Warming up a Powerboost

[05RubiconLJ]

I went outside this morning in the snow and started up my current truck to build a little heat before throwing the kids in for school. It got me thinking, if the Powerboost doesn't kick the engine on until you reach a certain speed or deplete the battery, how does it build heat. I have never had an electric or hybrid,. On a full electric, it has a stand alone system that is not engine dependant. How does it work in the Powerboost? If I remote start, does that kick the engine on until I enter the cab?

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[mrtrav]

I used to have an Altima Hybrid. The engine would always kick on immediately within the first few seconds of starting the car to warm up the engine. Once the engine was warm it would have the typical hybrid approach. On warm summer days or if you've already warmed up the engine, when you start the car the engine will not turn on until you need the power to do so.

 

[ZWARRIOR]

An engine heater may be a good option

 

[Jaym69]

That is why I ordered an engine block heater on my Lariat Powerboost. That should help reduce the engine from running to warm up in the winter.

 

[SJLCJL]

I mean, it has a battery pack.. Why not a heating element in the ducting like on the super duty?

 

[currybob]

What Travis said is dead on.

SJLCJL
Engine has to be warm for the emissions to work properly.

 

[05RubiconLJ]

Makes perfect sense. I read up on it a bit and every manufacturer has their own (often similar) way of handling this. Some work exactly like a traditional car, the engine needs to build heat before you can get nice and toasty. Others use a combination of traditional heating and electric heating, so that you can get heat instantly and the vehicle can begin to cycle off the engine much earlier.

Until I started this conversation, I had forgotten about a former co-worker who would come into work looking like he skied to work (hat, gloves, heavy jacket, even snow pants on occasion). He drove a Nissan Leaf and in the winter running the heat would zap to much battery, so he would just dress for the weather.

 

[SJLCJL]

What Travis said is dead on.

SJLCJL
Engine has to be warm for the emissions to work properly.

That is all true. I'm talking more about helping me get warm inside the truck..

 

[daemonic3]

I have walked past a Tesla or two on cold (this means <50 in California, not freezing!) days and you can sometimes hear something running under the hood. Found out this is the battery heater. They both charge and run better if the battery is "warm" not freezing or hot.

I have no idea how the Powerboost will work, but I would *think* Ford knows what they are doing and would figure out a way to balance the engine and battery heat to try to get them in the optimal range? Do we think that Ford added a little "battery warmer" so that it can help more while engine is cold and vice versa? Maybe not, and leaves room for optimization in the future, who knows.

 

[currybob]

What Travis said is dead on.

I have walked past a Tesla or two on cold (this means <50 in California, not freezing!) days and you can sometimes hear something running under the hood. Found out this is the battery heater. They both charge and run better if the battery is "warm" not freezing or hot.

I have no idea how the Powerboost will work, but I would *think* Ford knows what they are doing and would figure out a way to balance the engine and battery heat to try to get them in the optimal range? Do we think that Ford added a little "battery warmer" so that it can help more while engine is cold and vice versa? Maybe not, and leaves room for optimization in the future, who knows.

The powerboost comes with a radiator cooling and heating lines for the battery pack. You can see the lines running to the power pack in these photos. I think the propower inverter just gets the cooling line.

 

[ConstructionBoss]

When I pulled my truck out of the garage this morning I noticed it was running on the engine and not the battery. I checked the battery status and saw this message. This might help answer your question.

 

[05RubiconLJ]

@ConstructionBoss That is exactly what I wanted to know. Also, pretty cool that they have a screen to tell you why the engine is running.

 

[Bills]

I ran my power boost for 15 minutes this morning and it didn’t even start to defrost the windows... this was a remote start, so I’m sure there is some setting I have missed, but I will need to figure that out soon.

 

[currybob]

I ran my power boost for 15 minutes this morning and it didn’t even start to defrost the windows... this was a remote start, so I’m sure there is some setting I have missed, but I will need to figure that out soon.

Make sure it is set on defrost. I think I remember when you remote start it goes to last ventilation settings.

 

[Bo15]

It looks like in the manual on Remote start you can set climate control Auto (72°) or last settings used, and Heated Seats on/off and heated steering wheel on/off. Not sure if defrost is included (?)

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