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Precisely how does our Energi drivetrain work??


HotLap
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All, new to the forum and the Energi.  Just purchased a new 2014 Energi Titanium (tri white with ceramic interior) this past weekend and am still a bit unclear on some points.  I have spent several hours reviewing the wealth of information here (great stuff by the way) and reading the owners manual and driving the car with the display in the (EV mode showing where the power is being generated/used, etc.)

 

Still am not clear on:

1) When you are in EV ONLY mode, is the 12 volt battery being charged by anything or just being depleted by accessory usage?

2) Is the 12v battery solely for starting the gas engine and running accessories?

3) Do I understand this correctly...when plugged in the High voltage battery charges first THEN the 12 volt battery charges OR do they charge concurrently and would the car let you know if the HV battery was charged but the 12 wasn't and to leave it plugged in?

4) Regen braking - which battery(ies) does it send charge to...only the plug in HV battery?

5) Are these TRULY two separate systems; the plug in HVB and Hybrid systems?

6) When driving in Hybrid mode, are both the 12v and Hybrid batteries being charged?  Pretty sure the plug in HVB is NOT being charged by the Hybrid drive?

7) in Normal auto driving mode, will the Hybrid drivetrain automatically come on a speeds over 45mph (every time)?  This is what my sales guy told me but it does not seem consistent?

8) If you are in EV Mode ONLY, will the 12v battery ever run down before the HV plug in battery AND would you get a warning and would the engine kick on to recharge the 12v battery?

 

I know that's a LOT of questions, but I'm curious and really am trying to understand how these Fusion Energi drivetrains really work...great car and if I understand it I can maximize my mileage and usage patterns!

 

Thanks for your patience everyone and please don't shoot the messenger :)

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1. The 12 volt battery is charged by the DC/DC converter from the HVB whenever the car is in run mode.

2. The 12 volt battery does not start the ICE.  The 12 volt battery runs the computers and accessories.

3. The 12 volt battery is charged after the HVB.  The charge indicator on the charger will stay on if the 12 volt battery is being charged.

4. There is only one HVB.  Hybrid mode uses a portion of the HVB.  If you get enough regen it is possible to completely recharge the HVB.  Someone did it coming down from the top of Pikes Peak (over 14,000 feet).

5. There is only one system.

6. The ICE does not charge the 12 volt battery.  It is only charged by the DC/DC converter.

7. The 2010-2012 Fusion Hybrid forced the ICE on at 47 mph.  The 2013 and later force the ICE on at 85 mph.

8.  The 12 volt battery is always being charged, if it needs to be charged, by the DC/DC converter.  The ICE does not charge the 12 volt battery, there is no alternator in the car.  There is also no starter motor.
 

Edited by murphy
typo
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Another thing you may find of interest - there's no serpentine belt in these cars.  EVERYTHING is electrically driven - the radiator cooling fan.. the A/C compressor... power steering is electric, water pump is electric...  Everything that you might've been used to seeing driven by a serpentine is electric.

 

As Murphy mentioned - no dedicated starter motor.  the eCVT transmission actually has 2 electric motors.  The motors working together is what starts the engine.

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Wow, thanks gentlemen for the detailed information about the Energi!  This is so different that what my salesman told me.  He stated at least 10 times "there are two separate batteries, one for the plug in electric drive and one that is part of the Hybrid system...I suppose this could be his interpretation of the one HVB being "split" between the plug in drive and the Hybrid drive.  I did notice today on way to airport that the regen did recharge the HBV even though I had the all electric EV mode locked out in "save for later" mode...so does the regen charging only recharge the all electric portion of the HBV?  Would make sense I guess as the gas engine (is this what you call the ICE = internal combustion engine?) is used to recharge the Hybrid portion of the battery...and then the question is why wouldn't the ICE also charge the plug in side of the HVB when it is not charging the Hybrid side of the HVB...probably because then it would always be running and hurt the fuel mileage?  And, last but not least, it still seems like there are two separate systems 1) a plug in system and, 2) a Hybrid system that use different portions of a single HVB - but they are still separate?  Not arguing, just trying to understand and thank you both for your most excellent feedback!!  Oh, and how can you tell the charge level of the Hybrid portion of the HVB? 

 

Whew...I'm out of gas :)

Edited by HotLap
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The capacity of the HVB is 7.6 kWh.  The car only charges it to at most 7.2 kWh.   The car can run in EV Now mode and EV later mode as long as the energy in the battery is at least 1.5 kWh.  Once the energy in the HVB drops below 1.5 kWh, EV Now and EV Later modes are disabled and the HVB icon on the car's display changes from a 3D to a 2D icon,  You are now in hybrid mode.  In hybrid mode, the energy in the HVB ranges from 1.0 kWh to 1.5 kWh. 

 

There is no all electric or hybrid portions of the HVB.  When in EV Now mode, the car uses the energy in the HVB until it drops below 1.5 kWh and then switches to hybrid mode.  In EV Later mode, the car sustains the current amount of energy in the HVB.  For example, if the HVB currently contains 4.0 kWh when you switch to EV later mode, then the energy in the battery will range from approximately 3.75 to 4.25 kWh (I'm not sure of the exact range).  The ICE will start to charge the HVB when the energy drops below 3.75 kWh to keep the energy in that range. 

 

Note that the 12 V battery may be charged at any time the charger is plugged in.  I have observed charging of the 12 V battery before, during, and after the HVB.  Sometimes, the car will draw power from the external charger simply to charge the 12 V battery. 

Edited by larryh
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Wow, thanks gentlemen for the detailed information about the Energi!  This is so different that what my salesman told me.  He stated at least 10 times "there are two separate batteries, one for the plug in electric drive and one that is part of the Hybrid system...

 

It's been a common posting that someone's sales rep was not informed on the Energi.  One way to think about it that many people can grasp is that one hard drive can be partitioned into two logical drives, but it is one physical disk.  I think of the HVB in the same way, that it is partitioned into two 'logical' batteries but really just one physical HVB.

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