (while driving at steady speeds on flat ground).  Regeneration can put more energy in to the pack than the ICE will.  Traveling down a mountain or down a long decline stretch of highway can actually put enough energy back in to the pack to bring you back out of hybrid mode and back in to an EV mode.  Some people here have actually completely recharged the pack during a very long downhill stretch of mountainous road... that's one place where the Energi should be able to crush the Fusion Hybrid (It can capture WAY more energy).

 

There is only one battery pack, but the computer runs it in 2 modes - Hybrid mode and EV modes.

 

The ICE won't put enough energy in to the pack to put miles back on the battery.  That's just converting energy.  Regeneration, on the other hand, is recapturing what would've been wasted energy and they didn't put a limit on that.

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Some people here have actually completely recharged the pack during a very long downhill stretch of mountainous road... that's one place where the Energi should be able to crush the Fusion Hybrid (It can capture WAY more energy).

 

Regeneration, on the other hand, is recapturing what would've been wasted energy and they didn't put a limit on that.

 

And THAT, my friends, is why we (and many other Energi drivers) regularly achieve much higher than Ford/EPA estimated mpg when in hybrid mode in these models.  My wife regularly returns in the 50s mpg highway and over 60 mpg city when in hybrid only mode.  I STILL do not understand why in the heck Ford/EPA DERATED the Energi models to have LOWER mpg ratings than the hybrid models.  It defies all reason and "real world" results.

Edited by EnergiCCAATS
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 I STILL do not understand why in the heck Ford/EPA DERATED the Energi models to have LOWER mpg ratings than the hybrid models.  It defies all reason and "real world" results.

 

Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!  They are sending me two goodwill checks for the Energi ratings lowering while I can get better than the old rating in most cases... don't ruin it!

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Yeah, I would like that check soon as well!  I guess the reason for derating is that the "real world" results can widely vary depending on how much A/C usage someone utilizes, the reduced range in winter in much colder climates and if you live in fairly flat topography, you don't get nearly as many regen miles.  I guess this car is really well suited to greatly achieve rated efficiency in mild climates and with lots of hilly terrain for regen.  

Edited by EnergiCCAATS
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Guys I've been recharging my Energi's battery while driving, in a typical 20 min drive to work and back home I am able to add 20%, the other day I drove 34 miles from NJ to NY and my charge level was 36% and when I arrived I had 76%.

 

This is what I am doing.  Don't let the EV battery drain below 20%, put it on ev later mode.  Now the trick is time your regen braking, by switching it out of ev later mode and putting it auto mode, then when you are going to accelerate tap it twice to bring it back to evlater mode getting about 48 mpg by driving this way.  When I get the batter to be in the 90% then I only drive electric until it drops to 20% and I start the cycle again.  

 

When you brake or coast in evlater mode the energy that is captured only goes to the allotted hybrid mode storage of the battery.

 

By switching it to EV Auto or EV all that energy goes back to charge the long range or EV section of the battery, thus fooling the software and the care self charges while you coast and break.

 

So to recap start 2 taps (Evlater engaged) when about to break or coast 1 tap for Auto mode, then 2 taps to evlater.  Try it.

 

I live in an apartment building and there is no charging stations, unless I go to the dealer or my brothers house, so this comes in very handy.

Edited by Quatro40
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While in hybrid mode, the ICE will put energy back in to the pack, but only up to a certain point before it float charges hybrid mode (while driving at steady speeds on flat ground).  Regeneration can put more energy in to the pack than the ICE will.  Traveling down a mountain or down a long decline stretch of highway can actually put enough energy back in to the pack to bring you back out of hybrid mode and back in to an EV mode.  Some people here have actually completely recharged the pack during a very long downhill stretch of mountainous road... that's one place where the Energi should be able to crush the Fusion Hybrid (It can capture WAY more energy).

 

There is only one battery pack, but the computer runs it in 2 modes - Hybrid mode and EV modes.

 

The ICE won't put enough energy in to the pack to put miles back on the battery.  That's just converting energy.  Regeneration, on the other hand, is recapturing what would've been wasted energy and they didn't put a limit on that.

Russael,

 

Thank you very much for explaining this.  I've called my dealer and Ford Customer Relations; and none of them could explain this so well.  There should be a Ford video explaining why the two different little blue batteries [left side display] (one in EV mode and one in hybrid mode) are showing totally different levels of battery charge information.  I found it very confusing, and the Owners manual and Ford instruction videos don't explain it well.

 

Patrick

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