EV+ Shows up occasionally - what does it mean?

[SigmaOutdoors]

So a few times when driving the display shows EV+ instead of EV. This is only for a what seems like a millisecond and then it is gone.

 

Going with the general theory that A+ is better than A, I would think EV+ is better than EV.

 

This all being said, what does anyone know about it? If worthwhile is there something we can do while driving to achieve this seemingly elusive state?

 

Thanks!

[gmarshall]

After awhile your vehicle will remember up to 10 locations such as home or work or in some cases your dealers location (not a good thing) and when your vehicle gets close to these locations it will change over to EV+ and that will let you run longer on EV mode with a lower HV battery charge than normal.

Edited May 22, 2013 by gmarshall

[neod192]

LOL, that's a feature of the car that lets it learn frequent destinations, like your home or work office. When you get close to a learned EV+ location, the car will increase the EV threshold to let you zoom in EV mode longer. It'll also allow the battery to get to a lower SOC than in just EV mode. If it's only on for a second or two, you're either not quite in the learned destination radius or something's wrong. My car learned the dealership in one day, home in 2 days and work in 4 weeks.

[SigmaOutdoors]

Thanks guys! Makes sense that I have seen it "near home" - funny thing is I live at the top of a hill in the woods and the driveway is all uphill and 1/2 mile long. So I don't see a lot of EV-anything as I make my ascent up the driveway!

[acdii]

Maybe not uphill, but bet you can get quite a charge on it going downhill! :)

[neod192]

Thanks guys! Makes sense that I have seen it "near home" - funny thing is I live at the top of a hill in the woods and the driveway is all uphill and 1/2 mile long. So I don't see a lot of EV-anything as I make my ascent up the driveway!

That makes sense, it still needs a lot of power to go up a hill and EV+ helps a little, but it sounds like not enough. Next time you go home, try to keep the power requirement in the EV+ range and see if it helps. Make sure you have a fully charged battery (70-80%) when you start using EV+.

[SigmaOutdoors]

I do get a great charge going down the hill for sure :) Thanks again for the advice.

[hybridbear]

I do get a great charge going down the hill for sure :) Thanks again for the advice.

The theory behind EV+ is that as your near your destination you want to use up as much battery as possible since the ICE will kick on soon after you leave to warm up and can charge the battery then. It's designed to improve overall MPGs, but depending on your circumstances there might be times you want it off. Sometimes I will turn it off if I know it will actually hurt MPGs by running the battery down too low, or if I'm just driving near a frequent destination but not actually stopping there. it is fairly easy to turn on and off using the left side steering wheel buttons

[majorleeslow]

I found it useless. Turned it off after the first 1k miles. It only works some times and would like to save the power it uses to connect to gps satellites towards miles per gallons. yeah.

[corncobs]

Funny observation about EV+.

After I had my winter tires installed I noticed that EV+ would turn on when driving by this place (the dude didn't know how the FFH is turned on) which happens twice a day. Now after 2 weeks I noticed this week that EV+ would no longer show up when getting close. To me it looks like that if you don't have key cycles at an EV + location for a period of time while still driving thru the area where it turns on it's deleted.

[acdii]

It does. I noticed that too. When I had the bumper painted, the EV+ would show up at 14 and 173, I guess that is where the bumper was done. It no longer shows up there, but shows up at my Dealer, however, I realized that it isn't the dealer that got tagged, I get gas across the street from it.

[SteveB_TX]

The only place my EV+ comes on is when I get to about 1/4 mile from home. During my house remodel I have been going to Lowes and Home Depot almost daily for months. I park in the same spot every time at both locations (ding free zone!), yet EV+ never comes on. I also shop at the Commissary on base almost daily, and again, park in the safest spot. Still, no EV+. Very frustrating. :gaah:

[RatBoy]

Have also noticed this - and always about 1/2 to 1/4 mile from home.

[md13ffhguy]

Have also noticed this - and always about 1/2 to 1/4 mile from home.

Be sure to read beyond the first post in the thread. ;)

[Texasota]

My FFH has been parked at a new location for almost two weeks under a carport with a steel roof. It has not learned his new home (i.e. no EV+ for this new location). Is it because of the steel roof? I'm also wondering how much of a drain EV+ places on the 12 volt battery when it is parked?

