Road Trip Observations with Torque Pro

[hybridbear]

I don't know if the hybrid does this, but the Energi varies the fan speed based on vehicle speed. When idling the HVB fan speed will drop to 1000 RPM. When moving the fan speed will increase to around 2275 RPM at highway speeds and around 1750 RPM when driving in the city.

Edited June 11, 2015 by hybridbear

[hybridbear]

Our road trip last weekend got better gas mileage than I expected. We had favorable wind for the first 150 miles of the trip and we able to do a fair amount of electric only driving thanks to one free charging station that we used 3 times during our trip.

[hybridbear]

The TFT temp peaked at 179 F after about 1.5 hours and then began dropping. It stabilized at about 170-172 F after about 2 hours and stayed there for the final hour of the drive.

 

The traction motor coil temp was the hottest part of the electric motor/eCVT components. Its temp peaked at about 210 F. The traction motor coil seems to get the hottest when we drive in EV mode on the highway to use up our EV range. The coil temp got up to about 185-190 F before we drove the final 15+ miles in all EV mode to use up the HVB charge.

 

The coolant temp was mostly around 190-195 F. On occasions the coolant temp would go up above 195 F to 197-199. When the coolant temp went above 195 F the grille shutters would begin to open. At 195 F they usually showed 0% open, at 197-199 F they would show 8-25% open.

Over the weekend we did a ~525 mile road trip to visit some friends up north. The ambient temp was about 55 F on the way north, with calm winds. We managed about 47 MPGe doing 65+ on the interstate the entire distance. Coming home we were driving directly into a 25-30 MPH sustained wind for about 125 miles and barely managed to crack 40 MPGe at 65 MPH. For the part of the trip where we were driving into the strong wind the car could barely get 37 MPG. Once we got out of the flat part of the state & into the rolling hills of central MN the MPG increased because the wind speed died down due to the landscape changes.

 

Similar to the results above, the TFT reached its peak temp within the first hour of driving. With a lower ambient temp it peaked at about 168 F this time, though and stabilized at 165 F. The ICE coolant temp stabilized at 192-193 F for our drive. The traction motor coil temp still reached 190 F, even with the cooler outside temperatures.

 

Coming home the ambient temp was in the 70s so we were using the AC a little bit. Having the grille shutters partially open for the AC caused the TFT temp to only reach about 142-144 F on the trip home. The ICE coolant temp was 185-188 F instead of surpassing 190 F. The traction motor coil temp didn't exceed 175 F.

 

Once winter ended I removed all the foam from the lower grille, and most of it from the upper grille, but I did leave 3 pieces in the upper grille to slightly reduce the airflow to the ICE radiator. Even on the hottest drive we made with the ICE on this summer (ambient temps 95+ F) the ICE coolant didn't exceed 200 F.

[Texasota]

Once winter ended I removed all the foam from the lower grille, and most of it from the upper grille, but I did leave 3 pieces in the upper grille to slightly reduce the airflow to the ICE radiator.

Is the reason for leaving some of the foam on the upper grill to keep the ICE temperature higher than it would have been otherwise? Or is there an aerodynamic advantage?

[hybridbear]

Is the reason for leaving some of the foam on the upper grill to keep the ICE temperature higher than it would have been otherwise? Or is there an aerodynamic advantage?

Laziness. I didn't want to take all the foam out, just to have to put it all back in a few months later. So I decided to leave a few pieces & monitor temps to see if it was okay. The foam pieces also tend to tear when being removed & I'd like to avoid having to cut new ones each year. So keeping as many as possible in the grille saves foam. Plus, that foam isn't biodegradable, so any that is thrown away will just sit in a landfill & not break down.

[hybridbear]

Is the reason for leaving some of the foam on the upper grill to keep the ICE temperature higher than it would have been otherwise? Or is there an aerodynamic advantage?

Here's a pic of the amount of foam that I have left in the grille all summer without issue.

[Texasota]

Looks like your catfish has periodontal issues. ;)