The Engineering Dream

[CarlPace]

After about twelve years of working in "the arts," I'm putting myself back through school for an Electrical Engineering degree. I absolutely love this stuff and have to admit that this forum is a total dreamscape.

I'm only about 6 weeks into my return to academia (wow retaining information is harder than it was when I was younger), so I haven't had the pleasure of taking any actual EE classes. Suffice it to say, my knowledge is wildly limited. I understand basic circuit components, different battery chemistries, and can do the C++ equivalent to singing my ABCs and counting to 10.

I don't plan to lay hands on my HVB for quite some time since I'm under-qualified and prefer life to death, but I'd love to one day pull off some of the mods I'm seeing here. Extended range, specifically.

In the meantime, what kind of courses should I take in school to make the most of my recently purchased 2014 FFE?

 

[Anti_Climax]

:roll: I feel like the most useful stuff isn't actually going to be in EE course work.

Most of the powerful stuff is going to be through CANBus, so a familiarity with an embedded platform will get you started, but operationally a lot of it is undocumented and bespoke.

EDIT: to be clear, I mean a lot of the CANBus stuff is undocumented and bespoke.

 

[Heima]

Well, lets see.
You could download the service manual I linked to. It has some theory of operation type stuff in it. https://www.myfocuselectric.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=33336
Ford has a course for technicians to learn about the FFE, I believe that is about $90. https://www.motorcraftservice.com/Purchase/ViewTraining?productID=1051
There is also a document about the electric and hybrid systems in ford vehicles at that same site for free, I believe. http://www.fordservicecontent.com/ford_content/catalog/motorcraft/OBDSM1901_HEV.pdf
There are 3 papers floating around this site, thermal management, braking, and I forgot the other.
The technology used in the FFE is also in other electric cars and hybrids, so any books about how they work.
The FFE was actually designed by Magna Steyr through their E-Car project. They then worked with Ford to make a mass-production vehicle.
So research into the origins of the E-Car should provide you info about the FFE.
There are some great educational teardown videos of hybrid and electric vehicles on the Weber Auto channel at youtube. https://www.youtube.com/c/WeberAuto
Good Luck