'09 FEH MPG Techiques
#1
08-27-2010, 12:45 PM
'09 FEH MPG Techiques
FEH Set-Up: Part 1
Tire Pressure - Just one tire with lower pressure can effect a neutral glide, decrease MPG during a pulse (acceleration) and put the entire car off balance for handling and ride. I recommend max side wall pressure but I keep 6 psi over in my tires. My "N" glides go on it seems for ever and I can feel and see if I have a 5 psi drop in pressure in just one tire.
Oil Level - There have been problems draining all the oil if not on level ground during a oil change. Adding the require quarts can therefore overfill the oil level and decrease MPG and even damage the engine. I've had this happen and it's noted in my mileage log as well as a decrease in tank MPG during that time before I corrected the oil level. Other posters have reported this problem after seeing smoke coming from their tailpipe.
Parking - Park Face-Out whenever possible. In most cases your in EV during parking but the engine is always running after start-up to move again. This is the time your engine will drink the most gas getting over the warm-up program strategy. Plan to park leaving enough Charge (SoC) to get through the warm-up strategy and still have enough SoC (42%) to go EV after a Pulse and a neutral glide afterward.
Prepare Before Start-up - Be aware when you turn the key from the Off position you are using battery energy at an alarming rate. Sitting still with the key ON allows the electronics coolant pump, power steering pump, fuel pump etc. to just sit there and burn energy. The gas engine must run to replace this energy which reduces MPG. When I turn the key ON, I start the engine, put it in gear and get moving in a split second. This will not hurt the engine because the traction motor provides power while the engine oil pump circulates oil and the engine gets warmed-up at an idle.
Warm-Up P&G - Part 2
Background: The FEH was programmed to reduce emissions by getting the Cat. Converter to operating temperature as quick as possible. Ford does this by using the battery and electric motors for power during their patented Warm-Up Program Strategy. The FEH is basically in EV when you first start the engine because your power is coming from the electric motors. The engine remains at a idle with the timing retarded to get the Cat hot the quickest. The FEH stays in this strategy until you demand more power, the battery SoC falls to 32% or the Cat Converter is hot enough to start lowering emissions.
Knowing this, you can aid the warm-up strategy as well as "Time" the battery SoC (above 42%) to go EV as soon as possible. First, don't demand more power from the electric motors than they can provide. This will cause the warm-up strategy to break and engine power will return while it's still cold. A cold engine will drink much more gas under a load than a warm engine.
The Warm-Up P&G begins as soon as you start the engine. Make sure traffic is clear before you start the engine and get moving steady under electric motor power with the engine at an idle. This is when battery SoC management begins for me so I start preparing the "TIMING" for my first EV glide from the first pulse with the electric motors while the engine is still at an idle. The only way to stop the fast battery drain and begin charging while in the warm-up strategy is to glide in "D". This is warm-up P&G for the FEH. Do not glide in neutral with the engine running because this stops all regen and generator charging.
Example, in my case the speed limit along my warm-up road is 35mph, so I pulse up to 40mph in general (depending on traffic) and glide down in "D" to 30mph with the engine still warming-up. Remember, I stop discharging the battery in the warm-up strategy as soon as I begin gliding with the engine running in "D". Timing my P&G so I have enough SoC to go EV when the engine is warm enough is my goal. I don't want to be waiting for the SoC to get to 42% when the engine is ready to go EV at any point. Warm-up P&G ends when you can go EV without the engine running and glide in neutral. Here is the video we made on warm-up P&G:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e54vGfAWiVc
In cold weather where the battery is too cold for EV but the engine is ready, I modify my glide using the brake pedal. The only way to heat the battery is by increasing the rate of charging. I find pulsing and gliding in "D" with a small amount of brake pedal pressure speeds up warming the battery to go EV.
Understanding P&G - Part 3
Battery Management
First, you must be able to monitor the battery SoC (state of charge) in a detailed manner and I find the SGII (Scangauge II) is ideal when programmed with a SoC X-Gauge. If I choose the most important gauge to monitor for me, it would be my SGII SoC. This tells me when it's time to start the engine and manage battery SoC. It tells me when to burn Off SoC in EV and at what SoC to start and end my neutral glide.
