Max Power

A person that is driving past their house(practically on the highway) to get somewhere else after work. Does the software assume you will be slowing down, or is the speed taken into consideration as Plus3 suggests? There was traffic the day I observed that the car was assuming I was near the end of my trip and I don't remember how fast I was going, but it was still highway speed. I wonder if I blow by a few of my saved locations will I be able to notice that the EV accelerator limit is elevated? It gets pretty high when you are at highway speed anyway so it may be tough to tell. It just didn't seem to go down even though the battery was depleting. Is there a speed where the logic assumes you are just buzzing the tower and a passed point where the ICE will kick in to charge the battery?

I don't want to confuse, I was referring to modes during the mileage testing. What would it mean if Ford got 47 mpg during the EPA test in EV+ mode and that mode is not available to me at all times? Going in and out of modes based on location seems too cute and I would like the control. I guess that's why I'm a PC and not Mac.

Smog definitely matters to me. In PA, you'll pass inspection as long as your check engine light doesn't come on. I don't like the the thought of me or anyone else being able to get around it. I still wonder if EV+ is a programming holdover from the Energi that makes little sense for the hybrid. Programmers can be very lazy or overworked. It may also have something to do with battery conditioning, when the charge dips lower than normal/ Is Ford stuck using the same programming in production cars that they used for the EPA test, or are they allowed to game the system? If they update the software do they have to re-certify? These might be some sticky areas for the hybrid market. Was EV+ active for their tests?

The PCM's decision to run the battery lower is not related to speed, in my experience. Again, why should the decision only involve proximity to a particular location? If it's dangerous here, it's dangerous there. Is Ford immune from lawsuit because I am close to my house? I'm sorry that I didn't understand your freeway example. If your car is rolling, that is ample power to kick over the ICE. It doesn't matter if the power is supplied by the wheels or the electric motor, it comes through the CVT either way. You wouldn't use your starter in a conventional car at 60 miles an hour and neither does this one. Watch the car shift from coasting to ICE with no electric involvement during your next drive if you don't believe me. The 12V being dead at this point would be much more dangerous as the spark plugs wouldn't fire. I don't see much scrambling to fix the 12V problem yet. I can see your point but there is a large difference between 25% and "virtually used up", When you start your car in the morning and it kicks on the ICE, how much does your HV battery deplete? Mine is not even noticeable. It's just a 2-liter, 4-cylinder engine when all is said and done. This is about giving you range to get to the gas station, something I don't care about.

I wanted to start a new thread about something being talked about in the battery forum, but may not have that much relevance there. The EV+ mode in the hybrid will keep the car in EV mode when you are near a familiar location. In my experience it will run the HV battery lower than it would normally go. Why can't I use the full battery range all the time. There are times I've noticed where it would delay the ICE kicking in or give me a regen capability if I could get another 10% out of the HV battery. Would this improve mileage? How much so? Plus 3 golfer believes that it is the car trying to keep a reserve in case you run out of gas, then you can limp to the nearest gas station on the electric motor. I agree with this logic. However, since I can trust myself not to run out of gas, I would enjoy have this extra battery capacity all the time. I think they should add a driving mode that would do this regardless of location. Any thoughts or comments?

I'm sure that is exactly the reason. I'm saying it isn't my preference that it would be that way. I'm responsible enough not to run out of gas and ptjones was able to show that the low fuel warning is 35 miles too cautious. Why sacrifice MPG, for a reserve that I will never need? I never needed a reserve for my conventional gas vehicle. How is running out of gas any less convenient when I am near home? (The vehicle knows the fuel level, it could take this into account) It took roadside assistance quite a long time to get to my house when my battery was dead, whereas highway responses in other vehicles have always been quick. IMO, Ford needs to hear these things and adjust the software. I guarantee there are MPG gains to be made that require nothing but software updates. EDIT: started new thread about EV+ mode in non-plugin.

