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Newbie with a EV range question


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I just bought a 2017 Titanium with only 2200 miles. I did my first full charge at night. The next morning I drove to my daughter's school and back. Temp was 48, and I used heat initially. After my 15 mile drive it was depleted when I got home. So about 15-16 miles on the first charge.

 

The next night I charged it fully. I drove to work, the first 3 miles were in town. The rest was on the interstate. I used defrost initially then turned it off. My range was only 14 miles. I set the cruise at 65mph and I babied the throttle in EV mode as best as I can. The temp was around 55.

 

Ford says the range is 22 miles. I'm not getting anything near that. What can I do to check the batteries? With only 2200 miles these batteries should be still new.,

 

Thanks

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22 mile range is on a flat road with the temperature at 70 degrees and no heat or air conditioning.

The lower the temperature goes the less efficient the battery becomes.

Drive all electric on local roads.  Use EV Later when above 45 to 50 mph.  The drag caused by pushing air out of the way increases either with the square or the cube (I forget which) of the speed.  Also cold air has more drag than warm air.

Use the seat heater, the steering wheel heater, and a warm jacket instead of the heater while running all electric.

99% of the time my engine is not used from spring through fall.  It gets a lot of use during the winter.

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22 mile range is on a flat road with the temperature at 70 degrees and no heat or air conditioning.

The lower the temperature goes the less efficient the battery becomes.

Drive all electric on local roads.  Use EV Later when above 45 to 50 mph.  The drag caused by pushing air out of the way increases either with the square or the cube (I forget which) of the speed.  Also cold air has more drag than warm air.

Use the seat heater, the steering wheel heater, and a warm jacket instead of the heater while running all electric.

99% of the time my engine is not used from spring through fall.  It gets a lot of use during the winter.

Hi Murphy thanks for the reply.  I'll have to get more data.  I'm very new to the car and am still trying to learn.  I just want to make sure this 14-16 range is "normal" for a new 2017.  Even driving it very lightly it would seem I should get a better range.  How do I check to see how much charge it has once it's completed? I still to learn the screens and all the options it gives the driver.

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Hi Murphy thanks for the reply.  I'll have to get more data.  I'm very new to the car and am still trying to learn.  I just want to make sure this 14-16 range is "normal" for a new 2017.  Even driving it very lightly it would seem I should get a better range.  How do I check to see how much charge it has once it's completed? I still to learn the screens and all the options it gives the driver.

What is the temperature now in Georgia?  It's 29° F in SE PA as I type this.You will not get the rated range if the temperature is below 65°.  Turning on the heater puts a 5 kW load on the battery.  That will put a dent in the available range.  I typically get 10-11 miles this time of the year running on battery only.  I have been as high as 26 miles in the summertime.

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Murphy

 

Looks like all week it will be 50-70 where I live. That's nice weather. I just want to make sure my battery is "normal" per the temp and my driving style. I need ammo if I go back to the dealer.

If I preset my car to turn on the heat 5 mins before I leave on weekdays, with the charger still plugged in all night, will the heat use the battery or the 120v?

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Murphy

 

Looks like all week it will be 50-70 where I live. That's nice weather. I just want to make sure my battery is "normal" per the temp and my driving style. I need ammo if I go back to the dealer.

If I preset my car to turn on the heat 5 mins before I leave on weekdays, with the charger still plugged in all night, will the heat use the battery or the 120v?

Using the 120 volt EVSE that comes with the car provides a maximum of 120 x 12 = 1440 watts.  The resistive heating element in the car is rated at 5 kW.  I expect that it will either draw power from the battery or will be of not much use heating the car.

 

I use a 240 volt EVSE providing the maximum of 16 amps the car can handle.  240 x 16 = 3840 watts.  That does warm the car up but it takes 30 minutes to do it.

 

On a 70° day with the battery exposed to that temperature long enough for the whole battery to be at 70° you should get the rated range.  Neither heat or air conditioning should be needed.  If you take it up to 65 mph on electric you will not get the rated range.

 

My longest regular trip is 10.5 miles away.  When it is over 70° I can easily make the 21 mile round trip on electric only.  The trip is done on city streets where most of the trip is at 35 mph.

 

 

Most dealers, even the electric certified ones, have no idea how the car works.

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Great info Murphy. So if I charged my car overnight in a somewhat heated garage, will It charge the battery to a higher "warm air " standard? Or does it die off as soon as it hits cooler air.

 

I'm from my finely tuned VW Jetta TDI that was getting 50-60mpg hwy. I'm trying to learn the electric thing now.

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Great info Murphy. So if I charged my car overnight in a somewhat heated garage, will It charge the battery to a higher "warm air " standard? Or does it die off as soon as it hits cooler air.

 

I'm from my finely tuned VW Jetta TDI that was getting 50-60mpg hwy. I'm trying to learn the electric thing now.

The battery is in the trunk and it gets air from the cabin through a vent located at the center of the package shelf.  If it has been thoroughly warmed up it should stay warm if the cabin is warm.  The problem is that using the heater to keep the cabin warm reduces the range.

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Your EV range will be highly variable. Like Murphy said there are a lot of factors in play that conspire against you in the winter. 14-16 miles is not alarming in the slightest especially if you're running the heater.

 

But, if you want to make sure things are working ok do a simple test. Start with a full charge, reset one of the trip odometers, and drive until the HVB is depleted to the point that the car switches to hybrid mode. It's best to do this without the HVAC turned on and with light driving (50mph or less). A like-new HVB should get you 5.4 kwh or so displayed on the trip meter. Report back and let us know what it is.

