Has Anyone Replaced or Repaired their Energi Battery?

[Neil]

I have a 2013 Energi with 100k on it and the battery is doing just fine (pulls 4.6kw for a charge) with about 15 miles per charge, but it is way down from where it used to be.  I used to regularly get 24-25 miles per charge.  At 100k miles I can't complain too much, but I am starting to get gather some information on my options when the battery finally degrades to the point of being worthless.  As I see it my options are:

 

1) Just live with it and simply use the car as a standard Hybrid (with a lot of extra dead weight).

 

2) Replace the battery with a new one.  It would be really cool if the new 9kw battery was compatible with my car and it's older software.  The current price of a new battery makes it impractical to replace it, but if Elon Musk's new Gigaplant impacts the price of batteries like everyone is predicting, it may make a replacement more attractive.

 

3) Have the current battery 'rebuilt'.  I've found several boutique companies that currently do this for Hybrid cars like Toyota and Honda, but haven't found one that does the Fusion Energi battery.  Does anyone know of anyone rebuilding the Energi battery? 

 

[jsamp]

For 3) these guys have Fusion Hybrid batteries (both rebuilt and new cells) for sale.  I emailed them ~1 year ago and they said they are working on the Energi battery.  You may want to talk to them:

 

https://greentecauto.com/product-category/ford/fusion

 

4.6kWh is pretty good for 100k miles.  Is that what the passes through the outlet, or what actually goes into the battery (after accounting for charging loss)?

 

PS: greentec has an outlet in DC - not far from you!

Edited March 8, 2019 at 07:11 PM by jsamp

[murphy]

The 2010 to 2012 Fusion Hybrid batteries were NiMH.  2013 and later are Li-Ion.

[4cylinder]

I would live with it (#1). At this point the cost of the battery is likely going to be more than half your car's value. In a few years time, your car will be worth less than a new battery. Also the Energi didn't exactly sell in large numbers so demand is not going to be high for replacement batteries.

 

Look at it this way - your car's EV range is now just as good as that of the BMW 530e :P

 

 

For 3) these guys have Fusion Hybrid batteries (both rebuilt and new cells) for sale.  I emailed them ~1 year ago and they said they are working on the Energi battery.  You may want to talk to them:

 

https://greentecauto.com/product-category/ford/fusion

 

4.6kWh is pretty good for 100k miles.  Is that what the passes through the outlet, or what actually goes into the battery (after accounting for charging loss)?

 

PS: greentec has an outlet in DC - not far from you!

 

 

I think 4.6 kWh refers to the "energy used" shown on the trip summary screen when you've completed a drive that involved fully depleting the HVB (referring to the amount allowed for EV mode, not actually depleting it which would be bad).

Edited March 8, 2019 at 07:54 PM by 4cylinder

[bdginmo]

4.6 kwh at 100k isn't bad at all. I would leave it be.

[jsamp]

I think 4.6 kWh refers to the "energy used" shown on the trip summary screen when you've completed a drive that involved fully depleting the HVB (referring to the amount allowed for EV mode, not actually depleting it which would be bad).

 

Since he used the phrase: "pulls 4.6kw for a charge" it seems he is referring to charging, not depleting.  That is why I asked the question.  4.6kWh from a Kill-A-Watt meter on 120V would be more like 3.6kWh to the battery.   If he's using 240V then it's more like 4.2kWh.  That jives closest with 15 miles/charge.

 

I agree that replacing the battery probably isn't worth the $$.  There has been zero indication that we will ever be able to upgrade a pre-2019 vehicle with the larger 9.0kWh battery.

Edited March 11, 2019 at 02:11 AM by jsamp

[Neil]

Since he used the phrase: "pulls 4.6kw for a charge" it seems he is referring to charging, not depleting.  That is why I asked the question.  4.6kWh from a Kill-A-Watt meter on 120V would be more like 3.6kWh to the battery.   If he's using 240V then it's more like 4.2kWh.  That jives closest with 15 miles/charge.

 

I agree that replacing the battery probably isn't worth the $$.  There has been zero indication that we will ever be able to upgrade a pre-2019 vehicle with the larger 9.0kWh battery.

You are correct - that is how much energy is passed to the car via a 220v, Type II charger.  I figure I have at least another year or two until I need to make a decision.  I really love the car though.  Rides just as good as it did when I picked it up from the dealership and looks great inside and out.  I have a 'lifetime' 4 wheel alignment package from Tires Plus, so I get it aligned once or twice a year, and my tires are from Costco so I have them rotated and re-balanced every 7k miles.  I replaced the rear shocks myself at 75k and other than that, I've had no problems.  (...and also replaced the 12v battery).   

