Point taken.
I am appreciative of your performance data. However, if cells last for only two years, 25% is not a good deal. If they last for ten years, then it is a good deal. However, most people don't keep a car for 10 years..I keep mine for a minimum of 20. Just now getting ready to scrap my 86 S10 Blazer, which the 2006 FEH replaced for our winter car. My biggest disppointment with the FEH is that it is considerably more difficult to keep clean. I wash the undercarriage after every exposure and there are areas where road salt collects that are very hard to reach. Several points are prone to rust unless they are specially treated.
Ed

 

Just curious, how do you wash your undercarriage?

 

With a power washer hooked up to warm water.
The S10 had easy access from either side and I was able to clean accumulated salt from frame rails, spings, & fender wells as well as other places I had identified as salt collectors. The Escape is lower to the ground and I have to lay down to have access. This spring when I put it up on a rack, I found there were areas where I did not get all the salt cake off.
As most of you know the tailgate and pillars around the rear door, collect debris and are prone to rust out. In the fall, I coat these areas liberally with Zep 2000 Heavy Duty Clear Penetrating Grease. I also spray all the fuel and brake lines. I then spray inside the doors and tilit the vehicle front to rear and side to side with jacks...I know I am done when some of the product comes out of the drip holes at the bottom of the door. This product does not dry--it remains sticky on into spring. We do not keep it in a heated garage because that accelerates corrosion in any areas I might have missed. We also block the radiator and use the block heater and battery warmer for winter use. The result is 28-30mpg in winter. The Enginer has no appreciable effect in winter.
The S10 was retired, not for rust but because it only gets 17mpg and less in 4X4. This means I have a significant overall gain with the OEM FEH.
Ed

 

Oops..meant to say....With a syringe, I put new 30W oil inside doors, pillars for rear side doors, and the tailgate. After oil comes out the drip holes, I tilt the car to move the oil around the bottom edges.
I use the ZEP 2000 for brake & fuel lines and exposed areas of undercarriage.
Ed

 

Somebody that goes through all that, you must have flushed your brake fluid by now, correct?

 

Nope.

 

Folks ,,,, Did any one tried to use Deep Cycle AGM batteries in order to get extra miles , adding two AGMs (125 Amph each ) will give us around 3kwh - , and they weights less than 70Kg ,,, any technical information on this part would help me a lot on the installation which I'm going to do it myself ( no plug-in is required - the batteries should be charged from the vehicle directly like the normal batteries )

 

I'm not an engineer but I suspect the reason your plan won't work like you think it will is that the traction batteries on FEH are 300V on your 2009 (330V on earlier FEHs), while regular car batteries are 12V. I think you'll have to do a lot of engineering to get a reliable 300V power supply out of those 12V batteries.
Another factor is that the sealed lead-acid AGM batteries have different charging/discharging characteristics than the hybrid's traction batteries so you'd have to figure out how to get two different electrical systems to work simultaneously.
Of course golf carts have used 12v lead acid batteries for years, maybe you're thinking to convert a FEH into a BEV?

 

the kit they are referencing uses a convertor to boost to the required 330v.

My experience shows decent increase in fuel milage, 40 mpg. the bms worked for low voltage cutoff and the charger took care of high voltage.
The main issue was balancing the cells which wasn't adequately addressed and which I would do manually. My commute was 8 mile each way enough to warm up the vehicle and attain EV. Over 30 mph was not possible unless extremly light load then pehaps 35.
As for mounting, I never did that but one could access the nounting bolts on the factory battery and add straps if I recall.
I think the main issue in this application was the load placed on the batteries due to the weight of the car and the upconverting to 330v.
probably better suited to the prius.
I have since trade my escape and am driving a 2001 Honda Insight I picked up cheap with a bad battery I was able to rebalance. 50-60 mpg
albeit 1/10 the room of the escape, alas no dog room!

 

The $2000+ Enginer kit used an assembly of Li-on batteries, not 12V lead-acid AGM batteries boosted to 330V.
But I see now that Enginer's website no longer lists a FEH application anyway so the market for aftermarket FEH PHEV kits is probably dead. Guess we'll be enjoying the new Ford C-Max Energi or other new PHEVs like the Mitsubishi Outlander instead.