My winter Mustang Mach-E project

[Jiji]

Work on the trip feature has been held up since there is one major obstacle in the Ford OBDII data stream - the lack of accurate GPS information. I was wary that this was something I could do with my limited skill set but decided to tackle it now before I was too invested and without a solution. And I can now announce I have a solution - my very own iOS app with a full featured HTTP server that serves up the latest iPhone GPS information over a secure network:

I know it doesn't look like much but it gives me access to navigation-quality GPS data that I can log with the vehicle dynamics to present a detailed and complete look at a trip. Let's dig in to see how it works.

When I first started I required an internet connection to relay the data to a Raspberry Pi server in my basement. Because of random cellular signal dropouts I could see this wasn't going to work so I upgraded the software to use a local data store whenever the database connection dropped. The Record software will continue to keep trying the connection on subsequent writes and will write the backing datastore when the connection is restored. The design is nice since it can be used without any internet, I can just upload the backing datastore when I return home and the MME Raspberry Pi connects to the home WiFi.

In order to find my GPS web server I need a static IP address, something else your phone will not have and for this I turned to Tailscale, which in their own words is:

Tailscale is a VPN service that makes the devices and applications you own accessible anywhere in the world, securely and effortlessly. It enables encrypted point-to-point connections using the open source WireGuard protocol, which means only devices on your private network can communicate with each other.

Perfect and free, just what I need to find my MME anywhere it has a cellular connection and be secure to keep anyone from snooping in on my location and traffic.

Writing an iOS app means I needed to learn the programming language Swift, so I searched for open source software projects that had a compatible HTTP server implementation, which is called HummingbirdCore. Turned out to be pretty simple given I had never used Swift and last used Xcode/Objective-C in 2014 when I wanted to learn iOS programming. Two days later it is done, contains just 300 lines of Swift code and I'm back to working on the Raspberry Pi Python code to incorporate with the other MME data.

By tying the phone GPS data into the HTTP server response, I can retrieve the current GPS coordinates simply by visiting the URL.

% curl -X GET http://100.93.138.71:8080
{"speed":20.0,"latitude":42.94721617,"longitude":-76.52948901,"course":251,"altitude":243.2}

The Python code to request and extract the GPS data is simple as well:

>>> import requests
>>> r = requests.get('http://100.93.138.71:8080')
>>> print(r.json())
{'speed': 20.0, 'latitude': 42.94721617, 'longitude': -76.52948901, 'course': 251, 'altitude': 243.2}

A few days of organizing the trip data collection and I should be back at the visualization software seeing if I can make nice trip reports like I did with the charging session data.

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[Jiji]

And finally a look at the initial trip logging. This new feature exposed a few issues but most are fixed and the few left should be corrected in a day or two. Adding new features always seems to break something and the new Trips capability is no different.

What is shown here is a log of the key items that one might like to know about a trip. I focus on the change in the EtE (Energy to Empty) as it and the distance traveled is the efficiency of the trip. The EtE and my calculation of it is the first red underline, there is a small difference between results but I guess Ford can do it better than me trying to integrate over the CAN bus. Perhaps increasing the sample rate will help but I include it to make sure the results are rational.

I screwed up and failed to note the MME reported trip details but I'll repeat the test with the next version and make sure things are accurate. 5.5 miles per kWh is impressive but I choose a hilly route so I could experience energy recovery on the downhill stretches. You can see this where I measure the energy returned to the high voltage battery versus the energy removed from the battery (second red line), the sum of these being the overall energy used. These results make sense for urban driving or in my case, lifting off the pedal on the downhills and letting 1PD slow the vehicle.

I see some fun graphs in the future, using distance traveled on the x-axis and elevation on the y-axis should be interesting as I live in an area of scenic hills and lakes. I haven't used FordPass for some time now and can't really remember what they show but I should have access to information they won't offer to augment what they do well.

 

[DevSecOps]

Let's dive into the MME sitting in idle connected to a wall charger after having completed charging the HVB to 80% SoC.

At this point the MME will be slowly discharging the LVB, losing about 1% SoC every 4 minutes:

The battery starts at 12.8V which is good for what I assume is an AGM lead-acid battery. Initially the load is 100W but within a few minutes it drops to 50W as the car shuts down unnecessary equipment. This continues until a few minutes after 40% SoC is hit and the DC-DC module is re-enganged:

Unlike my previous post where the recharging was from the HVB, there is a power source connected to the charge plug. We can see that it starts out drawing 10A from the wall charger. Charging starts at over 100A, peaks at 110A but will quickly taper down, just 8 minutes later it is half the peak current and the LVB SoC will be nearly 80%.

It takes over an over to bring the LVB back to 100% SoC, in this example it wasn't until 9:30 that the AC charger disconnected and the LVB started a new discharge cycle.

