Ford Ecoboost Challenge Experience

[hybridbear]

So my dad and I went to the Ecoboost Challenge in Minneapolis this past weekend. It was incredibly disappointing. Below are some of my comments I put on the follow-up survey which explain why I was so disappointed.

 

The Hypermile Challenge was a sham. For this to be a realistic competition, the event staff should have made an effort to equalize the State of Charge (SOC) of the hybrid vehicles on display. Since the course was so short (about 1/2 mile) the beginning SOC plays a huge role in the ending fuel economy. The design of the Hypermile Challenge was a terrible missed opportunity for Ford Marketing to highlight the true potential of the hybrid vehicles. The Ford staff on site was also not very knowledgeable about the products and failed to say or do anything to show the value of the Ford hybrids.

 

Also, the lines were way too long. There should have either been more vehicles on-site or else the attendance should have been limited. We spent more than 3 hours waiting in lines to spend less than 30 minutes combined seeing vehicles. That means we spent 6 times more time waiting around doing nothing than our seat time to help us improve our opinion of Ford.

To expound on my comments about the Hypermile Challenge I'll explain a bit about how it was structured for those who didn't go to an event. It was a 1/2 mile loop. The Ford Eco Coach riding with your would reset the MPG on the Empower display before you set off. Then you had to accelerate up to 25 MPH minimum and keep it there for the straightaway. Then there was a wide loop at the far end where you could almost keep up a 25 MPH speed but were allowed to slow down. Then you had to accelerate back up to 25 MPH before hitting the final straight. Then you'd loop around back to the staging area using regen braking to stop. Once you stopped they would read your MPG off the Empower screen and report that as your result. They would keep track of the highest scores each hour and then at the end of every hour they'd have a drive-off between those two leaders with the winner receiving a prize. Sony sponsored the event and they were giving away "$300 Sony headphones" or at least that's how the event employees described them.

 

The rules were that you had to use some gas, results of 999.9 were possible but not accepted. They had 4 vehicles, 2 Fusions and 2 C-Maxes. There were results from earlier in the day where people got as high as 800 MPG. This means they started with a very high SOC so that when the ICE did come on accelerating it hardly used any gas. Contrarily, when I drove the car started with an SOC so low that there was no threshold on the Empower screen, as soon as I touched the gas the ICE came on. This also meant that the ICE was incredibly loaded up charging the HVB and that when I let my foot off the gas to coast the car slowed down more quickly than normal since it was trying to put energy back into the battery. This meant that instead of getting results in the hundreds of MPGs I only managed 69.6 MPG. This was all vehicle dependent too, other vehicles that had higher SOCs were returning results of 100+ at the same time that I could only get 69.6. To compare, the previous hour winners did their drive off in the same FFH I drove right before me and only got results in the 40s, likely with the same low SOC.

 

I regret the fact that I didn't clue into this earlier on so that I could have set myself up with a better starting SOC by specifically requesting a certain vehicle based on previous results.

 

There also was a section of the survey for general comments about Ford. In that box I said:

Ford's marketing of their hybrid vehicles is terrible. We purchased one of the first 2013 Fusion Hybrids to arrive in Minnesota back in 2012 and I have been very dissatisfied with Ford's awful advertising for both the C-Max and Fusion. Instead of comparing them to other hybrids (most commonly the Prius V) based on EPA MPG ratings Ford should be highlighting the other ways in which the Fusion and C-Max are superior to other GAS ONLY vehicles. Comparing them only to other hybrids greatly limits the appeal of the advertising and limits your target market. Instead of targeting only consumers interested in hybrids, Ford should be targeting all consumers interested in midsize sedans or family/cargo oriented vehicles like the C-Max. The C-Max should be stealing away buyers who would otherwise be buying crossovers or small SUVs like the Rav4 or CRV. When you only advertise the C-Max in comparison to the Prius you turn away buyers who have a negative view of the Prius because you've now permanently associated the C-Max with the Prius in their minds. The current commercial comparing the Fusion Hybrid to the Prius V on fuel economy does the same thing.

 

I'm curious to hear from others who went to an event in their locale to see what they thought and if they experienced the same long lines and scam of a hypermile challenge that we did.

Edited September 25, 2013 by hybridbear

[B25Nut]

Quote

"Ford's marketing of their hybrid vehicles is terrible..... Instead of comparing them to other hybrids (most commonly the Prius V) based on EPA MPG ratings Ford should be highlighting the other ways in which the Fusion and C-Max are superior to other GAS ONLY vehicles. Comparing them only to other hybrids greatly limits the appeal of the advertising and limits your target market. Instead of targeting only consumers interested in hybrids, Ford should be targeting all consumers interested in midsize sedans or family/cargo oriented vehicles like the C-Max. The C-Max should be stealing away buyers who would otherwise be buying crossovers or small SUVs like the Rav4 or CRV. When you only advertise the C-Max in comparison to the Prius you turn away buyers who have a negative view of the Prius because you've now permanently associated the C-Max with the Prius in their minds. The current commercial comparing the Fusion Hybrid to the Prius V on fuel economy does the same thing."

 

Well said! I agree 100%. Some of the commercials for the FFH should also target car buyers that are looking at vehicles in the $42K+ range so that they will know they can get a superior car that gets almost twice the gas mileage for a lot less money.

[djminfll]

I went to the one in Miami on Saturday, and there was nothing there!

I got there 1/2 hour early and kept driving around the parking lot for 15 minutes. When I didn't see any signs for the event, I finally stopped and asked a parking lot attendant who said he didn't see anything there at all, didn't know anything about it - it was probably cancelled. My guess is due to lack of interest since I was originally scheduled for 9AM, but my dad needed help with something, so the night before, I got online to see if I could change the time and ALL slots were open.

[acdii]

100% agree on the marketing as well. So many missed opportunities, like the cross traffic alert when VW had their ad about safety when it go smacked backing out of a driveway. A smart marketer would have done a similar commercial where you AVOID getting hit because of the CTA.

 

Toyota one upped Ford with all the safety features being presented in one commercial, all features Ford already had in their 2013 lineup, yet not once did I EVER see it advertised. There is more to buying a car than gas mileage, and Ford most likely lost a LOT of buyers thanks to Toyota's marketing, and not just the Prius, but all of their cars, since it was a global commercial representing several cars at once.

 

Marketing the Fusion against the Prius, no matter which model was one of the worst moves Ford marketing has made so far. Someone looking for a Prius will NOT be looking at a 4 door family sedan! Ford could have targeted the Avalon since they are in the same class of features.