75.5 MPG in a FEH
 

This is mostly about my new personal best, but I think
many of you will find this interesting.

I have a ScanGauge and some other instrumentation that
helps me monitor what's going on, but otherwise, my
FEH is stock.

I have a 2005 FWD with Nav
I have all tires at 45psi
I have roof cross bars removed
I drive with only myself in the car and a few books
and tools.

I recenty found out 70'F is too hot for optimum FE.
The battery heats up and turns on the A/C.
If it's too cold, the engine runs more to keep
everything hot. So where is "optimum"??? Think I'm
darn close to finding it.

Start of trip 55'F outside.
End of trip 54'F outside.
Start of trip with FEH engine at 145'F
End of trip with FEH engine at 170'F
Elevation 4700ft +/- 50 feet.
Net elevation change: zero ( complete round trip )
Fuel tank 3/4 full.
Night time, headlamps on, radio on, 1 window open.

The ScanGauge records useful info.
This is all one trip:

I had 75.5 MPG at 11.9 miles of a 20.2 mile round
trip.
This was the peak. I did so much charging and
dis-charging, that even with 55 degrees outside, the
battery warmed up and kicked on the A/C at this point.

With intermittant A/C after this, I had 72.5 MPG at
18.0 miles of my trip, and 68.3 MPG at the end of my
20.2 mile trip. I had one case of ICE running at a
stoplight due to A/C running.

Min. Battery temp (at start) was 68'F, max. was 90'F.
Min. engine coolent temp was 145'F. max. was 181'F.
Ave. speed was 17 MPH, max. was 39 MPH.
Max. RPM was 2824. Round trip took 1.1 hours.

As you can imagine, this was all stop and go city
conditions, with about 5-6 miles of back roads.
It was 10pm to 11:10pm and traffic was light.

So how do you get 70+ MPG in a FEH?

Mostly "Pulse & Glide" with L gear when the engine is
running, D or N when the engine is not running.

I would use EV to get zero to 20 MPH.
( D or L does not matter )

I would use the gas engine to go from 20 MPH to 40
MPH.
( Have car in L gear by 40 MPH ) aka "pulse"

Release go pedal = rapid drop of RPM, and soon after
EV mode. COAST AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE NOW! aka "glide".

You can coast in any gear, using your right foot to
keep zero arrows on the energy display. If you don't
have Nav, then shifting to "N" is your best bet.

Repeat.

Gary G also likes to "Fake Shift". That is, release
the go pedal to drop RPMs, then bring them back up
slowly, to set the eCVT to a higher virtual gear. (
like "overdrive" ) This is helpful at speeds over 40
MPH... even at highway speeds, but I really didn't do
that at all during my most recent trip around town,
and well, I think the results were awesome.

I would like to think I could keep 75 MPG around town
for indefinate periods of time, but due to rapid
battery heating, this appears to be unrealistic.
In warmer than 55 degree weather, the A/C comes on
sooner. In colder than 55 degree weather, the ICE
comes on sooner!

So I guess, so far, the most "idealistic" condition
I've found for fuel economy is, outside air of 55
degrees, speeds under 40 MPH, and about 12 mile trips!

I'm fortunate my commute to work is 9 miles each way,
on roads with 35-45 speed limits, and morning temps
are often about 55 degrees in spring and fall! :-)

Cheers, good luck, and happy motoring!

-John

Re: 75.5 MPG in a FEH
 

you ROCK.

Re: 75.5 MPG in a FEH
 

CONGRATS, GPSMan! Awesome and definitely adds fuel to my desire to increase my MPGs further. This tank hasn't been so great. Three relatives in the hospital (Mom, brother-in-law, and husband's uncle) for different reasons, and multiple speedy trips to get things for them or look in on them, is killing my normally relaxed driving. (But in the FEH, "killing" my mileage still just means 33mpg. ;)

Did you remove your roof bars by yourself or did someone else (dealer? service station?) do that? Since I don't think I'll ever use them I am tempted to take them off, too. Easier to clean the roof that way, anyway.

