Jump to content
Ford Fusion Energi Forum

EV Mode Limited to Auto?


pederhorner
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hello forum. I am currently a Focus EV owner, and my lease is about finished, and I'm looking for the next plug-in vehicle. We're interested in the FFE and test drove one tonight at a dealership, a 2013 SE Luxury FFE. 

 

I had read about the EV only mode, so, while driving (and while stationary), I touched the EV button, but on the left display, I saw a popup notification that "EV Mode is Unavailable." The "auto" icon seemed okay, the other two icons to the left were "X'd" out. 

 

The battery level indicator was about 55% full. 

 

What does this mean? Is there a trick to engaging the EV mode, or has anyone seen this as a serious maintenance issue?

 

When I looked at the mileage history (left display panel), the last 364 miles showed no EV miles, only hybrid. Hmm...

 

Might be a lemon. CarFAX showed that it was a manufacturer buy back. The plot thickens...

 

My spidey-sense is all tingly on this one.

 

Any help/guidance is greatly appreciated. 

 

Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The HVB is probably completely discharged.  When the HVB gets to 0% the car switches to hybrid mode and the indicator on the left display is of the hybrid mode battery portion (there is only one HVB).  Press the leaf symbol at the bottom of the center screen and then press settings if it is not already selected.  On the right side of the display is the charge % for the HVB.  Tell the dealer that you want the HVB fully charged before you test drive it again.  If the dealer is not electric certified, and thus does not have a level 2 charger installed, the 120 volt charger that comes with the car will have to be used.  It is located under the pull up cover in the trunk.  There should also be an air compressor with a can of tire repair "goo" since the car does not have a spare tire.  It will take between 5 and 7 hours to fully charge the battery using the 120 volt charger.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What Murphy says is correct. Dealers have a bad habit of not keeping the Energi vehicles charged for test drives. From the sounds of it, the one you drove was not charged, and you would not have been able to experience how similar to the Focus EV the Energi feels when the HVB is charged. I was underwhelmed by my 1st test drive in an Energi for that very reason. As soon as I drove one with a fully charged battery, I was all smiles.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The battery level indicator was about 55% full. 

 

What does this mean?

 

Depends what you mean by "battery level indicator." If you mean the blue battery icon in the left-hand screen, if it didn't have a number superimposed on it, that's what you see when the HVB is discharged, thus you were operating in Hybrid mode, which works pretty much like a regular Fusion Hybrid. In that case, what others have said is correct - The car needs to be plugged in to charge the battery.

 

If you mean the power settings screen on the center console touchscreen said "55%" on it, then it's a different issue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you mean the blue battery icon in the left-hand screen, if it didn't have a number superimposed on it, that's what you see when the HVB is discharged, thus you were operating in Hybrid mode, which works pretty much like a regular Fusion Hybrid.

 

The 2016's (and I think late 2015's) don't have a number anymore.  :headscratch:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The 2016's (and I think late 2015's) don't have a number anymore.  :headscratch:

 

Yeah. Though the OP has a 2013, I'm not sure what an easy way to tell is on the new models whether one is in "Plug-in" or "Hybrid" mode. I guess getting the power screen on the center console so that you can read the percentage? I'm not sure how the icon, which I think remains in the 2016, behaves in "plug-in" mode these days.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah. Though the OP has a 2013, I'm not sure what an easy way to tell is on the new models whether one is in "Plug-in" or "Hybrid" mode. I guess getting the power screen on the center console so that you can read the percentage? I'm not sure how the icon, which I think remains in the 2016, behaves in "plug-in" mode these days.

For those new 2016 owners, cheesehead means to touch the leaf icon in the bottom middle of the large MFT. That brings up the screen that will list the "Go" times, and includes a percentage of HVB remaining.

 

(I'm assuming they left that screen in)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah. Though the OP has a 2013, I'm not sure what an easy way to tell is on the new models whether one is in "Plug-in" or "Hybrid" mode. I guess getting the power screen on the center console so that you can read the percentage? I'm not sure how the icon, which I think remains in the 2016, behaves in "plug-in" mode these days.

I would guess the icon would still have the 3D look for Plug-in and the flat battery icon for Hybrid like it does now, just doesn't show the est. mileage on it??

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I believe the battery graphic has the same 3dish or flat look and just lost the range estimate.  But I think looking for the ev range remaining % on the touch screen is still a better recommendation as the difference of '3d look or flat' may not be obvious to those such as the op who are driving an energi for the first time.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I believe the battery graphic has the same 3dish or flat look and just lost the range estimate.  But I think looking for the ev range remaining % on the touch screen is still a better recommendation as the difference of '3d look or flat' may not be obvious to those such as the op who are driving an energi for the first time.

I've never looked at the MFT % when in hybrid mode to see how it displays, what does it show? When the HVB is depleted & you're in hybrid mode the MFM app will show the % of the 2D icon that is filled.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I believe the battery graphic has the same 3dish or flat look and just lost the range estimate.  But I think looking for the ev range remaining % on the touch screen is still a better recommendation as the difference of '3d look or flat' may not be obvious to those such as the op who are driving an energi for the first time.

