Hello
Just recently got a 06 Mariner hybrid with 109K. It drives fine but wondered about the battery reconditioning which might extend the time I can drive EV (raising mileage). Anyone did this themselves? I have read people use RC car battery chargers and individually cycle the cells to a value on other hybrid models and wondered about this.

 

People have driven Escape Hybrids over 500,000mi. with very little or no loss of mileage. Which means the battery is just fine. No one ever works on these batteries as sort of a speculative attempt to improve mileage.

Even if you lose 10%, the regeneration is only about 30% of what makes the car efficient. So 10% of 30% = 3%. Which isn't enough to go to the bother of working on the battery.

And even if you have lost 3%, you can achieve 3% more easily by various other means, such as driving just a bit slower, or raising the tire pressure a bit. Ensure the air conditioning is in top shape and the rear battery filter is clean.

I'd suggest you drive it for a while and see if your mileage compares well to what others report.

And, nice that you got a Mariner that old with relatively low mileage.

 

I was wondering about battery conditioning myself after I noticed my 2008 seems a bit sluggish lately — though I suspect it's likely because of my driving habits recently which have been short 10 mile trips only a few days a week with max AC. When I searched for hybrid battery discharging and similar issues, The Hybrid Shop reconditioning service pops up. Out of curiosity, does anyone here know anything about this service? Xspirit's reply above makes sense and I suspect that if the procedure were that effective dealerships would actively promote it.

 

10 mile drives are long enough that they should not impact the FEH's mileage in the summer.

A simple check is after you've driven it, put your hand on the battery case under the cargo area carpet. If the battery is very warm to hot, there's an issue with the battery cooling and that will affect mileage. This is most likely to show up when A/C is on max and demands on the A/C system are high. Max A/C use will impact mileage by itself, and is more likely to show up at city driving speeds than highway speeds, where the additional fuel use is a smaller proportion of the gas being used. For instance, if you sat in one place with the A/C on max, you'd get really bad mileage:-)

 

Well, 10 miles is more of a maximum roundtrip drive. Most trips are 3-5 miles one way with me blasting the AC on max because the summer temps have settled in at around 100F here in Texas.

However, after I read your post the other night I went out on a 8 mile roundtrip errand with a quick (<5 min.) stop and drove with better fuel saving in mind and it made a huge difference. I kept the AC at 68F and ~50% fan speed with ECON on and within 2.5 miles the ICE would shut off under 25-30mph. I also noticed better acceleration and afterwards the battery was on the cool to warm side.

I have had issues with the main AC but they are fixed now. The hose assembly (I think that's what it was) leaked and last summer it took very long to cool the car down. The AC totally failed the first time I turned it on this year in March and since the repair, it's been much better.

Thanks!

 

I recently replaced the MECS pump by the FORD recall. After that I again got 7L/100 display as before it changed to 8L/100km this year. I am driving a 2008 4WD.

 

Great to see such a definitive confirmation of the repair.

Since the FEH's mileage display, for no reason I can think of, truncates to the nearest whole number in L/100km, 7L/100km = 7.0-7.999, and 8L/100km = 8.0-8.999.

This translates into 35-40mpg and 30-35mpg Imperial.

Due to the inexplicably dumb fact that, despite the overabundance of digital information and controls on the Escape, the mileage readout (on the Canadian spec version, yet) is only in US mpg. You can get a very accurate mileage number by using the US mpg, and converting to L/100km or Canadian mpg. This means your improvement probably is less than 1L/100km. 33.4mpg US = 40mpg Imperial.