Battery hovering in the 50's and big fluctuations.

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JimS

New member
Joined
Mar 11, 2015
Messages
4
Hi all. Thanks for what you have posted. Very helpful.
3 weeks ago I leased the new Focus EV. I think I got it first because of all the teckie stuff it has and second because it is EV :)
The battery estimate is puzzling me. When I bought it it barely had 20 miles on it and since I got it at night the dealer didn't have time to charge it. I made it home with about 3 miles left... Not a good feeling for the first ride...
Charged it all night on 110V and got about 40+ in the morning. My drive to work is 5 miles surface street driving. I live in San Diego so no heater and no A/C. Charged it the next night and got 100% charged at about 72 in the morning. That is the only time I have seen 70 or more miles. For the next 2 weeks I was using it about 6-10 miles a day, charging it at all night and getting around the mid 50's in the morning and saying 100% charged.
Last Saturday I did a 20+miles trip that was mostly highway. Driving there I was conservative and slow and reached destination with +8 miles. On the return I gunned it (over 70 most of the way) and reached home with (-) a lot (don't remember). Charged all night and in the morning it indicated 100% charged 64 miles. Forst time I see 60's since first charge. This week it is hovering between high 50's and low 60's.
I'm surprised to read other posts talking about 70+ miles as normal when I only saw 70 upon the first charge. is there something wrong with my battery or since it is new, it doesn't have enough data points so small numbers can skew the total a lot? I am also seeing swings at 100% charge of over 10 miles between the day and next.
Thoughts?
Maybe I can keep it to play with the gadgets and juice my computers and tablets :)
 
What is your average Wh/mi?

This measurement has the single biggest effect on the range estimate.

You can use the Trip view (in the left-hand dash display) to find out what your average Wh/mi is.

My average is about 245 Wh/mi. My typical fully charged range estimate is anywhere from 75 to 85 miles.
 
Jim - the super simple answer is that number of miles is called the Guess O Meter. The number changes based on the type of driving you do. It is very sensitive and can swing a lot if you drive the car differently.

Short trips are a bear on the GOM.

WattsUp is asking you about a number that will stay more constant and will help you figure out how far you can drive.

The single big thing you can do to extend range is with the brake coach. Hit 100% every time and you will do much better with range. That coach will help you drive more smoothly, you'll tend to accelerate less aggressively.

Think you got it around using AC or heater. The heater is the biggest use of energy. AC comes in second. And by the way, high energy use starts to kick in when the outside temperature gets below 45 degrees.
 
First, thank you for the quick responses and very informative comments.

My averaged usage is 367 Wh/mi. About 50% higher than WhattsUp.
I guess I suck driving an electric car and it shows with fully charged Guess-O-Meter tells me I have 53 miles to go.
Moving from driving an H3 Hummer for 10 years to a Focus has a learning curve I have to go through. Not having to fill the 20 gal tank for $75 each time feels great.
Thanks for the info. I will focus on this number.

WOW EVA! 100% braking? I have never seen anything higher than a seldom 80%.
What is the "coach" you mention for the brake? My Hummer driving habits are the only things coaching me at this time. I could not figure what makes the brake more efficient. I tried pushing harder and less but can't see a difference.

45 degrees in San Diego is below freezing point for us and we all stay home :)

Thank you
Jim

--------
2015 Focus Magnetic
 
JimS said:
WOW EVA! 100% braking? I have never seen anything higher than a seldom 80%.
The brake coach is what is showing you the % score for braking.

Start braking much earlier and gentler...that is how you get 100% scores (and when accelerating take it easy...fewer jack rabbit starts--It is fun going fast but that is the killer).
 
Yep you just need to work on more efficient driving.
I'm in San Diego county too and leased my FFE 5 months ago and it took me a month or two to get the Wh/mile down well under 300 and now I'm averaging about 270 or less with typical GOM ranges when full at 75-78miles.
Thats combination of local street driving with careful slow braking and acceleration plus some freeway driving and try to keep freeway speed with cruise control to 65mph or less, except on downhill grades I go up to 75mph then.
You get a lower Wh/m going downhill vs uphill too. My house is at the top of a hill, so leaving the house I get a bit lower numbers than on the way back home.