The MFT doesn't show the estimated range, it shows the remaining battery percentage, at least for the C-Max. Are you saying the new FFE has a range estimate there? That is incomprehensible, since the only readon to remove it from the battery icon is to keep the owners from complaining about EV range - makes no sense to put it in the MFT.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The MFT doesn't show the estimated range, it shows the remaining battery percentage, at least for the C-Max. Are you saying the new FFE has a range estimate there? That is incomprehensible, since the only readon to remove it from the battery icon is to keep the owners from complaining about EV range - makes no sense to put it in the MFT.

3D battery icon on left dash screen - shows EV miles of predicted range for MY2013-2015 in white text on top of the 3D battery icon. No MY2016 Fusion Energis show a range estimate in miles on the dash. It's possible that some late build MY2015 vehicles also don't show the range in miles on the 3D battery icon. For MY2016 vehicles you can still view the predicted miles of EV range on the DTE screen.

2D battery icon on left dash screen - appears when EV range is depleted. No mileage prediction is shown, vehicle operates like Fusion Hybrid.

MFT Leaf Screen - this shows the % that goes with how full the 3D battery icon on the dash is. This number should match the % shown by MFM. Openair says that when the dash icon changes from 3D to 2D, the MFT screen shows 0%. MFM shows the % full of the 2D battery icon in this scenario.

 

I hope that clears things up...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The MFT doesn't show the estimated range, it shows the remaining battery percentage, at least for the C-Max. Are you saying the new FFE has a range estimate there? That is incomprehensible, since the only readon to remove it from the battery icon is to keep the owners from complaining about EV range - makes no sense to put it in the MFT.

MFT shows a percentage. This % is the % of remaining HVB usable for ev driving only. Hence it is also the % of remaining ev range. That is what I said in my last post.

 

However I believe that someone had posted else where that the 2015s and newer that have lost the ev range from the cluster battery icon do have an ev range somewhere on the touch screen. Moving it there moves it out of sight and out of mind which is probably very effective at reducing complaints about the accuracy as the type of people who would complain about this also likely won't go looking for.

 

Selling a ev that has absolutely no range estimate at all is product suicide.

Edited by openair
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3D battery icon on left dash screen - shows EV miles of predicted range for MY2013-2015 in white text on top of the 3D battery icon. No MY2016 Fusion Energis show a range estimate in miles on the dash. It's possible that some late build MY2015 vehicles also don't show the range in miles on the 3D battery icon. For MY2016 vehicles you can still view the predicted miles of EV range on the DTE screen.

2D battery icon on left dash screen - appears when EV range is depleted. No mileage prediction is shown, vehicle operates like Fusion Hybrid.

MFT Leaf Screen - this shows the % that goes with how full the 3D battery icon on the dash is. This number should match the % shown by MFM. Openair says that when the dash icon changes from 3D to 2D, the MFT screen shows 0%. MFM shows the % full of the 2D battery icon in this scenario.

 

I hope that clears things up...

Thanks, yes, that matches the C-Max. The post I was quoting said that the MFT showed the range. It does not.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Reread my post you quoted and read my explanation above. It shows a %. This % is both the percent of ev power and ev range as they're one in the same.

Well, I went back and reread the entire thread, and I stand by my posts. The percentage on the MFT has nothing to do with the estimated range that the driver can go on battery.  It can say "80%" for example, but the driver has no way of knowing from that number how much range is left.

 

The estimated range (as shown in the number on the battery icon up until 2016, and in the estimated EV range menus on the left driver display for all models) will vary based on the battery characteristics, temperature, battery drain (A/C and electric heat are notorious), recent driving battery use, and probably some other factors that are not as obvious. The percentage in the MFT leaf screen will always be simply the amount of HVB remaining as a percentage of the total battery usable capacity.

 

Perhaps we are speaking of different things, but I'm just clarifying the original post to which I was replying. Or maybe I don't understand what you are trying to say, or perhaps the programming is different. As I said, I'm using the C-Max Energi, but I believe the programming is the same.

 

I'm interested in these sorts of things because I may I want to trade in my car for a new one in the future, so I keep tabs on the programming changes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 of 20 miles of range is 80%. If the range estimate was 20 miles at 100% with no climate, at 80% it'll be 16 miles.

 

12.8 of 16 miles of range is 80%. If the climate is on and the range estimate was 16 miles at 100%, at 80% it'll be 12.8 miles.

 

I said "range remaining %." I did not say km or miles or simply remaining range. I did not say anything about what the user might conclude from this % other than it could be used to tell if there was any range or if they were already in hybrid.

 

Ev range can be expressed in many ways. Km, miles, %, kw, discharge time, charge time.

Edited by openair
Link to comment
Share on other sites

In my 2015 C-Max Energi, the screen that shows the guestimated EV range in distance is called the Energy Use screen on the screen to the Left of the speedometer.  The car defaults to this screen whenever the car is re-started in EV Now mode.  I suspect the newest Fusion Energis are the same.  

It shows Climate control use, EV range guestimate  and the "cup of energy" (if you are in EV Now mode).  The cup of energy is very useful to help you understand if your driving and conditions are ideal enough for you to actually acheive the guestimated range.  It's not so critical in a PHEV, but when driving my Focus Electric, I came to really appreciate the cup of energy display.

Edited by cwstnsko
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...