Even our nighttime temperatures are in the 80s now so I can't fret about what I can change re: optimal environmental temps for battery, but everything else is applicable.

Re: 75.5 MPG in a FEH
 

The bars slide back and forth in that track. There is just a spring tab to press down to get them off either end.

One person can do it, but it's difficult.
With two people, it's a piece of cake to remove.
Easy. No tools required. Takes 4 minutes with 1 person. 2 minutes with 2 people.

You can put them on at anytime.
Probably worth 0.5 MPG at highway speeds, and not much around town.
:)

P.S. 70 MPG is not easy, nor my typical driving. Typical for me with no A/C is about 42 MPG highway, 48 MPG city now. I'll need A/C ( for ME! ) soon!

Enjoy! I think you are doing very well Shannon, and taking everyone's suggestions to heart when feasible. For the first 6 mos. I had mine, I didn't have much data nor experience, and I was getting about 32-35 MPG.

-John

Re: 75.5 MPG in a FEH
 

I've been thinking about doing this. I don't have anything up there, ever, and I drive 82 miles of an 86 mile commute both ways on an expressway.

I'm wondering if it'll look funky without them.

Re: 75.5 MPG in a FEH
 

I took mine off a few months back and I like the cleaner look. I never bothered to do any testing to see how much difference it made but I think it HAS to help a little during the 90 miles a day of highway driving that I do.

Re: 75.5 MPG in a FEH
 

Whooo hoooooo!!!!!!!!

Re: 75.5 MPG in a FEH
 

wow 75mpg in a FEH.......


you need to call up the folks at Ford who have PHD's in mechanical engineering , and let them in on what you have found.

Ford could not for the life of them get the mileage to go at or above 40mpg. I guess they never tried it with no roof rack and only one person. Perhaps they skipped the part about the temperature controls , and malipulating them would yeild 75mpg.

Talk about a missed marketing bonanza. Now the FEH gets 75mpg , about DOUBLE the best efforts of Ford themselves. What a bunch of dummies........


Congrats on your more than overwhelming breakthru.......:D

Re: 75.5 MPG in a FEH
 

Tom- Keep in mind I intentionally tried to optimize every condition I could. This was basically an "experiment" and not your typical commute.

However, in ANY condtion ( except -15'F, I finally met my match then.... ) I always beat the EPA numbers. ( but then again, the EPA does not test at -15'F, so who knows what their numbers would be then!!! Ha! )

Denver's elevation helps, but I do WAY better than the 31 MPG Highway.
Going fast ( 70-75 ) I can squeeze out about 33 MPG.
Going moderate ( 65 ) I can do 36 MPG. The "city" rating.
Going slower ( 55 ) I can get 42 MPG, consistently... which is the speed the EPA uses to get the "highway" rating, by the way...

In city stop and go, 25-42 MPH, I can make 54 MPG under most traffic conditions and when weather is above freezing.

I've come to expect 54 MPG on a daily basis now, but 75? It will be difficult for me to hit that. To be fair, round trip ( only round trips count, so there are no gains from elevation changes... I could report 250 MPG if I only went downhill ) was 68.3 MPG. The segment that yielded 75.5 MPG was mostly flat, but could have been 50 feet lower than where I started, if you know what I mean... no easy way to tell, so EVERYONE should only report complete round-trips. ( which also balance out headwind / tailwind conditions if the RT is completed within a few hours... )

BTW... at the Ford "open house" in Dearborn last October for FEH owners, a Ford employee stated:

"On our city route that closely mimics the EPA test, our best engineer could get 50.3 MPG after about a year of practice. We don't expect our customers to be able to do that, but we hope all our customers will meet or beat the EPA published 36 MPG."

With 1000 pounds of cargo ( counting the 5 passengers, incl 2 Ford employee's and a newspaper reporter ) I got 54 MPG on my first try.

The rules were simple: You could drive as slow as you wanted, but you were dis-qualified if you were honked at or saw anyone waving fingers. No honks during my trip! :shade:

Take Care, and with a little effort, anyone can save a little gas.
With a lot of effort, one can save a lot of gas.

