Retains Accessory Power For Up To 10 Minutes After Engine Shutdown - 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel Long-Te

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Retains Accessory Power For Up To 10 Minutes After Engine Shutdown - 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel Long-Term Road Test

One of many configurable settings in our long-term 2014 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel is the duration of available accessory power after shutting down the engine.

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g35buf

Having a 2014 RAM 1500 (5.7L Hemi) I can say the menu adjustable features like above are truly useful. Exterior lighting times, rear view camera settings (like having the camera stay on in 'Drive' up to 8 mph as you pull forward), etc. Very configurable and simple access via the UConnect. Living on the border, the ability to one-touch from MPH to KPH on the digital speedo is great as well. The ergonomics on the RAM are far superior to Ford and GM in my opinion.

socal_eric

With the oversized battery in the trucks in general and especially the diesel, 10 minutes shouldn't cause any problems. One item I'd like to see in more manufacturers is that if you're going to offer retained power, at least allow the radio to stay on longer than the 5, 8, or 10 minutes that are common.

With the body control computer they could still program it to kill power if it goes below a preset value or since most head units are riding on the vehicle's CAN-bus (in-car communication network) and can read voltage, the functionality could be built into the head unit. Instead of a global setting, another option would be a simple timer like on some older Ford head units where if the car is off you can still turn the radio on for 60-minutes before it times out (or something more reasonable like 20 or 30 minutes).

The few times I'm sitting in my parked vehicles it's usually with the windows down and the radio on waiting for something or someone. While I don't mind cycling the key when it comes time to raise the windows or close the sunroof it's annoying having the radio turn off every few minutes, especially when listening to an iPod which may or may not resume correctly.

explorerx4

Is this really new to you guys? It's been around in other vehicles for many years. Does it also shut down everything after 45 minutes no matter what? 1 MPH increments for the cruise control? That's absolutely ancient technology.