Does anyone know when they started using the 2nd gen battery packs? could they have started in late 07?

 

I have not seen nor heard of any specs for any 2nd generation battery pack. As I posted in another thread:

Changes in supplier, battery management software, battery shape, cooling fan, or a resistor here and there does not make it a second generation pack. Gen. 1 ver. 2 perhaps.

Only a change in battery chemistry, voltage, or watt-hours of storage available would qualify it as a "new" generation of pack.

I'm all ears if these changes are out already!
-John

P.S. All the specifications on the official Ford website for the 2008 FEH are exactly the same as the 2005 model.
Only the cosmetics and interior options have changed.

 

I have read and heard on an internet interview with the head engineer that the 08 has a second gen battery pack that the batteries were "improved" and that this is one of the reasons the 08s get better fe. I was wondering if maybe my 07 had the new bp because I have not been notified of the recall and mine was a late production 07.

 

From the article

http://www.evworld.com/article.cfm?storyid=1351

 

I have a feeling the changes for 2008 are too slight to be noteworthy.
It is still NiMH, still 330v, and probably ( not confirmed ) still 5.5 AHrs.
With software improvements, you can use what you already had in the 2005 more effectively.

Later 2007's may have come from the factory with the small resistor change already installed.

 

Without opening the battery pack is there a way to tell what vendor made the pack or Ni-mH baterries?

 

Okay, I listened to the whole 30 minute taped interview, and if others don't have 30 minutes, here is the short version of what FORD said and didn't say.
From Ford Engineer Sharif Marakby:

The 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid

Has a Generation 2 Hybrid Control System
- Improved enegy flow
- Optimized control system
- EV to ICE operation is smoother
- Not a lighter vehicle, but a more aerodynamic vehicle
- More features for the same weight as 2005
- Improved internal quietness
- Gen 2 battery control system
- "basically our next generation battery"
- No production quantitiy issues - still with Sanyo - meeting demand
- Better sensing and software allows us to get more out of the pack
- thus providing "a little more power per cell"
- 100's of factors go into when things come on in a hybrid
- hinted 2008 allows ICE off longer, allowing HV battery to drain lower at stops, increasing FE
- most changes for 2008, close to two-thirds were software changes
- 2005 packs have gone 200,000 miles in Taxi Fleets without issues
- The 2005 model FEH has proved more durable overall than gas versions
- Li-ION packs are 3 to 5 years away
- 3 biggest changes for 2008 are: quieter, more MPG, enhanced climate control
- The most fuel economy is not neccessarily when the engine is off most
- but is when you run the optimum blend of ICE and battery
- Ford Fusion Hybrid - late 2008 "with some surprises"

To me, thus sounds like 99% the same battery, but they have learned they can now push it more, and use it harder to improve MPG. There were not any specifics, but it "sounded" like the nominal 40-60% SOC range has been extended, in favor of more performance.

No where did Ford say 2008 has a new battery.
They only said that 2008 has a Generation 2 control system.
-John

 

Yea, mine too was one of the end-of-the-model-year 07's. Yea, I haven't gotten the battery recall notice.

Also, the comparison that's being talked about here, is between the original '05 hybrid, and the new '08 hybrid.

So, I think yours is a valid question. Were there no changes from the '05 hybrid to the '07 hybrid? In other words, is the '07 hybrid system identical to the '05?

Or, which is the good question you are bringing up, did Ford slowly introduce changes along the way? Did Ford slip in, improved battery cells here, a better management software there, as they became available?

 

Yes, there were slight changes each model year.
But more like "revisions" than new editions or generations.

I equate the changes between 2005 2006 and 2007 like changing a few words in a book. For 2008, Ford added a new chapter.
-John

 

I agree