I'm very seriously looking at a 2010 FFH. I'm -not- purchasing a hybrid because its the green thing to do, I'm looking at the platform and the fuel economy. I currently drive a Dodge 1500 4x4 with a Hemi and get 15/18 if I'm lucky. I'm not interested in purchasing a vehicle that only gives me an increase to 19/25. I'm VERY interested in averaging 39-40+ mpg and really like the FFV. I'm looking at a 2010 FFH, 502A.

I test drove a FFH a few days ago, reset the avg mpg and trip odometers before pulling off the dealer's lot. I managed 32mpg during a 35 mile test drive that included driving up a mountain to help charge the battery. The car only had about 12 miles showing when we pulled off the lot, so I didn't have much EV to play with at first.

I average about 22,000 miles each year between work/play/travel. I'm not a hypermiler, and I'm not buying the FFV with that in mind. I watch traffic ahead and coast when possible now. My round trip to work is 20miles, half on an interstate. I do alot of suburb driving, but not downtown rush hour driving. This will also be a road-trip vehicle for me. I know the car will change my driving habits some, so do I have a reasonable expectation for 39-40mpg?


I have a few questions for this knowledgable group.

1. I like the 110v/150w inverter in the FFH. I have read on several forums about driving without the AC and limiting the electrical drain on the car, which I understand. I wouldn't use the inverter around town. I like the convienence of charging my notebook computer on interstate drives of roughly 2 hours while travelling. How much will this affect my fuel economy at 70mph?

2. How different is the regular maintenance on the FFH? The salesman explains that oil changes are now recommended at 7500 miles or 6 month intervals vs 3000 miles or 3 months. What about brake pad life (much better I've read) and will the regenerative braking system need extra care/maintenance? What about when the rotors need to be turned/replaced, more expensive than a non-hybrid Fusion? A diesel will cost more for routine maintenance, what about a hybrid?

3. I'm looking at 2 FFH's, one was built 05/10/10, the other 06/18/10. will there be any difference in the Nav systems or other systems (updates) in the 06/18 car since it was built 5-6 weeks later and closer to the 2011 builds?

Thanks in advance,

Jonathan

 

I own a 2010 Mecury Milan Hybrid and a 2007 Prius. No simple answers to your milage questions, to many variables. Below are just a few random thoughts.

Your driving habits sound very similar to mine. I seldom try to hypermile , just keep up with traffic flow to avoid triggering any road rage. Based on my 12 month experice with the Mecury, you could hit 39-40 with the A/C turned and keeping express way speed at or under 70 for at least half the trip. The sweet spot on milage for me seems to be 50-60 mph. I typically drive 75 on flat terrain when on the expressway and get 32-34 mpg, every 5 miles an hour over 50 seems to reduce milage quite a bit.

Running the A/C bumps the Accessory gauge up quite a bit, can harldy notice when the inverter is in use.

In my climate (Michigan), milage peaks in spring and fall when A/C can be turned off. In winter milage drops due the time it takes to warm up and the gas formulary changes they make prevent knock, etc. Went on a trip last week (temp in the 70's) of about 200 miles RT over realitively flat terrain w/o A/C (half on express way at 75 and the rest on state roads at 40-65 depending on traffic) and got 40.2 mpg. In town commute is a different story, especially if cold months. Short hops (less than 5 miles) are lucky to get 30 mph due to the time it takes to warm up. In bumper to bumper traffic, the mpg display is misleading. In this situation the engine shuts down as it should but the mpg display starts dropping because of the lack of movement over time. That said, I suspect I am doning much better than the guy next to me.

The owners manual on my 2010 recommends an oil change every 10,000 miles using a synthetic blend. The car has a "life time" air cleaner and cannot be easily changed.

All said, the FFH is a great car, would not hesitate to buy another one.

 

Hey Jonathon,

The 2010 FFH is a wonderful car. I have the next package down, w/o NAV, but with everything else, leather, plus free (for 3yr) voice activated directions and dialing thru MS Sync, which serves me well. The Sony Audio is wonderful. A flash drive houses all my music/podcasts. I use Sirius satellite radio as well.

I drive a 19m each way commute from about 2000' down to the valley at about 400' and back over about a 13 mile down/up grade; one day a week it's a 55mi each way commute. I have my tires as 44psi. I peaked at 45.8mpg this summer, which it is heading back towards right now. She dropped to 44.8mpg after a 6h round trip at 65-70mph loaded with two sets of golf clubs and a 450lbs of passengers, w/ the A/C on half of the way.

My first 50mi home from the dealer 15months ago generated about 30mpg if I recall, as I had the uphill-only 13m grade.

