New Energi won't charge .... :(

[rjent]

I just got my 2016 Energi home last night.  Plugged it in to a dedicated circuit, the flashing ring did the correct two rotation starting at the upper right hand quadrant so that tells me the cord is correct (right? noob here :) ).  The car is simply not charging! :/  What am I doing wrong?  Is there something I need to set inside?  It ran hybrid home last night perfectly getting 42 MPG over 150 miles into a headwind.  I have checked the battery disconnect behind the rear seat (I know, redundant), I have told the center console to "charge now".  What am I missing?

 

This is frustrating ....

 

Dick

[Russael]

Are you getting a flashing ring (the entire ring blinks on and off), or do you get a couple rotations of the charging ring and then it goes dark and then slowly pulses a quadrant?

 

The charger itself should also blink the "Charging" indicator.

 

If you're on 120V, it takes a good 6 hours to charge the car.

 

If you got a couple ring rotations and then everything went dark (including all the lights on the charger) you may have tripped a circuit breaker.  The car draws as much energy as a 12 amp vacuum cleaner (but does it for 6 hours on a discharged battery).  If that circuit is shared with anything else, such as an appliance, you will have to get used to running either the appliance or charging your car, up until you can either get a dedicated outlet installed, go 240V, or move the appliance off of that circuit.

 

One other thing - did you plug in the charger first, wait for it to power up, and then plug in the car, or did you plug in the car first and then the charger?  The charger has a 'power fail restart" timer that could wait up to 15 minutes before resuming charging.

Edited May 23, 2015 at 07:43 PM by Russael

[larryh]

Go to the EV Info screen (the leaf icon) on MyFord touch.  It should tell you what the car is doing, i.e. Charging Status:  Charging, Charged, Waiting to Charge, or Charge Fault.

[rjent]

Are you getting a flashing ring (the entire ring blinks on and off), or do you get a couple rotations of the charging ring and then it goes dark and then slowly pulses a quadrant?

 

The charger itself should also blink the "Charging" indicator.

 

If you're on 120V, it takes a good 6 hours to charge the car.

 

If you got a couple ring rotations and then everything went dark (including all the lights on the charger) you may have tripped a circuit breaker.  The car draws as much energy as a 12 amp vacuum cleaner (but does it for 6 hours on a discharged battery).  If that circuit is shared with anything else, such as an appliance, you will have to get used to running either the appliance or charging your car, up until you can either get a dedicated outlet installed, go 240V, or move the appliance off of that circuit.

 

One other thing - did you plug in the charger first, wait for it to power up, and then plug in the car, or did you plug in the car first and then the charger?  The charger has a 'power fail restart" timer that could wait up to 15 minutes before resuming charging.

 

Nothing else is on the circuit.  I have a power green light on the charger so I know it is powered on.  I got a couple ring rotations and then the ring is dark, the charger is still showing a green power light, but no vehicle light.  The charger was plugged in first, then the car (I seemingly have used every conceivable combo LOL).  It just acts like the car is waiting to charge (since the ring does the two rotation thing according to the manual it sees the charger (power)).  I will try to let the charger "rest" for a few and try again.

[rjent]

Go to the EV Info screen (the leaf icon) on MyFord touch.  It should tell you what the car is doing, i.e. Charging Status:  Charging, Charged, Waiting to Charge, or Charge Fault.

It basically tells me it is waiting to charge, even though I have pushed the "charge now" button.  I hope this is a simple newbie problem, I would love to just be embarassed instead of having something wrong already.  I sold a perfectly good 2013 HyTi for this ..... car, hope I didn't make a mistate!  :(

[larryh]

Is the green light on the charger flashing when it says waiting to charge?  MyFord Touch should provide a scheduled start time when charging will begin if it is waiting to charge.  You can also try MyFord Mobile and make sure it is set for Charge Now. 

[rjent]

Well this has been interesting.  I had installed my Ford Mobile on my phone and had set up an account but only recieved one confirmation.  They (National techs) think that the mobile software hairballed sync so I had to delete my account and recreate it with new confirmations.  I got the first one  a few min. ago, the second comes 24 hours later, so hopefully tomorrow, I should be charging.  I will let everyone know.

 

BTW, I have one of the very first 2016 Fusion Energi's out according to the national people .... kind of cool!!

 

Dick

[murphy]

Leave it plugged in overnight in case there is a charge time set.