[jeff_h]

My FFH has been parked at a new location for almost two weeks under a carport with a steel roof. It has not learned his new home (i.e. no EV+ for this new location). Is it because of the steel roof? I'm also wondering how much of a drain EV+ places on the 12 volt battery when it is parked?

 

Some places are less receptive to being picked up, for unknown reason. I have a thread on the Energi forum where the MFM app shows my car (about once every 1-2 months) parked at various locations in the ocean around the world, and after more thought I realize that it has only occurred when parked at the Chargepoint charging station down the road from my office. Also noteworthy (and related to this thread) is that the car was parked at that Chargepoint station 185 times last year and the car still hasn't saved it as an EV+ location. So maybe I should rename the charge location as "the twilight zone" as no idea why the EV+ has never saved, either before the 14E02 PCM update a couple months ago, or in the dozens or times I've parked there since the PCM update.

[Easy Rider]

I'm also wondering how much of a drain EV+ places on the 12 volt battery when it is parked?

NONE.

EV+ is triggered when it gets close to a place it has been a LOT of times before.......and ends when you turn it off.

It is mostly a gimmick. Don't worry about it.

Edited January 14, 2015 by Easy Rider

[md13ffhguy]

NONE.

EV+ is triggered when it gets close to a place it has been a LOT of times before.......and ends when you turn it off.

It is mostly a gimmick. Don't worry about it.

I also quickly came to see this "feature" in the same light. It works, or at least is activated, as advertised when I approach my home. However, at the neighborhood speed limit, and considering the entire stretch is level to slightly downhill, the car would be in EV mode anyhow. It has never come on for any other location I frequently drive to, including work. Pretty sure I go there a lot.

[jeff_h]

I also quickly came to see this "feature" in the same light. It works, or at least is activated, as advertised when I approach my home. However, at the neighborhood speed limit, and considering the entire stretch is level to slightly downhill, the car would be in EV mode anyhow. It has never come on for any other location I frequently drive to, including work. Pretty sure I go there a lot.

 

On the other hand, if your house is on a hill in your neighborhood (as mine is), the EV+ is a benefit as it uses the HVB as much as possible rather than the ICE.

[billford]

The theory behind EV+ is that as your near your destination you want to use up as much battery as possible since the ICE will kick on soon after you leave to warm up and can charge the battery then. It's designed to improve overall MPGs, but depending on your circumstances there might be times you want it off. Sometimes I will turn it off if I know it will actually hurt MPGs by running the battery down too low, or if I'm just driving near a frequent destination but not actually stopping there. it is fairly easy to turn on and off using the left side steering wheel buttons

 

Good post.

 

I didn't realize it, but this makes a lot of sense especially in the winter. There is probably no need for the engine to run and charge the battery when your close to home and going to park it.

 

Since the engine is going to run the next morning when you turn the heat on, it might as well charge the battery also...The engine will do 2 jobs at the same time...

[hybridbear]

EV+ is great in the Energi since you'll get home and charge the HVB using wall power.

[TonyHzNV]

EV+ is great in the Energi since you'll get home and charge the HVB using wall power.

A little off topic, I know, but what would you say is your "average" charge time, how often do you do it, and about how much does it affect your electric bill? Is your home charger 120v or 240v?

[hybridbear]

A little off topic, I know, but what would you say is your "average" charge time, how often do you do it, and about how much does it affect your electric bill? Is your home charger 120v or 240v?

Empty to full takes about 2 hours to the minute on 240V at home. While in Cali this past week we used 120V at the house and it took about 5 hours from empty to full. Usually when we drive the Energi around the city at home we either drive only short distances to stay within EV range or we charge while out. Most often I'll drive it to my parents house and then charge there on their 240V charger. We pay an additional $40 per month to our apartment for the electricity for the Energi and the Focus Electric. We usually drive about 1200 electric miles combined between the 2 cars. We usually just charge overnight at home. During summer we didn't charge the Focus daily, but we do now in winter since we use so much more electricity.

Edited January 18, 2015 by hybridbear

[TonyHzNV]

Thanks, HB. That's VERY interesting information! Have a good one.

[kemaha]

anyone know if ev+ is still on 2017+ vehicles? my in-car tutorial talks about setting EV+ on/off - but when i go to settings - there is no EV+ category (just backup camera and something else). I am not sure if it is just automatic now or if it went away. i have had 2018 car for 3 months and have not seen EV+ yet - for what it is worth