New Owner 2014 SE Luxury with 19K miles

[marshel308]

After putting it on hold over the weekend to think it over, brought home my new to me 2014 Fusion Energi, Was a little concerned because the chain store I bought it from didn't seem to have a clue about the differences between a normal hybrid and a plugin; but all seems well. The EV side of the battery was depleted from short length test drives and their not charging it, but after charging for the first time and having it show 19 miles of range feel that the battery must be in at least decent shape (I do have a 5 day return period). I'm in Nashville and it was brutally hot today, so after resetting the mpg and then driving a bunch in stop and go traffic with the AC on was a little disappointed that mileage was in the low 30s, but doing a short drive after making a dinner stop and being able to shut the AC off was relieved to see that trip showed 70+ with me trying to get the hang of maximizing mpg. I'm sure I'll have lots of questions, first off the cord couldn't quite reach my outside outlet so,against the advice of the manual I bought the shortest heavy duty extension cord at Lowe's I could find, a 15 foot 12 gauge, it seemed to charge fine with neither cord getting warm, Is using an extension cord something I should be concerned about?

 

[fconway]

Hi and welcome.

 

I have a 2017 energi, and so far its been fantastic.

 

On gas i average about 43 mpg, speed depending. I still get 23 miles electric range in the summer. In the winter i get about 12 miles, be aware that the cold and the cars heater are brutal to the battery. Down in Memphis you shouldn't be quite as cold as we are here in Saint Louis.

 

I charge my Energi using a 100' extension cord. i bought a 12 guage cord. I've been charging it this way for a year. the cord gets very slightly warm. Mine is exposed to the rain, and i HAVE melted the plug ends (both on the cord and the charger). I removed the damaged ends and put on a good quality waterproof plug end, we'll see how that goes. I'm sure what i'm doing is wrong, a risk, etc. But so far I haven't burned the house down (!!!). (the plug in surround at the house is entirely metal, and is pretty weatherproof).

 

Welcome to the group. and enjoy the car.

[muzicman61]

Yah, the manual clearly states "Do not use the 120 volt convenience cord with an extension cord, two-prong adapter, surge protector, timer or other adapter."

 

Seriously don't risk burning your house down just to charge your car.

[jsamp]

After putting it on hold over the weekend to think it over, brought home my new to me 2014 Fusion Energi, Was a little concerned because the chain store I bought it from didn't seem to have a clue about the differences between a normal hybrid and a plugin; but all seems well. The EV side of the battery was depleted from short length test drives and their not charging it, but after charging for the first time and having it show 19 miles of range feel that the battery must be in at least decent shape (I do have a 5 day return period). I'm in Nashville and it was brutally hot today, so after resetting the mpg and then driving a bunch in stop and go traffic with the AC on was a little disappointed that mileage was in the low 30s, but doing a short drive after making a dinner stop and being able to shut the AC off was relieved to see that trip showed 70+ with me trying to get the hang of maximizing mpg. I'm sure I'll have lots of questions, first off the cord couldn't quite reach my outside outlet so,against the advice of the manual I bought the shortest heavy duty extension cord at Lowe's I could find, a 15 foot 12 gauge, it seemed to charge fine with neither cord getting warm, Is using an extension cord something I should be concerned about?

Best test you can do to see the condition of your battery is to charge it fully, then do a EV test drive until it switches to hybrid mode.  Stop the car and shut it off and it will tell you in the left screen how much energy was used in kWh. 

The max on a new car is 5.6kWh.  Whatever you are below that tells you the % loss the battery has suffered since new.  If you're above 5.0 for a car that old, it's in good shape.  4.5-5.0 is decent shape, 4.0-4.5 is marginal and below 4.0 is not very good.  The lower the kWh, the less the car is worth, but your sellers won't know that.  Do this test before your 5 days is up to be sure you've got a good car.

[murphy]

A 12 gauge extension cord is fine although I prefer a 10 gauge cord.  The warning is there because the typical extension cord that most people have lying around is 18 gauge or 16 gauge.  Neither of those should ever be used to charge the car.

[muzicman61]

A 12 gauge extension cord is fine although I prefer a 10 gauge cord.  The warning is there because the typical extension cord that most people have lying around is 18 gauge or 16 gauge.  Neither of those should ever be used to charge the car.

 

If that's true, and it may be... then why has he burned both plug ends on his 12 gauge cord?  Perhaps there is another issue at hand but my point stands it's not worth the risk.

[murphy]

If that's true, and it may be... then why has he burned both plug ends on his 12 gauge cord?  Perhaps there is another issue at hand but my point stands it's not worth the risk.

