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I'm loving my Ford Fusion Hybrid. For the first thousand or so miles, I was able to put my car in a covered area, which kept internal temperatures low.

But there are times when I can't park in the shade or in a garage, and I find that in the 100 degree heat of Austin that my hybrid does not appear to do as well as before.

Example: As soon as I get in the car, I start the car, and I set the AC to 78, and start to drive. I leave the parking lot and as I drive and apply the brakes, I notice that the regenerative braking is not working. I assume that the temperature of the battery is not allowing for proper charging.

Is there anything I can buy or do to help with this? Extra insulation?

The same thing would probably apply to winter time. I didn't have my hybrid then, but last winter, it did get to below freezing. Can I add extra insulation to the battery pack to help with the extreme temperature, or should I just leave it and deal with it in other ways?

I have a sunshades for the windshield. I got mine off Amazon.com for my Prius.
The companies name is Heat Shield (http://www.heatshieldstore.com/)

It makes a major difference in my interior temperature.

My Volvo 960 I have two fold up disks that I place on the inside of the windshield when I park it. Being the car is black it does help a little unlike the major difference of 20 plus degrees with the white Prius.

I have a heat shield for my window, but that doesn't protect my battery, which lies in the trunk area. With summer and winter just around the corner, I'm worried that extreme heat or extreme cold will affect my batteries ability to charge.

What I'm looking for is what other people have done to insulate your battery against extreme temperatures... Is this something that I want to do? For instance, in the winter, I might take an electric blanket, and set it on "Medium", and wrap my battery with it and plug it in, to keep the battery warm. And in the summer, you might put a solar powered fan in the trunk with the retaining wall down to circulate the air, and keep the temperature down.

Just some ideas I had, and I wanted to find out what the hybrid veterans do.

Hi brakeb;

Perhaps this will help a bit?

A Hybrid Owner’s winter survival guide (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17560)

I know it appears specifically targeted at the Prius and HCH but I am certain that a good number of details will also apply to many other hybrids as well. ;)

Cheers

MSantos

Extra insulation would not help at all. Insulation works only when there are internal (inside the insulation) temperature controlling devices. It does not keep the heat out, but just slows down the rate of transfer. Even a styrofoam cooler doesn't work unless you put cold items inside, then keep replacing the ice as it melts.

An electric blanket would work as it can add heat. I don't know if it would help, but it would keep the pack warmer in winter.

I keep seeing people talking about block heaters. Are these good to keep the "morning warm-up" to a minimum? Do they keep the engine warm, or just the oil. Of course, keeping the oil warm would help warm the engine I guess.

Are block heaters a DIY project, or should I let the dealership put that in?

Depending upon where you purchased the car, Ford may already have installed one for you. They seem to do that for MN vehicles by default. I couldn't find the one in my wife's FFH for a bit until I looked in the engine bay — it isn't a long cord and doesn't reach the front grill.

You could do it yourself but it requires draining the coolant, using a breaker bar to knock out the block off plate, installing and routing the device/cable, then refilling the coolant system. Personally, I'd rather have the dealership do it.

The EBH heats the coolant directly and thus the engine block indirectly. It does help quite a bit with warm up mileage and gets the car to operating temp substantially faster. I use one year 'round and consider it not only a fuel saving device but also something to enhance longevity by shortening the high wear warm up process.