Heatwave PHEV Lesson

[Astro_Guy]

The ambient temperature has reached 100 degrees F here in SE PA the past two days. These have been the highest temperatures I've seen since purchasing a 2017 Ford C-Max Energi. The affects of running this vehicle in low temperatures with the heat on were learned almost immediately. These past two days have taught me what happens at the opposite extreme. On both days the ICE started even though the battery had enough charge to get me where I wanted to go. The infotainment system showed the motive power split to be 1/3 ICE and 2/3 EV. An educated guess would be that some sort of thermal protection algorithm kicked in and was attempting to protect the EV battery and driveline components.

That's my theory, but perhaps some of you true EV drivers could chime in and tell me what if anything happens with your vehicles when it is extremely hot outside. Is performance curtailed in any way? Is there active cooling that my PHEV lacks? Thanks in advance.

 

[dogememe]

When I drove my 2015 Volt to LA and back (in one day) it was over 100mph most of the day.

Nothing unusual but when we stopped for gas and at our destination I left the car on. The cooling system was running full blast the entire time, but nothing else worth noting.

I’ve had various full EVs since then and the only thing I’ve ever noticed was the fans running even with the vehicle off.

If I could I’d attach a video I took of my Bolt sitting in my driveway sounding like an airplane ready to lift off but it didn’t seem to care otherwise. Sounds bad but no issues. Range wasn’t even really negatively affected.

The Prologue liked to run the fans for a while even after finishing charging on longer DC fast charging sessions.

Now we have the Tesla and the Equinox EV. We shall see how they behave in the heat but I have no concerns.

 

[Astro_Guy]

Thanks. I did note the cooling fan for the battery running when I got home earlier at 99F ambient and zero miles of EV range remaining. I consider this to be my "EV Bootcamp" vehicle that allows me to explore the EV world without range anxiety.

 

[GrumpyCat]

A Tesla in a hot parking lot will run it's cooling pumps and fans. I don't know how much that drains from the battery.

 

[fdcg27]

Does the C-Max have an electric AC compressor or a belt driven one?
I know that my HAH (electric compressor) will run the AC for some time in EV mode, but there is more engine run in low speed operation than would typically be the case to provide the amps to make up for more AC use. Fuel economy thus suffers.

 

[ammolab]

A Tesla in a hot parking lot will run it's cooling pumps and fans. I don't know how much that drains from the battery.

Well….95% of them are BLACK! I don’t blame them one bit!

 

[earlyre]

Does the C-Max have an electric AC compressor or a belt driven one?
I know that my HAH (electric compressor) will run the AC for some time in EV mode, but there is more engine run in low speed operation than would typically be the case to provide the amps to make up for more AC use. Fuel economy thus suffers.

it's all electric... there are no belts, at all. ( meaning electric PS, electric AC. no Alternator, one of the electric motors in the trans doubles as a generator.)
also, no pumps, etc for liquid cooling of the battery. the battery is air cooled. fan inside the cargo area pulls cabin air through/around the pack, and back into the cabin.
same system in the Cmax, Fusion hybrid, (old)escape hybrid. not sure if the batteries are liquid cooled on the 2020+ escapes/mavericks/etc.

 

[earlyre]

Is there active cooling that my PHEV lacks? Thanks in advance.

yes. many other makes have Liquid cooling for their batteries. This Gen of Ford hybrid uses Air cooling for the HV pack.

 

[Torrid]

A Tesla in a hot parking lot will run it's cooling pumps and fans. I don't know how much that drains from the battery.

It shouldn't. None of the three I've owned have done it. Now if heat protection is on, it should be shut off. There's no reason to use it.

Well….95% of them are BLACK! I don’t blame them one bit!

Again, this should not be happening on it's own. I've never seen it and I've owned 3 now.

 

[GrumpyCat]

It shouldn't. None of the three I've owned have done it. Now if heat protection is on, it should be shut off. There's no reason to use it.


Again, this should not be happening on it's own. I've never seen it and I've owned 3 now.

My Model S 85 did it. Not talking about Cabin Heat Protection, that is something else.

In a hot environment a Tesla will act to protect it's battery until the battery is depleted to 20%, then it will give up and hope for the best.

 

[Torrid]

My Model S 85 did it. Not talking about Cabin Heat Protection, that is something else.

In a hot environment a Tesla will act to protect it's battery until the battery is depleted to 20%, then it will give up and hope for the best.

It should not do this. Maybe the older cars did this at one point. I've never experienced this once and I've owned at least one Tesla for the last 3 years. The only time I've ever heard the cars do anything while not being occupied or driven is when plugged in.

 

[Astro_Guy]

I learned almost from the get go to run the car in ICE mode when the ambient temperature fell below freezing. Now it seems that I should just do the same if the ambient teperature exceeds 96 degrees. It's all good - lesson learned.

