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Originally Posted by JeromeP
I don't want to appear stupid, but I don't quite understand the question you are asking, so I'll try to give an overview of how things have been done in the past with regard to A/C and hybrids, from a Prius perspective, since that seems to be our point of reference right now.
Does the Escape Hybrid have auto climate? Yes? Then what I write below is probably correct.
Prius I had the A/C connected directly to the engine like the Escape. Automatic climate control interfaced with the rest of the onboard computers, just like it does today in current shipping Prii, in order to efficiently run the car and keep the interior to the driver's preference. So, this scenario should explain how it all is tied together.
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Escape has manual climate control. However, when active the A/C does cycle the compressor unless MAX or DEFROST settings are selected.
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Originally Posted by JeromeP
It's summer. It's warm out. The a/c is set to 72, not that an exact temp is meaningful in my example, but it shows that the system will be working to keep the cabin cool. The Prius driver has his car at a stop and the vehicle has gone into auto-stop. There is residual "cool", for lack of a better description, in the ductwork and the coils that during a short stop at a light or stop sign that the cabin might not warm up beyond the thermostat set point. So at a short light auto-stop would work correctly and the engine and a/c would turn off. There wouldn't be enough time for solar energy to warm up the cabin before the car would be moving again and the ICE would be used for propulsion and the A/C compressor could make up for lost time.
However, if that light were long, then it is likely that solar energy would warm the cabin above the set point. That is when the climate control system would kick in and ask the hybrid control system to engage the engine and the a/c compressor would subsequently engage. The engine-a/c combination would run only until the cabin had been brought below the set point and then turn off.
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Escape is similar. However the climate control is not thermostatically set...so the set points are a mystery to the driver. There's also the issue of the battery evaporator. If it commands cooling the engine will start regardless of the position of the HVAC selector switch.
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Originally Posted by JeromeP
Also a question for you, where is the location of the air inlet to the Escape's battery? That will answer more questions about how Ford is choosing to cool their battery.
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Ford chose to use outside air. My suspicion is they were being conservative and worried about having any ductwork connecting the interior of the battery pack with the passenger space.