Remotely Accessing LV Battery Voltage from Ford.com with Chrome Browser

[JustSomeQuickGuy]

FYI, after 2 years on my 2023.

"battery": {
            "batteryHealth": null,
            "batteryStatusActual": {
                "value": "14.3125",
                "status": null,
                "timestamp": "2025-01-13 13:36:09Z"
            }
        },

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[Mike G]

my guess is that they think it will cause more confusion and concern than it's worth. also the battery voltage alone isn't really enough to go on, you probably also want the SOC and that doesn't seem to be available on the backend (but that doesn't mean the car doesn't send it to the server). not sure if the 12V has a SOH in OBD2 but i'd think that's what you'd really want to see.

It is in PTS....don't know why they couldn't show that on the owner page...unless they think it will cause more questions.....

 

[someone22]

It is in PTS

Why is it showing up as 15.2V? Is it a LiPo battery?

To everyone considering a BT or ESP32 multimeter - please note that the current draw is not negligible. Unless you have another way of powering the meter (separate battery) I would not do it.
In my case (I don't have the car), I would build an ESP8266 project with ESPHome (AI is good enough for this) that is powered by a separate 18650 battery and DC-DC converter. The meter would wake up every minute or so, try for 5s to connect to WiFi and push the data, then go back to sleep. I have a similar project with a camera for the house gas meter.
I don't have a way to test now, but is the API for the website accessible via cURL with basic authentication, or does it require some 2FA?
EDIT: unrelated question, but can the 12V battery be topped up via an external charger? Wouldn't that interfere with the BMS readings?

 

[Earplug]

Should I be worried that the battery is showing 12.0 volts?

1. battery: {batteryHealth: null,…}
   1. batteryHealth: null
   2. batteryStatusActual: {value: "12.0", status: null, timestamp: "2025-01-13 17:44:14Z"}
      1. status: null
      2. timestamp: "2025-01-13 17:44:14Z"
      3. value: "12.0"

 

[Snakebitten]

Why is it showing up as 15.2V? Is it a LiPo battery?

To everyone considering a BT or ESP32 multimeter - please note that the current draw is not negligible.

The Bluetooth voltmeter that I have suggested has an incredibly negligible draw.

I can let the truck sit for days in a row and the parasitic draw on the battery is basically unnoticed.

Admittedly, my 2022 F150 has an H7 under the hood, and a small auxiliary battery under the rear seat (factory auxiliary is 7AH)

But the little Chinese Bluetooth voltometer is a 1ma device.

 

[MoonRiver]

It is in PTS....don't know why they couldn't show that on the owner page...unless they think it will cause more questions.....

How did you get these figures, particularly the 12 v battery which I'm most interested in?

 

[NJ Steve]

Remotely Accessing LV Battery Voltage from Ford.com with Chrome

Thanks to Lars/Holy Driver for this procedure: https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...de-the-car-dead-12v-battery.41505/post-893115 . Given that Ford removed access to LVB status I thought it might be useful to write this up for Chrome.

Note this is the voltage when last connected to the Ford server. If the car is on or is charging it will show the 15V or so charge voltage. I found that an unlock/lock in the FordPass app will refresh the voltage state. Note that some systems in the car will be active when reading the state so the voltage level will be under a slight load and won’t be the same as an open circuit reading. My new battery reads 12.1V to 13.4V depending on the load and charge state. I don’t know if the LV battery health is available. Perhaps that’s what the entry Oil Health means ? ?

In Chrome:

1. Go to https://www.ford.com/
2. Type the F12 Key to open developer toolbox
3. Select Network and Fetch/XHR (might have to poke around for these but they will stay selected next time toolbox is opened)
4. On ford.com login at the upper right corner person icon
5. Again in the upper right person icon select your_user_name account
6. On ford.com under your VIN select Go To Vehicle
7. In the developer toolbox select the Name heading so the list will sort alphabetically.
8. Scroll down to S’ and select status?countryCode=us
9. You might have to select Preview
10. Open up vehiclestatus
11. Open up battery
12. Magically you get: batteryStatusActual: {value: "12.4375", status: null, timestamp: "2025-01-11 15:22:21Z"}

Timestamp is in Zulu or GMT. Let me know if I made any errors in the procedure.

Edit: The FordPass unlock/lock status refresh can be done anytime before selecting Go To Vehicle but you might have to wait for the server to update. To get another refresh you may need to go back to the login step because of cache effects.

I’m new to the Mach-e world (used 2021 Sel SR AWD job 2, iconic silver) and want to thank everyone on the forum for all the helpful posts. I installed the Torklift EchoHitch and wiring harness. Also added 2.5” hole plugs over the LVB jump points. The 2.5” (-) hole also has room to access the HVB cutoff. I preemptively replaced the LVB at 3 years because the car sat on the dealer lot for 4 or 5 months and the LVB was also likely chronically under-charged by the previous owner’s low usage.

Thanks, followed each step and it worked. My 21 MachE battery showed 13.5 so I'm guessing my 3 year old battery is still good.

 

[astrorob]

Thanks, followed each step and it worked. My 21 MachE battery showed 13.5 so I'm guessing my 3 year old battery is still good.

i don't know if you can conclude that from just the voltage.

 

[someone22]

But the little Chinese Bluetooth voltometer is a 1ma device

Perhaps, haven't measured the real draw. I have worked with car electronics at an OEM level and things have to completely shut down after a while or if the voltage goes below a threshold. And I have also drained a few motorcycle batteries while ignoring my own advice, 5-10mA adds up to quite a lot over time.