I would have to see what they were connected to.  There are a lot of 15 amp receptacles that have a hole to push the wire in to make the connection.  That is fine if the load will be a table lamp.  For a max current continuous load the wires should be clamped under the screws.  The receptacle for car charging should be a new installation with no other receptacles on that circuit.  Car charging requires a dedicated circuit.

[marshel308]

Best test you can do to see the condition of your battery is to charge it fully, then do a EV test drive until it switches to hybrid mode.  Stop the car and shut it off and it will tell you in the left screen how much energy was used in kWh. 

The max on a new car is 5.6kWh.  Whatever you are below that tells you the % loss the battery has suffered since new.  If you're above 5.0 for a car that old, it's in good shape.  4.5-5.0 is decent shape, 4.0-4.5 is marginal and below 4.0 is not very good.  The lower the kWh, the less the car is worth, but your sellers won't know that.  Do this test before your 5 days is up to be sure you've got a good car.

I set the delayed charge (rate saver?) app on the car to charge from midnight to 7 am, to make sure the car was cooled off and temps will be in the high 60s to low 70s to make sure it gets the best possible charge and then will wait until tomorrow evening to do a EV test drive without AC to get an accurate kWh reading. Thanks for the advice; as long as I have something in the decent range, I'll be happy; I was in the market for a hybrid model when I stumbled upon this particular plug in. It came off a lease according to the carfax  and only has 19,125 on the odometer and had no issues that I am aware of, it's only had an oil change and a tire rotation in its service history and is pretty loaded for an SE at $15,097 no haggle. ,

[marshel308]

I would have to see what they were connected to.  There are a lot of 15 amp receptacles that have a hole to push the wire in to make the connection.  That is fine if the load will be a table lamp.  For a max current continuous load the wires should be clamped under the screws.  The receptacle for car charging should be a new installation with no other receptacles on that circuit.  Car charging requires a dedicated circuit.

In my case the outlet is an exterior grade box with a GFCI outlet that runs from the unfinished part of my basement; the only other outlet on the circuit is my washer outlet, the dryer is on it's own separate 220 circuit. I certainly will make sure I'm running neither when charging. 

[murphy]

In my case the outlet is an exterior grade box with a GFCI outlet that runs from the unfinished part of my basement; the only other outlet on the circuit is my washer outlet, the dryer is on it's own separate 220 circuit. I certainly will make sure I'm running neither when charging. 

Check the wiring of the washer outlet.  Make sure the incoming and outgoing wires are securely clamped under the screws.  Better would be the incoming, outgoing, and a pigtail wire nutted together with the pigtail connected to the washer outlet screw.

[fconway]

If that's true, and it may be... then why has he burned both plug ends on his 12 gauge cord?  Perhaps there is another issue at hand but my point stands it's not worth the risk.

I burned the end that plugs into the charging block (not the house side, that is weather protected), and the reason it failed is that it was not protected from rain in any way, its just being held off the ground, but still open to the weather. i cut off the end of the charger, and the end of the extension cord, and i put on a water tight connection. I looked at the cord, and it is a 10 gauge, not 12. Do not do this with a smaller cord under any circumstances. And i acknowledge that using the cord is not especially wise. but i have on-street parking and I cant build a proper charge point in the tree-lawn ( i am seeking a variance from the city, but the bureaucracy grinds slow and fine). I bought the car used, and the charger plug end was already partially melted when i bought it. i should have replaced the plug end from the start, but it worked, so i went with it. the extension cord end didn't melt at all (some light scorching only), it was entirely the ford end of the connection. 

[murphy]

It was probably plugged into an improperly wired receptacle.  Any heat generated in the receptacle is readily transferred to the plug via the copper pins.  Copper is a very good conductor of heat.

[marshel308]

Got 4.6 kWh used on an all electric run today, and that was pulling into a parking lot shortly after it hit the 0 miles left marker; didn't wait until it actually switched over on its own; also was doing my upmost to brake hard without regenerating to minimize that effect. I'm going to go ahead and keep it; as I stated earlier I was in the market for a regular hybrid model, getting an Energi at a comparable price is a big bonus as far as I'm concerned. After the EV run, my mpg was up to 56 so I'm a happy camper. 

Edited May 17, 2018 at 02:55 AM by marshel308

[4cylinder]

Congratulations. Since you have one of the earlier models, the first mod I'd suggest doing is replacing your FCIM (the panel under and around the screen with the radio and climate buttons) with one from a 2016+ Fusion, which has the hard buttons (you can get that on ebay for $100 or less I believe). I did it when I previously owned a 2013 Hybrid and it was a night-and-day difference - absolutely hated the soft capacitive buttons on the old panel.

Edited May 17, 2018 at 01:20 PM by 4cylinder