charges to 57 miles only

[Electric Paddle]

Just drove home my new FFE yesterday. Thanks to all you folks for helping me decide- thrilled.

Sure it's a minor thing but I'm charging with the 120VAC brick until I install stage 2, and the charge door lights go off when the capacity is at 57 miles. This happened by 10:00 PM last night and this morning there was no change. Power cord was not disconnected etc. Any comments or suggestions?

 

[aldo]

Check battery forum. This problem is fixed by Ford TSB 12-8-20. Call Ford and ask about this Technical Service Bulletin.

 

[Electric Paddle]

Thanks Aldo, it got a little better today- up to 62 miles before the light ring went dark. But not what's expected.

According to the dealer, I'll have to wait for the newyear to get a call back on this issue. Sure it'll get fixed but there's a struggle ahead I fear.

 

[danholl]

It would help to know what the temperature is in your part of the country

The problem could be the one fixed by the TSB but if you are in cold country with temp around freezing it may be that the car is predicting the mileage based on power needed to run heater.

Note the mileage shown is a "Budget" mileage. The car predicts the mileage based on temperature and prior driving style.

 

[Electric Paddle]

Interesting D, I assumed that those factors were removed after the car is started so that driving style and heater use shows up as minus-miles throughout the drive.

Still, since this car is new I've been squirting around in it having fun. Plus we live in the mountains- lots of 2-7 mile hill climbs. Finally it is winter and 32 this morning and I have been using heat to keep the windshield clear. Wonder if there's a way to display pure Wh remaining? This would help me figure out what's happening in reality.

 

[Electric Paddle]

Seems clear now. Hills and heater use is indeed factored into the range indication in the Focus. As it is, I was unprepared for the magnitude of the loss, but it will make little difference as I only need 50 miles daily, thank goodness. Edison is charging to just shy of 70 miles now that I'm driving more efficiently and using the defroster for short periods when needed.

Met a new Leaf owner at a local charge station. He was trying to travel 65 miles from Seattle to the nearby mountains for skiing and could not make it. His meter showed 80 miles range at the start of the trip in Seattle and <20 miles at Snoqualmie, about 40 miles away. Apparently the Leaf's meter does not have the same type of de-rating algorithm but has a similar wintertime range.

Thanks to those who helped me figure out this "minor nuance" of realistic use.

 

[mountaineer]

No, Electric Paddle, Leaf has a significantly WORSE wintertime range because its battery is air-cooled, not thermally managed. That's why I bought a 2013 FFE, not a 2012 or 2013 Leaf, for service at 7100-8000' in the Colorado Rockies. If you set up the left display as I've noted elsewhere in this forum, you'll be able to experiment with how the rather sophisticated range-prediction algorithm in the FFE takes account of Technique, Terrain, and Temperature. I can often gain 10-20 miles of predicted range, for example, just by setting the cabin temperature to 60 or (better) LO, which locks out the resistive cabin heater, rather than to say 70F.

 

[mountaineer]

Please excuse cross-posting, but readers of this thread may like to know the complete energy display setup for the left screen on a FFE, which I posted under "Real-Time Look at Accessory Loads" in the main forum on 2 Jan:

I just achieved the identical setup -- really nifty and informative for us geeks -- by using the left steering-wheel five-way switches to set Display Mode, MyView, Options (with both Budget Text and Gauge boxes checked), Change MyView, Accessory Power, OK, Budget + Av, OK. This will display probably all the real-time energy data you need to understand what you're using and how the range-predicting algorithm forecasts and interprets your three Ts—Technique, Terrain, and Temperature.

See also 0:24 in the Ford video https://owner.ford.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Owner/Page/OwnerVideoPage&year=2013&make=Ford&model=Focus%20Electric

I also find it useful to use Trip 1 and 2, both set to the Enhanced option.

 

[Electric Paddle]

Thanks Mountaineer! I'm sure I speak for many of us- we appreciate your sharing your tidbits. This weekend I configured the accessory power screen and am using the lo temp setting with fan speed 1 to keep the windscreen clear. I have yet to use the trip 1 and 2 option but I can tell kW from the MyFord app. You did us all a great service, Thanks!

Still a little, not disappointed, but confused about my dismal range so I did some more noodling...

First, I revisited the numbers I worked out before buying... 2013 sticker says fuel efficiency basis is 320 Wh/mi (actually 32 kWh/100mi) and range is 76 miles "when fully charged". 76mi x 320Wh/mi = 24.3 kWh. This rough analysis has lots of holes bit it does support passage of a BS test to an inexperienced shopper that the battery has in the neighborhood of 23 kWh usable capacity at a reasonable DoD for battery life, which was my assumption when I committed.

But now, thanks to folks here on the forum, we know that the battery accepts only 19.5 kWh and the DoD safety is off the rated capacity of the 23kW battery. That would mean that in order to achieve 78 miles range, our burn rate would need to average out to 250 Wh/mi. That's pretty Zen driving by my reckoning. Only time I've been able to beat that number is around town.

Realistically speaking: Today's driven distance was 58 miles. Add the 8 miles it said I had left and that makes 66 miles to shutdown. My average reported energy mileage was 270 Wh/mi, which is much better than my normal average of 320 Wh/mi. 270 Wh/mi x 66 mi is 17.8 kWh. ~-10% from the 19.5 number. Close enough for this kind of analysis.

