Cold weather - mileage - driving styles
 

In just 2 days, we hit our lowest and highest mileages. :confused:

Day 1 - 150 mile trip - temp high 20's, all highway, rolling hills, 70 mph, cruise and defroster used, spouse at wheel: 24.8 mpg.

Day 2 - (very next day) 180 mile trip - temp low 30's, secondary roads, climbing hills, 55 mph top speed, no cruise or defroster, primary driver at wheel: 41.3 mpg

My question is, why didn't the weather play into day 2's driving as it had been for the past 2 months, never mind the day before? Both times we topped the tank on the fill-up, so it wasn't that. Suppose this is just further proof that driving styles can and do affect one's mileage. If the temp had been warmer on day 2, wonder what we would have gotten instead...

By the way, before you all start on bashing the wife for lowering the mileage, it was hubby driving day 1.:P

Re: Cold weather - mileage - driving styles
 

Hi Gas Pirates,
As many a previous post has said....speed speed speed = low mpg's. The diff between 55 and 70 is also very significant (this holds true for all cars not just hybrids). Not to mention air resistance and whether or not you had tail winds or head winds. Sounds like the weather was almost the same each day, so I don't think that would have been a factor unless it was very windy, or raining/snowing. Does the AC come on with the defroster? I find that using cruise control reduces the mpg's because it just doesn't have the "feel" that a human foot has. ;) Sounds like you are doing all the right things to get good FE.

hope this helps.

Re: Cold weather - mileage - driving styles
 

Ralph, all those points need to be understood by every driver. In a head wind, its like driving at the higher mph that the wind is blowing. For instance, if your driving 70mph with a head wind of 15mph, your going to get the same mpg as you would at 85mph with no wind. A head wind causes me to drop my mph by the speed of the wind to break even. If I can't drive that slow on a highway, I stay off and take it back with a tail wind. In a tail wind of 15mph, its like dropping you speed from 70mph to 55mph and saving much better mpg because your going faster with less wind resistance.

CP, the FEH 2.3L still generates enough heat when pushing that brick through the air at 55mph to keep it warm it appears in the low 30's. Your husband sounds like my wife and just doesn't care that much about FE. Get a scangauge and stick it on the dash in front of him so he can see what he's missing by pressing so hard on the pedal. If that doesn't work, don't let him drive the FEH. My wife drives my Explorer and gets 14mpg. I make up for her loss with my FEH.

GaryG

Re: Cold weather - mileage - driving styles
 

As others have mentioned, there may be other factors in play, but the main difference is that 55mph vs. 70mph. This difference in speed will make a huge difference in mileage.

Also with the cruise on in rolling hills your mileage will take a hit... though cruise is generally more efficient on flat roads.

Longer trip helps too.

The defroster will take away from mileage as well since it's using the A/C compressor. The hit is less at highway speeds, but it's pretty significant in town because it keeps the ICE from shutting down.

Re: Cold weather - mileage - driving styles
 

Once again, all the bases have pretty much been hit.

Speed is a major factor, winds are another. Temperature is a third, though it plays less with long trips and can easily be trumped by the other factors. Not to mention the driver as well, which can be one of the most important factors as well.

Cruise Control isn't for hilly areas, but for level ones. On level grounds, the CC does better than most people, on hilly grounds, the human beats the CC every time.

Re: Cold weather - mileage - driving styles
 

Gotta disagree with you on that one Gary. While the amount of air resistance would be the same in your examples, there are other factors that would play into the mileage equation such as rolling resistance, wheel bearing friction, engine speed, etc.

You would be 100% correct though of you were talking about an airplane.

Did I read in another post of yours it is 38° in South Florida tonight? It's almost 40° here right now - my tank mileage was skyrocketing tonight on the way home from the hockey game.

Re: Cold weather - mileage - driving styles
 

Ray, lets agree that a head wind is not good for FE at almost any speed. That cold weather didn't get here yet but the wind is picking up now. This morning I enjoyed the tailwind going to West Palm Beach (south) but the trip back was a trick. Had to use a slower speed in EV so the ICE would stay off.

The bad gas is clearing up each time I add good gas to the tank and my mileage is slowly getting back to normal. There is no question I have a big advantage on FE because of the gas I buy here. All of you need to know what a big effect your gas makes with FE on the FEH. I took a set back on my 700 MTE goal but this scangauge is helping me recover. Yesterday I topped off and got a 528 reading so I'm climbing again. The FEH will be one year old from the date I picked it up Feb. 14, 05 and I plan to be seeing MTE readings in the 700's by then. Since it was my son who placed my MTE picture on this sig page, I'll have to email him a new picture this time so he can update it for me. This will really make them Toyota and Honda hybrid owners mad at me. Hope it just gives the Ford owners a goal as this is why I did it. Well, maybe I'm doing some bragging also but look, Ford and I are pushing an SUV over 50mpg here!

GaryG

Re: Cold weather - mileage - driving styles
 

Unfortunately for my mileage (fortunately otherwise) my commute is now 1.6 miles, and it's roughly 30 degrees here in Boston. I can still go EV by the end of my trip, but my mileage is taking a severe hit. I had been getting around 28, but now it looks more like 23-24. Any ideas to help this out?

Re: Cold weather - mileage - driving styles
 

Salsbr, 30 degrees! That's downright balmy! :) It's currently 19F (-8C) here in Toronto.

Hi all! This is my first post here. I really wish I had found this forum before I bought my FEH; I would have opted for the NAV system. Argh. Does anybody know if the NAV can be retro-fitted?

I've only had my FEH for a few weeks, so I'm coming at this as a complete newbie. Also, the vehicle is still in its break-in period: I just recently passed the 1000 km mark! :) (That's just over 621 miles.)

As it definitely qualifies as cold up here, I'm puzzled as to why I'm not seeing the same effects as other in warmer climes. Yes, my mileage is quite low, but it's currently 26.8 - a bit higher than salsbr's 23-24. And it's climbing as I get better at the various techniques outlined in this forum. But more than that, my EV comes on far sooner than I've seen others describe here in their "cold" weather. Today I was in EV on a slight downhill grade for several hundred yards, travelling at almost 40mph. If I'm coasting and switch to low gear, the ICE does cut out. Of course, the car does have to be warmed up, but even that seems to take less time than I've seen described here.

Odd, very odd. As I'm new at all this, I'm paying extremely close attention to the gauges and how my driving is affecting things. Maybe that has something to do with it. I'm sure I'm annoying the heck out of people behind me in traffic...

Dan

Re: Cold weather - mileage - driving styles
 

Hey Dan,

You are right about 30 being balmy. I'm not really complaining about the temp, but the combination of the temp and my very short commute means the truck never warms up. If I run errands, or even get out onto the freeway and drive, my mileage will go up.

If it were warmer, then I could run EV most of the way to work, but since the cat has to warm up, then I'm stuck with an engine running all the way to work. Aargh!

BTW, welcome! This definately seems like the best place for hybrid tips and discussion.

-Salsbr