Jump to content
Ford Fusion Energi Forum

Miles on a full charge


MarkK
 Share

Recommended Posts

One Theory I've been thinking about regarding these cars, with most cars that have automatic climate control when you set it to a specific temperature in order to maintain that temperature it will open and close a blend door to allow heated air to mix with the cold to maintain that temperature. Typical cars get that warm air by the coolant, but on these cars if you're in electric-only mode where is the car getting the heat to compensate to keep it at a specific temperature?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When the temperatures are relatively warm (at least 10C/50F) I can squeeze close to 30 miles (48 km) of EV driving out of the battery by driving like a grandma. I don't use the freeway to get to work so that helps (lots of regen braking).

 

During freezing temperatures, range drops considerably, both because of the cold's impact on battery efficiency and because I need to run my defroster to be able to see out my windshield. I get about 15 miles (25 km). Not that it matters because my engine will come on about 10% of the time to help keep the battery warm and power the defroster, so it's impossible to have a full-EV commute.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

And yet i get my best mileage this time of year. Range this morning was 23 miles. So what puts more stress on the car/battery....cold up north winters or hot ass florida summers?

I don't know about stress on the battery, but i will say, pre-heating my car in the winter uses 1/4 of its available battery (at 9 out of 13 miles when i get in) in the winter, pre-cooling my car, even in 100 degree weather uses maybe 5%.... But its easier to heat a battery than to cool it... 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know about stress on the battery, but i will say, pre-heating my car in the winter uses 1/4 of its available battery (at 9 out of 13 miles when i get in) in the winter, pre-cooling my car, even in 100 degree weather uses maybe 5%.... But its easier to heat a battery than to cool it... 

 

The Fusion just has a really inefficient climate control system, including in the gas models. It is terrible (energy usage wise) when being used for heat vs being used for A/C.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 years later...

When I bought the car with 7000 miles I could get 23 to 24 miles range in the spring and fall with temps in the 70 to 80 range.  My normal drive is 9 miles one way, I could go both directions on one charge.  I would routinely get 1000+ miles per tank of gas.

 

Now with right at 80,000 miles the same drive in the same temp environment only gets 16 miles per charge.  I can't make the whole round trip with all electric power, and I average about 600 to 700 miles per tank.

 

Over the last few winter to spring transitions I have noticed about 2 to 3 miles per year drop in total EV range.  I figure by the end of summer I will likely be down to 14 miles total range.

 

This seems too low to me.  The battery co trol module (BECM?) was replaced about a year ago because the range dropped suddenly to about 12 miles and threw up a code indicating a bad module.  When they fixed it, it came back up to around 18 miles total range, but over the last winter I have lost another 2 miles in total range.

 

The Ford Documentation is somewhat fuzzy about the expected range as the car ages, but I was told that the computer restricts the charge capacity as the mileage increases.  How much loss of range should be acceptable for this battery?  It is under warranty to 100,000 miles, and I am curious if it drops below 12 miles which is roughly half the range when new, is that low enough for the battery to be replaced under warranty?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Unfortunately, Phil, Ford was purposely fuzzy on two fronts: 1) expected range "up to 21 miles" and 2) what is guaranteed under the warranty.  That was on purpose as a CYA move to avoid having to honor warranty claims.  Basically if the battery is working and not throwing error codes, Ford doesn't care how many miles nor how many kWh you are getting.  As long as the battery gives you between 0 and 21 miles (or 26 for a 2019 or newer) they say it is working as designed.  16 miles per charge at 80k miles isn't too bad, at least not compared to many people who have reported worse over the years.  Enjoy the miles while you still have them.  Ford will not replace the battery unless and until it fails completely.

 

I wish I had better news for you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...