Wondering who drives their FEH in the 70> range on freeways. When we travel on the I-5 to San Francisco or Sacramento, the normal freeway speed is above 70. It looks like the FEH FWD gets 25-28 mpg in this mode.

Questions:
- Does anyone else drive their FEH at these speeds?
- What are your mileage results?

 

I probably shouldn't answer, but I do use the expressways here in Michigan for the majority of my commute. I put the cruise control on at 65, and relax in the right (or right middle) lane. Outside of the occasional draft, bad weather, or other variables at play, I tend to get 31ish MPG.

 

Anything over 60-65 MPH will decrease mileage tremendously.
Here's what Ford said at their FEH event in Dearborn back on October 8-9:
Ford expected values:
50 MPG at 30 MPH
26 MPG at 70 MPH
20% savings at 60 MPH vs. 70 MPH

 

Hi Sam Hybrid:

___I do not know if this will help? I drove a rented Buick LeSabre from Phoenix, to Las Vegas, to Yosemite, to San Francisco, to LA, and back last year. She was hanging at 62 - 63 mph while DWL in the far right lane and she seemed just fine to cruise there all day long for most of our trip. You will hear people say if you aren’t going 75 + mph on the I-5 or the 101 (during non-Rush) you will be dead. I can attest that I am still here for whatever reason and that big old Buick w/ A/C on MAX 100% of time still returned > 36 mph for much of that trip

___If you have the time to take it easy, do so and your FE will be outrageous! If you don’t, then expect the hit. The difference between a 55 - 60 mph run w/ drafts in warmer temps and 70 + mph without appears to be as high as 15 + mpg! While driving John’s (GPSman’s) 2WD Escape HEV to the Experience two weekend ago, she camped at 46 mpg for the first 100 miles of an all highway drive in high 50/low 60 degree temps and an ~ 5 mph tail wind. This segment was a mostly southern direction w/ a northerly tail wind from the Wisconsin border through Chicago and under the lake into Indiana/Michigan. Traffic wasn’t optimal but it was good enough for excellent FE … Once I hit the 5 mph side to head winds and temps dropped off down into the low to mid 50’s while heading ~ northeast, she dropped to the 42 - 45 mpg range at similar speeds. Once it dropped below 50 degrees, then she started to suck fuel down hard and I was slowing down with lesser traffic after midnight as we approached Detroit. I was down to a max of 55 mph and DWL to minimums (Michigan is rather hilly along I-94 ) just trying to maintain a 36 - 40 mpg on the instantaneous with her trip average (reset after filling up./topping off just before we left) falling into the mid 42 range once we arrived in Dearborn after 350 + miles. The easier you can take it, the better your FE but there is a point when you do just have to get there! Find a happy medium between speed and time and enjoy the trip. If you do have to drive at 70 +, at least look for a lengthy distance draft because running naked at that speed and above is going to hurt! Even so, she will still give you more in the FE then most other automobiles on the road today

PS: Do not forget to up the pressures for you mostly highway trip and consider an oil change between the marks with some 0W or 5W-20 Mobil1 synthetic. You will thank your local gas stations compressor and Exxon/Mobil for the nice bump in FE afterwards

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

 

When I do that I get 29, just like the EPA says (for the AWD Escape).

 

In general, we see somewhat less of a penalty for speeds over 60 than others have reported,
and NO improvement for lower speeds whatsoever.

Best ever mileage on the Escape was 31 mpg at 65 on a very flat freeway.

 

I agree. I get about 27MPG average on a 30 mile commute at 65 MPH (with major hills). The FEH favors lower speeds. 35-55 MPH seems it's ideal window where it can mix power systems to most MPG. Once I get off the freeways MPG goes way up and even if I stay on the freeway, but stick to the flat land my MPG is much better (3-4 MPG).

FYI 70 MPH is TOO SLOW on I-80 between SFO and Sac the traffic flow is closer to 85.

Chris Brown
Mendocino County

 

Yep. About the same on I-80 apx. 3k miles away in northern NJ. 80 mph is the fast lane if there's no traffic. And 80 mph for all lanes on the NJ Turnpike, unless a trooper's around. Then it's 70 mph.

 

My wife and I just made the 550mile trip from Augusta, GA to Birmingham, AL on I-20. This is not flat highway but rather rolling hills... We averaged 70mph and still got 34.2mpg on the trip. We have a 2006 FEH with just over 1200 miles on it. I consistantly get 33mpg avg. This is a great vehicle.

 

I notice that ALL of the hypermilers live OUTSIDE OF CALIFORNIA!
Odd, when we have the highest concentration of hybrids anywhere.
Could there be a pattern here?
California gas is 10% ethanol. This is a fairly recent development.
Sort of like being on "winter gas" all the time.