Charging battery takes longer(?)

[Karytas80]

I want to ask how long your truck takes to charge its battery after a drive. I know it could be different how much I've been driving on Electric only mode but I recently noticed my truck takes longer time to charge than before.

I do a lot of short drives(2-3miles) during week days to drop off & pick up my kids at school except on Mondays when I drive about 50 miles for commute to work & back home. So I drive about 500-600 miles every month unless we go camping, vacation, etc.
Every time I drive, I give a little gas to wake up the engine to charge the battery before I shut off the truck. It used to be as little as 2-3 sec to 10-15 sec but I recently noticed it takes much longer like 1-2 minutes even after 1-2 mile drives. This morning(8:30amish), it took about 30 seconds to charge after driving 1.3 miles then this afternoon(3pm), I drove another 0.7 miles to my daughter's school then it took more than 3 minutes to charge the battery.
I usually walk away after giving it a gas to open a garage door for my kids, bring grocery in, check mailbox, bring a garbage can in, etc and the engine used to be shut off by the time I get back to my truck but I, now, need to stand next to my truck waiting until it shuts off automatically. I've been checking it by going to the Power Flow in settings to make sure it is saying "Charging the batter" and not "Driving Power" or "Engine is Cold".
Eco Idle has been on since day 1 and I just wonder if this is something I need to concern about.
There is no warning lights in dash and Ford Pass app says my truck is healthy. Other than, a recall notification I received today for "2021-2023 F150 suspect wiring harness chafe to rear axle".

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[HammaMan]

I believe there's other factors in the initial run -- your climate control also comes into the mix. The next time you think it's running too long, turn off the climate and see if it shuts down. When it's colder out, simply turning up the heat will start it.

 

[PB2021]

Not sure if you mean the hybrid battery or 12v system. Using the MX+ OBD reader and app I no longer worry too much about the hybrid battery as it stays within a pretty tight range and charges fairly quick just from some light braking. The 12v on the other hand takes a long drive if you expect to have any impact on charging. Based on your driving scenario which at time is sort of my drives little charging at all occurs. I can see high amps going in but it might change state of charge by just one or two percent on such a short drive. In an hour of highway driving I can go from 70 to 85 or 90% state of charge but as it rises the charge amperage lowers significantly so you never achieve any higher. In freezing temps charging is almost non existent. Very slow.

 

[Karytas80]

Thank you! I meant charging the hybrid battery and I will try some longer distance over the weekend to see if that makes any changes. From Tuesday to Friday, I only drive about 2-3 miles per day and it even took almost 5 minutes after driving less than a mile with no a/c or heat on.

 

[HammaMan]

Thank you! I meant charging the hybrid battery and I will try some longer distance over the weekend to see if that makes any changes. From Tuesday to Friday, I only drive about 2-3 miles per day and it even took almost 5 minutes after driving less than a mile with no a/c or heat on.

Hrm, @Snakebitten @turbopilot have you found any temp correlation from cold start until first ICE shutoff? Could be head temp, could be coolant temp. I don't drive mine enough to spot such a trend and we're still pretty damn hot down here so the temp isn't yet a factor in idle.

 

[Snakebitten]

I have tried to determine at what engine coolant temp does the truck switch to normal/predictable ICE-on/ICE-off.
And also when does the normal ~60Amp charging current for the HV battery begin.

It's somewhere between 140-150F on my truck. So until it reaches that engine coolant temp, the ICE can be running, even at Eco Idle rpms, yet not charging the HV battery more than a trickle. (relatively speaking)

 

[Karytas80]

Wouldn't it be saying "Engine cold" if the temp is a factor of ICE running at stop? I've seen that message when it was cold earlier this year. This time, it says "battery charging" for the entire amount time until ICE shuts off.

 

[Snakebitten]

I don't see any messages regarding ICE being on. But I can monitor the PIDs and tell what is or is not happening while ICE is running.

 

[HammaMan]

Wouldn't it be saying "Engine cold" if the temp is a factor of ICE running at stop? I've seen that message when it was cold earlier this year. This time, it says "battery charging" for the entire amount time until ICE shuts off.

No, it just doesn't turn off.

 

[turbopilot]

Hrm, @Snakebitten @turbopilot have you found any temp correlation from cold start until first ICE shutoff? Could be head temp, could be coolant temp. I don't drive mine enough to spot such a trend and we're still pretty damn hot down here so the temp isn't yet a factor in idle.

Not that I have noticed but I recall seeing some PID's for coolant temperature entering other components that could be tracked. For instance, there is a PID for Hybrid/EV Battery Coolant Inlet Temperature that might be informative.

 

[Karytas80]

No, it just doesn't turn off.

Three messages I've seen in the Power Flow screen are:
- battery charging
- due to driving power
- engine cold (only in winter time)

I will have to drive about 60miles tomorrow on highway then I will check.
Thanks

 

[Snakebitten]

Ahhhh
The Power Flow Screen.
I admit I haven't given that screen much focus. I'm guilty of looking for more granular data.

I'm interested to see now at what ECT does the Flow message change.

 

[HammaMan]

Three messages I've seen in the Power Flow screen are:

Ah, I always play the EV game on my IPC. The android app provides the raw data which is my preference over cutesy factory animations of what's going on.

 

[JIMFOUNTAIN]

Hrm, @Snakebitten @turbopilot have you found any temp correlation from cold start until first ICE shutoff? Could be head temp, could be coolant temp. I don't drive mine enough to spot such a trend and we're still pretty damn hot down here so the temp isn't yet a factor in idle.

Clearly lots of factors. I was using a 1,500 watt space heater plus heated steering wheel and seats and not switching on the cab heat. Was rather pleasant really with outside temps in the 40s and getting killer mileage... Brought back memories of a 1981 Audi 4000 that had a center vent that was either fresh outside air or AC. Opened the moon roof and enjoyed the hot feet and cool breeze in the face many times.

Anyway I was surprised the ICE would cycle off/on with coolant in the 60s as torque was needed/not needed... as I have also seen the ICE running and the power flow screen tell me "engine cold" with coolant temps above 145 and the HV battery charged. Climate off.

I have a hill (down leaving the house) nearby and I do believe that sometimes the HV battery was still too cold to take a charge and I would get the ICE to start as I descended (little to no charging shown) with coolant around 60 as well . Perhaps this was to provide some compression braking.

This truck is too smart for me to figure out.

 

[imnuts]

With the HVAC off and outside temps >~55°F, the engine will shut down and go into electric only after you get over a coolant temp of ~100-110°F. If outside temp gets lower, 120°F is the cutoff. With HVAC on, if heat is requested, coolant temp needs to be at 140°F before you can go to electric only, and you can get down to 120-130°F before the engine kicks back on.

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