1. The engine will restart from EV at 40% SoC.
2. You can go EV after 42% SoC.
3. Battery range is normally 40 - 60%.
4. The motor/generator (MG1) will only charge to a maximum ~52% unless it's going through a battery re-Cal.
5. The Traction motor/generator (MG2) provides regenerative charging to a maximum of 60% SoC.
Important: The battery charges faster at the lowest SoC range and slows as the SoC increases. This means the load of the engine from MG1 when the SoC is low, is heavier and gets lighter as the SoC rises. So at ~40% SoC, you only may be getting ~20mpg at 30mph, at 45% SoC you may be getting 30mpg at 30mph and at ~50% SoC you may be getting ~38mpg at 30mph. Using these examples you get a better understanding of engine load, charging rate and Instant MPG you get at what battery level or SoC your at.
During P&G, Instant MPG and Charging Rate go hand in hand and the time it takes to Pulse (accelerate) to a target speed are the important factors. The glide and EV is the easy part to figure out. Looking at Charging Rate, you have that Charge/Assist OEM gauge to monitor for those big swings of the needle in the Charge area. In order to get those big swings, you have two factors to consider which is engine load and SoC level. We discussed that a lower SoC will allow a faster charge with MG1, so if I want a faster charge and bigger swing of the charge needle, I need to keep my battery SoC lower most of the time during P&G. I try to keep my SoC between 44% on the low side and 45-46% SoC on the high side for the best P&G possible. At this level of SoC, I get the fastest Charging Rate without dropping the SoC to a point below 42% where I can't go EV. I want the control to go EV when I want and not let the battery SoC control when the engine runs or not. This way I always have a reserve to stay in EV for a long and unexpected stop and I always have enough SoC to go a little further for a planned stop ahead in EV. This strategy has eliminated times I'm stopped in EV and the engine restarts because I dropped to a 40% SoC level. Once you get a restart at 40% SoC, you have no control of EV till your engine and MGI builds the SoC to at least 42% SoC. This drops your MPG average you worked hard for.
The Most Efficient P&G Speed
You can Pulse and Glide at any speed but I find an acceptable way to get across town in a reasonable amount of time is not to drop your speed below 22mph and avoid going over 33mph. There is no way to do this in most traffic conditions continually without being a traffic hazard so you need to adjust your P&G higher when needed to allow traffic behind you respect of road use. I avoid going over 33mph as much as possible but most of my speed is between 35 - 40mph and higher depending on traffic conditions and speed limits. You should not choose your routes to travel longer distances to your destination unless that route has a time benefit. A time benefit could be fewer stops, less traffic and more lanes to pass or be passed by other vehicles during P&G. Also, I keep my radio On a station that gives traffic reports on accidents and road blockages so I can alter a route when needed. Many of the routes I choose have all of the benefits above and are scenic along the ocean or protected nature areas where speed limits are slower and monitored by the police more. Most people who choose these routes expect slower traffic and drive the speed limit or even slower most of the time because of people on bikes and people crossing the street.
After the warm-up strategy your ready to begin recovery of the MPG average losses and get back to the MPG average you had before the start of the day. If weather conditions are better than the day before, you may end this day with even a better MPG average than you started with. I begin after a pulse where my SoC is somewhere between 45-46%. My speed is at 33mph or above depending on traffic behind me and glide down in EV in "N" to an EV speed I want to maintain while I burn the SoC down to 44%. At this point, if I have no traffic behind me I'll continue to glide down to as low as 22mph. Now I'm ready with a SoC at around 43.8% that has continued to drop because of the long EV glide in "N", to do P&G repeatedly with the correct pulse. The pulse should be done by a blip to start the engine and then watching the OEM Charge needle making sure to accelerate with the needle at its peak swing into the charge area. As you begin the pulse, the needle will swing slightly into the Assist area but get use to having it return into the charge area quickly and adjust acceleration to get that needle as far as possible into the Charge area. Also watch your SGII Instant MPG and try to maintain it around 12mpg not going below 10mpg or above 17mpg. After you have repeated enough continuous P&G that your SoC has built back up to 45% - 46%, it's time to burn off the SoC in EV as we did in the beginning above. The EV segment drain of the SoC from 45-46% down to 44% in this P&G technique is like a step in the stairs to a higher MPG average. That step is also needed to maintain battery management at a lower SoC for faster Charging with MG1.
End For Now
GaryG
Tire Pressure - Just one tire with lower pressure can effect a neutral glide, decrease MPG during a pulse (acceleration) and put the entire car off balance for handling and ride. I recommend max side wall pressure but I keep 6 psi over in my tires. My "N" glides go on it seems for ever and I can feel and see if I have a 5 psi drop in pressure in just one tire.
