Well, we went today, and had a blast!

Getting there was a pain, I'm a local boy, and in fact was at Greenfield Village in the morning, so I figured it wouldn't be a problem, just take Village down, but Ford closed it off, so I ended up having to circle around, and all that, and in fact, missed the entrance and ended up following another hybrid in on my second loop around.

Anyway, they vallet your FEH into a parking lot to do the inspection (Which freaked me out at first, someone else drives the Liberator?!?) while you go in and you have an engineer assigned to you, who spends the day with you. There's a quick survey, and an interview, and you can list off all the stuff that you like and hate for them, and they visit here and the other boards.

They have on display a battery cut away, and the engine, so you can get up close and personal to the real deal, and there's engineers there to go over it with you. (The HV battery is 275 D batteries!!) The batteries, it seems, will outlast the vehicle, they have yet to have one of their extreme test batteries fail on them yet.

After that, we go into a mini-lecture hall as a group, and they do a presentation: Intro to the FEH, how the FEH actually works, tips to good economy and information on when and how badly it will perform under certain circumstances, then a Q&A with the entire development staff.

The intro was good, and they cleared up some stuff like that they use Toyota Technology (NOT true), how the Atkinson engine works, the regen braking and the other systems work. It was detailed without going overboard.

The Fuel tips were the weakest part of the presentation, as they were woefully uninformative compared to just the one that I've written here. However, it was interesting to see that the FE is better at 60 miles per hour with the windows down at 80 degree weather than with the AC on. Winter can take a 20% performance bite out, AC at low speeds are a 25% decrease, while at 60, are only a 10% decrease, and what the headlights, A/N and other stuff take out of the MPG on average. There were some other tidbits to that were pretty cool.

The Q&A was good. All the questions were answered by the person who developed that system. Got some good answers. (Nav system can't be used even with a passenger because of laws, "blinks" in the Instant Economy are due to Satalite disruptions, breaks biting hard in wet weather are because the friction brakes are wet, so they bite hard, etc.)

Then we go for a drive, with the engineer assigned to you. We just talked, and I tried to beat the engineering teams record for FE in a 4WD for the course, but found out they had a warm engine, so I didn't beat it. (They like the "You know you're a hybrid owner..." thread here, and have printed it out and shared it!)

Then we got to test the Mercury Mariner Hybrid (MMH). Cool.

After that, we got a very detailed look at the prototype hybrid, and got to ride in it with the data laptop in our laps to see how all the systems are performing.

Next we took another survey. Turns out they're redesigining the intrument panel, and want feedback. They're getting rid of the Charge/Assist, and the Tachometer, and replacing it with an engine temp meter and our choice, out of 7 or so options. (I went with a modified tachometer that showed how much assist was being rendered, then the tach, so you could know just before the engine went on that it would) And left them feedback that I didn't think the changes were a very good idea.

Lastly, we got a gift back, 2 shirts (1 FEH, 1 MMH), a FEH hat, water bottle, a MMH CD, Ford Hybrid pencils, and some other doodads. We also got a "report card" from our vehicle inspection (done while we went inside), and a laminated card on tips for good FE. (Summary of the presentation.)

The big thing that I learned, is that D and L are the same. The only difference is the software. It's all personal preference, and where/how you drive.

They also had a Ford Fusion on display, the next vehicle to become a Hybrid from Ford. (After the Mazda Tribute)

Overall, we were made VERY welcome, and they wanted us to talk to them about it, good and bad, and everything in between. Everyone wanted to talk to us, and share info, and hear about any question we may have.

We got there a little after 2:15, and left around 7. I talked to a lot of people, both owners and engineers about the site, and wore my gh shirt. (So to you guys out there, HI!)

EDIT: Changed C to D batteries. Oops.

First 4WD Hypermiler

Have you read the FEH FAQ?

Live in Michigan? Let it be known in Michigan Roll Call