[Hybridbear]

Getting MFM set up should help because then you'll be able to see the status on your phone or web browser. You can also set MFM to send you text messages or e-mails if there is a charge fault or other problem. I get the texts for charge complete and if the alarm is triggered, the 12V battery is low or a tire is low on air. They're quite useful.

[rbort]

Try to disconnect the 12v battery for a minute and reconnect it.  This will "reboot" the car's computer so to speak and things that were not working before will start working again.  I had this happen to me once with the MFT screen, and that fixed it.  Its easier than pulling fuses, and you get a fresh start.

 

-=>Raja.

[rjent]

OK, an update.  My Ford Mobile (MFM) is now working.  I can start the car (tested), I can unlock the doors (tested), but no charge ..... :/

 

Do you have to use the scheduling system?  I naively thought you just plugged the damn thing in and charged, silly me .....  :headscratch:

 

I can't express how pissed I am right now .....  :censored:

 

MFM was closed today, and probably will be tomorrow ...... Now I know how acdii felt with his first FFH 

 

Anybody have any ideas.

 

Oh, I have set a schedule to charge for a go time at 6 AM daily so in the morning it may be charged, I have, however, gotten a text message that states:

 

 

We thought you would like to know that BeeBee is scheduled to begin charging but the start of charging has not yet occurred. Please ensure BeeBee is plugged in and there are no problems with your charging station.

The charging station that came with the car has never shown the lights it was supposed to.  I have tested the outlet and it tests correctly ....

[Russael]

Your car should begin charging immediately, especially if the thing was brand new, unless someone test drove the thing and started messing with settings.

 

I know you just got the MFM confirmation, but you may want to try a Master Reset of the MyFord Touch system.  You'll find that under Settings (not the leaf, but the gears).  You can download your vehicle's owner manual and search for Master Reset.  That will broom ANY preset setting and return it back to factory default.

 

If your car still refuses to charge, try Robert's suggestion of removing the negative battery cable on your 12V (it's in the trunk, left hand side) for a few minutes with the car unplugged, and then reconnect it and see if that fixes it.

 

If all of these suggestions don't work, there may be a fault in the charging system or the EVSE for the car.  Another thing you can try is going to the dealership and trying their 240V charging station and seeing if the car starts to charge.  But this is starting to sound like something may be defective.

 

It TOTALLY sucks that it's on a brand new car, but I hope this doesn't sour your experience.  Once this hump is resolved, you should be as happy as the rest of us. :)

[rjent]

Your car should begin charging immediately, especially if the thing was brand new, unless someone test drove the thing and started messing with settings.

 

I know you just got the MFM confirmation, but you may want to try a Master Reset of the MyFord Touch system.  You'll find that under Settings (not the leaf, but the gears).  You can download your vehicle's owner manual and search for Master Reset.  That will broom ANY preset setting and return it back to factory default.

 

If your car still refuses to charge, try Robert's suggestion of removing the negative battery cable on your 12V (it's in the trunk, left hand side) for a few minutes with the car unplugged, and then reconnect it and see if that fixes it.

 

If all of these suggestions don't work, there may be a fault in the charging system or the EVSE for the car.  Another thing you can try is going to the dealership and trying their 240V charging station and seeing if the car starts to charge.  But this is starting to sound like something may be defective.

 

It TOTALLY sucks that it's on a brand new car, but I hope this doesn't sour your experience.  Once this hump is resolved, you should be as happy as the rest of us. :)

 

At this point, I am going to wait on engineering.  I am a car guy and have been working on them (hobby and professionally) for decades, but since this is new, may be a glitch, I will be patient (hard for me LOL) and let them make some decisions based on the parameters that be.  I know I will be happy with the car, we LOVED our HyTi, but it was getting up in mileage and was frustrating for driving around our small town, so it was a seemingly win win.  I'll get it fixed, it IS a Ford after all :D   The car had 5 miles on it when we picked it up.  i AM thinking that the cord is at fault, but I want Ford to say so.  The dealership is 150 miles away, so not completely convienient for the 240 test (I almost charged it before we started out bringing it home, but decided to save time .... :/

 

Thanks everyone, I will keep this thread up to date ....

Try to disconnect the 12v battery for a minute and reconnect it.  This will "reboot" the car's computer so to speak and things that were not working before will start working again.  I had this happen to me once with the MFT screen, and that fixed it.  Its easier than pulling fuses, and you get a fresh start.

 

-=>Raja.