Oil Level - There have been problems draining all the oil if not on level ground during a oil change. Adding the require quarts can therefore overfill the oil level and decrease MPG and even damage the engine. I've had this happen and it's noted in my mileage log as well as a decrease in tank MPG during that time before I corrected the oil level. Other posters have reported this problem after seeing smoke coming from their tailpipe.
Parking - Park Face-Out whenever possible. In most cases your in EV during parking but the engine is always running after start-up to move again. This is the time your engine will drink the most gas getting over the warm-up program strategy. Plan to park leaving enough Charge (SoC) to get through the warm-up strategy and still have enough SoC (42%) to go EV after a Pulse and a neutral glide afterward.
Prepare Before Start-up - Be aware when you turn the key from the Off position you are using battery energy at an alarming rate. Sitting still with the key ON allows the electronics coolant pump, power steering pump, fuel pump etc. to just sit there and burn energy. The gas engine must run to replace this energy which reduces MPG. When I turn the key ON, I start the engine, put it in gear and get moving in a split second. This will not hurt the engine because the traction motor provides power while the engine oil pump circulates oil and the engine gets warmed-up at an idle.
Warm-Up P&G - Part 2
Background: The FEH was programmed to reduce emissions by getting the Cat. Converter to operating temperature as quick as possible. Ford does this by using the battery and electric motors for power during their patented Warm-Up Program Strategy. The FEH is basically in EV when you first start the engine because your power is coming from the electric motors. The engine remains at a idle with the timing retarded to get the Cat hot the quickest. The FEH stays in this strategy until you demand more power, the battery SoC falls to 32% or the Cat Converter is hot enough to start lowering emissions.
Knowing this, you can aid the warm-up strategy as well as "Time" the battery SoC (above 42%) to go EV as soon as possible. First, don't demand more power from the electric motors than they can provide. This will cause the warm-up strategy to break and engine power will return while it's still cold. A cold engine will drink much more gas under a load than a warm engine.
The Warm-Up P&G begins as soon as you start the engine. Make sure traffic is clear before you start the engine and get moving steady under electric motor power with the engine at an idle. This is when battery SoC management begins for me so I start preparing the "TIMING" for my first EV glide from the first pulse with the electric motors while the engine is still at an idle. The only way to stop the fast battery drain and begin charging while in the warm-up strategy is to glide in "D". This is warm-up P&G for the FEH. Do not glide in neutral with the engine running because this stops all regen and generator charging.
Example, in my case the speed limit along my warm-up road is 35mph, so I pulse up to 40mph in general (depending on traffic) and glide down in "D" to 30mph with the engine still warming-up. Remember, I stop discharging the battery in the warm-up strategy as soon as I begin gliding with the engine running in "D". Timing my P&G so I have enough SoC to go EV when the engine is warm enough is my goal. I don't want to be waiting for the SoC to get to 42% when the engine is ready to go EV at any point. Warm-up P&G ends when you can go EV without the engine running and glide in neutral. Here is the video we made on warm-up P&G:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e54vGfAWiVc
In cold weather where the battery is too cold for EV but the engine is ready, I modify my glide using the brake pedal. The only way to heat the battery is by increasing the rate of charging. I find pulsing and gliding in "D" with a small amount of brake pedal pressure speeds up warming the battery to go EV.
Understanding P&G - Part 3
Battery Management
First, you must be able to monitor the battery SoC (state of charge) in a detailed manner and I find the SGII (Scangauge II) is ideal when programmed with a SoC X-Gauge. If I choose the most important gauge to monitor for me, it would be my SGII SoC. This tells me when it's time to start the engine and manage battery SoC. It tells me when to burn Off SoC in EV and at what SoC to start and end my neutral glide.
1. The engine will restart from EV at 40% SoC.
2. You can go EV after 42% SoC.
3. Battery range is normally 40 - 60%.
4. The motor/generator (MG1) will only charge to a maximum ~52% unless it's going through a battery re-Cal.
5. The Traction motor/generator (MG2) provides regenerative charging to a maximum of 60% SoC.
Important: The battery charges faster at the lowest SoC range and slows as the SoC increases. This means the load of the engine from MG1 when the SoC is low, is heavier and gets lighter as the SoC rises. So at ~40% SoC, you only may be getting ~20mpg at 30mph, at 45% SoC you may be getting 30mpg at 30mph and at ~50% SoC you may be getting ~38mpg at 30mph. Using these examples you get a better understanding of engine load, charging rate and Instant MPG you get at what battery level or SoC your at.