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In colder weather, I use the seat heater and steering wheel heater. I cycle the defroster on and off to keep the windshield clear. Range is very sensitive to ambient air temperature. I get about 20 miles at 40-45 degrees F; 17 or so at 25-30 degrees F. Use EV mode only on surface streets below 45 mph. Range actually improves in stop-and-go traffic as the regen from braking adds to range. Hybrid range also drops in colder weather - about 40 mpg highway at 40-45 degrees, and, about 33-35 mpg at 25-30 degrees.

 

Still cheaper to run EV around town than hybrid as those of us in the Peoples' Republic of Pennsylvania pay almost 78 cents a gallon in taxes. Through careful management and trip planning, I have yet to put a drop of PA gas in my 2017 Platinum.

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Ok guys I actually reset the trip computer after I fully charged it Saturday morning. Here is my roundtrip to the airport. I left Saturday and returned tonight.

 

Break the info down for me..

 

8CB23B93-A711-435A-B292-562F2D3E00EF_zps

Not quite the test we wanted since you used the engine.

The test requested was for electric only (EV Now) mode.

 

34.1 miles of the 79.1 mile trip were electric only miles.  That includes energy recovered by regen.

You got 5.4kWh from the battery.

There is nothing wrong with the battery.

 

Electric only                 5.4

Hybrid mode reserve   1.5

Battery protection        0.7

 

Total                             7.6

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I will get the electric only test the next time I drive to work. So I did do a roundtrip to my daughter's school and back. I am much more pleased.

 

I drove as lightly as I could without annoying cars behind me. I started with a fresh all night 100% charge. I had no heat or AC on, and headlights on. It was 52F outside. The roundtrip was 14.2 miles, and it shows 7 miles left EV. That looks like 21+. That'll work! So how exactly do you understand the green energy leaves?

 

Thanks

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I will get the electric only test the next time I drive to work. So I did do a roundtrip to my daughter's school and back. I am much more pleased.

 

I drove as lightly as I could without annoying cars behind me. I started with a fresh all night 100% charge. I had no heat or AC on, and headlights on. It was 52F outside. The roundtrip was 14.2 miles, and it shows 7 miles left EV. That looks like 21+. That'll work! So how exactly do you understand the green energy leaves?

 

Thanks

I turned them off.  The idea is that if you drive correctly more and more leaves will appear.  If you floor it leaves will fall off the branches and disappear.  I think it is designed for those that are not technically inclined to have a graphic way to see how their driving compares with a desired standard. 

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Hi, 

 

I just bought a 2017 Titanium with only 2200 miles. I did my first full charge at night. The next morning I drove to my daughter's school and back. Temp was 48, and I used heat initially. After my 15 mile drive it was depleted when I got home. So about 15-16 miles on the first charge.

The next night I charged it fully. I drove to work, the first 3 miles were in town. The rest was on the interstate. I used defrost initially then turned it off. My range was only 14 miles. I set the cruise at 65mph and I babied the throttle in EV mode as best as I can. The temp was around 55.

Ford says the range is 22 miles. I'm not getting anything near that. What can I do to check the batteries? With only 2200 miles these batteries should be still new.,

Thanks

 

The best advice I can give you is to stop worrying over the battery range. You're never going to get Volt-like range with the Ford Fusion Energi, you're never going to have full control over when the engine assist turns on, and you're eventually going to have to buy gas (a lot more often than you may have expected).

 

Once you get past the fixation on the car's battery range (which as you describe it is 100% normal in cold weather), you can leave the car in AUTO all the time and just enjoy the comfortable ride with no EV range anxiety. I promise you'll be a lot happier for it. Those who obsess over getting the absolute last iota of range of out the batteries tend to waste a lot of stress and time doing so.

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Hi, 

 

 

The best advice I can give you is to stop worrying over the battery range. You're never going to get Volt-like range with the Ford Fusion Energi, you're never going to have full control over when the engine assist turns on, and you're eventually going to have to buy gas (a lot more often than you may have expected).

 

Once you get past the fixation on the car's battery range (which as you describe it is 100% normal in cold weather), you can leave the car in AUTO all the time and just enjoy the comfortable ride with no EV range anxiety. I promise you'll be a lot happier for it. Those who obsess over getting the absolute last iota of range of out the batteries tend to waste a lot of stress and time doing so.

 

Part stress, part challenge... fun. I somewhat agree with you on this, as I am not nearly as fixated with understanding how the car can be the most efficient, how to squeeze that last .1 mile of electric range, etc. But the journey from there to where I am now was enjoyable and I have learned not just how this car works but (especially with posters like larryh and others) how cars in general work and appreciate what a great car this is. 

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Like murphy said, the better test is when the trip meter shows the same total miles and EV miles...purely EV driving only and no ICE usage. One thing I forgot to mention is that the typical 5.4 kwh usage is when the ambient temperature is mild (60F-80F). It'll be less with cold temperatures. But, based on your screenshot it looks like everything is fine with your HVB. In the spring you'll start noticing your EV range creeping up.

 

And to piggy back onto what others said in regard to hybrid mpg I will say that I can get close to 50mpg in the warm season, but it drops down to 40mpg (or lower) in the cold season. And you could easily be in the low 30's if you make short trips in cold weather. The fuel efficiency during the ICE warm up is really bad so short trips in cold weather will kill the mpg. That's completely normal.

 

It's a fun car to drive. And there's lots to learn. It'll definitely change the way your drive. Enjoy it.

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