How to see Lightning information / data in Torque Pro app

[FlasherZ]

The Lightning uses the same Ford PIDs that the MME uses for battery health. If you're a fan of the Torque app for looking at performance parameters of your other vehicles, you can load up a set of PIDs created by a poster at the MME forum.

This data is accessed by using a bluetooth OBD-II reader device paired with your phone, then using an app (Torque Pro, etc.) to read the data while the vehicle is active. It can be a great troubleshooting capability.

I specifically wanted to see what the Lightning thought my Tesla gen 1 wall connector was advertising, so I built a screen to tell me. (Note that the Tesla gen 1 wall connector has some incompatibilities with later Tesla cars and J1772 equipment, I am awaiting my FCSP to replace it. It thinks the duty cycle is 39%, and it's really 96%, so something's mucked up but it'll be resolved soon.)

You can find the link to the poster's PID file here:
https://www.macheforum.com/site/thr...nded-pids-for-torque-project.7427/post-295683

You'll want to download that file, extract the .zip, and then import the resulting CSV into Torque. You can then build your real-time information screen.

Below, I have the following lines:
* Line 1: AC input voltage, AC input current, and the duty cycle for J1772 pilot
* Line 2: Charger output voltage, current, & calculated power, along with state
* Line 3: HV battery voltage requested and current requested
* Line 4: HV battery voltage, current, power, and temperature
* Line 5: HV battery coolant temp at inlet, charger coolant temp at inlet
* Line 6: HV battery state of health, actual state of charge, and displayed state of charge

I don't have the DCFC parameters on the screen yet, I'll do that next time I go DCFC charging.

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[PopsGG]

The shading on the frame of those boxes makes them all look like they are warped and leaning to the left. Neat optical illusion, I hate it.

That said I am using the android app "Car Scanner". I put it on my dash in mirror mode so I get a heads up display.
Speed, current draw from high voltage battery and 12v battery state of charge (because I use a dash cam in park mode)

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[beatle]

Nice. It's a bummer that Ford does not show the percentage of the battery or charging speeds on the screen at all times, but at least we have a workaround. I noticed in one of @OutofSpecKyle's recent videos that a charger appeared to be bricked, but was actually charging. You'd never know that without a display like this since the truck does not show charging stats.

Regarding battery health/SoC, I am confused why there would be a discrepancy between actual SoC and displayed SoC. Why would there even be two metrics? Is the HVBSoH the indicator of degradation? If so, that's pretty useful for planning purposes since the GOM is not consistent.

Can you also see things like individual cell voltages?

 

[FlasherZ]

The shading on the frame of those boxes makes them all look like they are warped and leaning to the left. Neat optical illusion, I hate it.

I agree. It's always bothered me.

Regarding battery health/SoC, I am confused why there would be a discrepancy between actual SoC and displayed SoC. Why would there even be two metrics? Is the HVBSoH the indicator of degradation? If so, that's pretty useful for planning purposes since the GOM is not consistent.

I can speculate, but perhaps there are more who have dug into the internals more than I have who can share observations... Displayed SOC is the "driver-friendly" view that is a range in the middle to keep the pack healthy and preserve some survival range. If "actual" SOC is based on a voltage range from 3.0 to 4.2 volts, then "displayed" SOC may be percentage of voltage range from 3.1 to 4.0 volts.

My guess, although I haven't tested this, is that on the upper end, displayed is higher than actual and on the lower end, displayed is lower than actual.

Can you also see things like individual cell voltages?

I am simply using a list of PIDs that others have discovered and/or curated - it's possible there are more PID's for things like battery string voltages (e.g., on Tesla cars, it's present on the CAN buses and you need special instrumentation) but the list below is all I have.

