Didnt catch this before but you said the temperature where you are is 0-40F? That's rather cold. How cold was it this morning when you stopped at the dealership? I'm in So.Cal. so I dont have any experience with colder than 45F, but those who do, can you comment on ICE staying on even after 15min of driving? I wonder if ICE not shutting down is normal since the outside air is so cold where you are.

I've seem to remember glossing over posts here on GH that discuss ICE and temperatures where it wont/will shut down.

 

One other thing...this may be too obvious....but if you have your defroster on, then the ICE will never shut off. Likewise for "MAX AC". But since you're in cold weather, check your defroster.

 

You state that you're in under 40 degree weather. If I may:

First, I assume you mean 19-20 MPG not MPH, which is still quite low.

You don't have the Nav system, and you're in cold weather. Depending on how cold the battery is, you may have limited recharge due to being in SOC II, which is cold battery. In that state, you're not going to be able to give much charge to or get much power from the HV Battery, due to it being cold, not the engine. This takes far longer to warm up than the ICE. In that situation, you'll find that L gear is pretty much useless, as it keeps causing the ICE to come on due to it being unable to accept as much charge as slowing with L gear generates, which in turn makes the ICE spin to bleed off that now excess charge. In fact, it can take up to half an hour or more to get the battery warmed to "standard" mode, depending on just how cold it is.

In SOC II, you won't get much assist from the battery when the battery is cold. (You'll note that in the Winter that the start up from a light will nearly always cause the ICE to come on, rather than being able to EV up to 10 MPH or so as during the warmer months.) The erratic RPM doesn't make sense unless you're in L trying to recharge, in which case it would look erratic, as the battery keeps refusing the charge due to it being cold, and dumping the rest into the engine in bursts.

Again, normal in the SOC II mode if you're in L going down a steep hill.

This is odd. Is this after several minutes of idle off? If that's the case, then it's that the ICE components have gotten cold and the ICE is on to rewarm them to keep both modes at optimum, and to prevent damage.

This may be a redundant question, but are you sure you're not using a Red? (Defroster perhaps)


Outside of the last "symptom", especially if you've been storing your FEH outside in 0-40 degree temps, it doesn't seem that odd really. I park in a garage, and week before last, had to drive in 17 degree weather after days of non-use. It took about 10 minutes to be able to go ICE off, but about 25 minutes before I could use L gear without forcing the ICE on, and to be able to really use the HV Battery.

 

I live in a very cold winter climate. Below 20'F my FEH does idle at about 1350 to 1600 RPM, at stoplights, or yes, even in park.

A few times, down at about -15'F my FEH was at 2000 RPM when stopped at a stoplight. I called FORD about this behavior last winter, and their reply was "this is not part of the design intent". However, since I ONLY see this in very, very cold conditions, and it does not do it at all in temps above about 20'F, I do not consider any repair necessary, or even possible... and feel the shop might mess up something else trying to "fix" something that isn't broken!

You do not get much regen when the battery is below freezing. You car sounds just like mine when in about 20 degress or less. I doubt there is anything wrong.
-John

 

The dealer mechanics consulting with Ford Factory Techs performed complete multipoint diagnostics several times at my insistance and found everything working properly. They concluded the battery was going through a conditioning cycle. Looks like the behavior I was experiencing was a combination of the conditioning and the cold weather.
This was a good learning experience for the dealership as well as me. The mechanics have received extensive training but not had vary many real world hands on experiences.
The session with the dealership also gave me assurance that I will be able to obtain quality service for this new technology, should the next problem be REAL.
I thank all who offered input.

 

Ford has a patent that discribes disabling most of the regeneration aspects if the OAT is hovering around or below freezing. Don't know if this applies to you Ford but maybe...