I don't claim to know the details of how the AC charger and DC-DC modules work together but this should give you an idea why Ford nags you to plug in when you shut down the car to keep the HVB at peak condition and let the wall charger do the work of refreshing the LVB and preconditioning the car.

What updates have you had performed on the car? Job1 or Job2?

I monitor the LVB every 5 seconds and my data is vastly different. My discharge cycles get to 15% SOC no-load voltage before it kicks in the charge from HVB. While connected to the charger I only get HVB to LVB charging while the HVB is being charged. If the HVB has reached it's target the LVB charging stops.

I have a Job2 GTPE fully updated all the time using FDRS.

 

[mkhuffman]

What updates have you had performed on the car? Job1 or Job2?

I monitor the LVB every 5 seconds and my data is vastly different. My discharge cycles get to 15% SOC no-load voltage before it kicks in the charge from HVB. While connected to the charger I only get HVB to LVB charging while the HVB is being charged. If the HVB has reached it's target the LVB charging stops.

I have a Job2 GTPE fully updated all the time using FDRS.

Mine behaves just like Rick's - it charges when it gets to 40% SOC, whether it is connected to a charger or not. It does behave differently when charging. My charges are not very long so I don't have a long charge to confirm, but it looks like it keeps the LVB fully charged when charging the HVB, similar to when the car is on.

15% seems really, really low. I would be concerned.

 

[Jiji]

What updates have you had performed on the car? Job1 or Job2?

No idea, I thought Quality was Job 1 and left it there. But my MME has a 6/2021 birthday and the time function tells me time t=0 is 2021/6/8 11:55:53. The only updates are those received as OTA upgrades.

The first time I logged this I saw it start LVB charging at 30% but lately my LVB has been cold so perhaps it is variable. I have seen the value of Energy to Empty vary by a few kWh's when it charges to 80% SoC so it doesn't have to be simple or fixed.

 

[Jiji]

While connected to the charger I only get HVB to LVB charging while the HVB is being charged. If the HVB has reached it's target the LVB charging stops.

I would agree with this but as the LVB charging takes just over an hour it tends to be at 100% SoC before the HVB reaches 80% SoC. My charger will kick on again when the LVB reaches the low point, nominally 40% SoC, and it will bring it back up to 100% SoC.

 

[DevSecOps]

Mine behaves just like Rick's - it charges when it gets to 40% SOC, whether it is connected to a charger or not. It does behave differently when charging. My charges are not very long so I don't have a long charge to confirm, but it looks like it keeps the LVB fully charged when charging the HVB, similar to when the car is on.

15% seems really, really low. I would be concerned.

There's other members here like Mach-Lee who have also confirmed 15% SOC. How are you determining when the DC/DC comes on? Have you ever received the FP notification of battery drain because that's the only time when unplugged that you'll see it kick on?

No idea, I thought Quality was Job 1 and left it there. But my MME has a 6/2021 birthday and the time function tells me time t=0 is 2021/6/8 11:55:53. The only updates are those received as OTA upgrades.

If that's the case then there's been a number of Battery Control Module updates that you haven't received.

I would agree with this but as the LVB charging takes just over an hour it tends to be at 100% SoC before the HVB reaches 80% SoC. My charger will kick on again when the LVB reaches the low point, nominally 40% SoC, and it will bring it back up to 100% SoC.

How are you going from 100% SOC on the LVB to 40% SOC while still on the charger? That's a huge draw.

 

[Jiji]

There's other members here like Mach-Lee who have also confirmed 15% SOC. How are you determining when the DC/DC comes on? Have you ever received the FP notification of battery drain because that's the only time when unplugged that you'll see it kick on?

I read the DID status for it, it is all here:

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/my-winter-mustang-mach-e-project.13327/post-342689

If that's the case then there's been a number of Battery Control Module updates that you haven't received.

I don’t care, if they were important Ford can send me an OTA update.

How are you going from 100% SOC on the LVB to 40% SOC while still on the charger? That's a huge draw.

Again refer to post #15 on the subject, it kicks on about 4 hours after the HVB charging has ended as the LVB is constantly discharging while the vehicle is in idle.

 

[DevSecOps]

I read the DID status for it, it is all here:

https://www.macheforum.com/site/threads/my-winter-mustang-mach-e-project.13327/post-342689

I don’t care, if they were important Ford can send me an OTA update.

Again refer to post #15 on the subject, it kicks on about 4 hours after the HVB charging has ended as the LVB is constantly discharging while the vehicle is in idle.

My point is that it's very possible that the data you are showing is no longer the way the car operates. 21P22 was released as a customer satisfaction program where you have to bring the car to the dealer to have the updates performed. They are not, at this time, OTA. That program includes a number of updates to the battery control modules and systems.

My data, on a fully updated vehicle is very different than yours.