 

[SteveMach-ee]

Why is it showing up as 15.2V? Is it a LiPo battery?

To everyone considering a BT or ESP32 multimeter - please note that the current draw is not negligible. Unless you have another way of powering the meter (separate battery) I would not do it.
In my case (I don't have the car), I would build an ESP8266 project with ESPHome (AI is good enough for this) that is powered by a separate 18650 battery and DC-DC converter. The meter would wake up every minute or so, try for 5s to connect to WiFi and push the data, then go back to sleep. I have a similar project with a camera for the house gas meter.
I don't have a way to test now, but is the API for the website accessible via cURL with basic authentication, or does it require some 2FA?
EDIT: unrelated question, but can the 12V battery be topped up via an external charger? Wouldn't that interfere with the BMS readings?

No, see my first post. 15V or so is when the HVB DC-to-DC converter is charging the LVB. This means the car "ignition" state is on or it's charging.

Love the ESP8266 idea. Someone else will need to comment on external charging and the BMS.

 

[Sikkun]

99.9% of people are worrying about this too much.

People see 13-15v and go, oh my battery must be good. Really just means your car pinged the server while it was charging.

Ok but it says 12.2 it must be bad! Or it pinged while you had the headlights on, trunk open, etc.

Unless you have a method to continually watch the battery over time you are not really learning much.

Of which, replace the thing at 3 years and you’ll probably never have an issue anyway.

 

[SteveMach-ee]

Should I be worried that the battery is showing 12.0 volts?

1. battery: {batteryHealth: null,…}
   1. batteryHealth: null
   2. batteryStatusActual: {value: "12.0", status: null, timestamp: "2025-01-13 17:44:14Z"}
      1. status: null
      2. timestamp: "2025-01-13 17:44:14Z"
      3. value: "12.0"

Yeah, Mach-Lee is right in scolding me for posting this info. I opened up a can of worms.

That voltage will depend on the load and LVB charge state when the car woke up and sent the state to the Ford server. The car could have lights on or other loads. I notice even the running and frunk lights will affect the voltage. Also the LVB voltage will draw down when the car is parked overnight because it's periodically woken by any nearby keyfobs or phone PAAKs. The LVB doesn't start charging up again until the car in "on" or HVB is charging. This is Ford's software/hardware architecture design flaw that causes so many LVBs to fail around 3 years especially if the car is not driven often and is not charging the HVB for a long time.

I changed out my LVB at 3 years because of all the horror storied on this forum and because I noticed it's voltage frequently dropped below 12V. My car is typically driven less than 15 miles a day and I have a level 2 charger so the LVB probably rarely gets a full charge. My battery was $132 with core returned from Fordparts.com delivered to my local dealer. Didn't take long to install following Mach-Lee's instructions.

 

[Wenatchee Mach E]

Remotely Accessing LV Battery Voltage from Ford.com with Chrome

Thanks to Lars/Holy Driver for this procedure: https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...de-the-car-dead-12v-battery.41505/post-893115 . Given that Ford removed access to LVB status I thought it might be useful to write this up for Chrome.

Note this is the voltage when last connected to the Ford server. If the car is on or is charging it will show the 15V or so charge voltage. I found that an unlock/lock in the FordPass app will refresh the voltage state. Note that some systems in the car will be active when reading the state so the voltage level will be under a slight load and won’t be the same as an open circuit reading. My new battery reads 12.1V to 13.4V depending on the load and charge state. I don’t know if the LV battery health is available. Perhaps that’s what the entry Oil Health means ? ?

In Chrome:

1. Go to https://www.ford.com/
2. Type the F12 Key to open developer toolbox
3. Select Network and Fetch/XHR (might have to poke around for these but they will stay selected next time toolbox is opened)
4. On ford.com login at the upper right corner person icon
5. Again in the upper right person icon select your_user_name account
6. On ford.com under your VIN select Go To Vehicle
7. In the developer toolbox select the Name heading so the list will sort alphabetically.
8. Scroll down to S’ and select status?countryCode=us
9. You might have to select Preview
10. Open up vehiclestatus
11. Open up battery
12. Magically you get: batteryStatusActual: {value: "12.4375", status: null, timestamp: "2025-01-11 15:22:21Z"}

Timestamp is in Zulu or GMT. Let me know if I made any errors in the procedure.

Edit: The FordPass unlock/lock status refresh can be done anytime before selecting Go To Vehicle but you might have to wait for the server to update. To get another refresh you may need to go back to the login step because of cache effects.

I’m new to the Mach-e world (used 2021 Sel SR AWD job 2, iconic silver) and want to thank everyone on the forum for all the helpful posts. I installed the Torklift EchoHitch and wiring harness. Also added 2.5” hole plugs over the LVB jump points. The 2.5” (-) hole also has room to access the HVB cutoff. I preemptively replaced the LVB at 3 years because the car sat on the dealer lot for 4 or 5 months and the LVB was also likely chronically under-charged by the previous owner’s low usage.

 

[Ezzelin]

Does this only work for Chrome please?

No, it worked fine for me in Firefox, which is what the person who originally shared the steps used. Not sure why OP specified Chrome.

 

[MoonRiver]

No, it worked fine for me in Firefox, which is what the person who originally shared the steps used. Not sure why OP specified Chrome.

I don't see source?countrycode=us in firefox. How do you get it?

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