So it seems that my terrain and temperature are the issues and my range isn't so dismal once one knows the facts.

BTW, a quick look at www.fueleconomy.gov and it seems that official range ratings come from a theoretical analysis of the motor, controller and battery. Not from a road test.

Put it all together and The bottom line is I need to get a charger installed at work if I ever want to take a side trip, and I need to invest in a pair of gloves and warm leggings. Summer doesn't come here until mid July.

BTW, I'm setting up the "training" session with the dealer and will try to get to the bottom of this range surprise thing with them. I'll let you know.

 

[Evocus]

Note the seat heater set to 5 uses less than 1 kW improves comfort immensely. I often use that and a light sweater with all other climate controls off. Keeping just over 250 Wh/mile I'm seeing ~70 every morning for range (my commute is 58 round trip daily).

 

[LJinLACA]

For what it's worth, I have been wondering about the useable battery capacity myself. I suspect there is a considerable amount left in reserve...

Normal one way commute is 40 miles. The other day I had a longer commute to avoid evening rush hour traffic - lots of uphill which the range really didn't like - for the first time I saw the message 'Battery Depleted - Pull over safely"... Exited the freeway, made a slight climb to hit a long downhill - went from a red -1 to +2. Made it to a public charger and put in enough juice to complete my trip.

Since that deep discharge, which is at about the 2000 mile range, the battery seems to be charging in less time, and yielding 78 miles on a 100% charged battery.

It's still a learning curb, however I do not miss the gas station one bit.

 

[jcjj]

Received 'Battery Depleted - Pull over Safely' message last weekend.

Fully charged FFE. Drove 34miles to my parents house (to show off the new FFE). Drove my dad and brother around the neighborhood approx 3miles. Charged on 110V for approx 2 hours. Battery showed 40miles range.

About 3 miles from home, received the 'Battery Depleted' message. Trip information showed 68 miles traveled and 18kWh used. This is minus the approx 2kWh gained from the 110V charging, so received the message with only about 16kWh used.

I kept driving and arrived home with the Battery still showing 0 miles. Trip was 71miles and 18.8kWh used.

Does anyone know if the Trip kWh used display includes any accessory usage?

Only had the radio playing and occasionally turned defrost on to clear windows.

Thanks,

 

[dmen]

Received 'Battery Depleted - Pull over Safely' message last weekend.

Fully charged FFE. Drove 34miles to my parents house (to show off the new FFE). Drove my dad and brother around the neighborhood approx 3miles. Charged on 110V for approx 2 hours. Battery showed 40miles range.

About 3 miles from home, received the 'Battery Depleted' message. Trip information showed 68 miles traveled and 18kWh used. This is minus the approx 2kWh gained from the 110V charging, so received the message with only about 16kWh used.

I kept driving and arrived home with the Battery still showing 0 miles. Trip was 71miles and 18.8kWh used.

Does anyone know if the Trip kWh used display includes any accessory usage?

Good to know you went 3 miles past 0! Was performance noticeably different?
I am pretty sure the trip kWh includes accessories. I don't think it goes backwards though- that is, if you have significant regeneration, it will make the battery capacity look bigger.
If it's very cold where you drove, that might have been the issue. On longer trips I've taken at temps under 30, it looks like cold weather keeps the battery from holding a full charge.

 

[jcjj]

dmen,

I live in Southern California and temps have been in the 60's during the day and 50's at night.
Performance was starting to drop off after the Range hit '0' miles. There is a short but steep hill close to home and I purposely stepped on it a little and the car did not "go" like it usually does.

Today I drove 60.8 miles and used 15.3kWh, which is fine, but it said I only had 3 miles of range left. Seems like I am only getting about 16kWh of usable battery range. Hopefully will get better as the car "breaks in" and as the temps warm up. Only have 350 miles on the car.

 

[dmen]

jcjj,

Your usable battery capacity is not okay. I've driven my 2013 FFE in temps between 0 and 50 degrees F, and haven't seen such low usable battery range even at the lower temps. I would contact Ford or ask the dealer to do so. Hopefully it would be something as simple as a software fix.

 

[jcjj]

Thanks dmen. I probably will talk to Ford to see if there might be an issue.

I have been driving pretty good, using only 250-260Wh/mi, so it would be nice to go 76+ miles on a charge.

 

[rcmager]

The same thing happened to me on the first drive home. The next day, on a full charge it said I had a range of 63, and the next 71 miles. It seems that as an initial estimate, until the car gets to know your driving style, it defaults to a low number and then revises up as it figures out how you drive.

 

[whitgallman]

I have had that TSB 12-08 done. Full charge came back to 78 miles. Now drifting downward again, but I attributed it to the cold weather.
I had a couple of 200 W-hr miles when going to my Dad's a 78 mile run. At his house it would recharge in about 1-1/2 to less than 2 hours. I would take back roads at 45 mph then draft an 18 wheeler on the interstate at 60 to 65 mph.
On the next charge I got 84 miles range.
you just can't use miles as a range. Just look at Watt Hours. Should be 23 kW-h with 3 in reserve. If with the heater on you use 350W-hr/mile, don't expect 60 miles range on your next charge.

9,500 Total miles
Whit