Questions and Observations

[Earthdog]

SO lets start with I LOVE MY ENERGI!!! 2 weeks no fill-up with 750 miles.

 

First question:

1. So when I am in EV Mode I understand the Climate pulls from the High Voltage Batteries. However I have experimented starting my day in Non-EV mode/Hybrid to start my drive to heat it up. But it appears the EV gauge drops even though I am in Non EV mode. It starts saying I have 23 miles EV.  Turn on Hybrid and heat the car and when I change back to Auto I notice the EV range is 14. Does Climate pull from the high voltage battery until it depletes the battery before the climate control switches to hybrid?

 

2. When plugged int the 110v home charger and I set a go time of 6:00am with climate on the EV will have dropped from 23 to 16. I assume this is due to the fact the 110v does not have enough juice to keep up on the demand. Will I find the 240v charger different? I am in GA and the car is in the grage at 50 and the climate is set to 68.

 

3. When in EV does the regeneration charge the high voltage battery. I assume no but I have seen it go up on long periods of regeneration it creep up 1-2 miles.

 

 Sorry if these are stupid questions...

[rprobst]

Well, if they are stupid questions, they are good questions. I'm definitely curious about the answers.

 

Bueller?

 

[efudd]

I only know the answers to 2 & 3, and even that is not first hand.

#2: The 110V does not have the wattage to fully climatize the vehicle for a Go time, so some juice is pulled from the HV battery. I understand that the 240V L2 charger can accomodate the power demands without drawing down on the HV battery.

#3: Regeneration from braking always charges the HV battery (if there is storage capacity available). This is independent of the operating mode (EV, ICE). The ICE does not recharge the HV battery by itself, as doing so would simply reduce the fuel mileage. I believe the ICE does recharge the 12V battery, as does the HV battery.

[meyersnole]

SO lets start with I LOVE MY ENERGI!!! 2 weeks no fill-up with 750 miles.

 

First question:

1. So when I am in EV Mode I understand the Climate pulls from the High Voltage Batteries. However I have experimented starting my day in Non-EV mode/Hybrid to start my drive to heat it up. But it appears the EV gauge drops even though I am in Non EV mode. It starts saying I have 23 miles EV.  Turn on Hybrid and heat the car and when I change back to Auto I notice the EV range is 14. Does Climate pull from the high voltage battery until it depletes the battery before the climate control switches to hybrid?

 

2. When plugged int the 110v home charger and I set a go time of 6:00am with climate on the EV will have dropped from 23 to 16. I assume this is due to the fact the 110v does not have enough juice to keep up on the demand. Will I find the 240v charger different? I am in GA and the car is in the grage at 50 and the climate is set to 68.

 

3. When in EV does the regeneration charge the high voltage battery. I assume no but I have seen it go up on long periods of regeneration it creep up 1-2 miles.

 

 Sorry if these are stupid questions...

OK, let me take a try at my experience. Not guaranteed to be the right answer though.

 

1) The range the gauge is is displaying at any given time is a guess at how far you will go based on past and current draw. If I understand this correctly, in theory this number will become more accurate the more you drive the car. Changing the current demand will have an immediate impact on range. There is a view under Display I think on the left panel that will tell you how much current your climate control is currently pulling. Never use it... but right now I am just running down the road with out climate control. The only thing I am doing now is cracking the sun roof every once in a while to get the window to stop fogging, then close it before I freeze.

 

On the second part of your question, from what I can tell the EV auto just runs from your battery unless you floor it or turn on your climate (heater at least) the best I can tell. This too may also get better over time as it learns how you drive and the routes you take.

 

2)  I have also read that the 110 charger can not handle the load from the climate system. However, I have been setting go times of 7:45a and leaving about 8:15a with what appears to be a full battery.

 

3) No idea. I would assume it will a little as if you completely drain the battery it would brick it. I would not ever expect to see miles start popping back on the gauge though. I would think it would just be enough to support the hybrid mode.

[jberger]

When i'm in EV mode ( which is 99.9% of my driving) I gain miles throughout my trip.  For instance: When I leave home I have 23-24 miles showing on range.  After my 9.3 miles trip to the office, I usually show 16-17 miles left.  So I gained 2-3 miles on the drive from the braking.

 

This morning it was 38 degrees, so I decided to run the climate control, the engine turned on and when I arrived at the office I had 19 miles left!

[meyersnole]

Right, the regenerative braking will give you range but do not think that the engine is giving producing extra energy for the battery, or do you think it is for you?

[jberger]

Right, the regenerative braking will give you range but do not think that the engine is giving producing extra energy for the battery, or do you think it is for you?

 

Yes it is.  It works the same way the Hybrid works.  The engine will recharge the battery pack.

[meyersnole]

OK, yes... I guess I said that wrong. I mean, yes it will charge the battery (my it wont brick your battery comment), but running it wont allow you to go back to multiple miles of EV range. Basically it works like the normal hybrid.

[jberger]

Ok, i'm not sure if thats true or not.  I don't ever run the engine with miles remaining unless I hop on the hwy which isn't too often.  I know that once it's drained, it'll just run in Hybrid mode until you charge again.

[apm]

This is what I understand from driving a 2010 Fusion Hybrid:

 

All the components that are normally run by the ICE on a regular car such brake pump, AC, etc. are all electric in the Hybrid and are always operated by the HV battery, which means that the HV battery has to be charged up to some level at all times. I guess the computer decides how much of the power produced by the engine is used to motivate the car and how much is used to keep the level of the battery to keep operating the electric components. As stated above, unless you are breaking really hard, you are using regenerative breaking which recharges the HV battery.

 

On the regular hybrid when the engine is cold, even in hot climates such Miami in the summer time, the engine would start as soon as you would move 10 or 20 feet, even if you are going on a really short drive that could be done with the electric charge available at that time. I test drove an Energi on EV Now mode and the engine didn't start at all during the 3 to 4 miles I drove. This will be the biggest gas saving for me, as I normally drive only a few miles a day, usually less than 15.

 

Regards,
APM   

[47Minutes]

I have observed regen braking increasing the remaining EV mileage number on my Energi.  Having said that, it is a minimal amount as I saw this happen when the battery gauge had just dropped from 11 to 10 and within a couple seconds I was braking and the regen popped it back to 11.  It was such a small amount of energy that it immediately dropped back to 10 as began to accelerate again.  I could see coming down a significant incline of a mountain for about a mile adding enough to the battery for the EV charge level to register another full mile or so or cumulatively extending the range over a 20+ mile commute.  I believe that's where we get the trip figures showing us "1.6 regen miles".  It just adds so little at each brake event that you rarely see the EV range increasing over the course of a trip.

[jberger]

Yeah it does add up.  I actually get more remaining miles when I hit more red lights than I do without.

[jaywalkerice]

We took a trip through the sierra nevadas recently. I kept the car on Eco cruise mode the whole trip. Since the trip was mostly up hill, all of the event was used up and the battery indicator was about 50% when we finally reached the summit, I was able to coast for several miles downhill and fully recharged the battery indicator enough to register two miles remaining of ev mode. Does anyone know if it is more efficient to coast down long hills like that our to gently apply the brakes?

[meyersnole]

We took a trip through the sierra nevadas recently. I kept the car on Eco cruise mode the whole trip. Since the trip was mostly up hill, all of the event was used up and the battery indicator was about 50% when we finally reached the summit, I was able to coast for several miles downhill and fully recharged the battery indicator enough to register two miles remaining of ev mode. Does anyone know if it is more efficient to coast down long hills like that our to gently apply the brakes?

 

If you set the cruise then the keeping your speed will automatically enact the regeneration. 

[Scooter80]

We took a trip through the sierra nevadas recently. I kept the car on Eco cruise mode the whole trip. Since the trip was mostly up hill, all of the event was used up and the battery indicator was about 50% when we finally reached the summit, I was able to coast for several miles downhill and fully recharged the battery indicator enough to register two miles remaining of ev mode. Does anyone know if it is more efficient to coast down long hills like that our to gently apply the brakes?

 

You should have a hill descent/grade assist button on the side of the shifter. Great for you hill-dwellers. Rarely needed for us flatlanders. Putting the trans in L will also increase this regen action during hill descent.

Edited April 7, 2013 at 09:07 PM by Scooter80

[howardbc]

1) Is it possible to make a certain screen/display the default screen/display? 2) Has anyone found a simple schematic/diagram of the Energi system?

 

1) I prefer to have the "Status" (outline of car) screen/display showing most of the time. I like being able to see when I am in Electric Drive or Hybrid mode or recharging the HV battery, etc. I know I can press the leaves icon (from the Home screen) to get it but it would be nice if I could set it as the default display. I asked a Ford dealership employee about this and he didn't know. 

 

2) I am not an engineer but it would be interesting to see a schematic or simple diagram of how the Energi system works. I am still amazed that the hybrid gas mileage (not even counting the EV miles) is so much better than my old Prius. 

 

Thanks in advance for any info.

 

[larryh]

1) Is it possible to make a certain screen/display the default screen/display? 2) Has anyone found a simple schematic/diagram of the Energi system?

 

1) I prefer to have the "Status" (outline of car) screen/display showing most of the time. I like being able to see when I am in Electric Drive or Hybrid mode or recharging the HV battery, etc. I know I can press the leaves icon (from the Home screen) to get it but it would be nice if I could set it as the default display. I asked a Ford dealership employee about this and he didn't know. 

 

2) I am not an engineer but it would be interesting to see a schematic or simple diagram of how the Energi system works. I am still amazed that the hybrid gas mileage (not even counting the EV miles) is so much better than my old Prius. 

 

Thanks in advance for any info.

 

There is an interesting document at  http://www.motorcraf...DSM1302_HEV.pdf that might help if you read the introduction section.

Edited April 26, 2013 at 10:28 PM by larryh