OK the only thing that I see that matches your description is two rubber hoses wrapped in heat wrap (they run over the exhaust) going into the firewall about dead center with High written on one and Low on the other.
Clif

 

Do you have any links for these write-ups...I could find anything myself.

The bit about there being an "electric heater" for the battery is very interesting. I found that information on MSN cars. If one could rig it so that this electric heater could be run on it's own, without the key on etc. that would be awesome. Simply set it up on a timer and no more warm-up times...go electric as quick as with summer driving. Anyone with FSM info on this. If it's just a matter of simply throwing 12v power to it that would be awesome!

This was what I had planned on doing until I seen the above info on the electric heater built into the FEH. Has anyone done this? Princess Auto stores here in Canada sell a product designed for dog beds that would work great. I'm was waiting for them to re-stock them to set something up in conjunction with my block heater.

 

I'm not sure thats true. EV mode isn't just a matter of warming up the battery. The water temp has to get pretty high as well so the ICE is warm. Frankly I'm not sure which is the limiting item..

 

I am 99.9% sure there is NO battery heater. As luck ( or fate ) would have it... I came across a 2007 FEH in a parking lot tonite. It was dark, but I had a penlight and got on my hands and knees and looked under the 2007. It looked just like my 2005. ( I even took another look under my 2005 just to be sure. )

There are two metal lines, sometimes with rubber parts, but for A/C refridgerant only.

The 0.1% uncertainty lies in the fact that hot water lines could run inside the car ( 2007's) in an invisible place, but I highly doubt it.

Also, there is no specific dedicated electric "heater" for the HV battery. Usage, HV Jump Start, or cabin heater are the 3 "stock" ways to heat the battery. Long ago ( 2004 ) a Ford press release stated something to the effect of "the FEH has a battery thermal management program to protect the battery from -40'F to 140'F" and since there is active cooling, some not so savy reporters read more into that statement then was really there, and ASSUMED there was a heater if there was a cooler. Not the case.

Thermal management means the battery is used differently in cold temperatures ( as well as hot ) and that's all it means.
-John

 

GRRRRR! That sucks.



Teester: I have a block heater to take care of the water/coolant temp. As previously mentioned, getting heat from the ICE is very quick, even in winter if one uses a block heater.

 

I believe the temp of the Catalytic Converter is the real limiter. The ICE will run until the Cat is up to its operating temp. I think a Cat heater would be more productive for overnight storage than a battery warmer.

 

Be sure to let us know how the Escape Hybrid looks, too, while you're at it.

{Sorry for the cheeky response, I just felt obliged to lighten this thread up a tiny bit.}

 

Tim, the CAT temp heats up much faster than the coolant temp. I could not believe how fast the CAT jumped to ~550F for closed loop on the Scangauge. It took twice as long or distance to go EV after that. Coolant temp is also measured with a combination sensor that measures head temp for the PCM. In either case, the coolant/head temp sensor must be just as much a limiter for EV as CAT temp, which is determined by the first and third oxigen sensor information reporting to the PCM. The CAT already has a heater, those are call "Heated Oxigen Sensors".

GaryG

 

So, what we are saying is that we need a CAT heater, a radiator heater, and a battery heater.......

 

Hey Gary... I got the scanguageII yesterday.... where do you get the CAT temp on it? There is a closed/open loop indicator for something else (not a mechanic so I'm still guessing what that means). Do you mean that this closed indication happens when the cat gets to 550F? so you infered the cat temp from that?