A couple of things are going on here that have an effect.

1. Modern automotive AC systems use a pressure-sensing device to turn the compressor on and off. Since the pressures are related to the load on the system, they do in fact have a "duty cycle" proportional to the heat load on the system.

2. The Escape does not have a thermostatic control for the AC in the passenger compartment. The temperature control on the instrument panel simply adjusts the blend door which allows varying amounts of air to go through the heater core.

3. There is a thermostat for the battery pack, however. The system will bring up the AC to cool the battery if the computer decides the battery is too warm. It'll do this under any conditions, regardless of the settings on the climate control panel.

Another consideration is that while you can use recirc to keep cooler air in the passenger compartment, the ventilation for the battery pack is always outside air.