Just takes a few weeks of practice and learning the efficient driving/braking techniques for the FFE - monitor the Wh/mile reading on the trip meter while driving to get feedback on how you are doing. The key is gentle acceleration and longer gentle braking.
 
Going from a Hummer to an FFE - yeah that's not complicated! (of course it is hugely complicated, you have some deep habits to change)

Exactly like others have said, you're leaving your braking for way too late, pressing the brake pedal too hard. Think smooth. Think be nice to your passengers (even if it is only you). Don't jostle everybody around leaning in to braking. 100% is your goal. Every single time.
 
I've also noticed that some people can have a very "binary" style of using the accelerator. They may not realize they are doing it, but they are either pressing the accelerator or they aren't, as it is simply an on/off switch, so the car is either accelerating or decelerating, all the time. If this happens to be your habit, try to get rid of it. Not only is it an annoying way to drive ;) it is completely non-conducive to efficient energy usage in an EV. (Or a gasoline powered car for that matter.)

Related, don't be a "two-footed" driver. It is bad enough driving with one foot on the brake and one on the accelerator in a gasoline car, but it makes absolutely no sense in an EV (especially the FFE). Again, if this is your habit, try very hard to change it. Use one foot only, and press either the brake or the accelerator (or neither) as needed.

The most efficient way to drive an EV is to keep a very steady energy usage. This means maintaining a constant velocity whenever possible. If you can't do this by foot, then try using the cruise control, even on city streets.

I use cruise constantly, even when traveling at 45 mph between lights. Luckily, the cruise on the FFE is very easy to use... the left-hand paddle on the steering wheel cancels and resumes the set speed. (Actually, now that I think about it, it's one of the nicest cruise controls I've used in a car.)
 
Wow, you wen't from an H3 to an Ford Focus? You could have put the FFE in the back of the Hummer and used it as a shuttle craft. :lol:
 
Steve0512 said:
Wow, you wen't from an H3 to an Ford Focus? You could have put the FFE in the back of the Hummer and used it as a shuttle craft. :lol:
I was going to mention that too.

JimS, what prompted you to make such a drastic transition?
 
At least JimS is not transitioning from a H2. To get the most out of any electric vehicle you will need to change your driving habits. Sometimes this does not come easy. You have to be alert to driving conditions. Be aware of traffic flow around you and that is up to 1000 feet ahead. So you can gradually adjust your speed according to traffic flow. To get idea of how hard you can brake, place the gear shifter in the L position and take your foot off the accelerator. At braking forces of less than this level you will give you 100% brake score. Any levels above this could start reducing your brake score.
 
Thank you all for your help. What you advised works. Today was a test day and for the first time my braking efficiency was mostly above 95% from mid 70’s. Simply treat it gently just like your life partner would like to be treated. Smooth operator :)

I also saw major improvement in consumption by driving slower, no rabbit jumping and steady as advised. My morning drive of 5 miles had +4 so I assume I used 1 mile worth of electricity. I’m not promising I will do that always but will try. I’m a very fast driver and the FFE style of driving is against every grain in me…

You would think Ford would have included something like your advise in their 1000 page book so as not every new owner has to reinvent the wheel.

I don’t use the two-foot driving except when I’m offroading which I learnt at the Hummer training school. No problem there and no plans to take the FFE offroading :)

Good question about why I moved from my 2006 Hummer to a FFE. I actually didn’t move. I still have my Hummer and got my FFE to save my Hummer. I love my Hummer so much but it has 130K now which means many repairs soon if I keep using it as my only car. I love technology and the gas engine has nothing to be excited about. I read about the new FFE during the Las Vegas CES show in January and got excited about it. I’m not putting the FFE in the back of the Hummer but the Hummer still gets the warm garage and the brand new FFE sits outside :)

Thanks jeffand. This will be my next test.