-John

Re: 75.5 MPG in a FEH
 

Oh yeah, I wanted to add, in my experience, it seems that 65 degrees results in the best MPGs, at least in MI.

Re: 75.5 MPG in a FEH
 

hi

again, you need to contact Ford and let them know what you are doing. An SUV getting even 54mpg by your conservative standards is so insanely good , they need to construct the vehicle to your specifications. Their modifications to your design will promptly shut down Toyota and Honda as who wouldnt buy a FEH with this kind of mileage? Its almost if not 100% better mileage than the nearest competitor.



congratulations dude:D

p.s. can you tell us how to modify the Highlander?, i would LOVE 50mpg.....

Re: 75.5 MPG in a FEH
 

I've modified my driving mostly, not the vehicle.

Pump up your tires. 45psi vs 30psi will give about +3 MPG.
Make your car as light as possible.
Start gently and slow gently. Time stoplights. Pretend you have no brakes.

Drive in a way that shuts off the gas engine as much as possible.
In 1 hour of city driving, my gas engine is on for about 12-14 minutes.

My Dad's V6 fully loaded Buick gets 32 MPG over the highway.... but city driving keeps him in the teens. City is where Hybrids excel.
:shade:
-John

Re: 75.5 MPG in a FEH
 

I'm amazed at some of these milage figures I've been reading.

One question i have is what people consider 'city' driving. I live in San Francisco, but my milage around town averages around 22-23 mpg (Escape 4WD, about 1500 miles). Before hitting 1000 miles, we had a hard time getting the milage above 20mpg in the city. In contrast, on the highway we're getting around 27 mpg.

Our city driving consists probably of the worst kind of driving possible. Short blocks with stop signs, short trips, and big hills. I'm sure if I was driving in other cities around the bay area that the milage would be better with longer blocks and stop lights (with a chance of a green light instead of a mandatory stop).

Still I'm puzzled that I've never seen better milage than when I'm on the highway. I consider my driving to be on the slow and careful side (read: old fart holding up traffic). I haven't played with shifting techniques, but I do my best to keep the ICE off and coast my way around as much as possible. Still, I'm a bit disappointed with the 23 mpg.

Re: 75.5 MPG in a FEH
 

The only time I was in San Francisco, I was 15 and not yet able to drive.
I do think you have unusually difficult conditions to drive in.
The electric motors do great in flat areas, but are not powerful enough for steep hills. In the Colorado Rockies, I have long, sustained hills, so I can re-coup what I spent going uphill on the return trip. I have some stretches of 7 or more miles of all downhill, highway, no stops. Having to stop every block does not let you keep your momentum up.

The bottom line of "Pulse and Glide" is to use gas to get moving, then electric ( or just coasting with neither gas or electric ) for as long as possible after. Sounds like you don't get the chance.

Short trips, trips of less than 5 miles between key on and key off also kill mileage.

I would like to try drivng in SF sometime, but don't know when that will happen.
I'm sure my numbers would go way down.
I'd still like to hear you get 30MPG. I do think that is possible for you.

The best tips you have already read. But make sure you have EXTRA air in your tires. The most you are comfortable with will help. I keep mine 45-49 psi.
Also, keep RPM's down as low as possible.
In flat areas, under 2000 RPM is desired.
On those hills, try keeping it under 3000 RPM if you can. 4000 tops, but for as short as possible. 4000 RPM has to fire twice as many cylinders per minute as 2000 RPM, and in theory, burns twice as much gas.

While your numbers are low, they would be even lower in the V6 Escape under the same conditions. Good Luck. Keep us posted!
-John

Re: 75.5 MPG in a FEH
 

That is interesting, but obviously totally invalid and unrealistic for most everyday driving situations for most people. Pulse & Glide, fake shifting, unsafely over-inflating your tires, seeking the optimal temp to drive in (not everyone lives in the rockies), no A/C (no kidding, who needs it on a 55 degree day?), accelerating like a turtle, pretending you don't have brakes, having no one else ride with you, etc. I realize that you are just trying to get the absolute highest MPG to satisfy your curiousity, but I just hope people reading this aren't expecting results like this. I also hope they don't start driving like this everyday.