Here is the list of PIDs that the link above defines:

A/C Compressor Current
Coolant Heater Op Mode
Coolant Heater Power
Engine Run Time
EVSE Digital Mode
EVSE Type
Gear Commanded
Grill Shutter Position
HV AC Charger Coupler Temperature
HV AC Charger Input Current
HV AC Charger Input Frequency
HV AC Charger Input Voltage
HV Battery Power Flow Calculated
HV Charge Power Limit
HV Charger Input Power Available
HV Charger Maximum Power
HV Charger Output Current Measured
HV Charger Output Reduction Temperature
HV Charger Output Voltage
HV Charger Pilot Duty Cycle
HV Charger Pilot Voltage
HV Charger Power Flow Calculated
HV Charger Proximity Status
HV Charger Proximity Voltage
HV Charger Status
HV DC Charger Coupler Temperature 1
HV DC Charger Coupler Temperature 3
HV DC Charger Maximum Current
HV DC Charger Maximum Voltage
HV DC Charger Status
HVB Age
HVB Charge Current Requested
HVB Charge Voltage Requested
HVB Charging Status
HVB Coolant Inlet Temperature
HVB Current
HVB Energy to Empty
HVB Maximum Charge Current
HVB State of Charge
HVB State of Charge Displayed
HVB State of Health
HVB Temperature
HVB Thermal Op Mode
HVB Voltage
Interior Temperature
LVB Age
LVB Current
LVB DCDC Enable
LVB DCDC HV Current
LVB DCDC LV Current
LVB State of Charge
LVB Voltage
Primary Motor Coil Temperature
Primary Motor Inverter Temperature
Primary Motor Inverter Voltage
Primary Motor Speed
Primary Motor Torque
Secondary Motor Coil Temperature
Secondary Motor Inverter Temperature
Secondary Motor Inverter Voltage
Secondary Motor Speed
Secondary Motor Torque
Vehicle Speed High Resolution

 

[beatle]

Sweet, there's also metrics for the DC/DC converter and LVB current. I am interested in improving the stereo, but Ford says you only have 60A on the 12v line to play with for accessories. That said, the 60A rating is not trim level specific, and anything below the Platinum trim will have a lower load since the existing stereo system will be consuming less power to begin with.

 

[FlasherZ]

As for HVBSoH, I'm not really sure what that is - I'm assuming it's some type of degradation metric, but not sure how it's measured. Perhaps some MME folks have experience here.

 

[FlasherZ]

Note that if you use the file referenced above, there appears to be an error in the AC input current... at 80 amps, it is reflecting 40. I think they have had to adjust the range for the Lightning's 80A capability vs. the MME's 48. I will do some tests to figure out the right range when I get my FCSP up, hopefully tomorrow.

 

[FlasherZ]

Ok, I did more studying of the current "ramp-up" for the "HV AC Charger Input Current", and it's strange. Ford doesn't report the current in a linear fashion -- it ramped up from 0A to 27A, then suddenly dropped back down to 15A but the charger current kept increasing. With my FCSP, it stopped at 38/39A (which would be between 76-78A), and with the Tesla + Teslatap, it went and held at 40A (which I measured at 80).

So I think at 30A, the AC Input Amps starts getting reported at half the real value. But I can't do a straight A*2, because the ramp-up will be wrong.

I don't understand why Ford does this, because it's not a resolution problem in the PID - Ford could report the value straight. Maybe it's a bug or something?

So if you use this, just realize that above 7 kW or so you have to multiply current shown by 2.

 

[beatle]

Sounds like at some point the truck goes from one onboard charger to two, and the point at which it divides the load is 30A. My guess is it is just reading the current off one charger and not looking at their sum.

The old school Teslas with dual chargers used a single charger up to 40A and then they divided the load between the two, so anything up to a 40A input would go to a single charger. 41-80A input would be half of the input to each.

 

[FlasherZ]

Sounds like at some point the truck goes from one onboard charger to two, and the point at which it divides the load is 30A. My guess is it is just reading the current off one charger and not looking at their sum.

The old school Teslas with dual chargers used a single charger up to 40A and then they divided the load between the two, so anything up to a 40A input would go to a single charger. 41-80A input would be half of the input to each.

Yes, then with their second-gen charger, they went with a single 3-phase unit capable of doing 24A per phase. In the US, they just configured it so the phase inputs were connected in parallel and they had a 72A single-phase charger.