The car and it's LCD has turned me into an efficient driver: I employ the obvious simple hypermiler techniques, however I always stay up with posted speeds or a bit higher (causing others to feel the need to pass--sometimes). Where I deviate from the true diehards is that I don't take alternate routes, nor do I use Pulse & Glide maximally to the bitter end. But I do everything short of that. I use glide in neutral now and again when it makes sense. I accelerate fairly quickly, and often out pace others at traffic signals. But it's then on releasing off the gas and reapplying till it's just enough to maintain speed once I'm at speed. I coast/EV to stops often, wherever possible.

My sense is that if you drive like your typical unconscious (fuel-efficiency wise) driver, you will probably average 38-40mpg no troubles, unless you're in lots of cold weather, then it may taper off a little. That's **** good, really. The car is so pleasant to drive in: quiet, plenty quick, wonderful audio, comfortable seating/ergonomics--I'm generally in no rush to get out of it .

My only complaint is the glass, as in the front windshield. I'm looking forward to getting a nice rock into it so I can justify replacing it. There is a layer of plastic or something in it, plus it doesn't wipe clean well in the rain at night, making it sometimes hard to see well. I had to take every possible glass cleaning soln right on thru clay and acid, highest end blades, etc. It did improve w/ regard to rainy driving at night, but in certain lighting there are striations in this film that are not removable. I may still exercise a warranty complaint and see what happens. In most situations, these faults don't impair the view or the ride. It's just in night time rain, plus driving directly towards the sun just before dawn/dusk.

You will save big time on brakes in my opinion. In fact, I just for the first time just now decided to look at my front disk brake pads: they look virtually unused as expected, and I have 18K miles on the car now. You just don't use them much--unless again you choose to hurry up and get to the next intersection and have to brake briskly. When I see drivers do this it just looks stupid to me, especially when you can see you're going to need to stop. I've become very good at anticipating.

The 2.5L gas engine will last way long in terms of mileage I'm sure since much of the time it's not running. I'm using full synthetic oil now and it just stays super clean for 5K miles, at which point I've have the oil changed. It's probably a waste to service at this interval, so I may move this to 7,500 or so--I'll base this on the color/cleanliness of the oil. DO NOT overfill oil in this engine--best off to have the service center fill the oil to 1/4Qt below the top-full line. See my post on Blue Smoke.

Good luck w/ your purchasing decision,

Noel

 

The 2010 Ford Fusion Hybrid is the 2010 North American Car of the Year. Many reviewers are calling it the best hybrid sedan yet. The Fusion has a 2.5-liter four-cylinder Atkinson-cycle engine that makes 156 hp and 136 lb-ft of torque. The Fusion's trunk-mounted nickel-metal-hydride battery pack is smaller and lighter, for instance, and uses a different chemistry so that it doesn’t need a separate cooling system, simply drawing air in from the cabin to manage temperatures.

 

Hey Jon, any idea how many watts your laptop draws when charging ? (some of the info may be on the power brick, most draw about 65 w if the computer is not being used but if charging AND computer is on at the same time can be 195 W ((volts x amps = watts
120v x 1.6 amps = 192 watts))

 

Jonathan,

You sound a lot like me; I own a Camry hybrid, and replaced a Cadillac DTS for almost the same reasons I bought my hybrid.

The only thing I can add is to be aware of the changes you may see if your local gas stations go to 10% ethanol. It will knock 2-3 MPG off of your average. As for the A/C, the weather here in Texas is cooling off a little. When I have turned my A/C I noticed my running mileage average going up considerably.

Here's what I have learned about how much the environmental changes and fuel changes can affect mileage:
1) Driving from Florida to Texas, non-ethanol gas, heavy A/C usage, about 65-70 MPH on nearly all freeway; 39 MPG.
2) In Texas, mixed driving (about 70-80% interstates) heavy A/C usage, 10% ethanol at all stations, about 33-35 MPG.
3) Same driving in Texas, same gas, no A/C, mileage jumps back up to 36-39 MPG.

If you have any reservations about the Fusion or any hybrid, see if a local rental outfit has one you can rent for a week or so. Many non-airport rental offices have great weekly rates for the local people.

Good luck; you don't have to be a tree-hugger to like a hybrid!

Joe

 

Jonathan -

Regarding the impact on mpg of charging a PC, I took a look at the charger on my Dell - draws 1.5A at 110V, or 165 Watts, which comes to .23 HP - given that the FFH has a net HP of 191 HP it seems to me the charging will not significantly impact fuel economy. I've read the same cautions about how A/C impacts fuel economy - I've had my 2011 FFH for a month/1000 miles and I haven't noticed the impact in a significant way.

 

The adapter may be rated at 1.5A max, but not many notebooks draw the full rating of the AC adapter even if you're using them AND charging the battery at the same time. Most battery charging is relatively slow to prevent heat build-up so I would be surprised if it were drawing more than 70-80W during a charge-only session.

Your point is valid that it should not have a noticable effect on fuel economy.