SnowStorm

Sounds like a great plan - hope to get there too in a couple of years. For those who can keep their car home most days (retired, work from home, whatever) you can keep a car solar charged with about 10 panels! That's using 15k miles per year, 250 W-Hrs/mile, average of 4kW-Hrs / kW of solar panels / day, 370 watts / panel, and only 70% charge efficiency. A commuter could split the mileage between two cars and still keep them solar charged most of the time. Think of it - an unending supply of free fuel for your cars that's completely under your control! In the long run, I think these two points are the real advantages for going electric. You wouldn't even need the cost or regulatory issues of connecting those panels to the grid. Just a simple DC to DC charger is all you would need. (Efficiency would likely be over 90% - not 70%.)

I hate to say it, but the module update may have been worth it. A major "dead battery" CSP (Customer Satisfaction Program) was "15B04 – 12 Volt Battery Test and Module Software Update – 2013-2014 Ford C-MAX". It ended in 2016 so now, I suppose, you would have to pay for it. I had several dead 12V battery events before having 15B04 done and essentially no problem since then. In my jaundiced view, I wouldn't make any assumptions as to what the dealer did for $295 (except make a profit). My suggestion is to follow plus 3 golfer's advice for battery charging/monitoring and then shop around for a dealer that will fully perform 15B04 at a "fair" price and report exactly what they find about bad wiring and what modules needed updating - along with version numbers (or "calibrations" or whatever they call them). (I wish there was a way to find the latest software versions for your VIN and then compare what's actually in the car - but I don't know of one).

Based on driving our 2013 SE for 210k miles I would certainly encourage buying a C-Max - points to make: The hybrid battery doesn't fail - I can't recall hearing of a single failure and I've followed this forum constantly since 2013. Not saying it can't happen but just not a concern. Without failures there's little (if any) information on costs but there should be plenty of used battery packs available from wrecking yards should one ever be needed. You don't need to analyze anything - just drive it like any other car and you'll still get great mileage. There are little things you can do to improve mileage if you get interested but a lot of those work on any car. As one member posted years ago, the car still cares [about saving gas] even if you don't! Extreme temperatures affect all cars. You might notice it more with a hybrid, since the mileage numbers are so much higher to start with, but you're still way ahead overall. After owning over a dozen cars I still consider the C-Max the "best" one overall! And after 210k miles its still enjoyable to drive and I expect to go another 100k miles.

Its great to hear your good news!

If needed, here are instructions for removing rear seats - see 9th post.

The Enterprise just got home from a trip to California (daughter's wedding). Now even more impressed with this car! 6900+ miles driven 950+ EV 41.0 mpg indicated average for complete trip 55 mph moving average from GPS 91 mph max speed Bought mostly Shell mid-grade gas. (Why is it only 87 or 88 octane out west?) We pretty much drove the speed limit or up to 5+ but no cruising over 80. Mostly I64 and I80 going out but came back a more northern route that included route 20 through Wyoming and Nebraska. Some of the older roads are a delight - so peaceful and free of traffic, and with lots of interesting things along the way. A bit slower, yes, but what's a couple of extra hours out of 120 - and better mileage too! Along the way we saw Virginia City, NV, Lake Tahoe, Redwood NP, Lave Beds NM, Craters Of The Moon NM, Grand Teton NP, Yellowstone NP, Hell's Half Acre, WY (a wild example of erosion) and lots of the little old-limey wind mills - some still pumping water! Back to the car. I installed the hitch I bought locally years back and added a platform carrier for the full-size spare (not needed, thankfully!) and other stuff. The hitch maker insisted on support straps if used with a carrier so we had two red ones going from the cargo tie points in the back, up through the hinges, and down to the carrier. It looked weird but nothing broke. We tent camped mostly but were also set up to sleep in the car - front seats all the way forward and boards to fill in the space. You get a full 6 foot long bed. Now for the good part - just leave the car ON and you have A/C or heat all night. The ICE only comes on occasionally for a short time to charge the HVB (A/C mode) or create heat (heater mode). I think we used A/C once and heat the other few times we did this. You can have 68F inside with overnight temps dropping to 26F and use about 0.6 to 0.8 gallons of fuel. Thankfully, we had NO problems with the car - just sailed around slower cars and over big mountains like they weren't there - well, not quite!. All with over 200k on the odometer. Hmmm - where next?

My 2013 (200k+ miles) does this occasionally - like 1 to 3 second delay. I don't know the reason. So far I've just ignored it.

How many miles on the car? Any abnormal sounds when moving or in EV mode around 35 mph? Why do you suspect the input bearings? There is a "clutch" between the ICE and transmission that potentially could have broken parts. Here's someone who says they have the filter - the picture doesn't look like mine but they claim its a generic picture (??).

'The Enterprise' hit 200,000 miles yesterday! 42% EV and 48.5 lifetime mpg. On to a quarter million!

Yes - just get the VIN from the donor car and check that the replacement part number for that VIN is the same as the replacement part number for your car's VIN. That's what I did for my 2013 SE - I think mine was a 2016. Later years should be better anyway.

So we've managed to loose one of our two keys (key start - not push button). Key is $125 + $90 programming at dealer which seems pretty "good" as another dealer wanted almost $400 and a third would have to order the key. Anyway, has anyone used Car Keys Express or something similar? For $99 you get a one-time programmer and a key which they say they can cut from a photo! Does anyone have any experience or thoughts about this option? Also, can more than two keys be created for the car?

Yes, its now working. All my codes checked OK. I guess there's something to be said for smaller "hometown", "family owned" dealers - they must have done mine right.

So, I get a letter dated August 2020 saying my latches might still be bad but, due to COVID-19 considerations, I can check it myself - don't need to go to the dealer. (Hmm, might be the only good coming out of this virus mess.) Anyway, I copy down all the numbers and try to go to www.fordlatchrecall.com but the site just returns an error: Ooops! Sorry please check the URL you are trying to access, or try reloading the page again. Thank you for visiting Thu Aug 06 2020 16:08:16 GMT-0400 (Eastern Daylight Time) Anybody able to get in and check their codes? This door latch thing is leaving me a bit unhinged!

Its sounds like you have the infamous dead 12v battery problem where something stays on (or turns on) when the car is parked and runs down the battery. If the voltage doesn't drop too low, everything starts up and you never know about it. Each time it happens though, the 12v battery gets degraded further. You might see it at 12.6 volts but it won't stay there long. I expect you will need a new 12v battery regardless of its age. If it turns out to be old/original, then maybe you'll be OK with just a new one. If it's only a year old then make sure the various Ford TSBs or CSPs have been done (if any apply to the Energi - some don't). Either way, make sure they reset the battery age parameter in the car when the battery is replaced. Then you might check the voltage twice a day when not driven to see what happens. If the new battery isn't staying charged, get a battery maintainer.

"Interesting" that VA's $64 hybrid fee "will fall to $50 in subsequent years" if not used for "transportation purposes" by a particular "jurisdiction"! So, I suppose, a city with 200k vehicles gets 10 million to do with as they please! The real problem isn't likely to be that of coming up with a new and fairly equatable way to to finance the roads.

Feel exactly the same. I would love a BEV that can go 250+ miles in spite of rain or cold. Don't want to end up on a rollback like we saw recently. We were driving along and saw this truck in front with a car on it with the Tesla emblem! I knew we were approaching a gas station that had Tesla superchargers and sure enough, they turned in to that station. A bit later there they were, the rollback was down and the car plugged in! I wanted to take a picture but thought the owners might not appreciate it!

I don't recall ever hearing of transmission noises being audible outside rather than inside. I can't make much from the recording but perhaps its a brake or CV joint problem (does it happen going straight?). Also, the A/C compressor is quite noisy outside the car.

Well, I wish the C-Max was the same as there are times when it is a super nice feature - but I don't want ICE spinning up.

SnowStorm finally ordered his - 2013-2014 of course. Thanks, +3, for the link.

Well, I've seen the ICE up around 4000 rpm during engine braking. Running the simulator at 20 mph and ICE at 4000 rpm would, if possible, push MG1 over 11,000 rpm! I guess its not possible on the Prius but is on the C-Max (or close anyway). I still see MG1 as being very active in order to force the braking torque into the ICE. Otherwise, the ICE would just stop spinning and MG1 would be spinning backwards at a much slower speed. The reason I put that ? mark on number 4 was because I thought I remembered reading about some scenario where energy was feed from one motor to the other - but I doubt that applies here. You are right, torque can be controlled to any value and polarity, independent of speed. Permanent magnet motors with rotor position sensors let you do whatever you want - in all 4 quadrants.

Was ICE already running?

Very interesting. Let's develop this theory a bit further. What do we know (or think we know)? Moving the shifter does nothing mechanical (except parking paw) so any changes are electrical. During ICE braking (HVB full) the traction motor is free spinning but the starter/generator is supplying torque to force the ICE to spin. The torque value might be quite high. (I suppose Forscan would tell us but "not on my watch"!) While moving slowly under engine braking conditions, the ICE may be at 4000+ rpm so the starter/generator will also be spinning very fast. While coasting (HVB full with no ICE braking) both electric motors have torque values of zero (?). Shifting out of 'L' (and even coming to a complete stop) can leave ICE still running (I assume to cool it down??). This action means that fuel has been turned ON. An exit from ICE braking mode would (I think) require a drastic change in the nature of power applied to the starter/generator. Combine this change with fuel being turned on to the ICE spinning at 4000 rpm and its not hard to imagine some faulty control logic that could wreak havoc to the desired torque. The Escape Hybrid logic for ICE braking may have been changed significantly (or eliminated?). Ford says "under certain driving conditions” but, conveniently, doesn't say what they are! Thoughts, corrections, or other "clunky" experiences anyone?

My advice is to never use 'L' on the shifter or even allow engine braking to occur while using the "down hill" mode. As best I recall, my worst clunk came at the end of a long down-hill run where the battery was full and I had used 'L' for engine braking. I think it happened when I came to a stop or shifted out of 'L' and occered well before I started hearing the whirring sound. It might be that the "engine braking" code didn't get tested as much as code for the more common events like EV / ICE transitions or regenerative braking. IMO, engine braking is less then useless!

I too had a nasty CLUNK (or maybe several) which I think could be what initiates failure. My theory is that the CLUNK hits the shaft with enough force that the press-fit parts separate which allows the shaft to shift sideways. Then things start rubbing and wearing out - hence, there is no "bad" bearing and its not a question of progressive wear-out of normally functioning parts. Check for any whirring sound around 35 mph as you press and release the accelerator - all the while staying in EV. Mine would make a faint sound that came and went as you press and release the accelerator. It may have done this for a year or more. If you have no abnormal sounds and have had no CLUNKS, you may be good for a long time. Not honoring the warranty sounds like a real cop-out for Ford. That shaft couples one of the electric motors directly to the differential and to the ICE through the planetary gears and other motor - and any CLUNK is likely a software bug in the electric motor control algorithms. Sounds hybrid related to me! Still happy with my used replacement transmission after 26k miles (now 198k on car).

Well, well, never thought I'd see a diesel hybrid. I wonder how much it helps the mileage rating - and if it has a 12v battery or everything is 48v.