Hi all, just had this pop up from my ford pass on my 22 Puma ST. Only had the car 2 weeks. Can someone tell me what this is all about please? Do I need a new battery? I’m on 11 miles of dual carriageway to and from work every day.
It just means your battery fell below a certain voltage. The vehicle went into a sleep mode so that there will be enough voltage available to operate the starter when you want to drive it.
To charge the battery, just drive it… if you only ever take very short trips, it might not charge much.
The way the car works is that when the engine is on, the engine spins a belt, which spins the shaft of an alternator (and other accessories). The alternator uses that force to create electricity and charge the battery.
@FordMaster
Thank you, very interesting and a good explanation. I’ll be driving 300 miles in a few weeks back home for Xmas so hopefully that will help. Had 2 Fiestas before this and never had this.
So I shouldn’t worry about the battery being dead?
@Sage
If you still have the issue within a couple of days of ending the 300-mile trip, I would be concerned, but if you haven’t been driving much lately, this is the expected behavior.
FordMaster said:
@Sage
If you still have the issue within a couple of days of ending the 300-mile trip, I would be concerned, but if you haven’t been driving much lately, this is the expected behavior.
Okay, good to know. Always thought a 60mph 11-mile blast would be enough for the car. Let’s just hope the battery doesn’t die 
@Sage
60mph for 11 miles should give it a good charge. If you took that trip and then within a day or two got this message, it is concerning.
FordMaster said:
@Sage
60mph for 11 miles should give it a good charge. If you took that trip and then within a day or two got this message, it is concerning.
I’ll keep driving it to and from work as usual until the end of the week and see if I get the same message. It’s under warranty, so I’ll speak to the dealer.
FordMaster said:
@Sage
60mph for 11 miles should give it a good charge. If you took that trip and then within a day or two got this message, it is concerning.
If you’re starting out with a battery with a somewhat low state of charge, it needs a longer charging session than a 15-20 minute commute to get to 100%. From the point where a ‘smart’ battery charger hits its constant-voltage point in the cycle to the 100% charge point is probably 6-8 hours, and it may spend a long while in the ‘boost’ phase before the voltage levels off (it depends on the initial state of charge).
Modern alternators are more ‘maintainers’ than chargers, so your 2 20-minute drives to work and back may not be catching up from the state of charge the battery had after sitting on a sales lot for a while. Car nerds like me keep a battery charger around the garage, but I get that it’s not a normal piece of equipment for people to have. The dealer who sold you the car probably has one. With a 2-year-old battery, my first guess would be that the car sat a long while, and the state of charge of the battery is a bit low. Then you have a particularly cold night, which would drive the battery voltage even lower and hit a threshold for this. The first thing is to test the battery (if someone has a tester) and put it on a modern charger that’ll top off the battery. Getting it to 100% may take 12 hours or so; lead-acid batteries (even AGM ones) top off very slowly.
Between it being a Puma and you using the term ‘dual carriageway,’ I assume you’re in the UK. I’ve no idea what a 12v automotive battery charger costs there, but here in the states, a usable basic one can be had for about US$50. The dealer who sold you the car might be willing to put it on a charger, but it may be inconvenient for you to get it there and back again. Quick things like the ‘jumpstarter’ things don’t charge the battery, just give you a boost for starting, so they’re not too helpful.
@Joy
Thank you for the info. Do I need to worry about the battery dying or being stuck with the battery being low? I’ve had 2 Fiestas before and not had this issue. Will my journeys be enough to charge? I’m going to look to buy a car battery charger on Black Friday.
@Sage
It’s impossible for me to say without hearing it, or putting a multimeter on your battery to see what its resting voltage is, etc. If you’re driving the car every couple of days and the starter isn’t ‘turning slowly’ (which is a thing one learns to hear, and a lot of people seem to be good at ignoring!), you’ll probably do fine for quite a while, but you may occasionally get this sort of notification if the computer thinks your battery is a bit low. Once or twice in the last 7+ years, my truck has sent me this message at a surprising time, but I’m still on the factory AGM battery.
@Joy
Pretty sure the dealer-installed (refused to remove) LoJack does this to my battery. I’ve had my truck 3 years and on my 3rd battery.
Just started up again. I’ll use my trickle charger overnight and it will be a problem again in a month. Eventually even trickle charger won’t make a dent.
Our 1-year-old Bronco started doing this. First, if we didn’t drive it for 2 days, and then every night. They replaced the battery and updated the software of the battery management system.