Hmm, they are a thirty minute drive from me.

 

It's all about the science folks. You get what you pay for. Bigger battery = bigger MPG.

This $4000 kit here moves you from 30 MPG to 40 MPG.

The $30,000 kit I test drove moves you from 30 MPG to 140 MPG.

Still, every watt of electricity has to come from somewhere.
Is electricity cleaner? Depends.
Is electricity cheaper? Depends.
Is a bigger battery better for the environment? Depends... usually not though.

ICE gasoline cars are not evil. What we need is lighter, smaller, more aerodynamic vehicles that use less energy, period.

It's about energy consumption, not gasoline consumption.
And I can convert your STOCK Ford Hybrid Escape to get 42-54 MPG for $0 additional investment. You need only to convert the way you drive it.

I get up to 54 MPG around the city, and 42 MPG on the highway (in favorable weather) with no additional batteries, no magnets, no air dams..... just driving in a more conservative manner. Hell, I can get 26.5 MPG in a 7,100 pound full size pick up truck with extended cab and long bed! V8 and 6.6 liter displacement!
-John

 

Share your techniques... I have tried, but clearly you're doing something I haven't been able to accomplish, even with a smaller more efficient vehicle.

 

If your hybrid has an EV mode (electric only mode) it is all about being in this mode for the longest amount of minutes possible. A ICE is very good at turning gas into waste heat, and poor at turning gas into motion. The fewer minutes a day you can make heat, the better.

We all know the battery in these cars is not very big.
Pure driving, you get 2 to 3 miles on a battery charge.
Get out of the mode of thinking you have a part time electric car. You don't.
This is not like a Chevy Volt.

In the city, get up to speed and get the engine off as soon as possible.
In the city, I drive for an hour, with my gas engine on for only 12 to 14 minutes per hour. This means you do lots of "coasting" or gliding or whatever you want to call it. Get the maximum miles from "unpowered flight".

Use that big battery to run your radio, power steering, and power brakes.
Use it less for "driving". Your gas engine is still best for getting the car rolling, then shut it off and coast.

Look up pulse & glide. Obviously you can't coast well uphill, but never have your engine on going downhill, and you'd be amazed how far you can coast on level ground before losing 10 MPH. Try accelerating to 5 over the speed limit, and then coasting to 5 under the speed limit. This will not impeede traffic flow. If there is no one behind you, coast for even longer and let speeds drop more.

Lowering your speed will take you 1 or 2 minutes longer to get where you are going, but will save you 1 or 2 dollars in gas each time. Is your time worth $1 per minute? Is saving 0.5 to 1 gallon of gas each day driving the same miles important to you?

 

Thanks John.

Many of us are familiar with 48 mpg at 48 mph (2wd). Are there numbers for any other speeds?

 

Oh yes... 48 @ 48 is what I see in my FEH FWD.

So since the Gov used to consider highway "55 MPH" ( now I think they consider highway 60 MPH ) I truly get 42 to 43 MPG at 55 MPH, and about 40 to 41 MPG at 60 MPH.

Drops off dramatically moving faster due to wind resistance.

I also am quite sure that air pressure in the tires at 44-45 psi nets you 2 MPG on the highway, and gives you much lower rolling resistance for longer "coasts" in the city. Also, my stock tires lasted 80,000 miles at the higher pressure.

 

Thank you for the photo. We now know how it fits in the vehicle.