I'm specifically talking about the EV+ mode in the hybrid. This has a tendency to keep the car in EV when you near home, even taking it below the normal hard stop for the HV battery. If it is okay to take the HV battery into that range, I want to be able to do it all the time. I would like to have the control myself, not have it be based on location. What is the purpose of the EV+ mode in the hybrid? It seems like a remnant of Energi's programming that is being left in the hybrid. Should probably start another topic about that but I included it here since it may have an effect on charging. So far I haven't seen any readings below 14.9 while driving so it appears that the charge is always being applied. The issue could be that the accessories are just too greedy. FORD went with conventional bulbs in a quite a few areas. Is this the reason many other hybrids have LED tail lights? The car loses .2V overnight and my commute returns .05 each way. By the end of the week, the battery looks pretty crummy. I am going to see how much using the solar panels captures while I am parked at work. I need to do this for the whole week before I know it will keep up. The technique you mention is intriguing and could work in a pinch if one knew ahead of time that it was needed. I have a real problem with the fact that the car knows my battery is reading 11.9 and isn't telling me that information. This may be the biggest flaw. Leaving my car on for an hour didn't charge the battery fully, with nothing on in the car What makes you think this is more efficient, or are you saying that? The time it takes to timeout would be very helpful information. Extending your idea, the solution is probably to rework the software so that the HV stays connected and the converter stays active for 1/2 hour after you shut the car off when a low 12V is detected. This may be difficult for them to program and there may be liability issues with leaving the HV connected while the vehicle is unoccupied. Ford may have the solution from the programmers but need approval from legal to implement it.

I'll try to be more clear. First, all C-Maxes track your routes and know where you are. When I am near home or somewhere familiar, the HV battery is allowed to discharge below 25% This would make sense in the Energi since the car figures I can plug in before I have to drive again. This makes no sense in my hybrid since I can't plug it in. If it is safe to use this battery in the hybrid, I should be able to use it all the time. If it isn't safe, I should never be allowed to use it. Is it or isn't it safe? Where is the true bottom of the battery? Is the hybrid keeping more in reserve than it should, which could coincidentally be kicking off the converter too?

I understand the concept of not wanting to fully discharge the HV battery. Why does it let me use all of it some times while driving and others not?

If my hunch about the converter shutting down when the EV battery is low is correct, then the Energi would be much less prone to 12V problems. The 12v would be charging the entire time you were drawing off the EV battery after a full nights charge. If you didn't plug in regularly to make this so, you would have problems. I'm not sure taking the EV battery out of the loop when it gets down to the minimum charge can be fixed to only keep the converter on. It would depend on where it is wired. I can tell you that they don't want to take the EV battery beyond a certain minimum so it makes sense to shut even the converter off. On this subject, why does the hybrid save the bottom 25% ? Under what circumstance would I want to keep this? It seems I could get better efficiency if I had this extra battery to use. Why let me use it some times and not others? Would it damage the battery if I used it all the time? It seems like a strange holdover from the Energi's programming being applied to the hybrid. It's reminiscent of Spinal Tap having an 11 on their amps. (If 25 is really 0, just make it 0.) Would allowing the bottom 25% of the EV battery to be used fix the 12V problems? And would it increase efficiency? Get on it Ford.

Thanks for the link. My car was built in late January of this year. Two dead batteries in the first two months of life.

My sticker doesn't have the white parts with numbers on the top or the bottom.

My sticker doesn't have the build date on it. Where do I find this? The print date is in 2013, can I assume it was built in 2013?

It's easier to catch the sun on my dash, but the only port that stays open is in the back. Good thing my solar panel came with a really long cord. And yes, the other ports are worthless if you need a charge. I bought a 2A 12V charger for 30 dollars today and plugged it into the rear port. I went from 12.2 to a full 12.6 in a couple of hours. I wasn't watching close enough to see how long it took. Less than two hours. Charger says full and multimeter reads 12.6 Looks like my battery is still in pretty good shape.

