I dont understand, MPG question
 

Every day I drive my kids to my perents house out in the country The drive is tipically 5 miles @ 45 mph and 10 miles @ 65 mph I get an average of about 29 mpg. Now I went down to Houston to meet some of the Hybrid owners down there and on the way back @ 65 mph I averaged 33.5 mpg both conditions are with the ac on as needed. Also very little drafting. The drive UP from Houston is uphill (40 msl to 350 msl). This has happened twice, so it isnt a fluke. I do EV for about 1 mile going to my perents house down a white rock road. Am I EVing to much and spending my FE on recharging? :confused:

Re: I dont understand, MPG question
 

FWIW...I always get better FE on the highway at a constant speed. (about 30mpg). I get about 28 city. I have an AWD.

Granted the Hwy-city difference is much less than a conventional vehicle. The CVT really helps in hwy use.

Still 28mpg is much better than a regular escape's 17mpg.

Nate

Re: I dont understand, MPG question
 

Hmmmm.... my city number is around 31-34... my highway can be as low at 28. But then again I push about 70 on the freeway.

Re: I dont understand, MPG question
 

well for me I do quite well on the highway. If i keep it around 58-62 on fairly flat terrain I can and do get about 36-38 mpg. Now that is A/C on, no cruise, and no drafting. in the city for what ever reason I seem to get a bit less. Like 33-35 mpg. so go figure! :D

Re: I dont understand, MPG question
 

Did the FEH go through warm up on either trip? This has a greater impact on the shorter trip.

Re: I dont understand, MPG question
 

That is very close to what I get too.

Mark E Smith, do you follow some of the suggestions in the FAQ, stickied above? Check your tire pressure. I run my stock tires near (but below) the tire maximum, not the Ford recommended, and it makes a 2-3 mpg difference. I do get into the gas a little slower than "normal" also while accelerating the FEH. I use the L gear to slow down. I sit at long lights in EV with hot a/c blowing, etc. I will coast when going down hill. I don't draft nor shut off the engine, or anything radical.

Re: I dont understand, MPG question
 

This might be it my drive to the country starts from dead cold, the trips to Houston are 100+ miles with a warmed up engine.

yep do all that also. Though I accelerate to use more of the HV battery a litle more aggressively

Re: I dont understand, MPG question
 

Mark, you can never do EVing to much! I try to stay in EV 70% of the time without drafting or FASing. I recorded 70.3mpg in a 20 mile RT in a FWD FEH with neither of those techniques.

GaryG

Re: I dont understand, MPG question
 

I find my city driving is best when basically moving with the flow, ie, not braking and not accelerating, just trying to move along at a constant foward motion.

Re: I dont understand, MPG question
 

I thought I read on here, the ICE is better suited for a constant speed. As in it dosn't "perform" best at acceleration, or changing speeds, but it's peak is a constant speed/rpm.

So using that thinking the long highyway is one speed and stay there a long time, country driving is changing speeds a few times, probably even some stop & go's.

Could that be it?

Re: I dont understand, MPG question
 

Total novice here, but I'll throw my Prius hat in (since I'm on the list for a FEH).

Wind... The wind that day was listed at spotty with gusts up to 14 mph originating from East-South-East. So on the way back you had a tail cross-wind helping you out. I've seen a 5 MPG delta in seemingly moderate winds in the Prius and the FEH has a bigger footprint.

I don't get as much of a wind effect in the city because of more ground cover on the smaller roads and the slower speeds.

11011011

Re: I dont understand, MPG question
 

Good to see a Prius hypermiler get his hands on a FEH! The FEH is a different ball game Dan. I use the weight and momentum to pump that battery up with regen. The wind is a big factor, so if I have a headwind, I recommend traveling slower roads. A tailwind really helps the FEH MPG.

Jerry, your right about keeping the FEH moving and avoid stopping. The sweet spot is between 25-35mph where you can control 70% constant EV use. Battery management and control at its lower SoC limits is how I drive my FEH.

GaryG

Re: I dont understand, MPG question
 

This is probably the key. In the city, you tend to change your engine RPM a lot, and over the highyway, keep it much more constant.

However, with the eCVT you have the very distinct advantge of NO SHIFT POINTS and the fact that engine speed is NOT connected to wheel speed. Thus YOU CAN keep engine RPM constant in the city.

I reccommend that owners always try to keep RPM's between 1800 and 2400 when in the city. If you do this all the time, your city MPG should be higher than your highway MPG.

Also, in a 2005 at least CRUISE CONTROL REALLY SUCKS! ( gas )
I just drove 2500 miles in Kansas and Nebraska.
I was driving the Interstates at 66-70 MPH.
For these long trips, I gave in and used CC.
My MPG was about 30 MPG for a whole tank of highway.
Disappointed with the result, the next tank I drove without CC.
At 70 MPH over the same interstates, in same weather ( mostly cross-winds ) I got a more typical ( for me ) 34 MPG highway.
Even CC varries the RPM a huge amount on the gentle rolling hills of Kansas and Nebraska prarrie. I have NOT YET FOUND a road flat enough for Cruise Contol. -John

Re: I dont understand, MPG question
 

I don't use the CC at higher speeds either, mainly because of RPM increases to maintain a speed. However, at 30mph in EV, I find I get very good battery management with the CC on flat roads. If you watch the Charge/Assist, you can see the PCM/CC controls the torque and speed much better than your foot in EV. Those spikes in assist are reduced with CC and I find this has increased my distance before an engine start to recharge the battery. This all adds to increase my average MPG. If I have a tailwind, I find I can increase my speed (up to 36-37mph) in EV and get the same results with CC. With a headwind, I still set the CC in EV at 30mph and get better FE when traffic permits.

This has been my best summer for FE, and its been hot. The heater core bypass and the increase use of CC I think played a big part. I've stopped using FAS because I got a "Stop Safely Now" two times and couldn't restart the ICE until I got stopped and shifted to "Park". Everything reset fine, but I don't feel safe using FAS anymore. My mileage has not gone down, so I'll stick with what I'm doing.

GaryG

GaryG

Re: I dont understand, MPG question
 

This is it. I have rolling small hills on my trip. I have been using CC, this morning I did not use CC and tried to keep RPMs constant. Return round trip average of 34 mpg. Thanks

Re: I dont understand, MPG question
 

Something else fun to watch on the eCVT cars is ignition timing (IGN on SGII).

I get MUCH better numbers in *another* hybrid holding IGN constant. It's about 10% better than holding RPM constant. Don't really know why, but there you go.

11011011