For new FFH drivers, is the Empower mode the best mode to run in?

[Pghpete]

Hi folks,

 

Longtime lurker, first time poster. I'll be buying a FFH in June, but it will be the wife's car. Her driving habits for the most part only consist of accelerating or braking, where the word "coast" just doesn't register with her. Knowing that driving any hybrid requires a different mindset, and with all the coaching available in the FFH, which mode in your opinion would provide the most feedback to her to help her drive the car most efficiently? Not having an FFH or any hybrid car for that matter, I only have this site to help me get ready for this highly anticipated purchase, and I'd like to know as much as I can from the get go.

 

Great site, thanks. Pete

[B25Nut]

Many here will probably disagree, but I feel the Engage display gives you the best information, especially for new hybrid drivers. There are usually many new habits that have to be learned with any new car, especially with today's new electronic technology. I don't think its safe to add the recommendation of looking down at the Empower EV threshold whenever a new hybrid driver is accelerating. This can come later once the driver has adjusted to the car. Challenging your wife to get 90%+ brake scores will be the best way to get her into the coasting habit. You don't have to say a thing. An 80% score when making a normal stop is like getting a D+ in school.

[hybridbear]

Perhaps the coaching screen would be best. There she could see the acceleration, braking & cruising coach. The cruising coach doesn't like the freeway, anything above 50-55 MPH starts lowering that score, but trying to keep the other two as close to a full bar as possible is good training.

[Pghpete]

Thanks guys - both of you are on this site quite often and I value your input. For what it's worth, she'll mainly be using the car locally, without driving at speeds above 55. Mainly just picking up the kid from school, running errands, etc. I'm going to search this site for some screenshots/explanations of the various modes to give me a head start. Thanks again.

[murphy]

Ford has lots of videos online.

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/fordowner/videos

[jeff_h]

I prefer Engage also... and your wife's driving habits seem like my wife's - two speeds: GO... STOP

[Sleddog]

I prefer the Empower screen.

[hermans]

I used empower for about a month and then switched to my view with the stuff I wanted.

[SteveB_TX]

I used empower for about a month and then switched to my view with the stuff I wanted.

 

Me too. I keep the my view on the power consumption graph during the summer to keep an eye on the a/c draw. Now that it's winter, I switch between Empower and MyView. :)

[acdii]

The way I look at it, since there are so many opinions, the one that matters most is the one that you(or the wife) feel works the best. I do agree that the coaching bars is a great place to start, it shows you just how bad or good you are doing, especially the braking and acceleration bars. They go from green to yellow to red pretty fast when you dont drive it properly. Start with that, and once the feel is locked in, switch to the other screens and pick one that is most suited and learn more from that one.

 

MyView is also a good place to start, you can have the coach and one of the other screens side by side.

[dalesky]

For me it's all about the whole process- slower starts, good braking technique, more coasting when you see the red light, using the ECO Cruise as much as possible.

The screens are not my be all and end all. They are helpful, no matter which ones I choose.

 

I can't "train" my wife, since God Forbid, she would try to do that with me for certain behaviors.

 

I love the screens, and use them all the time, but I know my wife could not care less. They might as well not be there, honestly.

 

My approach has been, when I drive, to ALWAYS proclaim my mileage when I turn the car off. That's about it, and I let her drive the way she wants to.

She is a safe, sensible driver, but does not have the appreciation of how this car is meant to drive, at least not at the level that I do.

Fights in the car about driving style are never pretty.

 

I'm a huge gadget guy, and love the ability to know so much about this car. She is close to the complete opposite.

My only suggestion- do you know the serenity prayer?

[hermans]

My wife harasses me as she frequently gets better mileage than me and she drives the car rated at 45 MPG.

[Pghpete]

Thanks all, awesome answers from everyone. Murphy - I viewed quite a few of the videos. I guess I'm going to just have to wait until I get the car and play around with all of the info available. Dalesky - I hear you about your wife not caring about the screens. My wife will just use the car to get from point A to point B. After viewing the videos, I wondered, for those of you who've had the FFH for awhile and have "learned" to drive it the most efficiently; what screens you display in your FFH now. When I rechecked this thread, some of you already answered that question - so thanks.

[KLH]

I use Engage... because I like driving in blue.

 

 

Wait, I don't have the mileage on the battery like that, nor the MPGe. This must be the Energi's Engage screen. D'Oh.

