Hi, We will be leaving for the South at the end of next month for 3.5-4 months of "Snowbirding". My 08 FEH will be in storage in an un-heated garage. I can put a trickle charger on the 12V battaery, but I am concerned about the HV Battery losing charge. Any recommendations?
Thanks, Ken

 

There's not a lot you can do other than this:

When you park it "for the winter" run it in park with the Defroster on for 5 minutes. This will allow the HV battery to charge to the maximum level.

The car will be good for over 60 days as some have reported, but I have not heard of unused periods for longer than that.

When you return, you may have to do a jump start, or maybe not?!?!
You will be a great guinea pig, so I would love to hear if your car starts first try or not when you return.

If it does not start, and the 12v battery is good, there is a "jump start button" inside the side panel by the driver's footwell that sends 12v power into the High Voltage battery. It takes 8 minutes per button press, and you can do 2 or 3, 8 minute "charges" without draining a good 12v battery.
Check your owner's manual for more information on this.

Good luck, and be sure to report back what happened when you "start 'er up" after winter.

-John

P.S. Make sure you use a "float charger" on the 12v battery and not a "trickle charger". There is a difference.
A trickle charger will put out 1 or 2 amps, and will boil out the water in the battery in a few days, destroying the battery.
A "float" charger puts out about 0.1 amp which is just what the 12v battery needs long-term.
Or, you could remove the 12v battery cables and leave it disconnected for 4 months and be fine. Your choice.
Take off the black ( negative ) side of the battery cable, not the red ( positive side ) first!!!!

 

There's also a safety plug in the rear on the HV Battery, which when removed, disengages the entire battery system. It's an orange twist plug, and should just twist and pop.

While it's not necessary to remove, there's always that option.

 

Thanks for the quick replies, Yes, I do have a float charger.

 

How did your long term storage turn out? Any problems?

I'd like to buy an FEH but I travel overseas for extended periods and I'm concerned about having to replace the hybrid battery.

 

It turns out that due to a family emergency, our snowbird trip was cut short, so my FEH was only in storage for about 20 days. Since then, we now tow the FEH behind our motor home.

 

Quote: "I would like to purchase a used FEH. But have a couple of questions if you don't mind.

I work overseas, several months and up to a year at a time. Would storing an FEH for this amount of time damage the hybrid battery?

Salt Lake City has cold winters. I've read the FEH fuel mileage drops considerably (20ish mpg) in cold temps. Are you hearing this from other FEH drivers up north?

AWD version would be preferred for winters here, does AWD reduce mpg considerably?

Thank you, John"

Hi John

I have no experience with long term storage, but the manual says you should start and run the FEH every few weeks. I would also drive it when it's started so the tires don't get out of round.

The AWD will get a few MPG less than the FWD FEH and both will get worst MPG below 40F degrees. I recommend the '09 model year FEH for the best MPG, power, higher and easier EV speeds and safety. I sold my '05 FEH and got a '12 Focus SEL for my Son. The older FEH has a big drop in MPG with ethanol (E10), but starting in '09, the engine changed to a 2.5L and the 02 sensors where changed to broadband type and adjust to ethanol better.

GaryG

 

If no one can start the vehicle up monthly while you are overseas, then don't buy this vehicle.

 

The "big drop" in MPG with ethanol is a fiction.

I see no such drop in my 06 across my first 100,000 miles. There is technically a 4-6% drop in mpg with E-10 since ethanol has somewhat less energy per gallon, but that's it.

...And I find that difficult to discern across my fuel tracking.

 

If you knew anything about getting good MPG or could hypermile, you could see the big difference like most hypermilers do.

GaryG