Ford C-Max Energi camping bed platform, sleeping with A/C running on HV battery overnight
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- Опубліковано 7 лип 2024
- Added a removable bed platform to be able to sleep in the car with the A/C on powered by the High Voltage battery (how to turn Auto Engine Off steps at the end of the video). Support frame , template, and foam mattress. Notes after the 1st trip:
25% of battery used overnight while level 1 charger plugged in
Boyds Campground in Key West actually has 30amp plug for using with level 2 charger even on their small site, even though they told me there is only 110v plug, there are both.
AC worked fine through the night, but the car is much warmer in the rear. Sleep with head towards the front, and maybe bring a small fan (perhaps USB powered) to circulate the air around the car better.
Portable shower is awesome, but 2 gallon water tank not nearly enough, barely lasted a couple of minutes.
I should have listened to advice for blacking out windows with reflectics. While having ac was great I could feel the heat coming especially from the rear window even with well tinted windows.
Playing "Tetris" and having to move stuff from the back seats to the front seats to make room for sleeping and back is a pita. Most van life folks complain about this, but C-Max is so small even for a 2 day trip this was annoying. Although for 1 person would be less of an issue as you could leave most stuff in front passenger seat.
If your campsite has power, bring a cattle to boil water.
Have a flashlight handy, bug spray, sun screen.
Power strip and multi port USB charger are really useful, since C-Max has 110 plug inside, a lot of small electronics can be charged if you bring a power strip, and even better a multi-port USB charger.
Run a line/wire/rope from the 2 hangers above the rear doors inside, can be useful for drying clothes or if you have a 2 in 1 laptop that flips over or a tablet with a similar flip cover, you can hang it on the wire/line and make a little movie theater. We enjoyed watching a downloaded Netflix episode while it rained for a while.
If you have room to bring a small battery vacuum that could be useful, or at least look for rubber floor mats. It took forever for me to clean out all the sand/camping ground dirt from the car.
As another would-be C-Max Energi camper I want to say thanks so much for posting this! Hope you have a great weekend trip and look forward to hearing how it went and what you learned.
Just added a bunch of my notes from the 1st trip to the description of the video...
@@rsmolkin Thanks for those notes - very helpful. The "Tetris" situation is definitely an issue when you're sleeping two. We've invested in a tent that attaches to the back liftgate to make storage easier for those times we are stopped for more than 1 night. Liftgate can be closed with tent attached. Question - do you have those Ford LED Signature light strips under your front headlights? And if so, were they on all night while you had the car in ready mode for climate control? I do and the inability to turn them off is problematic. I'm thinking of pulling the headlight assemblies and unplugging the connection to those lights. Any other suggestions welcome. FYI - if you think you're going to continue with the CMax camping, I can send you templates for the window reflectix - those templates are a bit of a pain to create but window coverings are easy once you have them.
@@deborahd2294 Hi, Yes, those day time running lights (that's not what Ford calls them, I think they call them signature lighting) can be turned off, but not easily... I did a ton of research, and even when I thought I had it all figured out, turned out the cable I bought was not 100% compatible. You need this cable: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07X2W1WSY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 You'll also need this software forscan.org/download.html and you need to get the extended license, I think they give it free for 2 months or something like $10 for a year, totally worth it. You also need a Windows laptop. If you do get that far, let me know and I can try to remember which specific setting I changed. I actually modified the lights setting, as well as the car honking if you close the door with keys inside and something else for convenience. And the engine setting to make it run all night has to be changed every time, it resets itself, but it's done directly through the car settings fortunately. As for Windows, curious why they were hard to create, and I will probably need to make some for the next trip, don't have one planned yet...
Awesome
Ive camped in the regular cmax hybrid version in the summer with the a/c on. The engine kicks on every 10-15 minutes or so. Slept right through it no problem and only used a small amount of fuel all night about a gallon. There is also plenty of length inside more than 6 feet. That's pretty cool the Energi version can run the A/C all night. I wonder why they havent developed a battery pack for heavy duty trucks to run their a/c all night for the drivers? Or maybe they have and i dont know about it...
I'm sure the new electric ones can do it. I can't wait till they start making phev or ev rvs with decent range...
As well as a prius
I have a cmax and thinking also if traveling with it. Very interested in following your journey
Just added a bunch of my notes from the 1st trip to the description of the video...
I’m pretty bummed there aren’t prefabricated bedding options for the Cmax energi like there are for other cars.
Hey how did your hack work out? Thank you for sharing this video! I’m just now getting my C-Max retrofitted to head south to warmer climate. I’m flying by the seat of my pants, but I’m good with it.
I pretty much put all my notes about the 1st trip in the video description. For a 1-2 day trip it was ok. Especially it you'll be staying at Campgrounds with power. Bring a level 2 charger if you have one.
Hello from Greece! What is the narrowest dimension on the foam mattress? Is it good enough for two people?We have a cmax too.
Our mattress is about 71" long, and 53" at the widest part and 36" at the narrowest part. I was able to sleep on it with my girlfriend for 2 nights, it was ok, certainly no 5 star hotel, but we rested, and survived the Key West heat. Although for next time, I might do a regular camping tent and get one of those ice cooler DIY air conditioner, I'm trying to figure out how to build one now. found several good designs on UA-cam...
@@rsmolkin cant wait to see your video about that
Hi - Can the Energi run the AC al night without a charger attached? Thanks for the video
Theoretically yes, if you start with a full battery, and you'll probably end up with 0 battery, but it depends on the temperature differential... It can definitely run AC on battery for hours, you'll need to do the setting change that I show at the end of the video, otherwise it'll turn off after 30 minutes.
I think thr hybrid engine will only come on periodically similar to a prius maybe you feel it will wake you
hi Roman! thanks for sharing. how tall are you? I am looking to buy the car and want to use it for camping and want to make sure I will fit
I'm 5'10"
We built a hinged sleeping platform in our Cmax Energi that fills the space from immediately behind the front seats (with them pulled and tilted forward all the way) to the rear gate - this fits a 50" wide by 75" long mattress (narrower at the tail end). Biggest issue is headroom which we find (barely) adequate. No sitting up in bed for sure!
Where did you find the blueprints to do this? Who is the genius youtuber who created the template you keep referencing? This would be very helpful, planning on doing this design. Thank you!
I think you're asking about this, it's actually very simple. ua-cam.com/video/WqWk8e6nQCg/v-deo.html
We just did it by using 3 large paper sheets (the kind you put on the floor when painting a house) taped them together and then traces the sides of the car using a small stick and a marker.
@@rsmolkin That's what I was wondering, thanks! Do you happen to have the dimensions by any chance? I also have a 2014 Ford C-MAX Energi and am trying to create basically the exact thing you created, I have no experience in this kind of project though. Thanks for all your help!
Our mattress is about 71" long, and 53" at the widest part and 36" at the narrowest part.
The plywood platform is 48" x about 31.5" (a little less like 31 3/8)
Does the regular c max have a flat floor?
C-max hybrid does have a flat floor, but you would not be able to run the ac overnight without using the engine like you can with the Energi
It does, I actually own both, the older 2013 C-Max and a 2017 C-Max Energi. The biggest benefit of Energi for camping is ability to run A/C all night without needing the engine. But you would not need the mattress platform in the regular C-max, you could put the mattress right onto the folded seats, and you'd also have more headroom.
Will you show how it look like with materace ?
Sure, here is a short video showing how the mattress fit, sorry but it's in Russian... ua-cam.com/video/RIxAxNTVuyQ/v-deo.html