C Max Question

willald wrote:

DouglasC wrote:
...On the Fusion, when the key is back as far as it will go towards "OFF",and the tranmission is in Neutral, the brakes are not powered and I set the pressure on the Brake Buddy as I normally would (about 70#).

If the Brake Buddy is set properly and one drives in a normal manner, the Brake Buddy never engages (it's only set to engage in a near panic stop situation), therefore there is no drain on the battery.

If you feel more comfortable using a charge line, then by all means do it. I'm just telling you that I've towed these 2 hybrids over 30,000 miles and never had a "dead" battery problem. "To each his own."

Yeah, I think this is another example that shows there is no 'one size fits all' for hardly anything.

You have your brake buddy set to only engage brakes in a near 'panic stop' situation. Soo, basically, your toad brakes rarely if ever are engaged. Between that, and putting the ignition in that 'almost OFF' position...Yep, you're right, your toad battery is probably not going to get run down much at all.

However, most folks prefer to have a bit more toad braking than that, so your approach could lead to a dead battery pretty quickly if that was the case. Hence the need for a charge line.

You have chosen not to use Ford's recommendation about keeping key in ACC position.

I, as well as I believe many other folks, are a bit too 'paranoid' to try that, and would prefer to stick to the manufacturer's recommended procedure as much as possible.

With your 2012 Fusion hybrid, active braking is turned off when you turn key to that 'almost OFF' position.

That is NOT the case on my 2013 Fusion. With mine, active braking stays on regardless of ignition switch position, so without a charge line on a 2013 model, you WILL run the battery down when towing long distances, regardless what position you leave key in (unless you set your brake system to only come on during 'panic stops', something I don't think many folks do).

Will

I've towed an Edge and Flex for 5 years and looking at what to replace with the Flex with and considering a hybrid so interested in this topic.

Every ford vehicle I have ever had has 4 positions for the key; off; acc; on; start. Do the hybrids have another position?

I have always left the key in the acc position and never had a problem with a dead battery so never had the need for a charge wire. It sounds as though I will need the charge wire if I buy a 2013 or later hybrid, is this correct?

The comment about toad braking only during emergency stops probably isn't accurate. Brake buddy and others introduced proportional braking systems around 2007 so most systems older than that will not have proportional capability.

I have towed for 10's of thousands of miles and only recall the brake buddy engaging once. Based on my experience I really don't see a need for proportional braking and would prefer not to have it if it means charging requirements for the toad.