[bdginmo]

You are correct - that is how much energy is passed to the car via a 220v, Type II charger.  I figure I have at least another year or two until I need to make a decision.  I really love the car though.  Rides just as good as it did when I picked it up from the dealership and looks great inside and out.  I have a 'lifetime' 4 wheel alignment package from Tires Plus, so I get it aligned once or twice a year, and my tires are from Costco so I have them rotated and re-balanced every 7k miles.  I replaced the rear shocks myself at 75k and other than that, I've had no problems.  (...and also replaced the 12v battery).   

 

Ah...gotcha. That means you likely have significant degradation. A like new HVB would probably pull about 7.0 kwh from a 240v EVSE.

[murphy]

Ah...gotcha. That means you likely have significant degradation. A like new HVB would probably pull about 7.0 kwh from a 240v EVSE.

The part of the HVB that can be charged from the wall is 5.6 kWh.  My 240 volt EVSE uses around 6.2kWh, measured coming from the wall, to charge the battery.

[jsamp]

The part of the HVB that can be charged from the wall is 5.6 kWh.  My 240 volt EVSE uses around 6.2kWh, measured coming from the wall, to charge the battery.

 

Yes and no.  The 5.6 is the plug-in portion, but if the car is deep into hybrid mode when plugged in for a charge, it will take more than 5.6 to get to full charge.  It could take up to an additional .8kWh.

[norm]

On 3/11/2019 at 11:59 AM, Neil said:

You are correct - that is how much energy is passed to the car via a 220v, Type II charger.  I figure I have at least another year or two until I need to make a decision.  I really love the car though.  Rides just as good as it did when I picked it up from the dealership and looks great inside and out.  I have a 'lifetime' 4 wheel alignment package from Tires Plus, so I get it aligned once or twice a year, and my tires are from Costco so I have them rotated and re-balanced every 7k miles.  I replaced the rear shocks myself at 75k and other than that, I've had no problems.  (...and also replaced the 12v battery).   

I have a 2014 energi with 164,000 miles on it. It is flawless. I get 12 miles on a 6 hour 120 volt charge and still average 50 mpg +-.

Only had tires and 12 volt batter replaced. No other maintenance  except oil and radiator flush.

If the main battery goes out I'd consider replacing it along with new shocks and spark plugs and drive it for another 164,000 miles. This is the most satisfying vehicle I've owned and we travel a lot for pleasure and sightseeing. 

Probably cost me over 50 grand for a new car so 5 grand would be a winner to keep my car going.

[eak2002]

I didn't realize that battery degradation was typical with hybrid batteries and thought my battery was failing. My car is a 2017 Ford Fusion and has 90,000 miles. Until now all I've had to do with this car is regular maintenance - better than any other car I've owned. But my hybrid performance had shrunk from 22 miles on a fully charged battery to just 14 miles. So, I brought my car into the dealer this month (August 2023) hoping a replacement battery would be covered by the warranty still in effect.

 

The dealer's specialist determined the degradation was normal and not covered by warranty. They recommended I switch EV+ off to preserve battery life moving forward. Although diligent about everything else, I hadn't exactly been diligent about tire inflation, and they recommended I keep the tires inflated by checking and topping them off twice a month.  

 

They also suggested a system update and reset of the battery data. I went ahead and paid them a whopping $550 for this work, and it improved the performance to 19 miles on a charge. Worth every penny!

 

This renewed performance, my conversations with the dealer's technician, and seeing the posts here have encouraged me that I've got a lot of miles left with this car. 

[jsamp]

On 8/27/2023 at 10:15 AM, eak2002 said:

 

They also suggested a system update and reset of the battery data. I went ahead and paid them a whopping $550 for this work, and it improved the performance to 19 miles on a charge. Worth every penny!

 

 

I think you've been fooled.  The reason it says 19 miles is that the computer has no prior data to calculate your actual mileage.  So it defaults to the programmed number of a new car: 19 miles.  As you drive several charges worth, it will re-learn both your driving habits, and actual capacity of the battery.  I predict in about a month or so you will be back to your 14 miles.  Sorry.

[68mustangjim]

JSAMP is more than likely correct but eak2002 would it possible to post a scanned copy of a Redacted dealers word order it may enlighten some of us as to what the did.