I just recently bought a brand new fusion hybrid with 98miles on the car.
I have read the manual, read the posts about the battery levels. I understand it all but so far on my first tank i am only averaging 34 miles per gallon and that is 90% city driving. I have been driving slower than most 80year old people. Slow acceleration, trying to use the battery as much as possible under 45mph.
What am i doing wrong?
when i start to accelerate, unless i want to be going 5mph for a 1/4mile, it uses the gas engine immediately, i get up to at least 25mph if im on a busy road and then take my foot completely off the gas and allow it to kick over to the battery. Though if i dont go down any hills ( i live in Indiana..not too many) or come to any stop lights the battery runs down very quickly.
Then when im running on the gas engine cruising at 35mph the computer tells me im averaging 20mph???
a POS 15year old honda civic can get better mpg at 35mph than that...
i dont know if there is something wrong with my car or the way i am driving...
any ideas, suggestions??

thank you in advance,
Ian Bryant

 

Hi Ian

If your running the A/C all the time in City driving the battery will drain very fast in EV and the engine will constantly fight to recharge the battery drinking gas turning the generator. Accelerating to slow will also waste gas believe it or not because of the time the engine is running getting up to speed. Unless your driving at parking lot speeds, don't accelerate in EV. The 2.5L engine should be used to accelerate to speed and EV should be used for as much steady state speed driving as possible. Try accelerating with a Instant MPG reading of ~15mpg till you reach your target speed. You can't do this from a stop or slow speed because you got to get past 10mpg and certain MPH before MPG can get stable with a smooth acceleration. While accelerating with the engine keep your generator in the charging mode. If you accelerate to fast the generator will stop charging and you will burn battery SoC with motor Assist which you don't want either.

Battery management in a short range State of Charge (SoC) battery like we have is very important. If we had a plug-in long range SoC battery like a Li Ion, we could charge the battery back up when we get home and not worry as much running the A/C.

The '09 FEH was the first and last hybrid with a belt driven A/C compressor and the new 2.5L engine. My A/C compressor runs without my control to cool the battery, you only have cabin A/C to cool your battery. If it is hot where your located and the battery gets above 78 degrees F, your battery starts to become less efficient the hotter it gets. Make sure you have a clean battery filter and the opening is not blocked by anything you carry in your FFH.

GaryG

 

through this explanation the A/C was off...
i noticed that right away that when the A/C is on you get the same mpg as most cars...
so do what im doing? accelerate with the gas engine to a minimal speed and then let off the gas and allow the battery take over??

 

Yes, learn to accelerate with the engine running like I explained and quit driving like an old lady. Your battery get killed real fast with the electric compressor you have in City driving. The EPA City/HWY rating on your FFH window sticker is base on not running the A/C.

The battery SoC is drained more efficiently in EV with the cruise control set on flat roads. There are many hypermiling tricks I use in the 43 mpg average! tread next to this one if you really want to read them and improve your MPG. I'll help anyone improve MPG if they're interested and want too. The FFH is a efficient car but you must learn how it works and how to drive it for the best MPG.

GaryG

 

Thank you Gary,
yes i am very interested in your techniques on getting the maximum mpg in my FFH..

thank you,
Ian

 

Ian, did you read the things I talked about in that thread and do you have any questions? I can repeat those post and always add more detail if you want.

Anyone else want to ask questions about how I use these techniques?

GaryG

 

Ian, I'm getting 45.3 on my 2010 FFH, and this is just by being a smart and more efficient driver, which these cars take benefit from. You have to learn a few things, but it isn't rocket science. I stay up with the flow of traffic, and use A/C but at lower settings (I can see the drain on accessories is quite low) and it minimizes impact on fuel economy. Right now I'm seeing what more conservative and smarter driving will peak out at this summer, which I expect will be at least 46 or maybe 47, but as I say, you do need to learn to 'work' your car smartly to get the most out of it. The car's feedback system in the glass cockpit gives you solid evidence of how an ultralight foot translates to very good economy. Combine that with smart coasting/gliding, using the ICE to accelerate then drive in EV a while and when <35mpg you can shift to Neutral and coast--which works in some situations and not well in others, i.e., for example when you need to take advantage of a long or downhill coast in Drive so your kinetic energy is captured in the HV battery thru regenerative braking. Gary knows the subject matter well and he qualifies as a true fuel economy aficionado. With just smart and unhurried driving, you can easily exceed the vehicle's rated fuel economy. Plus, the car is so nice to drive because it's quiet, has a wonderful audio system, handles well, and has plenty of power when summoned, so I'm usually in no hurry to get out of the car

Noel

 

Ian:

As you can see from my cry for help a couple of days ago, I know what you're talking about. My first day, I was driving conservatively, the way that I drove normally, and I was only getting about 25 mpg. I read posts (some from the Prius page), got some good tips, and the next day managed to average 38-39 mpg. I got 37 mpg today, on the highway and with the AC on low!

The key for me was "pulse and glide." Like you, I had been accelerating gradually. I started accelerating briskly (3000 - 4000 rpms, 10-15 mpg), getting up to just slightly higher than the speed I was aiming for fairly quickly, and then taking my foot off the accelerator pedal and staying in EV for as long as I could - short bursts of acceleration with longer EV coasts. I'm also paying more attention to what's going on ahead of me, trying to adjust my speed as I approach lights to minimize the number of times I have to stop.

I was pretty worried that first day, but at the end of day 3, I'm really happy with my new car.

The others who have answered your question know so much more than I do, but maybe this simple (-minded?) advice from another newbie will help!