Maximize Heat Pump

[thymetraveller]

What is the best way to maximize use of the heat pump in the 2024 Lightnings?

Right now in chilly Maryland I get 2.5 m/kw with only the heated seats and steering wheel on my FLASH trim vehicle. But if I turn on the fan it drops to 1.5 m/kw which is a big drop. This is local suburbia driving, never going above 40 mph. I was expecting better and realize I may not be actually using the heat pump.

Coming from a Niro EV that has a heat pump, I didn't see such a drop with that car. I think it automatically engaged the heat pump but maybe the Lightning doesn't? I'm not sure. I do know that putting the Niro in park also makes the emergency brake engage but on the Lightning that's an extra step of flipping a button next to your left knee. So maybe it's something like that, need to learn how to engage the heat pump on a Ford.

Looking at the infotainment display there are a few settings:

1. The temperature setting (I have mine at 70 degrees F)
2. The fan speed (I had mine at level 1 because it is quiet and works well at getting rid of fogged up windows)
3. AC on/off (I don't know if this should be enabled or not, I generally had it off but sometimes turned it on but maybe didn't leave it on long enough to notice a difference)
4. Auto (this has multiple levels but even at the lowest auto level I found the fans to be really loud and disabled auto)

Maybe there's a deep menu somewhere to enable the heat-pump but I didn't readily find it.

The auto climate setting is supposed to be easy but I didn't like it. I use it on the Niro and the fans blow hard for about 30 to 60 seconds and then go whisper quiet. I left auto on for 10 minutes on the Lightning and it was still blowing hard. The Lightning is so good in the road noise department that I just love it, better than any car I've been in. Whatever Ford did about the door seals, the windows, sound proofing, it's awesome. I can play music really low and have an easy conversation with any passenger without raising voices. But turning on auto climate defeats all that.

In Maryland winters with the fans on low I get 4 m/kw in the Niro (eco mode) but 1.5 m/kw in the Lightning (normal mode) - while driving below 40 mph suburbia driving. I was expecting the Lightning to do 2.3 to 2.5 m/kw given that it's a small cabin and a huge vehicle. I figure for the size of the Lightning, heating would be a fraction of the power needed. Also it's just the first and second rows. There's no "cargo" space to heat up like in the Niro.

The Niro has four drive modes: normal, sport, snow, and eco

The Lightning has four too: normal, sport, tow, off-road

I think we can fudge the "snow" and "eco" on our Lightning if we learn how.

For example "snow" would mean:

1. disabling 1 pedal
2. removing all regenerative breaking
3. reducing torque (or at least have a soft pedal foot)

This helps avoid what happened to this Tesla driver in the snow:

And "eco" would mean:

1. enabling 1 pedal
2. most aggressive regenerative breaking
3. reducing torque
4. 2wd (though that's not possible on a Lightning)
5. using only the heat pump and not the toaster oven heater in winter as well as subdued cooling with AC in the summer. Also low fan speed. Basically making it slower to raise or lower cabin temps.

So I'm wondering how Lightning drivers can prioritize heat pump and efficiency

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[B177y]

Auto fan at 1 and 70 degrees should activate your heat pump just fine. That's what I use about 80% of the time, 70 or 72 on Auto 1. It will blow at a high velocity until the cabin is warmed, sometimes 10 or more minutes, but the fan eventually calms down to a low speed. Try turning off the "Driver Focused" setting in the climate control panel. There's a lot of volume that the Lightning is trying to heat or cool, the driver focused setting can sometimes sound louder as the fan blows at a higher setting trying to deal with all of that volume. I don't worry about the A/C button, it cycles on and off on it's own in the auto settings to take care of moisture. There is no "deep menu", it sounds like you are doing it right, just be patient.

If you want to see what is going on, get an OBD reader and Car Scanner app to monitor the "AC Current" and "Coolant Heater" PID's. The AC Current shows the heat pump amperage, and the coolant heater shows the kW of the resistance heater.

