Car won't run on battery due to the heat ? Empower guage shows nothing

[jasper7821]

I have a 2015 Fusion Energi since new and now in the Arizona desert getting to 110° my car sometimes will not run on the battery.

I charge at night and it's fine going to work and I charge on 110 at work and the battery is charged about 3 hours before I leave for work.

In the last two days whenever I get in the car after work, the car won't even run on the battery. I know it takes a lot of KW's to run the AC when it's 110° but I've even tried with no AC and the Empower bar is so low that when I give it just a little gas the engine starts up.

 

Just curious if it's the heat, or is there something wrong. I called the dealer and they said it's normal.

But on my 33 mile drive home the engine ran the entire time and when I got home my trip gauge said I used 4.5kw and my EV was 0.

I think my car has a 7kw battery and I don't remember how many KW's it used when I bought the car but after almost 3yrs and 60k miles I think only getting 4.5kw from the battery may be normal degradation.

 

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[murphy]

The battery is 7.6 kWh.  1.5 kWh is reserved for hybrid mode and 0.5 kWh is reserved to prevent total discharge which would kill the battery.  That leaves 5.6 kWh for EV mode.

 

Battery cooling air comes from the cabin.  I think the idea was that if the driver was cool the battery would be cool.  Do you have anything on the shelf behind the rear seats?  The battery air intake is there and you don't want to block it.

 

Battery efficiency is temperature dependent.  It likes 72 degrees.  When it is below freezing I get around 10 miles from the battery.  It doesn't get that hot in PA although we just finished a week in the 90 degree range.  Are you using recirculate mode for the A/C?  At those high temperatures you don't want to be continually bringing super heated air in for the A/C to cool. 

 

Has your cabin air filter ever been changed?  They do get dirty.

 

I would not run without A/C at those temperatures.  That would seem to be counterproductive.

 

Measure the temperature of the air coming out of the A/C vents.  Maybe the refrigerant is low due to a very small leak.  The A/C compressor operates from a high voltage electric motor.  The car may be running the engine to generate additional electricity to keep the A/C compressor at full speed.

 

The car does use the engine and an electric motor at the same time to move the car so it is reasonable for the battery to go down while the engine is running.  The battery can't be charged and discharged at the same time.  If the battery is being used to move the car the engine can't charge it at the same time.  The engine can provide direct drive to the wheels and generate electricity to turn the electric motor at the same time as the battery is providing energy to turn the electric motor.

 

I am retired and my longest regular destination is 10.5 miles away.  My engine hasn't run since early April.

[Davidoo]

I live in Phoenix.  This time of year my battery takes a big hit.  In the winter with 60s and 70s each day after a charge I get up to 31 miles on the gauge.  Now around 20.  Many times my engine runs when it is over 110 degrees and the message pops up that "engine enabled for system performance."  I think this is pretty normal and is protecting the battery.  I have a 2017 that will be 2 years old in a couple of months.  My battery has degraded to a max of about 4.8 Kwh capacity.  I'm sure the heat hasn't helped.  I can tell it has lost some capacity because it doesn't take as long to charge to full as it used to.

[jasper7821]

Thanks for the replies, I really appreciate it.

My AC is totally fine and blows ice cold. I did watch a video and changed the cabin filter yesterday and is was pretty dirty. There is nothing blocking the shelf.

 

The car worked fine and operated as normal but I’ll have to see when I get off work tomorrow and see how it is.

 

I was talking about not using the AC for a minute or so to see if the engine would still kick in and if it does tomorrow then I think something is wrong. I charge on 110 at work and the car is charged for about 3hrs by the time I get off work so I would think the battery wouldn’t be too hot for the battery to run without the engine.

 

I think my car has a 7kw battery and the 2016 on has a 7.5kw. So after almost 3yrs if i only get 4.5kw out of it I guess that may be normal degradation. I just don’t know how much more it will lose and a big decision. My lease is up in October and I would turn in the car cause I’ve had a Tesla Model3 reservation for over two years and that’s the ultimate car I’ve beem wanting forever.

But I’m already way over my miles and by the time my lease is up, I’m going to owe $4-4,500 in mileage so I may just buy the car and drive it for a few more years if the battery holds.

 

And as far as trying to take car of the battery, I haven’t done anything. I get home and immediately charge it. And when I get to work, I also immediately charge it. And on the weekends if I’m running around all day, I charge it whenever I get back home each time.

Anyways, I’ll see how the Empower line is after work tomorrow and hopefully it’s higher than it usually is and it will run on battery alone until I turn on the AC after my test.

[murphy]

Your car has a 7.6 kWh battery. 

 

https://media.ford.com/content/dam/fordmedia/North%20America/US/2015_Specs/2015_FusionEnergi_Specs.pdf

[jasper7821]

Ok, thanks. For some reason I thought I read somewhere that my year was a 7kw battery.

So I’m getting 4.5kw out of the 7.6kw so I’ve lost 40% ?

