Cabin preconditioning not working

I just leased a 2013 Focus EV a month ago. When I enter a Go Time and desired cabin temperature, the fans come on but no heat. Just blows cold air. If I unplug the car from the charger I can heat the car. But, plug it back in and the heat stops. I have an appointment to take it in to the dealer this Saturday. Anybody else have this problem?

Is the car fully charged or not? In other words, is the car still trying to charge when you're expecting heat? Or, has it finished charging?

Are you using Level 1 (120V) or Level 2 (240V) charging?

I have no idea if these have anything to do with your problem... just trying to gather more specifics.

Wattsup - Fully charged overnight Level 1 charger (120) My Go time is set at 6:30 am and about 6 am the fans come on and blow cold air but no heat. Called Ford and Earl said take it in. It should be heating up. I have even heated the car while it was unplugged but when I plug it in, the heat gradually leaves and it just blows cold air. BTW, it has NEVER heated up while plugged in during the month I've had it.

Just to clarify... the car was fully charged by 6:30, or was it still actively charging?

Does anyone else get preconditioning heat while actively charging at Level 1?

The car will not effectively heat on Level I 120V charging. Unfortunate, but true. As soon as you unplug it, you'll feel the air heat right up.

sefs - So the cabin pre-conditioning only works with a level 2 (240) charge system? Interesting. Reminds me of owning a '66 VW Beetle. Virtually no heat even rolling down the highway! Anyway. I can't wait to hear what the dealership has to say. Thanks for your response.

I also noticed this issue recently as I'm still L1 charging at home -- would expect the car to be warmer than the garage but it's still cool inside the car.

This morning I used the keyfob (could also use MyFordMobile website/app) to "remote start" the car 10 minutes before I plan to leave, and it was much warmer inside. This likely consumes more energy than the L1 charger can supply, so will start discharging the battery a bit even though it's still plugged in.

rabar10 I will try remote starting the car as you suggest. However, I have tried actually sitting in the car and starting up with climate on and so long as it's plugged in I get little heat from the vents. That's what has me baffled. Why is the plugin PREVENTING heat from coming through? I can unplug the car and immediately get more warmth from the vents with exactly the same settings.

If checking with your hand, anything below skin temperature will feel cold. I just did a check with a temperature sensor and seem be be getting about a 10 degree temperature rise out of the vent; over an hour of preconditioning the cabin temperature went from 30 degrees to 50.

An hour of L1 heating isn't likely to let you hit target temperature if it is significantly cold outside, but it can take a little bit of the chill off. Actually, that's fine with me- it's better than firing up my ice-cold 'ICE' truck and not getting any heat at all for the first 5 minutes of my trip.

Scooter said:

Why is the plugin PREVENTING heat from coming through? I can unplug the car and immediately get more warmth from the vents with exactly the same settings.

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Most likely because turning the heater on would consume more power than the L1 can provide. At that point the car is probably still in a charge cycle and thus would want to continue charging. Turning on the heater would result in using all the power available on the plug plus some additional power from the battery.

When I turn on the heat, the consumption meter in the car shows a quick ramp up to 5kw. At 120v, that would be 41 amps...over twice the rated capacity of a typical 120 socket. It would be nice if there was some level of heat within the capacity of the socket to provide.

Gladestorm - Thank you for your reply. It seems that my expectations may simply be too high. Now I am wondering if running a Level 2 charger would make ANY difference. Like a car with a gas engine, it heats up faster and more profoundly when I am actually driving. I am just a little disappointed that Ford makes it sound as if you can actually preheat the cab to 70 degrees or more using the charger.

Scooter said:

Now I am wondering if running a Level 2 charger would make ANY difference.

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Yes it does: I precondition my car to 85F every weekday on my Level 2 charger. Even when its 0F out the car is toasty warm inside at the designated go time.

Thanks to all. I understand now. The fully charged battery can easily heat the car, but when the charger is plugged in, power defaults to the charger . Level 1 does not have enough juice to power the heater and the battery is bypassed because the plug is the default power source. The cab will become "warmer" but not what I expected...especially in single digit temps.

Anyone know what a 3.3kWh 240V 16AMP Level 2 will do in terms of cabin pre-heat ? Something like the Aerovironment TurboCord or Bosch Power Max 16A.

jdorff said:

Anyone know what a 3.3kWh 240V 16AMP Level 2 will do in terms of cabin pre-heat ? Something like the Aerovironment TurboCord or Bosch Power Max 16A.

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Should pre-heat your cabin just fine.

Btw, 16 amps at 240 volts is actually 3.840 kW, not 3.3 (watts = amps * volts). An EVSE that can provide 3.3 kW at 240 volts therefore need only operate at 13.75 amps, not 16.

Also, EVSE charge rate is measured in kW (kilowatts), not kWh (kilowatt-hours).

using a level 1 will not allow proper cabin warming, the little cord cannot supply the wattage needed to warm batteries move the fan and heat the air and illuminate outside lights letting you know it prewarming, the heater needs gobs of power. I had the same problem then I switched to a level 2 charger and it's a whole new world. The car heats up great charges so fast you then feel stupid thinking you would make do with a level 1 charger to save a few dollars. Get the highest amp charger you can because your next car will be able to use the additional amps leviton evse 40 amp is the highest I could find and I got it from amazon.