I don't know why Willard said there is no brake or one-way-clutch (OWC) in the FEH eCVT because there is. Motor/Generator 1 (MG1) has a brake and there is a OWC between the crank shaft and the gear set. In fact, the workshop manual warns about getting any contaminates on the OWC during assembly of the engine to the eCVT.

GaryG

 

No clutches etc. The FEH transaxle is an elegantly simple machine. Just don't need clutches.

A uni-directional coupling, not really a "clutch," makes alot of sense for the ICE. There has to be an oil pump in the transaxle somewhere, allowing one or both of the synchronous machines to turn when towing may well turn this pump, ensuring oil to the transaxle bearings.

At any rate, the simpler the machine, the fewer the problems over its life. This is why I believe this transaxle to be an elegant solution to the problem of a hybrid.

Since you might do what both of the synchronous machines do with just one, I wonder how long it took them to decide to use two. I believe this was the better solution, far better, but such leaps of thinking sometimes don't come easily. From that decision came the "three way" planetary gear set, another elegant design decision.

I use "three way" because in many planetary gear sets one of the three possible rotating elements is fixed. One Ford adaptation could be for one machine to "hold" an element fixed in some situations to better deliver torque & power to the wheels from the other sources.

I hope it is clear from the info provided in the two posts about towing that this is a well engineered and solid car. I believe that is precisely what the info shows.

 

I like the wheels in the air on jack stands idea. But don't do this with the F/awd FEH without first pulling the electric plug on the rear drive clutch.

Now put the FEH in drive and hold one wheel still....the "opposite" wheel rotates, right...?

Now try and turn "your" wheel in the opposite direction fast enough to bring that "opposite" wheel to a full stop.

You have just simulated how neutral works with the ICE running.

The e/CVT is driving the input to the front differential but you are holding the opposite wheel stationary via opposite spin of "your" wheel. That's how the e/CVT implements neutral, the MG(s) spin opposite to the ICE input therefore the output drive SUM is ZERO.

 

Voltage with no where to go is harmless.
Voltage without amperage is harmless.

There can be a potential of 100,000 volts on the wool sweater I'm wearing.

The motors can and do spin "free wheel" when the car is rolling in neutral.
This has been proven, and anyone with a FEH ( NOT WILLARD WEST ) can see the motors spin with their own eyes and a ScanGauge.

I only speak the truth, not crapola like that outher guy who doesn't even own the car!

A motor/generator can spin harmlessly with an open circuit.
Neutral is simply an open circuit, and this info comes directly from FORD.

 

Why not tell that story to the space shuttle crew that ran the experiment using a long trailing wire to cut through the Earth's magnetic fields as they circled the Earth and "generate" electricity, electrical power.

Do you happen to know how an ignition coil works...??

I would guess that the solid state electronics in the FEH can sustain no more than 2000 volts before breakdown and failure.

Turn the magnetic rotor in the AC motor fast enough or quick enough without a load to drain off the resulting voltage and that voltage would undoubtedly rise high enough to "punch" through any insulating layer.

Just as with/if you have enough moisture in the air the static voltage in your sweater would be drained off before it rises high enough to draw a spark. A "strong" enough spark that were there a semiconductor in the arc's path it would be destroyed, no longer functional.

And remember if the system is under power, the "ignition" is on, during coasting free-wheeling the system will bleed off any power generated. I frankly don't know just what would happen if the battery reached a full state of charge under this scenario. Maybe the engineers have thought of that and provided a "crowbar" circuit by disengaging the driveline clutch.

PS: I will always remain embarrassed about the number of "high voltage/current" transistors I destroyed back in the early 70's trying to recover energy from a permanent magnet stepper motor's magnetic drive field but not having enough "storage space" (capacitor bank) which resulted in the voltage rising too high.