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Ford Escape Hybrid Battery Pack Questions

47 messages,  Last post on Oct 17, 2009 at 6:11 AM

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#28 of 47 ford hybrid escape battery by alice612 Mar 30, 2009 (11:51 am)
according to FORD PR people - I am the first consumer to have a ford escape hybrid battery die on me- I have 120 thousand miles on my car. Its 4 years old. One day last week a triangle with an exclamation mark popped up and the message was- pull over safely- I turned off the car and when I turned it on again the message disappeared- this happened 4 more times for the next 50 miles till I got to my Ford dealer- 165 dollars and an hour later I was told the battery was going and it would cost $8,000.00 to replace. but that I could still drive the car safely to Manhatten the next day- Thats about 200 miles round trip. I was told that when the battery starts to go the engine takes over and when the little red triangle comes back on to keep driving. I wonder why no one knew that when the little red triangle comes on if you don't pull over the gas pedal no longer works- I went from 60 to zero by the time I crossed 4 lanes of traffic. I called the service manager who knew that would happen, I have yet to get an answer on why his service people are so poorly trained. I called Ford and they told me I was the first person to ever have a battery die, that there are cabs with 350 thousand miles on them still going strong - If thats the case then what happened to my battery?- they are getting back to me- I keep asking the same question, how long should the battery last and at what point do you decide its time to get rid of your car. One Ford person explained that the warrenty covered the battery up to 100 thousand miles. So I asked, does that mean that at 100 thousand miles you should consider getting rid of the car? The answer was no. I asked what is the threshold, what is the benchmark for these batteries, no one knows, but my Ford dealer was told there was nothing Ford could or would do to help me. Its 8 thousand bucks for a new battery. I think consumers deserve better answers than this. I would really appreciate some feedback. Replies to this message: bdyment (Mar 30, 2009 4:54 pm) bow45 (Mar 31, 2009 9:37 am) bow45 (Apr 07, 2009 10:37 pm) imcookn (Apr 08, 2009 5:37 am) mseitz1 (Jun 17, 2009 5:30 pm) escapeforever (Jun 19, 2009 6:54 am) ajspark (Jun 20, 2009 9:27 am) wisill (Jul 23, 2009 6:05 pm) bow45 (Jul 04, 2009 10:44 pm) stevedebi (Jul 06, 2009 2:44 pm) imcookn (Oct 17, 2009 6:11 am)
#30 of 47 Re: ford hybrid escape battery [alice612] by bdyment Mar 30, 2009 (4:54 pm)
Replying to: alice612 (Mar 30, 2009 11:51 am) I am afraid you have discovered the main weakness with all hybrids, not just the Escape. The battery. As a hybrid gets older when do you trade it? Who knows for sure. Many variables enter into the equation. What will be the trade in value of a hybrid that is near the end of its battery life? Not much I'll wager.
#31 of 47 Re: ford hybrid escape battery [alice612] by bow45 Mar 31, 2009 (9:37 am)
Replying to: alice612 (Mar 30, 2009 11:51 am) Hello~ alice612.   Before I read your post I was considering 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid for my wife’s next car but after I read your post, I think Volkswagen Jetta TDI is the way to go.   I currently drive a 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid AWD with 42,000 miles on it and am having a Reverse Sensing System problem. I also had a Wrench Light issue because of a bad Aux Mode Door Actuator. I’m little disappointed with the quality of my Escape.   Please keep post what ‘s happening.   Thank you and good luck.
#32 of 47 Battery life on hi mileage vehicle by imcookn Apr 03, 2009 (2:51 am)
I just bought a '07 FEH with 90K on it under the theory that the mileage was done on highway travel and the HV battery had minimal charging during this period. What can I estimate the battery life? This car was driven in southern climates.
#33 of 47 Re: ford hybrid escape battery [alice612] by bow45 Apr 07, 2009 (10:37 pm)
Replying to: alice612 (Mar 30, 2009 11:51 am) Recently I read an article about the Prius batteries in Car and Driver, May 09, Vol. 54, No.11.   It says "Toyota sells replacement Prius batteries for about $2,300 and the company pays a $200 "bounty" for the goopy old dead ones."   FYI. Replies to this message: imcookn (Apr 08, 2009 5:37 am)
#34 of 47 Re: ford hybrid escape battery [bow45] by imcookn Apr 08, 2009 (5:37 am)
Replying to: bow45 (Apr 07, 2009 10:37 pm) That is very interesting. Did you know that Ford is demo testing Escape Hybrids with an additional battery for plug-in operation? I did find that Flex fuel models have also been evaluated I think in California. Now if they could include operation with Natural Gas that would be great!
#35 of 47 Re: ford hybrid escape battery [alice612] by mseitz1 Jun 17, 2009 (5:30 pm)
Replying to: alice612 (Mar 30, 2009 11:51 am) Did you ever get any resolution to this problem? I have an '06 Escape Hybrid and it is doing the same kind of thing you described. My local mechanic has punted and is passing the buck to a nearby Ford dealer. My local mechanic 'thinks its either the battery or the computer' but after reading all this on the Escape Hybrid I'm thinking it's the battery. My only hope at this point is that the mileage is only 96,000 and we're supposed to be under extended warranty. I don't want to think about Ford coping out and telling me I have an $8,000-$10,000 repair ahead.   How was your situation handled?
#36 of 47 Lifetime of Nickel-metal-hydride batteries by imcookn Jun 18, 2009 (7:02 am)
Please take a look at Wikipedia's article about nickel-metal-hydride batteries. It notes that virtually all the hybrid vehicles are using NMH batteries. I have not heard of any major problems with Toyota, Honda, etc.   As I suspected the article points out that the life of the battery is largely dependent on how it is charged and the handling of their temperature. Most of us probably thought that the job of the computer was to handle the balance between the electric and gasoline power sources. While it does do that, more importantly with regard to the batteries, it handles the recharging of the batteries and control of temperature. That said, there should be a method to check to see if the CPU is doing a correct job. There may even be a monitoring program with history that could be viewed.   I will spend some time to see what the IEEE publications report about this since I am a lifetime member.
#37 of 47 Re: ford hybrid escape battery [alice612] by escapeforever Jun 19, 2009 (6:54 am)
Replying to: alice612 (Mar 30, 2009 11:51 am) You might check a TSB for this (battery problem msg on dash display). I found out about one that fixes a false positive with a battery problem. It seems that something is wrong with the harness (they replace it for free up until August 09) and, if not repaired, can give the exact same symptoms that you describe even tho there is not really any problem. This TSB is not one that notifies owners -- you have to find out about it yourself. Check it out. Replies to this message: ajspark (Jun 20, 2009 9:27 am) wisill (Jul 23, 2009 6:05 pm)

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