So - I was a bit surprised yesterday when I learned that Ford elected to go the dual-charger route with the truck.

I'm sure there's a PID somewhere that indicates the use of both chargers vs. just one, but that's going to take some detective work. I'll probably ping the Forscan folks just to see if they have resources that can help here.

 

[beatle]

I've got the full-fat version of Torque loaded with the PIDs in the CSV file from the MME forum and I've mostly replicated your dashboard, but I cannot get Torque to connect to my OBDLink CX adapter. ABRP will connect to the CX, and the CX is listed as compatible on Torque's site, but Torque just sits and fails to connect, then retries. I've tried pulling the adapter and plugging it in as I start up Torque but to no avail. However, OBDLink does not list Torque as a compatible app on its site. I think it's trying to connect to it over standard Bluetooth and not BLE.

Car Scanner works with the CX though if you select BLE as your adapter type, though I had to wait a minute or so for the OBDLink CX to show up in the list of adapters. Car Scanner also has a lot of the Lightning specs already preloaded into a profile made for the MME and Lightning. The OBDLink CX adapter is indeed sluggish, probably only updating once every 1-2 seconds, but that's good enough most of the time for just checking on voltages, current, battery health, etc. and BLE is the only type of adapter supported by ABRP.

 

[Firestop]

I've got the full-fat version of Torque loaded with the PIDs in the CSV file from the MME forum and I've mostly replicated your dashboard, but I cannot get Torque to connect to my OBDLink CX adapter. ABRP will connect to the CX, and the CX is listed as compatible on Torque's site, but Torque just sits and fails to connect, then retries. I've tried pulling the adapter and plugging it in as I start up Torque but to no avail. However, OBDLink does not list Torque as a compatible app on its site. I think it's trying to connect to it over standard Bluetooth and not BLE.

Car Scanner works with the CX though if you select BLE as your adapter type, though I had to wait a minute or so for the OBDLink CX to show up in the list of adapters. Car Scanner also has a lot of the Lightning specs already preloaded into a profile made for the MME and Lightning. The OBDLink CX adapter is indeed sluggish, probably only updating once every 1-2 seconds, but that's good enough most of the time for just checking on voltages, current, battery health, etc. and BLE is the only type of adapter supported by ABRP.

I was going to try using Torque with my OBD CX, but I’ll save myself the frustration after reading your post. After reviewing the Torque Users Forum, it appears connection of Torque to BLE OBD devices has been an ongoing issue goong back over 8 years…and, an often requested feature.

I tested my CX on a 150 mi drive yesterday using it with ABRP On iOS. One benefit of ABRP in CarPlay mode is ABRP displays the current % of SOC in on the screen…the only benefit. Slightly better is staying out of CarPlay, running ABRP on the phone placed in the console ahead of the shifter….you can see the SoC and the est. SoC at the end of the trip, while allowing you to use onboard Ford navigation. The downside is lack of access to other apps via CarPlay and any hands free access to any other BEV metrics.

I have looked at OBLink‘s native app, but I’m having challenges accessing many of the Lightning’s PIDs to create a useful dashboard in that app…..

 

[rtk11226]

Quick question... I found that my old OBD scanner and software (iOS) is not compatible with the Lightning. I already purchased Torque Car Pro only to find that it won't talk to my scanner. Is there any consensus on the forum as to what is 'best'??? Any guidance is appreciated.
Thx

 

[Galactus55]

Yes I ordered a CarlinKit CarPlay Ai Box unit from Amazon took over night. Just started setting up. Here is a picture of Torque on center screen. Charging at home.

 

[MickeyAO]

Note that if you use the file referenced above, there appears to be an error in the AC input current... at 80 amps, it is reflecting 40. I think they have had to adjust the range for the Lightning's 80A capability vs. the MME's 48. I will do some tests to figure out the right range when I get my FCSP up, hopefully tomorrow.

If you can pull 80 A, you have duel OBC (On Board Charger) and you are only reading one of them. If you want to find the other one, collect all signals and look for something that matches. Sorry I cannot share the PID here since it was found in our testing of the Lightning (but it is there!).

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