Or is 7.6kw the total capacity and the usable is lower?

Either way I think my battery degradation is more than it should be.

[murphy]

Ok, thanks. For some reason I thought I read somewhere that my year was a 7kw battery.

So I’m getting 4.5kw out of the 7.6kw so I’ve lost 40% ?

Or is 7.6kw the total capacity and the usable is lower?

Either way I think my battery degradation is more than it should be.

The battery is 7.6 kWh

1.5 kWh is reserved for hybrid mode.  That is when EV goes to zero and the car is forced into hybrid mode.

0.5 kWh is reserved to prevent totally discharging the battery which would destroy it.

That leaves 7.6 - 1.5 - 0.5 = 5.6 kWh available for EV mode at 72° F.  Above or below that temperature the battery efficiency is less.

At 72° I easily get the rated 21 miles.  Below 32° I get about 10 miles.  It doesn't get super hot (over 100°) here so I don't know what the derating is in that case.

[jj2me]

 

But on my 33 mile drive home the engine ran the entire time and when I got home my trip gauge said I used 4.5kw and my EV was 0.

I think my car has a 7kw battery and I don't remember how many KW's it used when I bought the car but after almost 3yrs and 60k miles I think only getting 4.5kw from the battery may be normal degradation.

 

 

My 2017 may not have the same display as your 2015, but if they're similar, that 4.5 kWh figure doesn't seem like it's reporting how much plug-in capacity you have left.  It's more likely the draw by the A/C and other accessories.

 

Until you determine the correct figure, no need to worry about the 4.5.  If your car won't drive on EV, then you can't do the standard EV drive test to determine remaining capacity.

Edited July 8, 2018 at 09:50 PM by jj2me

[jasper7821]

Thank you, on my way to work it’s about 85 degrees and I’m 10 miles street and 19 freeway then 3 miles street again with no lights and driving about 65mph on the last stretch and 75 on the freeway.

I usuly get to work and have about 20-22 miles EV with a few miles regen.

It’s on the way home that it’s terrible due to it being 110-116 degrees. I work at an old army base in the middle of the desert and my car just sits in the burning sun all day long.

I’ll see what happens this week.

[Cfioretti]

Question.... on the summary screen when you turn the car off, does it show a negative score for the climate control? I have a long green bar for the way I'm driving but climate control is always a big orange bar indicating a big drag on the battery. This bar is showing a poor score even if I'm not running the air conditioning during my trip. The outside temperature bar is more or less neutral. I would think the climate control would not be showing a negative score if the air conditioning is off during a trip. Can someone else check theirs and report back?

[jasper7821]

My summary screen doesn't show any data for the climate control. It only shows total distance, EV miles, Regen miles, MPG, KW used, and brake score.

[Cfioretti]

My summary screen doesn't show any data for the climate control. It only shows total distance, EV miles, Regen miles, MPG, KW used, and brake score.

 

The scoring bars are on the right side of the instrument cluster while the total distance, EV miles, Regen miles, etc are on the left. 

[energitestdriver]

The scoring bars are on the right side of the instrument cluster while the total distance, EV miles, Regen miles, etc are on the left. 

 

I think you mean this: https://imgur.com/a/Ev9ut5U

 

This one looks pretty good but if I run the AC it will go to the negative side. I haven't figured out if it goes more negative having the AC on vs. just the fan.

[jasper7821]

Wow, I've never even noticed anything on the right side after shutting off the car. I'll check it out today.

Thanks

[Timewellspent]

Wow, I've never even noticed anything on the right side after shutting off the car. I'll check it out today.

Thanks

 

My right side just says "Thanks for driving a Hybrid" or something like that.  No scoring bars.

[energitestdriver]

My right side just says "Thanks for driving a Hybrid" or something like that.  No scoring bars.

 

The scoring bars will only show up if your trip used plug in power mode for a portion of your trip.

 

This is talked about in this thread - http://www.fordfusionenergiforum.com/topic/5443-2018-energi-right-summary-display-factors/?do=findComment&comment=31195

[jasper7821]

I looked when I got home and my right side doesn’t say anything and I believe it never has in almost 3 years otherwise I would have noticed it.
All I get when I turn the car off is a bunch of leaves. Kinda like on the one screen as the
leaves go away as you use the battery.

Edited July 20, 2018 at 04:49 PM by jasper7821

[Timewellspent]

The scoring bars will only show up if your trip used plug in power mode for a portion of your trip.

 

This is talked about in this thread - http://www.fordfusionenergiforum.com/topic/5443-2018-energi-right-summary-display-factors/?do=findComment&comment=31195

 

This must be new (not in my 2015).  I just get leaves and then the "thanks for driving"  No scoring bars.  My commute is 26 miles and I use a combination of plug in and ICE based on which roads I'm on.

[jasper7821]

Ya, mine is a 2015 as well so it must be a later model.