During P&G, Instant MPG and Charging Rate go hand in hand and the time it takes to Pulse (accelerate) to a target speed are the important factors. The glide and EV is the easy part to figure out. Looking at Charging Rate, you have that Charge/Assist OEM gauge to monitor for those big swings of the needle in the Charge area. In order to get those big swings, you have two factors to consider which is engine load and SoC level. We discussed that a lower SoC will allow a faster charge with MG1, so if I want a faster charge and bigger swing of the charge needle, I need to keep my battery SoC lower most of the time during P&G. I try to keep my SoC between 44% on the low side and 45-46% SoC on the high side for the best P&G possible. At this level of SoC, I get the fastest Charging Rate without dropping the SoC to a point below 42% where I can't go EV. I want the control to go EV when I want and not let the battery SoC control when the engine runs or not. This way I always have a reserve to stay in EV for a long and unexpected stop and I always have enough SoC to go a little further for a planned stop ahead in EV. This strategy has eliminated times I'm stopped in EV and the engine restarts because I dropped to a 40% SoC level. Once you get a restart at 40% SoC, you have no control of EV till your engine and MGI builds the SoC to at least 42% SoC. This drops your MPG average you worked hard for.
The Most Efficient P&G Speed
You can Pulse and Glide at any speed but I find an acceptable way to get across town in a reasonable amount of time is not to drop your speed below 22mph and avoid going over 33mph. There is no way to do this in most traffic conditions continually without being a traffic hazard so you need to adjust your P&G higher when needed to allow traffic behind you respect of road use. I avoid going over 33mph as much as possible but most of my speed is between 35 - 40mph and higher depending on traffic conditions and speed limits. You should not choose your routes to travel longer distances to your destination unless that route has a time benefit. A time benefit could be fewer stops, less traffic and more lanes to pass or be passed by other vehicles during P&G. Also, I keep my radio On a station that gives traffic reports on accidents and road blockages so I can alter a route when needed. Many of the routes I choose have all of the benefits above and are scenic along the ocean or protected nature areas where speed limits are slower and monitored by the police more. Most people who choose these routes expect slower traffic and drive the speed limit or even slower most of the time because of people on bikes and people crossing the street.
After the warm-up strategy your ready to begin recovery of the MPG average losses and get back to the MPG average you had before the start of the day. If weather conditions are better than the day before, you may end this day with even a better MPG average than you started with. I begin after a pulse where my SoC is somewhere between 45-46%. My speed is at 33mph or above depending on traffic behind me and glide down in EV in "N" to an EV speed I want to maintain while I burn the SoC down to 44%. At this point, if I have no traffic behind me I'll continue to glide down to as low as 22mph. Now I'm ready with a SoC at around 43.8% that has continued to drop because of the long EV glide in "N", to do P&G repeatedly with the correct pulse. The pulse should be done by a blip to start the engine and then watching the OEM Charge needle making sure to accelerate with the needle at its peak swing into the charge area. As you begin the pulse, the needle will swing slightly into the Assist area but get use to having it return into the charge area quickly and adjust acceleration to get that needle as far as possible into the Charge area. Also watch your SGII Instant MPG and try to maintain it around 12mpg not going below 10mpg or above 17mpg. After you have repeated enough continuous P&G that your SoC has built back up to 45% - 46%, it's time to burn off the SoC in EV as we did in the beginning above. The EV segment drain of the SoC from 45-46% down to 44% in this P&G technique is like a step in the stairs to a higher MPG average. That step is also needed to maintain battery management at a lower SoC for faster Charging with MG1.
End For Now
GaryG
Last edited by GaryG; 09-27-2010 at 05:33 PM. Reason: Part 3
#4
08-27-2010, 07:02 PM
Re: '09 FEH MPG Techiques
I find I can get into EV mode after about 1/4 mile of driving if I pulse to 30-35, then drop to 25 mph, then I can drive the rest of the way to work in EV mode on days I don't bike. Coolant temp is only about 125°.
#5
08-28-2010, 05:27 AM
Re: '09 FEH MPG Techiques
Where did you get your information on the Programming stategy that Ford uses.
I find this stuff fascinating and would really like to read up on it.
This would help everybody since we all have different drive cycles, for commuting,errands,
time of day climate etc.
I find this stuff fascinating and would really like to read up on it.
This would help everybody since we all have different drive cycles, for commuting,errands,
time of day climate etc.
#6
08-28-2010, 05:52 AM
Re: '09 FEH MPG Techiques
The engine remains at a idle with the timing retarded to get the Cat hot the quickest.
Without a reference--my 2005 Helms book does not state this--or photo from one of your aftermarket instruments revealing this, I question this validity of this statement.