The comfort sold me on this car. I went to a car show and sat in every hybrid being made. If you are much over six foot, your head almost rubs the ceiling in all the others. Unlike the others, I could wear a cowboy hat while driving the C-Max if I was so inclined. The front pillars don't block my view. They tilt back and in fairly steeply in the Prius which makes the front view almost as bad as their abysmal rearview. C-Max horsepower 188. Prius horsepower 134. That wasn't going to work well with all the short on-ramps we have around here. The Max is at least 2 seconds faster in 0-60 time. I have no doubt that I'll be able to average 40+ in this car, so there are no regrets.

Side Note: My commute has very small hills, which rarely require the ICE and a few opportunities for regen. Therefore I spend a lot of time with the EV battery low or depleted. I'm also stingy enough to just pop on the heated seats and leave climate control off in the morning, so the EV doesn't get this charge time during the start. If the converter shuts off when the EV is low, this could be a huge contribution to my 12V problems. That being said, I have started using the ICE to start out more from stops, saving the EV for maintaining speed later. This leads to better mileage for me and a generally fuller EV battery while in progress. I was pleasantly surprised to get 56 MPG out of a 50 mile round trip today. Time will tell if this keeps the 12V system topped up better.

I'm .2 volts higher today. That could be the panel. IDK at this point as I've only had the panel two days. Either way, the facts that it fluctutates from day to day points to the converter or software. I've seen a .1 gain each day I've had the panel in. I'll see if that holds up. I'm not sure if I want to buy a charger just to see if I can top up this battery any further. I might do that or I might just have the dealership test the battery so they can replace it. I am going to leave the tester in while I drive and see if I happen to notice any charging voltage differences under different conditions that would further point to the converter or software. It's possible the converter shuts off when the EV battery is at its lower level, etc.

These are the same readings that I am getting.

My data would indicate that the charging system is deficient. Even long drives are not giving my battery a full charge. If a 5W solar panel is improving my charge level, the converter is probably deficient. One thing I noticed today. I had my displays on full power. I now have them on full dim. I will see if that improves the charge level over time. How many people with battery problems have not dimmed their interior displays?

It's been pretty cold in PA and the worst MPG I've gotten on short, cold trips is 35.

This is my current suspicion, no pun intended. Where to get the specs on the converter? I ran the motor for an hour with no accessories on, no increase. Voltage was reading 14.4ish the whole time, at least when I was looking, during that hour. The three hours of driving I did this weekend didn't bring it up either.

After running off the surface charge, 12.1V. Idled it for an hour and it didn't change. So, is my issue the battery, or did the issue kill battery? Chicken and egg here. I'll call the dealer to pull and test/replace the battery and then go back to my tests. I don't have the clock issue, maybe I'm "lucky" and just have a dud battery.

14.4 during the commute is always what I see, but the max I get immediately after shutdown is 12.7. I'm going to calibrate this meter with a better one I have to see if that's completely accurate. Sounds like my battery is already a little worn down. It has been completely dead twice from what I can tell. Very informative Sparky, thanks.

It looks like the draw is happening some time in the first 4 hours, but then it stops or slows substantially. Park voltage 12.7, 4hrs later12.35, and overnight 12.3 (much colder today, so could be the same reading for the last two). As an aside, my short commutes are almost completely charging the battery, the reading is always somewhere north of 12.6 My hunch says that something is staying on and then getting timed out and shut down. The one time my battery died, I remembered retrieving something from the car through the passenger door.(It was shut tightly the next day) I expected the result of this latest test to draw down the battery more since I was entering the vehicle again, but maybe I didn't do anything to re-activate the relay. I remember retrieving something from the glove box the day before the car died. I'm going to try and recreate that scenario and see if it happens again.

Certainly this is not worse than the several people that leave a car length between them and the car ahead of them at stop lights, which prevents you from being able to get into the turning lane.