How to Drive a FORD Fusion Hybrid to get Great Gas Mileage

[lolder]

In hybrids, the ICE won't start in "N". If it is running and is shifted to "N" it will remain running for a while but will not charge the HVB. If the maximum EV speed is exceeded in "N", the ICE will be motorized or run ( it's hard to tell which ) to protect the motor/generator ( "MG1") on the sun gear of the transmission from over speeding.

 

Another interesting function when coasting down a long hill in "D" and riding the brakes, when the HVB becomes full, the system will command the transmission to use compression braking of the ICE. This happens seamlessly except you notice the RPM go up. In some types of adaptive CCs, it may do that automatically.

Edited November 9, 2017 by lolder

[Timewellspent]

If the maximum EV speed is exceeded in "N", the ICE will be motorized or run ( it's hard to tell which ) to protect the motor/generator ( "MG1") on the sun gear of the transmission from over speeding.

 

What speed is that? I will put the car in "N" and coast down a hill where the car will be going around 60mph and the ICE doesn't come on.

[ptjones]

I tested MADMAX to see if the ICE is running in Neutral does it charge the HVB and it does. The opportunity for this to happen is pretty rare, but can be done when you first start up the Hybrid Model as it needs to lubricate the trans so the ICE runs for a little bit above 35mph. in Empower display mode you see the chevron over battery symbol and ScanGaugeII shows SOC going up . Most of time the ICE shuts off in neutral. Top speed in EV is 85mph, I won't recommend neutral/coasting above 85mph, you should be charging HVB instead. :)

 

Paul

[ptjones]

For New Members I thought I would mention with temps going down My video on How to Get Great Gas Mileage in your FFH Video. Total views are upto 4100 now. :)

 

Paul

[ptjones]

Took trip down to Columbus, GA to ride bike trail and got 68.9 mpg/ 70% EV, temps 50-63*F and some tail wind. You Tube video views up to 4300.

Paul

[lolder]

 

What speed is that? I will put the car in "N" and coast down a hill where the car will be going around 60mph and the ICE doesn't come on.

In 2010-12 FFHs it's 46 mph and in 2013+s it's 86 mph. Different cars.

Edited November 27, 2017 by lolder

[ptjones]

With Winter here now, temps in the mid 30's it is time to cover all the grills to conserve as much heat as possible. BRRR Yesterday I got 63mpg going to work with 46*F and some HVB charge and today only got 40.7*F with 34*F, sleet, rain and no HVB. You Tube video views upto 4,410 now.

Paul

[ptjones]

Yesterday We made our normal trip up to North Atlanta(49mi.) to see our new grandson and see the New Star Wars movie. I started out and ended up with 53.9 mpg, outside temps 45*F going Up and 35*F going home with 40 mi. FWY and 9 miles, 45 mph City. I did have 5 miles of stop and go HWY construction going( extra 30 min.) up and nothing going home. Better than I would expect given the temps. You Tube videos up to 4,550 now, Hoping these are helping new members to improve their MPG's this winter. For those who haven't seen them:

 

I have made three YouTube Videos for driving a CMAX the way it was designed to be driven, Called "How to drive a CMAX Hybrid to get great gas mileage",Also " CMAX Mods to improve MPG's" and "Hypermiling to improve MPG's".

https://www.youtube...._id=5uHoZ5QhVXs

Efficiency and Aerodynamic Mods: The First thing to do is to raise your tire pressure of your Michelin's to 50psi which is safe to do and I got 64k miles for each set of tires on my CMAX. https://www.youtube...._id=Xmuw6275PRw

Hypermiling Video not recommended for those who can't focus on situational awareness of traffic around you all the time. https://www.youtube...._id=s09mywF78g4

Paul

[ptjones]

You Tube video views up to 4,700 now.

Paul

[ptjones]

This last week since fill up temps have been 20's - 30*F, but still have 52.7 mpg on Smart Gauge. In theory I should have lost 7 mpg (-2 mpg for each 10*F drop in temperature). So instead of 7 I've lost 2 mpg. You Tube videos upto over 4800 now.

Paul

[Fission]

In frosty Minnesota, we just came off of 2 weeks below zero F. A few days, the high temp was 10 below. During that time I was seeing 35-36 MPG. Today, with the high of 34 degrees above zero F, I had a long trip at 65 - 75 mph and averaged 41 MPG. All from the vehicle readout, which is optimistic by about 1.5 MPG.

 

My summer average is about 42 MPG.

 

So extreme cold hurts mileage, but at some point it doesn't seem to get much worse, no matter how cold it gets.

[ptjones]

Are you using Grill Covers? At those temps where you able to use EV being the HVB doesn't like to be below freezing. ;(

 

Paul

[Fission]

No grill covers, car is completely stock. Yes EV mode worked fine. I use remote start a lot when it is that cold, I think that would drag the actual mileage down even further (I read somewhere that is not included in the car's displayed number).