 

[Jiji]

My point is that it's very possible that the data you are showing is no longer the way the car operates. 21P22 was released as a customer satisfaction program where you have to bring the car to the dealer to have the updates performed. They are not, at this time, OTA. That program includes a number of updates to the battery control modules and systems.

My data, on a fully updated vehicle is very different than yours.

Could be but in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t really matter. I’ll hazard a guess that most MMEs don't have the 21P22 update since Ford hasn’t told anyone about it, certainly they haven’t nofified me.

I have better things to do than bring my MME in to a dealership for optional updates with few benefits before I am due for other scheduled maintenance. Ford needs to get their act together on regular OTA updates, they can save themselves a ton of $$$ in the process and in the meantime I can afford to be patient and wait.

 

[DevSecOps]

Could be but in the grand scheme of things it doesn’t really matter. I’ll hazard a guess that most MMEs don't have the 21P22 update since Ford hasn’t told anyone about it, certainly they haven’t nofified me.

I have better things to do than bring my MME in to a dealership for optional updates with few benefits before I am due for other scheduled maintenance. Ford needs to get their act together on regular OTA updates, they can save themselves a ton of $$$ in the process and in the meantime I can afford to be patient and wait.

Ok, well when members come here to educate themselves it helps to know the control and variables against which other test results are measured. I can't compare my findings to yours because we are not on the same software versions. As a closing remark, 21P22 is a Job1 vehicle program, vehicles built today have the software that 21P22 would afford to you. There are many months of production vehicles that are ahead of your vehicle software wise.

 

[bshaw]

Ok, well when members come here to educate themselves it helps to know the control and variables against which other test results are measured. I can't compare my findings to yours because we are not on the same software versions. As a closing remark, 21P22 is a Job1 vehicle program, vehicles built today have the software that 21P22 would afford to you.

Couldn't agree with this more. This thread becomes a lot less interesting if the data being collected is from a vehicle that deviates from mine in any meaningful way.

@Jiji -- you're spending all this time getting into the nitty gritty of how the car operates, it would be a simple activity for you to get the cable and a short FDRS subscription to bring your car up to date. In theory all manual updates from FDRS will eventually converge with what comes as OTA, but Ford has been very slow (presumably careful) about how quickly OTAs come out.

 

[Jiji]

Couldn't agree with this more. This thread becomes a lot less interesting if the data being collected is from a vehicle that deviates from mine in any meaningful way.

@Jiji -- you're spending all this time getting into the nitty gritty of how the car operates, it would be a simple activity for you to get the cable and a short FDRS subscription to bring your car up to date. In theory all manual updates from FDRS will eventually converge with what comes as OTA, but Ford has been very slow (presumably careful) about how quickly OTAs come out.

I wonder if you have any idea what you are worried about. Sure my LVB might starting charging at a different SoC than yours but this is just nit-picking and ignores the fact that this is meaningless - please tell me how this even matters?

What matters is that the useful collected data are the real world variables like speed, distance, SoC, EtE, voltage, and current and when I last checked they are the same everywhere so your concerns are baseless. If you are truly concerned that your LVB starts recharging at an SoC of 15% and mine doesn't then don't let the door hit you on the way out as maybe this thread isn't for you.

Enough of this BS, it is time to move on and I have more details on my trip functionality I need to write up.

 

[Mach-Lee]

There's other members here like Mach-Lee who have also confirmed 15% SOC. How are you determining when the DC/DC comes on? Have you ever received the FP notification of battery drain because that's the only time when unplugged that you'll see it kick on?

Todd, I think you might have misunderstood about the 15%. According to Ford specs, the 12V battery will no longer be maintained when the High Voltage SoC is less than 15% (not the 12V SoC). The 12V battery should be recharged when it reaches 40% 12V SoC (that is the spec and what I've seen in data from several members). Rick's car seems to be operating as designed. It's still not known why we see some cars get well below 40% before 12V recharging is triggered. In my opinion it should be maintained above 40%.

 

[DevSecOps]

Todd, I think you might have misunderstood about the 15%. According to Ford specs, the 12V battery will no longer be maintained when the High Voltage SoC is less than 15% (not the 12V SoC). The 12V battery should be recharged when it reaches 40% 12V SoC (that is the spec and what I've seen in data from several members). Rick's car seems to be operating as designed. It's still not known why we see some cars get well below 40% before 12V recharging is triggered. In my opinion it should be maintained above 40%.

Yeah I've seen the HVB not maintaining the LVB at 15% or 12% depending on who you ask. The LVB engaging the DC/DC for top-off in my logging is in the 11V range on no-load.

I guess the problem I have is that there's mltiple different SOC charts based on voltage. Some show overlapping SOC ranges and higher/lower values like this: https://workshoppist.com/agm-battery-state-of-charge/

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