 

Thanks R, I appreciate the suggestion.  I almost did that today, but decided to wait a few days and let Ford deal with this  As a retired IT guy, I know what it is like when people start "pushing buttons" LOL. :D

[rbort]

I was going to recommend trying another charger but I looked at Truth or Consequences (was that for real I thought you made it up and then all of a sudden its for real, wow!) NM and see that there are no chargers anywhere in NM so to speak.

 

I guess you go back to the dealer and see what they can do for you.  They will probably try another charger there first to see what happens.

 

Yeah, you and I are both retired IT guys :)

 

-=>Raja.

[ls973800]

The charging station that came with the car has never shown the lights it was supposed to.  I have tested the outlet and it tests correctly ....

 

Copied from the OP's reply #11.  If the charger lights don't light up when he plugs it into a known good outlet, I would have to say it is a defective charger.  Plugging it into the wall outlet should at least give a light showing power is being received by the charger.  If no lights are showing at all when  plugged in, I don't see how it is anything wrong with the car itself. 

[Hybridbear]

I agree with ls. The text message received also indicates that the car knows that it is plugged in but that there is a problem with the charger. This is the kind of message you receive if the circuit breaker trips so the charger has no power.

[rjent]

Update:

 

The charger (charging cord) shows the power light on and always has.  It just doesn't show the car connected, charging or otherwise.  the three other lights Fault, charging etc, do not light and never have.

 

My wife and I took the car on a drive today.  Since I am in God's country  ;) we have mountains we can go play in.  There is a pass a few miles from the house that I thought I could test the EV battery section and electronics with.   Well, they work.  I was able to put 15 miles of charge in the batteries today before we got home.  Drove it EV for the first time through town .... what a pleasure  :wub: .  I have an electrician coming in the morning to put dedicated 110 and 220 volt outlets in tomorrow. :spend:  I know that is not the problem, but at least that way I know we do not have a problem with power.  I do intend to get the level 2 charger anyway, but it would be nice to see this thing get charged up from the grid ......  :woohoo:

 

I hope to talk to Ford (both the dealer and the national people) tomorrow to get a resolution to this.  I will update here .... 

 

Oh and BTW, I did a reset in the MFT system (soft) today with no joy.  Of course I have to do the 24 hour my ford mobile dance again ....  :headspin:

Edited May 25, 2015 at 11:02 PM by rjent

[rjent]

Update:

 

Took it back to the dealer yesterday.  Told the service manager that I thought the cable was bad, no lights (error, charge, etc) just the power light.  Got the stone face of don't tell me what is wrong, I will do the diagnostics LOL.  An hour later, she comes back and says "Well good news, the car charges great, we have it on the level 2 charger and it is charging well, I showed her my Ford mobile app and that I knew it was charging.  She comes back in another half an hour says like it is a revelation "Looks like the cord is no good" with a straight face continues "with the power light on but no other lights we determined that the cord was bad.  We don't stock one of these, so we took one out of an SE on the lot and it charges your car perfectly"   ;)   I thanked her profusely  :worship: told her since we only need another hour for a full charge, put it back on the level 2 charger and let's finish charging it up.  "Great idea!"  :future:

Anyway, got it home, put it back on the outlet I am going to use and it charged it back from 0 in about 6 hours.  So I am good to go.  Went to Walmart this AM, I forced the wife to drive it and showed her how to set it to EV only and what a pleasure!  Quiet, moon roof open, no gasoline .....  :love_shower:

 

Thanks for everyone's help.  BTW, I drove the 160 miles home, into a 20 MPH headwind and got home with 58 MPG.  I used the EV up driving through the surface streets in Albuquerque and was able to get about 25 miles on the 55 MPH old US 85 then jumped on I25 and came home.  With the headwind, that is about 18 to 20 MPG better than the HyTi.  I am happy!  :clapping: Wonderful car!

 

Now I have to learn how to maximize it!  :noobie:

Edited May 29, 2015 at 03:25 PM by rjent

[ls973800]

Good to hear you got it taken care of, and it was something simple like the cord itself.  Not that it should have been bad to begin with, but a lot better than something electrical or otherwise in the vehicle itself.

[rbort]

Awesome, glad it got solved!  One thing to note, there is no need to put the car in EV mode every time to drive in electric, I leave mine in Auto and watch the Empower screen which gives you a battery to engine threshold that you actually don't get in EV mode.

 

Keep that up to 2 bars tops during acceleration and you will go further and it will be easier on the battery.  Use whatever you need to accelerate as slowly as possible, as opposed to as fast as possible.  In other words, if there are cars behind you in a rush, 2 bars.  If there is no-one behind you, then 1.5 bars or maybe even 1 bar if the road is slightly downhill.  The longer you take to accelerate, the better it is.