Edited January 7, 2014 by KLH

[hybridbear]

I flip between screens often while driving. I usually keep it on Empower. I frequently flip to MyView where I have coolant temp & accessory/climate power draw. I also frequently flip to the Fuel Economy section to look at my historical fuel economy for a trip. If I've had to brake hard without coming to a full stop to see the brake score I'll go to the coach screen to see if the brake coach has dropped off 100%. I also occasionally flip to Trip 1 or Trip 2 to check on my MPGs for the current tank and for the current 1000 mile increment. I've learned to do all this flipping without looking away from the road just by feel on the steering wheel. I mostly only look at screens other than Empower when stopped since Trip 1/2 and the Fuel Economy graph take more than just a split second to view & interpret.

[corncobs]

I flip between screens often while driving. I usually keep it on Empower. I frequently flip to MyView where I have coolant temp & accessory/climate power draw. I also frequently flip to the Fuel Economy section to look at my historical fuel economy for a trip. If I've had to brake hard without coming to a full stop to see the brake score I'll go to the coach screen to see if the brake coach has dropped off 100%. I also occasionally flip to Trip 1 or Trip 2 to check on my MPGs for the current tank and for the current 1000 mile increment. I've learned to do all this flipping without looking away from the road just by feel on the steering wheel. I mostly only look at screens other than Empower when stopped since Trip 1/2 and the Fuel Economy graph take more than just a split second to view & interpret.

 

That's pretty much how I treat my screens as well. Can't wait to play with it again ...

[acdii]

That's pretty much how I treat my screens as well. Can't wait to play with it again ...

When are you coming back to us?

[corncobs]

When are you coming back to us?

This Friday when the deep freeze is over :)

 

I'm ready for some snow which I might regret but it has been below 32F maybe 10 days in the last 2 month and no snow.

I like the cold! I was born 2 days and 35 years ago in of the coldest nights in recent history maybe that has something to do with it, at least I like to think so. ;)

[acdii]

Freezing rain forecast for Friday. grrr I would much rather have snow.

[dalesky]

My wife harasses me as she frequently gets better mileage than me and she drives the car rated at 45 MPG.

Mine is starting to report on her mileage when she gets home after driving the car without me. Yesterday I had one run of 39mpg, one of 57mpg and one of 46mpg. Nothing to complain about for me.

[Skydogz]

I have noticed that the car tends to get 60 mpg in EV mode and 20 mpg on ICE, avg 40mpg.

sometimes my ICE will get me up to 40mpg at freeway cruise....

[dalesky]

Thanks all, awesome answers from everyone. Murphy - I viewed quite a few of the videos. I guess I'm going to just have to wait until I get the car and play around with all of the info available. Dalesky - I hear you about your wife not caring about the screens. My wife will just use the car to get from point A to point B. After viewing the videos, I wondered, for those of you who've had the FFH for awhile and have "learned" to drive it the most efficiently; what screens you display in your FFH now. When I rechecked this thread, some of you already answered that question - so thanks.

For me, and as many of you know I am a huge FFH fan, the lifetime mileage I am getting of 40.1 is quite enough to justify the purchase of this car. Sure, the tank could be larger, the engine quieter, and the trunk capacity larger, but I sure am happy overall.

[acdii]

For me, and as many of you know I am a huge FFH fan, the lifetime mileage I am getting of 40.1 is quite enough to justify the purchase of this car. Sure, the tank could be larger, the engine quieter, and the trunk capacity larger, but I sure am happy overall.

Same here! Definitely would LOVE a larger tank to go the same amount of miles per week as the 2010, but overall very pleased with the car.

[Barsoom]

I prefer the Empower gauge so I can see how far away I am from the limits of the EV (the blue bar around the white bar).

 

However, when I'm using the adaptive cruise control I switch to Engage, because I can see when the computer is engaging the EV to help boost the ICE.

 

I often use the adaptive cruise control during my short-hop commute to work, because I think the computer is more responsive to changes in the road than I am. Some roads have gentle rolling slopes that the car seems to adjust to very rapidly (matching the power needed to maintain speed), where I would probably over-power the car for the needs of the road.

 

One last thing, with Empower I can tell when the car should be in EV mode but isn't (with adaptive cruise control on), and so I disengage and reengage the cruise control. This will usually put the car into EV mode.

[hybridbear]

I prefer the Empower gauge so I can see how far away I am from the limits of the EV (the blue bar around the white bar).

 

However, when I'm using the adaptive cruise control I switch to Engage, because I can see when the computer is engaging the EV to help boost the ICE.

 

I often use the adaptive cruise control during my short-hop commute to work, because I think the computer is more responsive to changes in the road than I am. Some roads have gentle rolling slopes that the car seems to adjust to very rapidly (matching the power needed to maintain speed), where I would probably over-power the car for the needs of the road.

 

One last thing, with Empower I can tell when the car should be in EV mode but isn't (with adaptive cruise control on), and so I disengage and reengage the cruise control. This will usually put the car into EV mode.

Great strategy. Glad to see that you really have the hang of it.