Battery Saver...

[LWeFocus]

Salutations all,

I found a 2012 Focus Electric with only 3600kms on it. I test drove it on Monday and picked it up this afternoon. The dealership fully charged it and on the way home, it showed 66kms to empty? I noticed that the heated seats were at 3, the AC and heater were both on. I turned off the climate control and the heated seats, the range to empty jumped to 94kms. I figured that because this was a display car the past 5 years that it showed lower than normal range because it was barely driven any distance.
It is now 7pm and the temperature has dropped to about 8 degrees celsius. The charge port shows half charge left and the display shows a tad over half battery left and a range of 74kms. I have driven a total of 41 kms worry free....

I hopped in the car and turned it on. I started to connect my phone and then adjusted the clock. All of a sudden the I hear this clicking sound coming from the hatch area. The headlights are clicking on and off rapidly. The Sync 3 screen is displaying "Battery Saver". The car will not drive, but I can move it from P to R to N to D to L and if I let off the brakes it will roll down my driveway. I quickly pulled the e-brake.

I plugged in the supplied 110v and the car is now charging. The charge port ring is lite up to the 3/4 mark illuminating on and off. The car knows that it has over 1/2 a charge left. But it will not drive. Please help. I just bought this vehicle and I have a bad feeling in my gut.

 

[jmueller065]

Check the voltage on the 12V battery it is likely low or discharged (you may need a new 12V battery). How long did the car sit on the dealer's lot?

Keep in mind that the distance to empty gauge is only based on your most recent driving (it is commonly referred to as the guess-o-meter). If you were to drive it at 30 km/h for a while you'd see the DTE gauge actually increase. As such don't expect to be able to do any math with it (e.g. it said 100 km this morning, I've driven 25 km there should be 75 km left--nope that will never work out).

 

[LWeFocus]

The owner of this Focus was Magna Int'l. It was bought and put on display at their Head Office for the past 4.5 years. The owner of the dealership is good friends with Frank Stronach(owner of Magna) and was asked if they wanted to sell this 2012 Focus Electric. The vehicle was only at the dealership for less than a week.
I read on another post in the battery section that the Battery Saver message is for the 12V. If that is indeed the case, I will get the 12V tested tomorrow. Sitting in an air conditioned office building for the past 4.5 years might have totally messed up the 12V. Who knows if they plugged the vehicle in overnight or taken the negative off the 12V.
I had the car plugged in for an hour with the supplied 110V cord. It fired up and the the SOC was close to 70%. I backed the vehicle into my garage. I am now continuing it's charge on 110V. The display reads 6 hours to full.
Thanks jmeuller for the quick response. I hope that a proper trickle charge of the 12V will solve my problems, or a new battery.

 

[campfamily]

Your car is now 5+ years old. If it still has the original 12V battery from new, then it's time to replace it. Since you bought at a dealership, I would ask them to cover the cost of replacement.

Keith

 

[Pearl]

Agreed. Just get a new 12V battery.

 

[LWeFocus]

thank you camp family and pearl. I tried to charge the battery and still faced the same yellow wrench and red triangle in the message centre. I am having the hardest time trying to locate a battery. Every auto parts store in Toronto wants to know the make, model, and year. They all come back as it is a special order battery and only 1 is made. I even offered to bring in the battery and have it sized to one in stock. I don't care that the one in stock is not meant for the Focus Electric. I just want a 12V battery.
Can one of you point me to a brand and model # that is equivalent to the one in the FFE. That would be greatly appreciated.

 

[EVA]

Technically there is only one for the FFE. And yes it is special. Some people have tried the ICE Focus battery. Others have tried the Optima - very expensive - replacement battery for the ICE Focus.

Just wander down to your dealership, they have them. They aren't that horribly expensive.

 

[LWeFocus]

EVA - I had the battery out and decided to head down to the local Costco and size match it. The ICE Focus battery is very close. All that is needed is to modify the metal bracket to adapt to the ICE battery top design. Hooked up the brand new battery. The car does the same things as with the old battery. Car is still a BRICK. I was going to tow it to the dealership on Friday, but they said the tech who knows about EVs was off till Monday. It would just sit there all weekend. Getting it towed first thing Monday.
Paid $16000 for it but I traded in a 2013 Focus SE hatch with only 48000kms that had nothing but Mobil 1 5w-30 since new. I have been wrenching on my and friends personal cars and I am dumb founded on this EV.
Anyone want a Tri-Platinum White, Leather interior Focus EV with just 3610kms. Willing to let it go for $16000, lols.(please no hate, I just never had a vehicle become a brick on the same day of delivery, with just 40kms driven)

 

[kalel14]

This may be why it only had 3600 km on the odometer. Ask to see the Ford service records.

