How to interpret vehicle range

[bcook]

Hello,

Apologies if this is not the right place to post this question. I just bought a used 2014 Ford C-MAX Energi with 90k miles. The dealership was shady in their nondisclosure of several problems with the car and general price-gouging, but I needed something quick. Anyway, I am totally lost in interpreting the vehicle range information, and the owner's manual is no help. In the Vehicle Range Screen on the left side of the information panel, it displays a blue number on top, a white number in the middle, and a larger white number on the bottom. The blue number is always 0. Never been anything other than 0 for a single second I've had it, even after charging it to what appears to be full (the blue battery gauge on the same panel was all the way full). The larger white number on the bottom is always equal to the smaller white number in the middle.

 

My fear is that the blue number is telling me that my EV range is 0 and always will be 0 (given that it stayed at 0 even after what I thought was a full charge), and the correspondence of the smaller and larger white numbers is telling me that my range is only based on gas. However, when I turn the car off, the trip summary always shows me using at least some EV miles, and usually a respectable amount, too (e.g., 8 EV miles out of a 24 mile city and highway trip). I'm not sure how to resolve this discrepancy.

 

On top of this, it has never allowed me to go into EV mode. When I press the EV button, it tells me that EV Now is not available. It shows a box with three icons in the bottom; the one on the left has the word "AUTO" and is highlighted in white, and the other two are grayed out and Xed over, and I haven't been able to read them while driving. I fear this means that the battery is just too old and weak to hold enough of a charge to even enter EV mode.

 

Please let me know if these issues sound familiar to you.

tldr;

1) Is the blue number on the Vehicle Range screen the range with just electricity?

2) If the blue number is always 0, will I ever be able to enter EV mode?

[cr08]

On 3/23/2022 at 9:18 PM, bcook said:

Hello,

Apologies if this is not the right place to post this question. I just bought a used 2014 Ford C-MAX Energi with 90k miles. The dealership was shady in their nondisclosure of several problems with the car and general price-gouging, but I needed something quick. Anyway, I am totally lost in interpreting the vehicle range information, and the owner's manual is no help. In the Vehicle Range Screen on the left side of the information panel, it displays a blue number on top, a white number in the middle, and a larger white number on the bottom. The blue number is always 0. Never been anything other than 0 for a single second I've had it, even after charging it to what appears to be full (the blue battery gauge on the same panel was all the way full). The larger white number on the bottom is always equal to the smaller white number in the middle.

 

My fear is that the blue number is telling me that my EV range is 0 and always will be 0 (given that it stayed at 0 even after what I thought was a full charge), and the correspondence of the smaller and larger white numbers is telling me that my range is only based on gas. However, when I turn the car off, the trip summary always shows me using at least some EV miles, and usually a respectable amount, too (e.g., 8 EV miles out of a 24 mile city and highway trip). I'm not sure how to resolve this discrepancy.

 

On top of this, it has never allowed me to go into EV mode. When I press the EV button, it tells me that EV Now is not available. It shows a box with three icons in the bottom; the one on the left has the word "AUTO" and is highlighted in white, and the other two are grayed out and Xed over, and I haven't been able to read them while driving. I fear this means that the battery is just too old and weak to hold enough of a charge to even enter EV mode.

 

Please let me know if these issues sound familiar to you.

tldr;

1) Is the blue number on the Vehicle Range screen the range with just electricity?

2) If the blue number is always 0, will I ever be able to enter EV mode?

 

I just went out and checked my '13 and can confirm the blue number in the Vehicle range screen is the electric range, white below it is gas range, and the larger white number below those is the combined range.

 

For a 2014, you should also have the battery bar on the left screen showing the electric range. It'll be kind of a '3d' look with a number displayed if there is plug-in charge available. If not, it'll be more 'flat' with no numbers displayed on it, indicating it has no plug-in charge and is operating in hybrid mode.

 

When you try to change EV modes and it stays on Auto, this is expected when you have no plug-in charge. It will not allow you to switch out of this mode unless there is plug-in charge available. Additionally, when you see the EV miles on the trip summary screen, this is also expected when in hybrid operation. It's simply listing the number of miles it was able to operate with the engine off.

 

If you're seeing 0 miles on either display even after being plugged in, a few things you may want to check:

 

• Ensure your vehicle is not set for Value Charging by mistake. If it was used, the previous owner may have had it set. This mode allows you to set the car to start charging at a set time and not immediately when plugged in. Probably the easiest way to rectify this is to do a Master Reset on your Sync system. This will wipe out any previous navigation info (if equipped), bluetooth pairings, and Value Charge data to name a few. For Sync 2/MyFord Touch go to the Settings and I believe under System and there is a Master Reset option. I may be off so you may want to dig around for it. It's been a while since I've messed with Sync 2.
• Ensure your EVSE (charge cord/charger) is functioning. If yours looks like the image attached below (it will have a different label and wall plug, but the shape and form will be identical, these are the replacement units for a recall that Ford had a little while back), the two lights on it will tell if it is operating correctly or if there's an issue. You can find the manual for it here and Page 10 lists what the different light combos indicate: AmazingE-User-Manual_FINAL_20190130_LoRes.pdf (amazing-e.com)
• Of course if you have any lights on the dash like a wrench icon or check engine light, use a code scanner of your choice (or have someone at a local parts store who offers that service do it) as it may be indicating an issue with the charging system and will help narrow down the cause.
• As a last check, if you have a public Level 2 charger nearby, you can try using that and see if the charging behavior changes. Some users occasionally report different behaviors between the stock included cord and using a public charger when something is misbehaving.

 

Edited March 24, 2022 by cr08

[stolenmoment]

Also, while you're charging, tap the leaves at the bottom of the main screen (if you have them, I have a '13 Energi w/stock innards).  The two screens there show more detail about the charging system, including charge percentage and charging or not.