Thanks all.
 
JimS said:
My morning drive of 5 miles had +4 so I assume I used 1 mile worth of electricity.
No, this is a common misconception of new FFE owners.

The "status number" is simply the difference between (a) the initial range estimate when you turned the car on (and which counts down in actual miles driven), and (b) the range estimate as you drive (which is constantly being re-estimated based on your driving style).

The status number is literally the result of subtracting these two values, or b - a. You can think of the status number as indicating whether your energy usage is over or under budget -- the "budget" being the initial range estimate. You'll note that the car, in fact, labels this initial estimate "the budget", and that the budget and the status always reset when you turn the car on (i.e., you always start with a status of 0).

For example, if the range estimate initially budgeted by the car (and adjusted by actual miles driven since being turned on) stands at 50 miles, but the car is currently estimating (based on the latest energy usage) that you could actually drive 54 miles, then the status number will be +4. Or, if the current estimate were 48 miles, then the status would be -2.

So...

Turn the car on, and start driving much more conservatively than last time, and your status will go up, and possibly become positive (i.e., you will be driving under-budget, using less energy per mile than the car expected you to, so it rewards you with a higher range estimate). Or, turn the car on, and start driving much more aggressively than last time, and your status will go down and possibly become negative (i.e., you will be driving over-budget, using more energy per mile than the car expected you to).

That is all the status number means. A positive or negative status does not mean that you have more or less energy in your battery. Rather, it is simply a reflection of how you are using that energy, and is based only on the current range estimate in relation to the originally budgeted estimate. So, the status number is "not real" -- it is just a "version" of the estimate, if you will -- and can easily fluctuate as you drive.

So, if you drove 5 miles and your ending status was +4, it just means that car is estimating that you can drive 4 more miles (based on your most recent energy consumption) that it thought when you turned it on. It really has nothing to do with the fact that you drove 5 miles, and does not imply that you used "only 1 mile of electricity". (Btw, there is no such thing as "a mile of electricity" -- electricity is measured in watt-hours, not miles. And the amount of electricity used per mile can vary wildly with your driving style. That's why I asked you what your average watt-hours per mile (Wh/mi) was.)

Lastly, from all this follows that... if your status number is 0, it simply means you are driving exactly how the car predicted you would. You would be perfectly on-budget.
 
A couple of observations. First, consumption and the Guess O Meter is very sensitive to changes in altitude. Although my home and office are both on on close to level terrain, I'm pretty sure my office must be 40 or 50 feet higher because my energy consumption per mile is significantly higher going to work (like 260wh/mi verses 225wh/mi). Lower consumption on the homeward leg leads to the GOM being more optimistic for the following morning's commute! If you plan to return home before charging then the altitude differences cancel out but the GOM doesn't know that.

The other observation concerns heating and cooling. If you set the controls to clear mist on the inside of the windshield it is very effective, but it takes much additional energy. I presume it runs both the heater and the A/C compressor simultaneously. Fortunately, it only takes a minute or two to clear the windshield but you have to remember to turn off promptly or your range numbers will really suffer. This contrasts significantly with an ICE vehicle where the heat is free and the A/C cost is pretty much a rounding error.

I discovered that one of the car's software bugs is that it tends to turn on the A/C without being asked. Worse than that, on occasion it turns it on but indicates that A/C is off! This can easily be corrected by pushing the A/C button twice. You can tell that you turned off the compressor because the range delta goes up immediately (like -4 to +1).

I have given up using the automatic temperature controls. One very hot day last summer I got in and ran the A/C on "low" with high fan. After a few miles I thought I would moderate the cooling by setting the temperature to 78. The car immediately turned on the heater!

Despite all this, I still much prefer the FFE to my BMW 5-series.
 
JimS - you know what you're going to find out about that smoother driving? And this will totally blow your mind. You will arrive at your destination at almost exactly the same time. You might save a minute driving faster - but it won't be much.