I guarantee you could get the most amazing mileage of all time if you cut down on the weight more... start by removing the engine(s). Then just cut a hole in the floorboards, and Fred Flintstone it around town, or put some tiny tires on it and make it a low-rider. =P

Re: 75.5 MPG in a FEH
 

I believe it was fairly clear he was just experimenting and that these conditions aren't ones he routinely recreates or expects others to recreate.

For more "average" numbers, I'm easily seeing 33mpg when not even trying and have had as high as 37.3mpg on my last tank of gas in a just-broken-in '06 FEH (and that included trips to the home improvement superstore and landscape center to pick up ceramic planters, potting soil, 5 gallon fence/deck stain, etc.)

My Rig:
'06 FEH w/Nav, FWD
Tire Pressure: 40psi since about 2,200 miles on the odometer
Everything stock
Interior additions: Husky floor liners and cargo liner

Re: 75.5 MPG in a FEH
 

Awww.... How cute..... You're just jealous! ;) ( rover78)

Obviously, as stated, this was as near "optimum" conditions as possible.
Looking at the mileage database, you can see I get about 40 MPG during the "daily grind" conditions. And I never go less than 5 MPH under posted speed limits, and half the time, exceed them.

One key to success is, if you're late for work, drive as fast as is safe.
On the way home, take it extra easy, and the two will balance out...

I do hope everyone starts driving like I do.
Unless I'm testing on a deserted road at 11pm, I'm the safest driver out there.
Never had a collision in my life. 20 years of driving, and probably 500,000 miles.

Re: 75.5 MPG in a FEH
 

Seriously though, I still say it's not safe to over-inflate your tires that much. It will make the vehicle handle differently, more so on loose surfaces, such as gravel. There is a reason they have recommended pressure ratings for the tire and vehicle.

And no, I'm not jealous. The Prius easily gets 50 - 55 MPG while driving it like a normal car, under everyday conditions, with the A/C on. Probably easily get over 100+ MPG if driven as per your instructions. ;)

Re: 75.5 MPG in a FEH
 

I'm very serious when I say 10-15 psi more in your tires makes them MORE SAFE and last MUCH LONGER.

It is a hard to kill myth that extra pressure wears out the center of the tire.
Unless you are on snow or sand, more pressure provides better handling, and higher performance. Not just better gas mileage.

Here's a report from the Highway Patrol. There is also a thread on here about a month back on this exact topic.

The tires are actually capable of 100psi without blowout.

http://www.officer.com/article/artic...on=19&id=27281

Re: 75.5 MPG in a FEH
 

I guess that depends where you look, for example...
http://www.safercar.gov/tires/pages/...sureFAQ.htm#q2

For instance, if you go down a loose gravel or washboard road with over-inflated tires, not only is it going to be a considerably rougher ride, but you're also more likely to loose control than if you had your tires at the recommended PSI. That is not a myth. Obviously, it's not as much of an issue on maintained paved roads or interstates, but an SUV is intended to find itself often on rougher surfaces as well.

Re: 75.5 MPG in a FEH
 

gang

good discussion. I see 2 points of view here. One is from a guy who has all kinds of awesome tips to get over twice what the automobile maker themselves tested and found possible, and the other point of view is -for reasons unknown- that the fellow is totally full of so much BS that his eyes are brown.

Now, i dunno if this feller really gets this gas mileage, and if its under the most ridiculous circumstances that he does so, why report it? What is the point. Next step is to airlift your hybrid up to the top of mount everest and ski down for about 5 miles, claiming 145,437mpg for the trip.

So i have to believe that his 75mpg is under some kind of normal repeatable circumstances, or what is the point? So i pointed out that he must now go to Ford and report his technics to the mechanical engineers , so that they can modify the FEH with overinflated tires and coolants for the engine to keep up to specs in the fellows findings.

