ICE: cold weather run

[openair]

I understand the ice is supposed to run to warm itself up if the weather is cold enough. I would not think between 17 and 24 C would qualify as cold enough for the ice to require a warm up.

 

Can anyone tell me at what temperature the ice should require a warm up or what other reasons my ice would run while idling or coasting?

[larryh]

Look at the MyFord Touch EV Info Power screen, it should tell you why the ICE is on.

Edited September 21, 2014 at 09:39 PM by larryh

[Energized]

I understand the ice is supposed to run to warm itself up if the weather is cold enough. I would not think between 17 and 24 C would qualify as cold enough for the ice to require a warm up.

Can anyone tell me at what temperature the ice should require a warm up or what other reasons my ice would run while idling or coasting?

Once the ICE starts, it will run until it's temperature reaches the lower end of the normal operating range, no matter if you are coasting or stopped. If you are in EV Auto, the ICE will start if you are accelerating faster than normal. The ICE will also start when the battery is at a low SOC level, whether in EV Now or Auto.

[murphy]

The ICE will start if the fuel in the tank is 18 months or more old.

The ICE will start if oil maintenance mode is triggered.

[openair]

Look at the MyFord Touch EV Info Power screen, it should tell you why the ICE is on.

Can anyone confirm the ice running due to cold weather would display anything besides the generic "due to normal operation"?

[larryh]

MyFord Touch should display Battery Temperature in the EV info screen if the battery is too hot or too cold.  In either case, EV Now and EV later modes are disabled.   

 

Due to normal operation could mean that the ICE is warming up.  For some reason, the ICE was started.  Then it will not turn off until it is warmed up.   What is the SOC of the HVB when this happens?  If it is near 100%, the ICE may start during regen. 

Edited September 22, 2014 at 08:34 PM by larryh

[openair]

Near 100% sometimes. I understand the ice may need to warm up but my understanding is the ice needing to warm up is related to the temperature of the ice due to ambient temps approaching freezing. The temp of the battery is unrelated. 17c is tshirt and shorts weather. The ice should not need to warm up at that temp.

[openair]

Afaik the battery has independent electric heating and cooling and the ice plays no roll in battery temp management.  The EV now or EV later modes have never been disabled while the ice is running while the vehicle is at a stand still.  They have only ever been disabled if the battery is depleted far enough they should be.

Edited September 22, 2014 at 09:34 PM by openair

[larryh]

If the SOC of the HVB exceeds 98.5%, you don't get regen.  If you press the brakes, the car should use the friction brakes to slow the car down.  However, if you lift your foot off the pedal, when it attempts to slow down the car, it will not be able to use regen to slow it down.  The ICE will start and be used to slow down the car.  Once the ICE starts, it will run until until it is warmed up and coolant temperature exceeds 100 - 120 F. 

Edited September 22, 2014 at 09:55 PM by larryh

[larryh]

Note that the ICE comes on when the HVB is too cold because the HVB can't supply adequate power to propel the vehicle.  When the HVB is too hot, using power from the HVB will heat it up even more.  The ICE indirectly regulates HVB temperature, by allowing it to warm up or prevent it from overheating. 

[larryh]

Also, switch the left display to the Empower screen.   If you accelerate too fast, beyond the outlined box, the ICE will start in EV Auto mode.  It shouldn't start in EV now mode no matter how fast you accelerate, but acceleration will be slower. 

Edited September 22, 2014 at 10:09 PM by larryh

[openair]

That would explain why it run sometimes.  Why I get ~110mpg on myfordmobile occasionally when I though it was a 100% ev trip.  But it does not explain why it does the ice comes on similarly at lower SOC.  20%-70%.  I suppose this could be due to a low SOC and I may have had it in EV later mode at the time but I didn't think it was supposed to run the ice at a stand still only to charge the battery.

 

These times the ice comes on I am talking about, the empower (or engage I forget which is which) display shows the ev motor running at where I would expect if only the ev motor were driving the vehicle and the ice running below any rpms I've seen it use to propel the vehicle by itself.  It could be the battery is too cold I suppose and only loading the ice enough to make up the lack of power from the battery due to cold.

 

I always use the empower or engage displays.  I am never accelerating fast enough the ice comes on only for that reason.  I never accelerate fast enough I get the enable ice pop up in ev mode.

Edited September 22, 2014 at 10:15 PM by openair

[larryh]

If you have the car in EV later mode, the car will attempt to maintain the SOC of the HVB within a small window (window size is maybe 8%).  If the window is centered at 30% SOC, then when the SOC falls below 26%, the ICE will start to charge the HVB.  It will start regardless of whether the car is moving or stopped.

 

When the ICE is warming up, it will run at a constant 1500 rpm.  It will provide some of the power to propel the car, but much of the load is still supplied by the HVB and electric motor. 

Edited September 22, 2014 at 10:15 PM by larryh

[openair]

I don't think it was outside an 8% window but it's possible.  I'll have to keep an eye on it and see how it goes.