Opinions on Using Eco Idle?

[Oxford_Powerboost]

Hey everyone. Got my Powerboost finally on Saturday! Loving it so far, still playing with all the settings and features.

Wondering what you all think of Eco Idle? Do you use it? If so, sometimes under specific circumstances or always? I can’t decide if I want to check that box on or not. The way Ford describes it, it’s like why wouldn’t you always idle economically? But it’s not the default behavior, so there must be some times you want to use it and some you don’t.

Just curious if anyone out there is running it all the time or has an idea of a good use case for it? Or can help explain why it’s not just the default behavior?

Thanks! Got the Powerboost mostly cause I think the tech is cool, so I like to keep learning more about it lol

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[y7eah]

I turned it on right away after I got mine home. I think it runs the generator to charge up the battery while idling, then shuts off the engine sooner. You can feel the engine ramp up like there is load on it, and a slight rumble/vibration. After this, the engine will usually cut off and run off the battery. I've noticed it at stop lights as well while in drive. I was concerned at first, but this seems like normal operation (not sure how much is attributed to that settings vs normal hybrid operation).

Curious what everyone else has to say...

 

[WillB17]

People might not enable it if they are camping so the truck will not be as loud when its charging the battery. However, jobsites may not care about the noise as the tools they are using are much louder than the 1.3K RPM when it's eco-charging. I have mine enabled simply to charge it quicker.

 

[Oxford_Powerboost]

People might not enable it if they are camping so the truck will not be as loud when its charging the battery. However, jobsites may not care about the noise as the tools they are using are much louder than the 1.3K RPM when it's eco-charging. I have mine enabled simply to charge it quicker.

Yeah I’m thinking along the lines of you. It probably is more efficient, but Ford didn’t make it the default as it is louder and vibrates a little more. That doesn’t really bother me, so I might be leaving it on

 

[xtraman122]

I keep mine on, it makes it charge the battery quicker when it goes to do the charging at idle so you have the battery charged up fully more often.

 

[Snakebitten]

I have it enabled. When we are sitting around sippin coffee and eating kolaches and the truck is just a few feet away powering the RV, it's still amazingly quiet.

I don't think the truck idles at 1500rpm if you are driving though. Like at a traffic stop in gear. I could be wrong, but it seems like I would have noticed that.
I'll have to check that out today.

 

[Tosh]

I use it. Besides allowing for a faster re-charge on the battery, it also seems to help with warming up the truck quicker on a cold morning.

I probably would turn it off if I were camping, as previously suggested

 

[Shooter56]

There are a couple threads on this. Many of us like the eco idle for working in the truck and for leaving the dog in it on warm days.

I don’t use it when powering the TT as there’s no need. When you are using pro power the engine kicks on when the computer tells it to in order to recharge the lithium battery. The truck does not need to be on eco idle mode to run pro power as far as I know.

 

[JoeBlowFord]

There are a couple threads on this. Many of us like the eco idle for working in the truck and for leaving the dog in it on warm days.

I don’t use it when powering the TT as there’s no need. When you are using pro power the engine kicks on when the computer tells it to in order to recharge the lithium battery. The truck does not need to be on eco idle mode to run pro power as far as I know.

Eco Idle is relevant in both scenarios. Its purpose is to idle the engine at a higher than normal speed to charge the battery faster, both when using Pro Power and when not. The engine will run for a shorter amount of time while recharging, but the higher idle can be a little louder, so people need to decide on the tradeoff and which is better in each scenario.

 

[Shooter56]

I’ll have to research this. I have been under the impression the generator mode and eco idle mode are similar, but different. Eco idle keeps the truck on when generator mode is off and generator mode keeps the truck on regardless of eco idle setting. I use generator mode when I plug in my trailer or something else. This works whether the truck is in eco idle mode or not. I use eco idle mode when the generator mode is off and I want the truck to idle for more than the prescribed time limit, (30 minutes or something) to keep it cool when I leave the dog in the truck while I am outside the truck doing something else.

If I am missing something here and I could be, could you explain how eco idle and propower relate as I have not been able to see how they operate simultaneously, only separately as I use both features. I am always up for more knowledge on how this truck works. Sometimes I think it may be smarter than me, but then part of the fun is learning how this vehicle works.

 

[Snakebitten]

I feel post#9 clearly describes the role of Eco-Idle.
At the risk of oversimplification, Ford could have just called it High RPM Idle.
That's what it is, afterall.

As a result of turning the electric motor/generator at a higher RPM, it is a "quick(er) charge" setting.

So whether the battery was drained from an outlet using generator mode, or it was drained running the air conditioner and stereo system in the cab while you sit, it doesn't matter. If the truck has Eco Idle enabled, the idle will be at a raised RPM compared to normal.

At least that's how my truck has presented Eco Idle to me.

 

[Oxford_Powerboost]

I’ll have to research this. I have been under the impression the generator mode and eco idle mode are similar, but different. Eco idle keeps the truck on when generator mode is off and generator mode keeps the truck on regardless of eco idle setting. I use generator mode when I plug in my trailer or something else. This works whether the truck is in eco idle mode or not. I use eco idle mode when the generator mode is off and I want the truck to idle for more than the prescribed time limit, (30 minutes or something) to keep it cool when I leave the dog in the truck while I am outside the truck doing something else.

If I am missing something here and I could be, could you explain how eco idle and propower relate as I have not been able to see how they operate simultaneously, only separately as I use both features. I am always up for more knowledge on how this truck works. Sometimes I think it may be smarter than me, but then part of the fun is learning how this vehicle works.

As far as I can tell, it’s independent of propower. It doesn’t extend your idle timer (there is a separate setting for that) it just charges the battery “more efficiently” by running at higher rpm so that the truck can EV idle for longer/more efficiently. A scenario to me for example would be waiting on someone in the truck and want to keep the air on, or for people who idle for extended times on a job site. Pro power in generator mode will run the engine as necessary, regardless of eco idle setting

 

[Snakebitten]

As far as I can tell, it’s independent of propower. It doesn’t extend your idle timer (there is a separate setting for that) it just charges the battery “more efficiently” by running at higher rpm so that the truck can EV idle for longer/more efficiently. A scenario to me for example would be waiting on someone in the truck and want to keep the air on, or for people who idle for extended times on a job site. Pro power in generator mode will run the engine as necessary, regardless of eco idle setting

Exactly. But ProPower mode also uses Eco Idle to charge the battery quicker, thus running ICE for a shorter period of time.

 

[JoeBlowFord]

For the analytical minded people (ahem....Snakebitten ), it would be interesting to put a continuous unchanging load on Pro Power, and test how long the ICE runs in both modes to charge the battery. I would assume that excluding the small ICE runtime difference, the battery only time would largely be the same in each test, since the battery will deplete at the same rate.

My PB idles at 1K without eco idle, and at 1.6K with. Wondering how that difference translates to total charge time. If it only shaves off 15-30 seconds per full charge, I'd be inclined to turn off eco idle.

 

[Snakebitten]

I haven't run any official tests, but I do work from my truck at times and have spent up to 3 hours "idling" in a parking lot in summer.
This is what I concluded :

With the AC set on 68F and the stereo on while I was streaming Spotify, the truck would go between 19-23 minutes before the ICE came on and the ICE event would last just a few seconds less than a full minute.

It was so consistent over those 3 hours that I have since then stated to others (who've asked) The Powerboost can support you sleeping comfortably inside the cabin with about 3 minutes of ICE per hour.

By the way, it's one of the most AMAZING features of this truck that I hadn't even considered when I decided to get one. I don't know why I hadn't thought about it, since I'm normally so analytical. ????

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