livesmith

I'm guessing you haven't tried this procedure for more than ten minutes and you're going to be pretty disappointed at the drive in. At least that's how mine is. What you describe gives me ten minutes then powers itself off to "save power". Then I can turn it on again for another ten minutes and it powers off. At that point I have to actually "start" the car (and the headlights will be on) to get anything more out of the sound system. I think the only way I'd take the C Max to the drive in would be planning on disconnecting the headlights.

I wish you luck. I took it to my local dealer for the GPS problem and it was just one thing after another dealing with them when it should have been so simple. So when I needed the cell modem update recall done I tried a dealer over an hour away with a better reputation. Better than the first but still a couple issues dealing with them.(though they did at least succeed in replacing the modem which is why I went there where as the first dealer failed above and beyond.) The dealer frustration was the only reason I went so far as to spend $100 on an iffy ability to apply a patch to my car since the dealer would probably charge almost as much.(which should amount to 15 minutes of work from someone who knows what they are doing). I have better luck sometimes at local shops. You might try calling around and seeing if any of them have the Ford IDS software for programming/updating modules.

Yeah it's not the sync software it's the actual module software. The IDS stuff that you need a programmer and the Ford software to do. It's been quite a while since I did it but as I recall I paid around $100 for the adapter and software on eBay. Really only cause I was so fed up with the dealer. It was super sketchy involving a virtual machine and a trial day on Ford software. And Ford's software makes windows 3.1 look futuristic. REALLY unintuitive in any way. But basically every single thing in your car is a module and has its open version of software/programming. The Ford software found a new version for my GPS module, I downloaded that, then updated it on the car and it's been good since. I would definitely recommend just trying to find a dealer with half a brain (I've yet to succeed there) and see if they will just update your GPS module software.

You probably just need a software update for the GPS module.(Which in Ford world apparently gets the module a new part# even if no hardware is changed). My 2013 Energi was showing as far as another road with an entire divided highway between it and the road I was actually on.(but only intermittently) Dealership was idiotic in about a half dozen ways and told me that there was no problem(even though they didn't drive it as far as I told them to see the error) and that if I DID want them to continue to look at it, I'd need to buy a map update for $180(even though our roads haven't changed in 20+ years). The short of it is that I ended up doing the software update myself and mine has been trouble free ever since.

So, on a related topic, has anyone actually found some way to noticeably enhance the lighting? Now that we're back to the shorter days, and especially after driving the minivan(with standard halogens) I notice how very NOT great the C-Max headlights and foglights are... I've contemplated hooking up one of those LED light bars, but with the battery in the trunk I'm not entirely sure how I'd get the wiring hooked up. Let alone that I'm always hesitant with the drilling holes and things. I'm wondering if there are some replacement/retroft LED headlight bulbs that might not be too expensive and make a significant difference.

Probably just some Sync glitch. As far as replacing the GPS Module, My best guess is that a dealer might charge $200-300. But, as far as the real world, I recall the module being about $30-50, and would take maybe half an hour to swap for anyone familiar with the dash(you pull the gauge assembly, then the module. I think you might need to plug into the computer for a minute before and/or after as well.)

Yep. If you've got an ACC mode then that might work. But on my Energi the only way to keep the radio on for more than 20 minutes(2 separate 10 minute sessions) is to leave the car "ON". And I've got DRL's which there is no way to turn off when the car is ON. So mine is pretty useless for the drive-in. I'd have to either bring a portable radio or I might install a couple relays to kill the power to the headlights. With my Energi if I got it there with a good charge in the battery it should stay pretty silent. But I'm guessing you'll have periodic ICE starts as the HV gets low.

Yeah, it's just one big battery that's split in software. So, on an Energi if you're down in hybrid mode, you might be around 15% actual SOC on the battery. You plug in and you'll fill up the hybrid battery and maybe be at 20% actual SOC, and the car will then show you as having reached 0% of the EV portion of the battery. Then it continues until it gets to 100% which is about 95% actual SOC.

I think you're under the assumption that either: A) Energi owners always return home before they've exhausted the "EV Portion" of the battery or B) Energi owners can force the car into EV mode even when we're in "hybrid mode." Just FYI, Assuming you start out with a full charge on an Energi you've basically got maybe 10-30 miles of "EV" range which for the most part you can use now or later(this is EV Later mode, it just allows you to say "OK, use my current 90% SOC as the mid point for hybrid mode) as you choose. But once you've used up that portion of the battery and it drops below 0% you are dumped into "hybrid mode" which I believe works just like the hybrid model. At that point there is no EV button anymore("Not available" is what it tells you). The only way out of that mode is pretty much managing to find at least several miles of downhill to recharge and bump you back into the EV portion of the battery. So, for people like myself who drive 13 miles to work on EV, don't have a place to recharge and then head back and maybe 5 miles in I run out of battery I'm back into hybrid mode just like you and EV+ kicks in for that last bit home. Though given my house is about midpoint on a hill it doesn't really work very well. I usually just end up with a mostly full hybrid portion before I plug it in. Or coming from the other direction it's still too much of a hill for it to keep from starting the ICE.