 

[GrumpyCat]

It should not do this. Maybe the older cars did this at one point. I've never experienced this once and I've owned at least one Tesla for the last 3 years. The only time I've ever heard the cars do anything while not being occupied or driven is when plugged in.

Why should it not?

Just because you haven't happened across a Tesla cooling it's battery doesn't mean they don't do it.

 

[Torrid]

Why should it not?

Just because you haven't happened across a Tesla cooling it's battery doesn't mean they don't do it.

All it does is waste power. I mean I've lived with them in every possible condition and it should not be happening. It's also why I also recommend shutting off temperature protection. That doesn't stay active continuously anyway and when the car goes to sleep, nothing happens. Again maybe Teslas used to do this, but this is not common with the new cars. Everyone that parked an airport would come back to a dead car in a week. I have heard of early cars having that exact thing happen, but that likely is because Tesla's battery management has completely changed.

For that matter if you walk past a Tesla making noise in a parking lot it's much more likely someone turned the climate control on in their car to get in their vehicle soon or they never disabled temperature protection, which all it does is keep the interior to 95F-105F depending on setting. That system is not for the battery anyway, it's for the cabin.

 

[GrumpyCat]

All it does is waste power. I mean I've lived with them in every possible condition and it should not be happening.

Is good to know that you know everything.

"All it does is waste power." Hmm, so you are saying cooking a lithium battery does no harm? Trade a bit of replaceable power for irreplaceable heat damage to the battery? Good to know we should sacrifice the battery because kWh is more precious!

For that matter if you walk past a Tesla making noise in a parking lot it's much more likely someone turned the climate control on in their car to get in their vehicle soon or they never disabled temperature protection, which all it does is keep the interior to 95F-105F depending on setting. That system is not for the battery anyway, it's for the cabin.

Walked past mine doing it with cabin heat protection off. How hard is it to unlearn something you "know must not be occurring" because you have never witnessed it yourself?

 

[Torrid]

Is good to know that you know everything.

"All it does is waste power." Hmm, so you are saying cooking a lithium battery does no harm? Trade a bit of replaceable power for irreplaceable heat damage to the battery? Good to know we should sacrifice the battery because kWh is more precious!


Walked past mine doing it with cabin heat protection off. How hard is it to unlearn something you "know must not be occurring" because you have never witnessed it yourself?

There's no source of direct sunlight that is going to heat the battery more than extreme driving. Now if you park the car after absolutely beating the tar out of it for extended time, of course the system will run until the battery cools. Most ICE cars will do the same too. I'm not sure why you'd think a sitting battery needs cooled when the car wants 120F+ when Supercharging. We'd be hearing Teslas all over the place with cooling fans running when randomly parked. I've never seen it.

I'd double check your settings if you're having this issue.

 

[michaelluscher]

It's been 100°+ here for the past 3 days
I can't comment on PHEV, I've only got full EV experience

8 hours of bumper to bumper traffic + idling parked in my Mach E, there's significantly more full speed fan operation than normal
It's louder than the '22 Bolt I had before, by a noticable margin
Also, when I plugged it in for the afternoon, cooling fans ran for ~5 minutes at the beginning of (L2) charging, then turned off

Battery equivalent of heat soak?
No noticable performance degradation, and the A/C kept up in slow moving traffic with the sun shining through the un-tinted glass onto the black ActiveX seats
It took it like a champ, I must say
Which is good because I don't do heat well
109° on blacktop next to the runway at JFK in long pants/long sleeves

 

[Brons2]

When I drove my 2015 Volt to LA and back (in one day) it was over 100mph most of the day.

How is that possible with the traffic on I-5?

 

[dogememe]

How is that possible with the traffic on I-5?

Sorry I meant 100 degrees. Although yes quite a bit of the day may or may not theoretically have been with the “speed limited to 101mph” displayed on the dash. We timed it pretty well!

 

[Ws6]

The ambient temperature has reached 100 degrees F here in SE PA the past two days. These have been the highest temperatures I've seen since purchasing a 2017 Ford C-Max Energi. The affects of running this vehicle in low temperatures with the heat on were learned almost immediately. These past two days have taught me what happens at the opposite extreme. On both days the ICE started even though the battery had enough charge to get me where I wanted to go. The infotainment system showed the motive power split to be 1/3 ICE and 2/3 EV. An educated guess would be that some sort of thermal protection algorithm kicked in and was attempting to protect the EV battery and driveline components.

That's my theory, but perhaps some of you true EV drivers could chime in and tell me what if anything happens with your vehicles when it is extremely hot outside. Is performance curtailed in any way? Is there active cooling that my PHEV lacks? Thanks in advance.

100f Ambient my ev6 GT just cools the battery. Range is maybe a few tenths of a mile per kwh less. Power is fine. Its really a non-event that I would never notice if I didnt pull up the power dist. data.