I myself have a highlander hybrid. He has not done meticulous study on my vehicle -so he could not advise, but did give me some beginner pointers, which i think is swell.

However, i will stick to keeping my tires at the recommended safety level, and just throw out gas mileage. Call me stupid.

I also have chosen to use cruise on the highway instead of this ingenious idea of 'pulse and glide' as its hasnt for me done the wonders it seems to do for him. My EV needs to be continuiously charged to get the most mileage and pulse and glide does not allow the ICE to charge it as smoothly as the apparently idiot engineers designed it to do.

why didnt the engineers design the vehicle to 'pulse and glide' -i have no idea. Dummies.

But all and all, i believe this fellow to be an outright inspiration to us all. I know i cant get double the EPA out of my highlander. He is a genious. :D

Re: 75.5 MPG in a FEH
 

I wish I lived closer so I could test-drive your Highlander. ( If you'd let me. )

The good news is, just today, in the parking lot at work, I saw a new Highlander Hybrid. Still has Temporary tags on it. I just need to loiter around a bit and find out who owns it. :angel:

Step 2 is to convince him/her to let me drive it! Fat chance with all the pride and joy that comes with a new car, right? Maybe if I offer to allow them to drive mine first?

To each his own on the tires. The way I see it, if I keep them pumped up, I can always let air out in a matter of seconds if I ever find myself in sand, or a sudden, unexpected snow storm. It's harder to put air in on a whim.
:shade:
-John

Re: 75.5 MPG in a FEH
 

Let's drift back on topic, and refrain from too much namecalling or finger pointing.

I think we can all agree on a few things:

1. If the driver has the right circumstances and skills, a hybrid can achieve out of this world MPGs.

2. Not everyone will achieve 1. Many because of personal choices.

3. There is no reason to get emotional about either achieving or not achieving 1.

4. Not everyone has the same vehicle, in the same environment, and drives the same way.

Re: 75.5 MPG in a FEH
 

While John (GPSMAN1) and GaryG have developed specialized techniques, and use
selected routes to demonstrate unusually high FEH mileage, let me temper their
reports with real world numbers for my 06 FEH, which no has a mere 3300 miles.

This last Tuesday: 42.6 MPG for a 130 mile roundtrip from El Lay to Camarillo
and back, driving at the speed limit with 3 other adult passengers and the A/C
on during portions of the mid-day trip. BTW, last February, when my FEH had
less than 500 miles, I got 39.4 MPG over the same route, same conditions--you
can conclude that either the car (and/or the driver!) is learning, or I'm no
longer penalized by CA's winter gas...

Two weeks ago: 39.7 MPG for a 219 mile roundtrip from El Lay (sea level) to
Lake Arrowhead (5200 feet in the San Bernadino National Forest) and back,
driving at the speed limit with 3 other adult passengers and the A/C on during
portions of the mid-day trip.

And, my mileage is without "pulse and glide", coasting downhill with the vehicle
in neutral or with the ignition off (CA VC Section 21710), etc.

rb
'06 FEH owner

Re: 75.5 MPG in a FEH
 

arbie



wow. you are getting good mileage too. Not as outrageous as that other fellah, but more realistic for my goals.



good for you!:D

Re: 75.5 MPG in a FEH
 

arbie2! That is excellent! It was 6 months before I learned to get numbers like that. I didn't have the benifit of this group ( didn't know about it ) when my car was new. That's awesome.

Both the car, and the driver improve with age, IMHO.
:shade:-John

Re: 75.5 MPG in a FEH
 

I got 38 MPG in my non-hybrid on a stretch of road between Payson and Phoenix. It's all downhill though. ;)

Re: 75.5 MPG in a FEH
 

That's very cool. And at highway speeds, your Escape is not that different than mine, other than I have a 4 cyl Atkinsen vs. your 6 cyl Otto.

I'd probably get lower 40's on that same stretch.
Now how does yours do in bumper to bumper rush hour traffic?
;) (wink)

-john