I've been reading through the manual and you can jump start the hybrid from the front of the vehicle. I was curious how this was going to work since the battery is under the back seat. They routed a positive and negative jump point into the engine bay.
Jumping the Hybrid
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Starting on Page 282 of the owners guide show instructions and pictures on how and where to jump start the hybrid version.
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12 volt battery, which is what you are connecting the jumpers to, is used to run all the electronics. If it is dead the high voltage traction battery, which actually starts the car and engine, will not do so. If your traction battery is dead, there is nothing you can do to charge it. It would need to be towed to the dealership where the proper charging can be done. Which is why the car's computer system will not let you deplete it.
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The traction battery starts the engine? That seems wild to me, why step 300V down to 12V to crank the starter? If the LiFE pack is dead, you could still drive off the engine through the eCVT while the system also tries to charge the LiFE cells. I could be totally wrong, but I would have assumed the Hybrid still had an alternator to charge the 12V Lead Acid battery and power the 12V systems while the battery charges.
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"There really is no "starter". The transmission contains a pair of electric motors, both of which are connected mechanically with the crankshaft of the engine. When you need to spin the engine (before it actually starts), the HV battery provides power to spin the motor(s), which spin the crank, eventually starting the engine. Normal starters have a solenoid, gear, and motor, and dive a ring gear on the flywheel. The Prius has no starter solenoid, and no ring gear -- because it has no flywheel."
no starter High Voltage traction battery starts engine
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No starter, no alternator. Also no belts. You definitely have a lot to learn about hybrids. I've owned one for 9 years.
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No reason it can't be in the engine compartment. A high power wire comes from the alternator to charge the battery anyways. That's on top of the other wire that needs to run to the starter. Knowing this I figure it's not much of a big deal to put a 12 volt stud in the engine bay.
Maybe not.
Page 167 of the owners manual:
"What should I do if the vehicle runs out
of fuel and the high voltage battery is
out of charge?
Refuel and start your vehicle normally.
The engine will recharge the high
voltage battery."
I cannot say for sure, am just going by the owners guide for Maverick. Ford does change things up.
For example, in first gen Escape Hybrids there is a switch in the lower left foot well, behind a little plastic door. If all the batteries go dead (and yes, I mean totally dead) connect your jumpers, press the button and it will flash. When it is done flashing the 'jump' will have recharged the hybrid battery enough to run the system. Start the vehicle as normal and let the batteries charge from the engine. I have done this many times on very dead vehicles.
If you don't press that button you can charge or change the 12v battery and the engine will start and stop immediately with the "please stop safely now" message displayed in the dash, which is kind of funny because you're not going anywhere.
Ford got rid of this button on newer hybrids. I have to think because it is an automated process once you connect the jumper cables and it sees a good 12v.
If your hybrid battery is actually failed, then jumping will not work, obviously.
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Using the 12V jumping post in the engine bay to "jump start" the Maverick is mainly to power on the computer, ignition system and fuel pump. Once the computer has juice, it can direct the system to start the engine with the motor-generator powered by the high-voltage battery (provided it isn't also dead). So while hile the motor-generator is not tapping the 12V battery to crank the engine, the computer, engine and fuel pump need the 12V source to operate the engine. Once the engine starts, the motor-generator can send power (charge) the 12V battery and you can remove your jumper cables.
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The newer Escape hybrids ( I have a 2020) doesn't have the button. It has two posts under the hood for jump starting. I had the 12v battery go dead and had to jump it this way to get the car to "boot up".
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The 12V boots the computer and gets the car into a ready mode. The high voltage battery and electric motor do the rest (traction and starting the engine).
The hybrid transmission has two electric motors linked to the engine through a planetary gear set. When the gas engine is started, it uses one of those high voltage motors inside the transmission. There is no way to start the gas engine without at least some charge in the high voltage battery. Those two motors also are able to act as generators to charge the high voltage "Traction" battery. There is no separate starter or alternator. The 12v system is only used to power the circuits that control the high voltage system and the vehicle's accessories. That 12v system is charged by a high current (approx 200a) DC to DC voltage converter.
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