RemoteStart / Remote Climate Control - things you should know

[marq24]

Here are some details about Remote Start and Remote Climate Control

RemoteStart vs RemoteClimateControl

RemoteStart

Depending on your vehicle the integration allow you to "remote Start/Stop" your car in order to use this feature, the vehicle properties (*_veh.json files in the data dump folder) must contain remoteStart: "Display"

RemoteClimateControl

Depending on your vehicle the integration allow you to "remote Start/Stop" your car in order to use this feature, the vehicle properties (*_veh.json files in the data dump folder) must contain remoteClimateControl: "Display" or remoteHeatingCooling: "Display"

When this is the case, then the integration will add additional controls to set the temperature, seat, wheel, windshield heating's

RemoteStart & RemoteClimateControl start has limited usage

Please note, that you can't start & stop RemoteStart (& RemoteClimateControl) multiple times. When you turn it on, then you can turn it off again - but then you can't turn it on again. You must start (and move/drive) the vehicle before you can _Remote_Start the car again.

So when you want to test this function multiple times - you must enter your car :-) [nice exercise @ the weekend]. And also note, that this is not a restriction of the integration. You can't remote start your vehicle via the Fordpass App either. (IMHO it's understandable why this is the case).

RemoteStart & RemoteClimateControl is an Command send to your car

When you are not sure, if the integration will send a command to your vehicle you can check that by looking for *_command+poll.json files. There you must find one that actually send the REMOTE_START command to your vehicle... If this is not the case, enable the debug log of the integration and create an issue here, sharing the details.

How the integration knows, RemoteStart & RemoteClimateControl is started?

When your vehicle is receiving the Remote Start command (and process it), the metrics will contain an remoteStartCountdownTimer object (well it's always present) - but the value of this object must be > 0 in order to make the RemoteStart Control in HA to become active (on).

[GrumpyMeow]

It indeed is not allowed to remote start the Ford multiple times remotely. The initial 15mins can be prolonged apparently to 35mins. It is to prevent the car from running too long unattended.
Some Ford info: https://www.ford.com/support/how-tos/ford-app/ford-app-remote-features/how-do-i-extend-the-remote-start-run-time-for-my-ford-vehicle/

[pinballnewf]

With the app, the time be can be extended. I assume is a different API call [i've never looked into it!]. Any chance of getting that added? [If you need the API call I can get it, I've not looked at this since the original ITChannel work years ago!]

[marq24]

Of course I would be happy to get the POST request in this case... But I expect that this will be just be identical to the initial start command.

So when the RC Start will went off (after the countdown) you simply can start it again

[pinballnewf]

It may be the same [and is very likely] but there is no way to reissue this from the integration without stopping the vehicle first or waiting for it to shutdown... This isn't ideal for some of us where it reaches -40°C and we need to run the vehicles for greater than the single allotment.

[marq24]

for the next release I will add an RC: EXTEND Time button. When this is button is pressed, the time duration of the current running RemoteStart will be extended...

The default start is 900 seconds (15min)... after the new button is pressed my MachE report the countdown > 1690 sec (> 28min)

[pinballnewf]

That is awesome! Thank you.

…

On Sun, Dec 14, 2025, 12:40 Matthias Marquardt ***@***.***> wrote: for the next release I will add an EXTEND Time button - and when this is button is pressed, the time will be extended... default start is 900 seconds (15min)... after the new button is pressed my MachE report the countdown > 1690 sec (> 28min) — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#140 (reply in thread)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AD7UQRWSWSQHTAMIGKGRXQT4BW4MFAVCNFSM6AAAAACNSZJJJGVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTKMRVGMYDSNY> . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[iSteve-O]

I love the new extend & duration countdown entities, but I wonder if you could make them always available (similar to seats/steering wheel) and have the button just do nothing if not remote started (or start & automatically extend), and also have the countdown just default to 0 when not counting down a remote start.

It may be a pet peeve of mine, but I don’t like unavailable entities much. Unless there’s a good reason I’m missing. That’s why I added to the discussion instead of making a request.

Thanks for all your hard work!

[marq24]

... the countdown sensor will become always active with the next release - but for the button I want to keep it like it is currently...

Mainly to avoid unintended activation of remote-start... When you use HA on your mobile, and having several controls on the dashboard, it can happen (at least for old people like me) that you press a button by accident (while trying to scroll down) - this of course also can happen for toggle-controls. But my personal experience is, that sliders and button controls are the most frequent, that I "move/push" by accident...

And that was/is the main motivation to only "activate" the new button, when RC was already started...] of course technically it would be also possible to implement an extra 'can action really be executed?` check... for "just this button" - as always it's a trade off.

[iSteve-O]

No worries! Unavailable entities just really bother me, with their big red error badge in the entity list and all. it also makes them unusable in, for example HomeKit, and forces you to make a template entity so HomeKit doesn't bug you with errors if you want to add them to the home app. I was hoping to add the extend button to HomeKit without templating a helper, but I can stop being a douche and template a helper.

Thanks again for all your work on the integration.