It all depends on the circumstances. Generally speaking the Energi is always going to be better if you drive in a range that stays within the EV battery range(or close to it) and you don't need the extra cargo space. As far as heating goes that's also pretty much the largest factor on range... So you might get 20 miles on a nice 60F day, but then if you head out on a 30F day and turn on the heat, well your range may only be 10 miles on EV. But even with a 50% EV reduction you still might be getting 50-100+ MPGe...

Depending on circumstances you can "play" with the system to gain a bit. I mean if you're only driving 10 miles and you've got a full EV battery then it's definitely going to be the best to just stay in EV mode and never start the ICE at all. I can easily clear 160MPGe that way on my way to work in the morning and I've cleared 200MPGe when trying a bit more. But if you're taking a longer trip where you're going to need to start the ICE at some time it depends. For my usual commute I'll keep it in EV for 13 miles to work. Then for the most part just leave it in EV mode until it runs out and use the ICE/hybrid for the last half-ish part of the trip. Though I do tend to try to hit EV Later a bit earlier than I need it to get the ICE warmed up so I'm not either pulling max amps from the battery to go up a hill and/or having the ICE start up cold and then immediately hitting high revs. So... Yeah, if you're talking about longer trips, it might better to leave the ICE off entirely if it's going to cool off during a work day anyway, or as a general rule otherwise I'll aim for the most efficient/long term use which is generally along the lines of using EV mode for speed limits around <45mph and EV later for the highways and/or up hills. I agree there's no indication that there's any different parts used for EV vs hybrid portions on the Energi. It's just software. I agree with you on EV+ as well. I think it's like Eco cruise. It's a nice little feature that has a slight little benefit, but not really anything noticeable in real world dollars.

I'm guessing you're talking about EV only range... Between about 10-35 miles. Depends HUGELY on the conditions. If you don't need any climate control, you set the cruise at 25mph and go on nice flat roads you could probably clear 35 miles. Go out in the winter with the heater on, up a hill or try to get on the highway, etc and you could get less than 10 miles. If you mean with the ICE as well, I think the tank is like a half gallon larger than the hybrid version but the final drive ratio is a bit lower. With my Energi in hybrid mode I've seen about 57MPG with setting the cruise at 25mph and babying/playing around the hills. But on my trip home from the dealer in January with the cruise around 70mph it showed just over 27MPG. For some reason my Energi seems to be getting a bit lower MPG than other Energi's I've heard from.

I'd bet it's about the same as your hybrid if it starts with a full battery. Range all depends on how it's driven. Going up my hills I'm lucky if it's very far at all. Could maybe be a few miles if you babied it under great flat conditions.

Still not entirely sure I'm following you, but if I'm close to what you're saying, to my knowledge yes EV Later is strictly intended as switching to "hybrid mode" at a given set point of SOC. It will tell you when you select EV Later what the battery set point is. The only place where it's a bit different is that like you said it wants to leave room for regen so it won't hold a set point of more than 95%. If you have the car charged at 100% and you hit EV Later it will set it to 95% and you'll generally drive however many miles before the ICE starts up when the charge gets around 95% and how much power you're asking for. You can bring up the SOC on the leaf screen and see the charge level go up and down. It's usually only a few percent difference in either direction, but I think I saw it drop as much as 7% below the set point at one time up a good hill. And you can still see the battery charge and discharge with the usual arrows. It will still regen as much as you can though. If you're in hybrid mode it can regen back into EV mode and if you have it on EV Later and set to 0% you can regen back up to 100% if you have enough opportunity. That's also the only trick I know of getting the battery to recharge back up while driving. If you're starting at something like 5% and set EV Later you can drive either normally or learn the right accelerator position and the charge level will go up to like 6% then you click through the auto, ev and back to EV Later again and you now have the set point at 6%. It's a lot of messing around for debatably any benefit at all, but it's the only way I know of if you want to.

I agree with your first statement. "It will begin early regardless." Yes, if you don't have value charging set up then the Go times will have basically no effect on charging. It will simply start charging as soon as you plug it in and finish when it gets to 100%. You have to use Value charging to get any sort of delay and that still doesn't delay for more than a day. You seem to have entered a third opinion on EV+ and another one that goes directly against what Ford says it's supposed to do and everything that I've seen it do. Ford simply says that it is meant to help keep the ICE from running as you near a place you're going to stop at. That's all I've seen it do. If the other opinion I've heard is that it's mean to lower SOC, then I don't see why they didn't just program EV+ to simply aim for that magic 40% charge level. But it sounds like you don't agree with Ford or the other opinion of lowering SOC. I'm not following what you are thinking EV Later should do with the HVB? I'd bet it's about the same algorithm as the hybrid well... That's what it's supposed to do... It's purpose is to NOT use the HVB... If you want to use the HVB, you would go with either EV now or Auto mode...