How is energy usage calculated?

[mpshizzle]

Being the nerd that I am, I love to watch the energy usage in the sync trip computer... That being said I feel like I'm left guessing a little bit as to what fits under each category..

In particular I'm left guessing on the "accessories" section. Consumption there always seems surprisingly high to me.

As an example here, it's saying (using some very rough math) that accessories used up 420 Watt hours worth of battery... It's a sunshiny day with no rain, so that leaves just the sync system... I have a hard time believing that it would consume that much energy over 45 minutes.

So I'm wondering if Ford's just uses "accessories" as a catch-all for anything on the 12-volt system. So the blower motor for the air conditioner would be considered an "accessory". I can't imagine what else would be drawing that much power, or why it would be under that category..

Am I totally off here?

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[BMT1071]

Being the nerd that I am, I love to watch the energy usage in the sync trip computer... That being said I feel like I'm left guessing a little bit as to what fits under each category..

In particular I'm left guessing on the "accessories" section. Consumption there always seems surprisingly high to me.

As an example here, it's saying (using some very rough math) that accessories used up 420 Watt hours worth of battery... It's a sunshiny day with no rain, so that leaves just the sync system... I have a hard time believing that it would consume that much energy over 45 minutes.

So I'm wondering if Ford's just uses "accessories" as a catch-all for anything on the 12-volt system. So the blower motor for the air conditioner would be considered an "accessory". I can't imagine what else would be drawing that much power, or why it would be under that category..

Am I totally off here?

Stereo cranked up? Charging a phone? Lighting? I would assume the blower motor would be included in Climate Use, but who knows.
I also wonder how the Ext. Temp number is derived. We will likely never know for sure, but we can make some guesses. ?‍ ?

 

[mpshizzle]

Stereo cranked up? Charging a phone? Lighting? I would assume the blower motor would be included in Climate Use, but who knows.
I also wonder how the Ext. Temp number is derived. We will likely never know for sure, but we can make some guesses. ?‍ ?

Well I mean a phone wouldn't take up that much. And no lights were on. How much does the audio system use? I actually have no idea

 

[BMT1071]

Well I mean a phone wouldn't take up that much. And no lights were on. How much does the audio system use? I actually have no idea

I think the 'Signature Lighting' is always on if the car is running, though I'm not certain.
The louder you play the audio the more power it consumes. I don't have a number to give you other than I believe the amp is fed through a 20A fuse.
Our giant 15" screens gotta be chewing up some watts, too.

 

[pt19713]

Well I mean a phone wouldn't take up that much. And no lights were on. How much does the audio system use? I actually have no idea

The screen, safety features/ computers, pretty much anything not the drive motors and HVAC.

 

[New2EV]

What I find odd is my trip 1 and trip 2 were reset at the same time and they show the same miles driven but they show different usage percentages and different mi/kwh. How are they not the same? Why are the calculations different?

 

[Mach-Lee]

So I'm wondering if Ford's just uses "accessories" as a catch-all for anything on the 12-volt system. So the blower motor for the air conditioner would be considered an "accessory". I can't imagine what else would be drawing that much power, or why it would be under that category..

This is a good question, perhaps you should do a test. Turn off the A/C and heat and run the blower on max for 30+ minutes of driving with everything else 12V off and see what it says.

Your average speed there was only 25 mph, so it makes sense that a larger percentage of your drive is going to accessory loads since your'e driving so slow and not using much propulsion energy.

 

[mpshizzle]

This is a good question, perhaps you should do a test. Turn off the A/C and heat and run the blower on max for 30+ minutes of driving with everything else 12V off and see what it says.

Your average speed there was only 25 mph, so it makes sense that a larger percentage of your drive is going to accessory loads since your'e driving so slow and not using much propulsion energy.

Oh that's a good idea.. I'll try that!

And yes, I agree.. that is absolutely what contributed to the high percentage, but percentage aside just the raw amount of 420wh seemed high

 

[mpshizzle]

Not the best test, because it was at night time with headlights and radio... But I had to drive home anyway so I thought I might as well give it a whirl... I drove the whole time with the blower motor at 100% but no AC and no heat.

The climate use is indeed at 0%. So that tells me that likely that only counts the AC compressor and heater but not the blower motor.

Over the 30 minute trip "accessories" accounted for just under 300wh of use... So about 600W of power was being drawn by the headlights, sync, audio system, and presumably the blower motor

 

[Mach-Lee]

Not the best test, because it was at night time with headlights and radio... But I had to drive home anyway so I thought I might as well give it a whirl... I drove the whole time with the blower motor at 100% but no AC and no heat.

The climate use is indeed at 0%. So that tells me that likely that only counts the AC compressor and heater but not the blower motor.

Over the 30 minute trip "accessories" accounted for just under 300wh of use... So about 600W of power was being drawn by the headlights, sync, audio system, and presumably the blower motor

Good test, that seems reasonable. A blower on high would draw 200-300W, headlights are probably 100W, and a couple hundred watts for everything else.

Accessories = 12V power from DC/DC
Climate = high voltage compressor and heater
Ext. Temp = ?

My guess is you could get a really high accessory number if the 12V battery was low and charging up, or if the front radiator fan had to be running for cooling (runs on 12V). In stop and go traffic with A/C use in hot weather that could easily be using 300W alone.

 

[mpshizzle]

Accessories = 12V power from DC/DC
Climate = high voltage compressor and heater
Ext. Temp = ?

Correct me here if I'm wrong. But it's my understanding that the battery's temperature is kept under control using internal heaters in the battery pack in cold, and the AC compressor in the hot.. is that correct?

If so ext temp from the heater is easy.. from AC though Perhaps it counts it if the system kicks on the compressor when the when the climate control doesn't already have it running?

 

[Mach-Lee]

Correct me here if I'm wrong. But it's my understanding that the battery's temperature is kept under control using internal heaters in the battery pack in cold, and the AC compressor in the hot.. is that correct?

If so ext temp from the heater is easy.. from AC though Perhaps it counts it if the system kicks on the compressor when the when the climate control doesn't already have it running?

The battery heating and cooling actually uses the same HVAC system as the cabin (people and batteries both like a similar temp range). There are no internal battery heaters, just a coolant loop. In winter the heating element heats up coolant and it passes through a heater core for the cabin, then the same coolant goes on to the battery to heat it internally. In summer, the A/C system has a second evaporator that chills the coolant for the battery. Because the systems are a combined loop, there's not a good way to directly measure the exact energy usage for the cabin vs. the battery.

 

[breeves002]

My guess is the Ext temp is just guessing how much range reduction you have because of the temperature outside (not related to interior cabin climate control). This will be a much higher value in the winter, especially without a pre-conditioned battery.

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