I was asked (I agreed to) by a well known poster to investigate via my Scangauge II if using the engine block heater would provide a trickle charge (via codes on the Scangauge II) for the HV battery. I did do this today. I do not know the results as there was a variety of code numbers over the two hour time frame I had my engine block heater plugged in.

On my own I found this link:

http://www.eaa-phev.org/wiki/Escape_PHEV_TechInfo

that suggests this is possible. If you print out this link, the specific information is on the top of page 5. I am not mechanically trained so I can't add much to any discussion that may follow.

However this well known poster did ask me if I had the hybrid/navigational display (I don't) and wanted to see if the HV SOC would change (on the display) with the engine block heater plugged in. If you have the combination of engine block heater and hybrid/navigational display unit, please report on your findings. This might become an interesting development.

 

Could you just post what your readings were while the heater was plugged in? My guess is that John had you send 22496E or possibly 22490B and report back the readings. I have tried this but the current is too low to get a reliable reading, and the voltage needs to be less than 300V or so to see anything at all. My guess is that the current is on the order of 100mA or less. I was able to confirm that the jump start does not charge the battery at all, and does not increase the SoC. But then again, it's never very cold where I live, so it may do something in cold temps.

 

Carl, we will let John report back on my data. If for some reason, there is no report within three days, I will repeat the report here. I'm clueless on what the data means.

 

If I am getting this correct, the engine block heater has an additional feature in that it will also trickle charge the 12v battery in an attempt to keep it warm and ready. The thought is to enable the "emergency" 12v to HV battery DC-DC converter (the red button behind the driver's kick panel), to divert this trickle charge to the HV battery instead of the 12v battery. Thus, after enough time, the HV will be fully charged by house AC, if it wasn't fully charged already.

If that it?

 

I believe the hybrid batteries are NiMH, correct? If thats the case, the batteries function better if above 50-70 degrees. Adding heat to the motor could be usefull to more quickly achieve engine operating temperature, but the only way the batteries heat up is from cabin heat, or from transmitting current in or out of them.

So if we find a way to gently warm the batteries, I don't know whether a trickle charger would be sufficient enough current movement.

They make several warmers for farm applications that are a flat 2'x2' pad, could this pad be placed under or above the batteries to help them stay warm or at least above the outside temperature?

Lithium Ion batteries, even though store more energy, require temperatures of around 100 before the operate at peak efficiency.

Maybe Ford should engineer coolant from the engine to circulate to the battery compartment when its below a certain temp. You could do a thermostat design, that closes after a certain temp is reached. Then an engine block heater would help dramatically!

 

Billy, your codes represented 328v at the start of your plug-in experiment, and 314v at the end of your 2.5 hour experiment.

I told you, you needed to have the key in "run" to get the readings from the ScanGauge. I did not mean for you to keep the key run the whole 2.5 hours if that is what you did. Sorry, I was not clear on that.

The slight voltage drop, and it was indeed slight, does not indicate charging on the surface, but does indicate the battery may have been helped to hold "steady" at least, if you did accidently leave the key in, which would draw quite a bit of power over those 2.5 hours.

Waiting for "the rest of the story"!
-John

P.S.
The "block heater" has two outputs from the one 120v AC plug.
We are trying to figure out what the 2nd wire does.
If it does not actually charge the HV battery, it may heat the HV battery at the same time as heat the engine.

 

I only had the key in the ignition (turned to on but with the engine not on) during reading of the scangauge. Does the HV battery cooling/heating system run when the key is in the ignition turned on but the engine is not running/started? Could this explain the voltage drop?

I'm willing to repeat this process again tomorrow and post the report here if that will help all interested. I do have digital photos of each scangauge reading but I have a dial up connection here and will be quite limited in sending photos.

Does anyone have the combination of engine block heater and hybrid/navigational display unit in their vehicle?

WaltPa asked a question that needs clarification---I understand this process as trickle charging the HV battery-no the engine compartment's battery.

 

Billy, At this point we don't need photos. Just report the numbers.

All the numbers you sent me looked correct for what you are doing, except they slightly went down, not up, as hoped over 2.5 hours.

It was also a theory that the "charger" only helps when the HV battery is very, very low. That may be the case. Your battery was ok at the start, so it looks like not much happened.

One set of wires from the front 120v AC plug FOR SURE leads into the HV battery pack in the back. The wires are small, 20 gauge, which means they cannot carry much amperage, but can carry high voltage.

 

I'm trying again today but I am not driving my automobile prior to testing. I will let the automobile sit for two hours with the engine block heater plugged in and recheck the codes. The file attachment provides photos and detail.

 

The file attachment has the photos and results from this 2.5 hour data collection trip. They are similar to yesterday's values. Look at them and report on your findings.