EDIT:
I forgot to add, use a departure time with the cabin set to the temp you want (warm, medium, or cool) to save your HV battery from doing all of the climate work. This will increase your battery efficiency as less power goes to the climate system.

Comparing the efficiency of the Lightning to your Niro is comparing apples to hand grenades. The Lightning is a square brick, the Niro is a sleek car. The Niro will be much more efficient, always.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Welcome to the forum.....

There is a detailed controls menu for climate, it has various selections, but anything you do inside this menu is reversed if you touch the Auto 1/2/3 selector on the main screen.

So either accept what the auto profiles do or manually customize the air flow paths, fan speed and driver focus on/off.

 

[Maquis]

How far are you driving after you first switch the fan on? Heat pump or no, it will use a lot of power to initially heat things.

For example, if I drive 5 miles to the store, I’ll get 1.5. Shut off, run my errand, get back in the truck. The 5 miles home will be about 2.0. And that’s with the elevation in my favor on the first leg, against me on the second.

 

[thymetraveller]

Thanks to the tips about the driver focus, auto-level-1, and short trips.

If I can plan ahead, I'll try to preheat the cabin temp. Probably auto-1 will be tamer that way.

 

[jamelski]

Departure time and preconditioning your battery won’t happen
That battery is cold and warming it up on top of warming up your interior.

 

[P-38]

I get 1.5 in 20F weather with the temp set to 67 auto 2. Driving 17 miles at 55mph with 7 stop signs. Does not matter if I precondition and climate control to hot or don't do anything. All the surface area of the cabin and battery are probably drawing off a lot of heat at 55mph.

If it's 40F then I'm 1.9. would love to break 2 on a regular basis in the winter but don't think that's in the cards even with the heat pump.

I feel auto does a terrible job at keeping windows clear of fog, either have to use max button or dive into the menus and fiddle with everything (which is a pain).

If there was an option to turn off resistive heating I would use that. But don't take away heated seats or steering wheel those are sweet.

 

[TaxmanHog]

If there was an option to turn off resistive heating I would use that. But don't take away heated seats or steering wheel those are sweet.

Do the 24's show an E-heat button in the climate control panel? Switch it off.

 

[B177y]

Do the 24's show an E-heat button in the climate control panel? Switch it off.

My '24 Pro has the heat button, I believe all Lightning trims and Mach-e's have it. It shuts off all of the heat though, no heat pump or resistance heat.

 

[Grumpy2]

I find I can keep the windows clear of fog by cycling on/off the fan on 1 or 2 while keeping off the heat and AC. It may be easier on our 23 Pro, but I suggest you try it to save the energy.

 

[Firn]

Are you worried about range? Do you need the range daily?

There is no way i would be uncomfortable because that little number on the dash changes, provided i didn't need the range. That number could be 7 or 0.7, but provided i can get to work every day it wouldn't matter.

With regards to the noise, I expect you are hearing the heat pump itself, not as much the interior fan. In my 23 the fan is very quiet, and on auto 1 I still barely hear it. It will run to bring the cabin up to temp but then does taper off to unnoticeable. Warming the cabin does take 5-10 minutes though, and that's coming from a warm garage. The cabin is actually quite large and if i can trust Google is over 30% larger than the niro.

At the end of the day precondition. Your efficiency numbers will be much higher. Your fan won't run hard on the auto settings and it won't foNiro.

As for settings it won't matter. 1pd drive or 2pd drive are the same, using the brake pedal is regen so increasing regen won't offer improvements, and since it's not a gas engine reducing torque won't make a big difference.

 

[RailroaderJ]

Make sure tires psi is 36 or you lose range.

 

[SSNutz]

Make sure tires psi is 36 or you lose range.

Depends on tires...I keep mine at 45 psi
For sure low psi will eat range and increase wear

 

[RickLightning]

Make sure tires psi is 36 or you lose range.

Tires should be set to the pressure on the doorjamb. Some models have 36psi, some have 42...

 

[snowy_91]

It's been anywhere from -27 to highs of -5 the last week or so, on short trips of 25 mile or less I see about 1kw per mile.

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