The other side effect - you'll feel much better and relaxed driving. Stuff on the road won't piss you off nearly as much as it used to.

Oddly, slow down to get there at almost the same time.

Today I had a 9AM breakfast, I was 30 minutes away with a 70MPH highway for most of the distance. GPS said, arrival at 8:54. I started driving at 73, decided I needed to conserve a little energy - just wanted a bigger buffer. So I found a truck and drafted it at 62 MPH - it was a good excuse to not be in the way on the highway. For about half the highway distance. I pulled into the parking lot at 8:55. And I still had to wait for the person I was meeting - he was 10 minutes late.

Even trying to drive slowly, I couldn't lose enough time.
 
lowCo2 said:
A couple of observations. First, consumption and the Guess O Meter is very sensitive to changes in altitude. Although my home and office are both on on close to level terrain, I'm pretty sure my office must be 40 or 50 feet higher because my energy consumption per mile is significantly higher going to work (like 260wh/mi verses 225wh/mi). Lower consumption on the homeward leg leads to the GOM being more optimistic for the following morning's commute! If you plan to return home before charging then the altitude differences cancel out but the GOM doesn't know that.
A side note: you can view your current elevation on the MFT screen. Press and hold the fast-forward & eject buttons simultaneously until the car enters diagnostic mode. Then go under APIM diagnostics and you can view your current GPS coordinates and elevation. Older versions of MFT would display the elevation on the MFT screen when you go to "Where am I?" but Ford has been removing this from the cars. For cars with navigation (all Focus Electrics) elevation is not visible outside of diagnostic mode once you upgrade to 3.6. For cars without navigation the elevation data is still shown on the "Where am I screen?" in 3.6, but this has been removed in Sync 3.7.
 
Driving smoothly takes practice not because it's hard, but because your brain was trained for 10-20-30 years of driving an ICE with a certain response that is very different than an electric motor.

Also the GOM is not nearly accurate in the beginning of own the car because it hasn't figured you out. Wh/mi is critical and with few miles on the car there is no baseline to work with.IE the fluctuations. It will settle down once you get some miles on under your belt.

Driving style has the most to do with it. use cruise control as often as possible. My Brother drives a Zoe and he and his wife have consistently different range achievements just due to driving style. My brother drove my FFE last summer, on a trip I normally drive and deplete 9 miles of range, he actually gained mileage. Don't ask me how but he's super efficient and it drove me and his wife nuts.

Going with the flow sometime works with you or against. Ironically you usually get there in about the same time, as mentioned before.
H
 
hybridbear said:
A side note: you can view your current elevation on the MFT screen. Press and hold the fast-forward & eject buttons simultaneously until the car enters diagnostic mode.
Whoa... what else does this "diagnostics mode" do? I assume it is only diagnostics just for MFT? (which includes the GPS)
 
WattsUp said:
hybridbear said:
A side note: you can view your current elevation on the MFT screen. Press and hold the fast-forward & eject buttons simultaneously until the car enters diagnostic mode.
Whoa... what else does this "diagnostics mode" do? I assume it is only diagnostics just for MFT? (which includes the GPS)
I haven't explored it much. But it has many functions. It appears to all be MFT-related.

It may help with the MFM grid issue because you can see GPS information and # of satellites that the car is able to connect to.
 
Update

Everybody that answered my initial post is correct. Bunch of geniuses :)

In driving as coached by you guys in 4 days only I increased my GOM from about 52 miles to 72 miles for a full charge. Braking efficiency went from low 80's to high 90's and up to 100%. Thank you. That says there is hope for me. Do I like this driving? HECK NO! I'm not used to being passed by cars but it is the correct way and I can get back to my old habits when I drive the Hummer.

Do you all use 220V charging? I'm using 110V and I'm not finding a reason to put a thousand dollars to get a 220V. Also, am I right to think that slow 110V is better for the batteries?
 
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