 

[triangles]

96R fits which is I think what the regular focus uses. Although if I had just bought it the dealer would be towing it back to them and fixing it and or simply giving me my money back. Maybe you'll get lucky and the HVB is toast and you'll get a 33.5kWh replacement!

 

[Pearl]

thank you camp family and pearl. I tried to charge the battery and still faced the same yellow wrench and red triangle in the message centre. I am having the hardest time trying to locate a battery. Every auto parts store in Toronto wants to know the make, model, and year. They all come back as it is a special order battery and only 1 is made. I even offered to bring in the battery and have it sized to one in stock. I don't care that the one in stock is not meant for the Focus Electric. I just want a 12V battery.
Can one of you point me to a brand and model # that is equivalent to the one in the FFE. That would be greatly appreciated.

When I replaced mine a few months ago, my local Ford Dealer had it in stock, and they aren't even an EV certified dealer.

 

[davideos]

Ford is your best source if you need it quick. I tried to get an Interstate battery and no one had it...only special order. So rather than wait, I just bought Ford's battery. An interstate rep told me the battery isn't used very much...small in size and the terminals are reversed.

If you do buy Ford's battery, keep the receipt...a must have if you need to get it replaced under warranty. Fold it up and put it in your glove box. My service advisor told me that I'll "definitely need it."

 

[LWeFocus]

Thanks for all the positive posts guys. Since I have CAA, the tow was at no cost to me. Dealer has had it for a few days now. I called them to inform them that the car was hooked up and on the way. Since that last phone call, not a word from the dealership. I will let the dealership do their thing. But I have already started a timeline and documented everything so far. My lawyer is just a phone call away.

From my research on this forum, it could be the HVB. A new 33.5 KwH battery would be awesome. It could also be the HVB cable that was a recall. Another known problem is the wires that run under the passenger seat may have chaffed and arching has occurred. Causing the SSN and telling the computer to not allow energy to the drive motor.

When I did pull the 12v, there was a sticker that read 7/14. The original battery must have given up in late '14 or '15 and this battery was put in. I have the carproof report, and it has been in for servicing twice a year since new. There is only 1 outstanding recall, 13509 - reprogram the power control module.

 

[LWeFocus]

Not a real update, but I might as well post what is going on with my electric focus. The service tech said that they went thru every connector. He said that it is usually a bent/corroded/missing PIN connector, but they went thru all of them. The connectors, wires, harness are all in like new condition. The HVB, the BCM, the Motor when hooked up, all show a normal response. After logging 38-40hrs of shop time they are now stumped. My car has now sat at the service department since Oct. 25. Ford Canada has authorized an Engineer to come up from Michigan to figure out why the car will not allow power to the drive motor. I was told that a week ago. At least I am in an ICE focus loaner. Oh well, I just keep going to the gas station and filling up on $121.9 cents a litre :x

 

[triangles]

Thanks for the update. I'll put my wager on a bad inverter...

 

[LWeFocus]

The Ford service advisor called on Friday Dec. 8 and said that the Engineer called the dealership and is authorized to come up. Expect him in the next 2-4 days, he is coming from Detroit. After the Engineer hooked up his laptop and ran a full system running diagnostic, he determined that the DC to DC Inverter is operating out of sync. At the dealership level, when they did the point to point checks all the components were deemed operating. When you run all the components together, that is the only way that the out of sync comes up. Triangles, you nailed it. Since the Inverter is only made at one place in the States, they expect a new one to arrive in the next 2 weeks, putting my car in the Christmas/New Year holiday.
The service advisor called Dec. 28 and said that the new inverter is in and now they are in the process of getting my car road ready. Jan. 03 is the day I went to the dealership to pick up my car. We decided to give it a few extra days to fully charge the HV battery and run it low then charge it fully again and drive it till almost empty. After the car ran fine they charged it up a last time and I was there to pick it up after 5pm to insure a full charge for the drive home.
Since my vehicle had only 3600kms, the Inverter showed no abnormal wear/abuse/defect. The Engineer asked the service advisor to ship it back to them for analysis.
My first real drive to work, it had to be -23 degrees celsius in the morning. The guess o meter showed 98kms from full. I did 41kms mostly highway at 100-110kms/h with the front defrost on only to clear the fog/ice build up on the windshield. Only the driver's seat heated. No heat for the cabin. Pulled into work with 44kms remaining. I think that is pretty good. I am allowed to plug in at work. It only took 6.5 hours at 110v to bring the car back up to full. Next morning I drove home the same way, outside temp showed -25 degrees celsius and I had roughly 39kms remaining on the guess o meter.

 

[triangles]

Glad to see you're back on the road. Now if only my wager had won me the lotto... :lol: