Hi Noel

Your welcome.

Regen is all done by wire and the only moving part is the shifter. After shifting all this time, I have no problems after 34,000 miles. The console is a perfect arm rest for my hand to remain on the shifter. Everything is all natural now and I don't even look down at the shifter to see what gear I'm in. I will admit, I pushed the button on the shifter and went into reverse going about 30mph when I first went crazy shifting to improve my mileage. Ford engeneers showed this could be done with no damage, because the computers are programmed with safety features. The fact is, there is no reverse, just the motors reversing direction by computer demand.

Same thing when shifting to neutral, the disconect does operate with an electrical joint, but it's all done by the computers. There are many test in the shop manuals that require the techs to shift to neutral for testing the drivetrain on the move. Since everything is done in proper sequence by the computer, I'm not concerned myself.

Now, the parking pawn is another story. I would not go into "Park" on the move because I think there is a mechnical connection to the shifter for that. That hasn't been a problem because it's so far forward.

Here is my average yesterday using the above techniques as a typical example in 80F.

The Scangauge final "Todays" reading:

47.5mpg average

24mph average

61mph Max

5162rpm Max

105 miles

186 FWT Max

2.2 gallons

Here is where I went:
Jupiter to WPB Courthouse, to lunch with my wife in Palm Beach Gardens, to Trailer shop in Stuart, to bank in Stuart, to my Father home in Palm City, to Walgreens in Tequesta, to home in Jupiter. Complete round trip with many stops and starts.

Hope this helps better understand what this vehicle can get for me as an example. Some days are better, some days are worst.

GaryG

You have the FWD model so that's bonus for mpg. Very cool to see what someone using their best strategies can do to play that FEH like a fiddle!

There will undoubtedly be some things we can do to maximize OUR mileage, but I dare say we are very much hamstrung by the type of commuting my wife does, which will amount to maybe 40% of total use, or slightly more perhaps. Even so, it's a kick to drive down into the valley (about 15m one way) and do errands around town. This should get us up in the 25-26 mpg average, which I'm thinking is about as much as we can hope for. We almost bought a 2007 Honda CR-V, but opted for a FEH AWD for the novelty of supporting the technology and for a couple of issues we didn't like with the Honda. I'm guessing with the CR-V's mpg estimate (old) at around 22 city, real world for this short jaunt might be 18-19 maybe? If we end up with 25+ I'll consider it a reasonable improvement. I must also admit I really did not understand the reality of EV mode not really being optimized during those first several minutes after start up. I note when we have made a leg of maybe 5-7 minutes and then stop to do an errand, when we return to the car 10min later the interval to full warm up (EV wise) is pretty short--maybe a minute or two. We plan on keeping the car for a long time if possible, so perhaps it will eventually pay off $$ wise, certainly will otherwise, as it is the most efficient of all the SUVs apparently, of the AWD type. I do enjoy supporting the technology . . .

Noel

Noel - I truely believe that your discussion is the best way to look at the decision to buy the FEH...even over a V6Escape. You (we) have chosen to purchase (spend extra on) an optional drive train for numerous reasons - only one of which is to save money on gasoline.

Over and over I listen to others argue, in infinite accounting details, about how the return on investment does not justify buying the FEH (or any other hybrid). Yet these same folks would never agree to apply an ROI calculation on any other high-priced option such as DVD players, rain-sensing wipers, etc., etc.

I prefer to see the hybrid drive train as an option that I wanted in my vehicle and that, depending on how quickly gas prices rise, may end up paying for itself. In the meantime I will appreciate the hybrid drive for all its other characteristics.