 

Most efficient speed in electric is about 35mph, top speed while maintaining a good range is about 38mph.  Any faster than that and the range starts to suffer due to drag.

 

-=>Raja.

[rjent]

Awesome, glad it got solved!  One thing to note, there is no need to put the car in EV mode every time to drive in electric, I leave mine in Auto and watch the Empower screen which gives you a battery to engine threshold that you actually don't get in EV mode.

 

Keep that up to 2 bars tops during acceleration and you will go further and it will be easier on the battery.  Use whatever you need to accelerate as slowly as possible, as opposed to as fast as possible.  In other words, if there are cars behind you in a rush, 2 bars.  If there is no-one behind you, then 1.5 bars or maybe even 1 bar if the road is slightly downhill.  The longer you take to accelerate, the better it is.

 

Most efficient speed in electric is about 35mph, top speed while maintaining a good range is about 38mph.  Any faster than that and the range starts to suffer due to drag.

 

-=>Raja.

 

Thanks Raja!  I have just about gleaned that technique from my reading so far.  We make a regular (once or twice a month) trip 70 miles south.  We can drive a beautiful farming route which in many places has 35 to 45 MPH speed limits.  I will try to take that route instead of the Interstate and play with different modes.  I know when I get to my southern destination, I can use up the EV on the surface streets, but I used to get from 60 to 80 MPG in places in the HyTi because of slope, just climbing back across town used gas.  I will experiment with some of the techniques discussed.

 

So Auto is the preferred setting?  I learned in the HyTi the "art" of hybrid driving and had gotten pretty good at it.  This just seems the same except on steroids .....  :)

[murphy]

It's a personal choice.  All of my trips are short.  I don't expect the ICE to run until late fall.  My gas tank is 1/3 full and was last filled in June 2014.  Yes it has stabilizer in it.

[Blastphemy]

Getting MFM set up should help because then you'll be able to see the status on your phone or web browser. You can also set MFM to send you text messages or e-mails if there is a charge fault or other problem. I get the texts for charge complete and if the alarm is triggered, the 12V battery is low or a tire is low on air. They're quite useful.

 

When I went to download the Ford app last night, I found this list on the App store:

 

1) Ford Remote Access

2) SYNC Destinations

3) Ford Drive!

4) MyFord Touch Guide

 

I didn't actually find MyFord Mobile until this morning after reading this thread! Meanwhile, I think I signed up for three different Ford things instead... SYNC, MyFord online, and Ford Remote Access. But since I didn't have a SIM and PIN for #1 and had no desire to pay $50/year for an app that hadn't been updated since December 9, 2013 (the Remote Access one), I gave up.

 

Thank goodness for this post pointing me in the right direction, or I might never have found the correct MyFord Mobile app! lol. :noobie:

 

Does anyone use #1-3 above for anything? #4 is a fantastic recreation of the in-car infotainment system, and it was a breeze learning the system using that app while I was waiting for the car to be washed for delivery.

[Hybridbear]

When I went to download the Ford app last night, I found this list on the App store:

 

1) Ford Remote Access

2) SYNC Destinations

3) Ford Drive!

4) MyFord Touch Guide

 

I didn't actually find MyFord Mobile until this morning after reading this thread! Meanwhile, I think I signed up for three different Ford things instead... SYNC, MyFord online, and Ford Remote Access. But since I didn't have a SIM and PIN for #1 and had no desire to pay $50/year for an app that hadn't been updated since December 9, 2013 (the Remote Access one), I gave up.

 

Thank goodness for this post pointing me in the right direction, or I might never have found the correct MyFord Mobile app! lol. :noobie:

 

Does anyone use #1-3 above for anything? #4 is a fantastic recreation of the in-car infotainment system, and it was a breeze learning the system using that app while I was waiting for the car to be washed for delivery.

Sync Destinations is useful. More info can be found here: http://fordfusionhybridforum.com/topic/8759-sync-destinations-app/

[Hybridbear]

EV Auto will force the ICE to come on if you the defrost only in cool weather. EV Auto also raises the minimum coolant temp for keeping the ICE off from 15 F to 60 F. If you want to drive in winter with the ICE off its important to use EV Now.

 

Edit: in warm weather it doesn't matter as much, but I wouldn't go as far as Raja. We keep the car in EV Now because we don't want the ICE to come on accidentally which can happen when in EV Auto.

Edited May 30, 2015 at 04:43 PM by Hybridbear