Without a reference--my 2005 Helms book does not state this--or photo from one of your aftermarket instruments revealing this, I question this validity of this statement.
#7
08-28-2010, 12:45 PM
Re: '09 FEH MPG Techiques
John, glad you like this thread and the other Parts will follow.
Rick, I will confirm your statement that the '09 can go EV at 125 F coolant temperature and even lower. I don't think the coolant temperature is connected to EV starting in the '09 FEH. I test drove a new '10 and it went EV even faster than my '09. In my video you can see the outside temperature, my coolant temp. and see how long it took me to go EV. You most likely don't take a split second to get moving after start-up like I do and did in the video. If you did, you most likely take a little long than a 1/4 mile.
subdewd, I've posted about the Warm-Up Strategy Ford Patended for years here on GH. I included a link to that patent many times also. My computer crashed that had about 25 FEH patents as my bookmarks, so look though my post regarding that patent link. I'll search for it again also.
Billy, are you saying your FEH does not do the warm-up strategy? It's true, I didn't know why my '05 FEH was doing this until I found and read the patent. I didn't even know that retarding the timing would heat the cat and engine faster before that either.
GaryG
Rick, I will confirm your statement that the '09 can go EV at 125 F coolant temperature and even lower. I don't think the coolant temperature is connected to EV starting in the '09 FEH. I test drove a new '10 and it went EV even faster than my '09. In my video you can see the outside temperature, my coolant temp. and see how long it took me to go EV. You most likely don't take a split second to get moving after start-up like I do and did in the video. If you did, you most likely take a little long than a 1/4 mile.
subdewd, I've posted about the Warm-Up Strategy Ford Patended for years here on GH. I included a link to that patent many times also. My computer crashed that had about 25 FEH patents as my bookmarks, so look though my post regarding that patent link. I'll search for it again also.
Billy, are you saying your FEH does not do the warm-up strategy? It's true, I didn't know why my '05 FEH was doing this until I found and read the patent. I didn't even know that retarding the timing would heat the cat and engine faster before that either.
GaryG
#8
08-28-2010, 01:27 PM
Re: '09 FEH MPG Techiques
subdewd, I didn't find the patent link in this thread but you can see by the date I was talking about the patent 3 years ago.
http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5174
GaryG
http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5174
GaryG
#9
08-28-2010, 05:35 PM
Re: '09 FEH MPG Techiques
Rick, I will confirm your statement that the '09 can go EV at 125 F coolant temperature and even lower. I don't think the coolant temperature is connected to EV starting in the '09 FEH. You most likely don't take a split second to get moving after start-up like I do and did in the video. If you did, you most likely take a little long than a 1/4 mile.
GaryG
GaryG
#10
08-28-2010, 05:55 PM
Re: '09 FEH MPG Techiques
Since GaryG did not provide a reference to his statements or a photo of an aftermarket "tool" documenting/revealing timing is retarded after a cold start, we can only "guess" or look for such documentation. I have not found any such documention in the Helm manuals.
This is what I found at this link: http://www.patentgenius.com/patent/7762232.html
There is a lot of reading at this link. I do not know if this is what GaryG is referring to. In this link, at the top of where the invertor claims:
the first statement is exactly this:
The invention claimed is:
1. A method for a vehicle engine having a plurality of cylinders and an electric motor configured to rotate the engine, comprising: during engine idling, advancingspark timing of a cylinder to substantially before a peak torque timing, adjusting motor torque output of the electric motor to maintain engine idle speed, and retarding the spark timing of the cylinder toward the peak torque timing in response to adecrease in engine speed.
Note the filing date of November 6, 2008 and the date issued of July 27, 2010. Does this mean only the 2009 and newer hybrids have this feature?
There is too much other information to post it here. The engineers at this site can "eat their fill" here.
This is what I found at this link: http://www.patentgenius.com/patent/7762232.html
There is a lot of reading at this link. I do not know if this is what GaryG is referring to. In this link, at the top of where the invertor claims:
the first statement is exactly this:
The invention claimed is:
1. A method for a vehicle engine having a plurality of cylinders and an electric motor configured to rotate the engine, comprising: during engine idling, advancingspark timing of a cylinder to substantially before a peak torque timing, adjusting motor torque output of the electric motor to maintain engine idle speed, and retarding the spark timing of the cylinder toward the peak torque timing in response to adecrease in engine speed.
Note the filing date of November 6, 2008 and the date issued of July 27, 2010. Does this mean only the 2009 and newer hybrids have this feature?
There is too much other information to post it here. The engineers at this site can "eat their fill" here.