 

I like the car for it's quietness, good ride and good looks. Moving my average from 40 to 45 mpg doesn't save enough to motivate me to do anything special. I drive a lot at 70- 80 mph, I rarely see a tank higher than 45.

[ptjones]

My average on this tank is up to 53.2 mpg with temps in the 20's - 30's and You Tube Views up to 4900.

Paul

[ptjones]

You Tube views are up to 5032 now. :)

 

Paul

[ptjones]

You Tubes views upto 5,200 now. :)

 

Paul

[ptjones]

Went to Columbus, GA yesterday afternoon to bike ride the Riverwalk. It's about 69 miles from Newnan, 70*F , averaged about 65 mph on I-85/ I-185 with good drafting partners, 550 ft. drop in elevation and got 59 mpg. Coming back averaging about 70 mpg and not much drafting got 49 mpg. Sure is nice having the warmer temps.

 

Paul

[ptjones]

Couple of days ago we made our usual trip up to North Atlanta to see New Grandson up I-85/I-285. It's about 50 miles each way, temps 77*F going up, AC on half of the time Wife was getting hot. Speeds were 80 mph to stop and go for accident , took about 15 min. longer than usual, started with 56 mpg on tank average ended with 55.9mpg. Going Home temps down to 70*F, speeds 75 mph to 60 mph and ended with 56.1 mpg, sure is nice to have warmer temps. My MPG's HWY are only a few mpg less than City. ​ BTW You Tube views are up to 5,600 and hopefully CMAX/FFH MPG's will be going up on fuelly.com. this Summer.

 

Paul

[ptjones]

I went to Deltona, FL and back yesterday (930mi., 14.5hrs. temps 34*F to 73*F) got 50.2 mpg at the pump(Fuelly.com average) and still averaged 60mph with some stop and go FWY traffic., most of the time 70+mph. I just love to drive this car. YouTube views are up to almost 6k now and it seems that alot people are buying used CMAX's from posted comments.

 

Paul

[ptjones]

Just filled up and got 51.7mpg with 90% HWY, some cold and rainy conditions, curious to hear what others are getting with their Grill Covers on this Winter. YouTube views are up to 6200 now. :)

 

Paul

[ptjones]

With temps in the 65 - 80*F range we are in the best MPG range for the CMAX Hybrid and FFH now. Here is my last trip to N. Atlanta and my tank fill up.

Updated-Gasoline-Primer-2015.pdf

Trip going up temps 78*F, little tailwind and speeds 75 - 65mph.

R15B16.PDF

Trip going back temp 73*F, little head winds and speeds 70 - 60 mph less drafting.

Actual MPG for tank 56.6 mpg and almost 800 miles.

 

 

 

I use Fuelly.com to keep track of my fillups and gas mileage. I use GasBuddy.com to find the best gas prices which you can save 10 - 20%.

 

Paul

[ptjones]

Posted Today, 05:51 PM

And it went up again , I think I will hit 50 mpg by the end of Summer. And 193k miles too. YouTube views upto almost 7k. :)

Paul

Edited April 24, 2018 by ptjones

[ptjones]

R15E03.pdf

Made trip to Cleveland, OH and had a tall wind on I-75/I-71 and got 60.4 miles/ 551.7 miles on Smart Gauge. You Tube views upto 7211.

This is FUN!

 

Paul

[scoobie]

I contributed to your YouTube count... interesting... and thanks for sharing.

 

Curious about the tire pressure being so high... does it not make the ride a bit more harsh? Seems like I have read a good bit about people lowering their pressure a few pounds under recommended pressure to get a softer ride. Supposedly... over-inflated tires bounce more and won't absorb bumps as well, thus creating a harsher ride. The downside to lower pressure is more road noise thru the tires since there is more contact with the road.

 

I am one for comfort and quiet, but I can't say I've noticed any difference between 34PSI and 40PSI in the ride comfort or noise. Perhaps it's not as significant as some make it out to me... and perhaps I should increase my pressure back up some... and I'd feel safer around 40PSI than I would up around 50. I'm not knocking your pressure, just stating what I would feel more comfortable with.

 

What is your take on comfort and noise as related to pressure?

 

Thanks!

[ptjones]

I did some research on this and this is what I found out from Michelin. The Customer Support Person I talked to said to use the tire pressure that gets even tire wear across the tread. For me it's 50psi and I have 71k miles on my third set of Energy Savers, should make 80k mi. anyway. :) The bursting pressure is somewhere around 200 psi. so 50 psi isn't problem and the car handles better at 50 psi than 38 psi. The ride was hardly a noticeable difference and tires last longer which is important at $800+ per set. For the long run they are cheaper than cheaper upfront LRR tires and you save on gas too. :) The nice thing about tire pressure is you can change it when you want, look at your tread to see if there is less tread at the edges than the center, if so raise it up to 50 psi.

 

Paul