Fuel gauge discrepencies

[Leon1972]

Hey guys. So I have a fuel gauge question. My fuel Gauge is reading little under 1/4 tank after70 miles. Yet my mi to e states 417. This is a pretty big discrepency and it seems to happen every tank. My gauge and mileage never seems to match up but mileage does seem to end up correct at the end of the tank. Is this normal or should I get it checked out?

 

2015 fusion hybrid

[Texasota]

That does not sound normal. My fuel gauge progresses in a mostly linear fashion between gas station visits.

[thrasher086]

Mine does that also to some extent. I noticed when you start getting to half a tank that it balances out more and shows the level more accurately. That quarter tank usually runs down faster than the rest.

[Leon1972]

My first quarter tank goes lightning fast. Then the rest varies. I am getting right around 500 miles per tank, would get over if I was blast enough to go that close to empty so my mileage seems spot on. It's just the gauge seems off.

[Leon1972]

Here's a correlation between miles driven and the amount of gas used. Doesn't seem to add up to me. 30 miles on gas and over 1/4 tank used? Does this look right to everyone else?

[lolder]

All the miles are on gas. When you were in EV, you were using energy generated by the ICE while it was charging the HVB. This is not an electric car and the percentage of EV miles is not relevant. In some cases it should be avoided when higher powers are required. Losses in the EV cycle sometimes exceed those when the car is being powered by the ICE. You car is normal.

[Leon1972]

I thought ev mode was electric only?

My impression is ev is electric only. Then when your in "regular" mode that is the gasoline engine and the gas engine and the breaking regenerates the electric.

[murphy]

All of the energy in the battery came from burning gasoline.

[Leon1972]

Technically yes it does, either that or the regenerative braking. I actually take two different routes because it's very hilly around me. I take different routes to work and home to maximize the regenerative braking downhill.

The way I read lolder post it seemed like he was saying the gas engine runs always.

[Leon1972]

I can hit 50 to 60 on most my hills. They can bring up my battery about 50 percent. Lol

[Texasota]

Technically yes it does, either that or the regenerative braking.

All of the energy recaptured from regenerative braking also originated from burning gasoline.

[murphy]

All of the energy recaptured from regenerative braking also originated from burning gasoline.

In other words gasoline was used to get to the top of that hill that provides regeneration on the way down.

[Leon1972]

Well OF COURSE it came from gas. That's obvious. It's semantics stating that as everything at some point came from gas.

Starting to feel like some people just enjoy the argument. This thread as gotten completely away from what it's about.

None the less, thank you to those that answered my question.

[lolder]

Don't get upset. The concept is sometimes hard to grasp. When the car is moving at lower speeds, it shifts between the ICE and EV. When the ICE is running it uses about twice the gas per mile necessary to move the car. The rest goes into the HVB. When the HVB is charged, the ICE stops and the energy previously stored is used to move the car in EV.

[GrySql]

Hey guys. So I have a fuel gauge question. My fuel Gauge is reading little under 1/4 tank after70 miles. Yet my mi to e states 417. This is a pretty big discrepency and it seems to happen every tank. My gauge and mileage never seems to match up but mileage does seem to end up correct at the end of the tank. Is this normal or should I get it checked out?

 

2015 fusion hybrid

Back in 2014 there was a problem with incorrect fuel gauge readings and a TSB was issued.

If your car is still under the BtB Warranty it might be a good idea to visit the Dealer and tell/show them what is happening.

If you have access to a camera it is a good idea to take pictures of your dash readouts to show the service tech's, they won't try to fix the problem if they can't reproduce it.

[md13ffhguy]

Well OF COURSE it came from gas. That's obvious. It's semantics stating that as everything at some point came from gas.

Starting to feel like some people just enjoy the argument. This thread as gotten completely away from what it's about.

None the less, thank you to those that answered my question.

So, you got it straight now? If you have more questions, ask away! I only say this, because I remember you seeming to struggle with the same concept a couple of weeks ago. It seems you've jumped to the conclusion that MPGs only represent miles driven while the ICE is burning gas. In the end real MPGs are calculated by dividing TOTAL miles travelled by gallons of gas your car has consumed. My recommendation is to ignore the ratio of EV to total miles. I can give you examples where the MPG is high and the percentage of EV miles can be high or low. Bottom line is, the SYSTEM can be very efficient.

[CCalvinN]

I never really thought of this until I saw this thread... I don't use the fuel gauge. I know I've glanced at it before, mainly when the 'Miles To Empty' indicates it's time to fuel up, but I've never wondered how much gas I have in the tank and looked to the fuel gauge to find my answer. Instead I simply use the 'Miles To Empty' to let me know roughly how much fuel I have.

 

That being said, I've noticed in all of my previous cars a 'quirk' with the fuel indicator. Sometimes its the first quarter tank that seems to empty quickly. Sometimes it's the last quarter tank that slips by quicker. I don't believe I've ever had a car where the fuel indicator had a smooth transition from full to empty.

[Luron]

My first quarter tank goes lightning fast. Then the rest varies. I am getting right around 500 miles per tank, would get over if I was blast enough to go that close to empty so my mileage seems spot on. It's just the gauge seems off.

I was about to ask a question about this issue and found this thread. My first half tank (especially first quarter) goes really fast. From haft to empty it goes much slower. I noticed it went from full to 3/4 full after less than 50 miles). With my Honda Accord V6 (non-hybrid), the first half goes much slower than the last half.

[thrasher086]

It's interesting that everyone talks about the first quarter gong away fast. Makes me feel a little better about it. I used to have a Civic and the first quarter would last pretty long but the last quarter would go fast. Funny thing as Luron said that about his Honda.