Are you fully draining your battery on the uphill so you start out with a low SoC on the downhill? I do this on a much lessor scale with P&G. I hit some big bridges here with a 40mph pulse at the bottom and fade speed in EV as far uphill as I can till it calls for a restart of the engine. Does traffic allow you to crawl up the last portion of the uphill to drain your battery in EV?

What about any segments on the down hill that are flat or have any areas to climb in EV? At any rate, this is how I used the rolling hills in the MPG Challenge. DebbieKatz road shotgun to watch me drive as a condition of using her FEH in the Challenge. She thought it was strange how I was climbing hills in her FEH while in EV. I used "L" gear on the way down the other side to build SoC while in EV also. You can do the same thing with the brake pedal in your FFH like I do all the time in my '09 FEH. Debbie looked at me at the end of the Challenge and said you coasted the whole way! It's true, it's all about coasting in EV. That's what P&G is all about in any car.

Take a look at this plain old gas Honda Civic getting a 80mpg tank:
http://www.cleanmpg.com/index.php?pa...9&viewcar=3396
He doesn't even have a battery!

GaryG

 

Yes, indeed, I do. Early on this seemed very obvious to implement as I quickly discovered I am not able to capture anywhere near all of the potential energy in the downhill ride. But this is such chump change Gary. When I arrive home, that last 4-5% of the uphill ride drains the battery from 50% charge to the low limit the car allows, so barely affects the overall picture. My battery is fully charged, actually way before the half-way down point going down. My sense is that I would need around 2-3x the storage/release potential in an HV to truly offset what happens in that long downhill/uphill part, which, BTW, is fully 50% of my typical daily commute. This is why I say, a much better battery would help this car in this type of terrain. It would be great if a Li Ion battery would come along for this car, right about the time the NMH battery needs replacing. As I say, I think this car is going to go for at least 250-300K miles before major engine parts need attn, I hope.

I think the fact that during the warm weather I am getting over 43mpg in this terrain (ie, 50% of my miles are up and down a pretty steep hill wherein the HV battery only partially helps the picture) is testimony to the fact I do alot to improve performance over someone who isn't thinking much about these things.

If I can make myself get up earlier on Thursday, I will try some more hypermiling to and from Willows and see how it goes!

 

Good to see your not leaving any juice at the top of the hill. Here is a new thread about the Ford plug-in FEH being tested:
http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32915

I want one!

GaryG

 

Gary I still think, and I hope to heck, a good aftermarket Li Ion battery for FFH will come along and be cheap right about the time this HV dies, and yes make it a plug in at that point. THAT, would be the truly environmentally smart thing to do. Continue to use the rest of the vehicle for another 10y!

 

There will be a market for retrofitting a plug-in Li Ion battery system for the present full hybrids. There are three Prius now in the Cleanmpg Mileage Log that are plug-in retrofitted. Last time I checked a standard FEH replacement battery was $7,000 plus installation cost. At first, the battery could not be repaired but Ford changed their mind and are having dealers replacing the internal fans and wiring harnesses now. So parts can be bought now and replaced. I now believe the retrofit in the future will be from using the existing packs and replacing the cells with Li Ion cells so the cost and weight can be reduced. Ford and Sanyo did a lot of work in the construction of the battery case and ventilation system and placing the pack in a crash protected area. The low and high voltage wires are already there and there is plenty of space for the smaller Li Ion cells. The case is bolted in already and there is still plenty of cargo area.

I also believe there will be a core charge for the old packs so rebuild battery packs are available on short order like rebuilt engine short and long blocks are now.

Myself, I would like buying a new plug-in vehicle with all the new technology but having a used FEH can still hold its value till I'm ready. I got big tax credits on both my FEH's and if plug-ins are given the same break, I more than likely will cash-in my '05 FEH for one. I consider myself as having the jump on most drivers because of my hypermiling skills with the Ford system.

We will see how this all turns out!

GaryG