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Since Saturday our FFH has been turning on the check engine light every few times we start the car and the ScanGauge reads the code as P06B8. According to dtcdecode.com this code means: "Internal Control Module Non-Volatile Random Access Memory (NVRAM) Error". Here is a link to their definition of the code. Has anyone else had this error? Does anyone have any ideas what it means? I have a long list of items for the dealer next time we bring the car in and I have added this to the list. Each time the code has appeared (three times so far) I have cleared it with the ScanGauge and then it has taken 10+ trips with no DTC before it appears again.

Thursday leaving work in Owatonna I got into a very hot car that had been sitting in the sun all day. The outside temperature was 93 degrees. When I got in and started the car the temp display showed 100 as seen below, I had to take a pic of that because it looked neat. I also can see in the picture that I need to get out my California Duster and dust again lol Anyhow...I had a mile or so to get on the freeway from our factory in Owatonna so I drove that stretch with all the windows down to help get the hot air out of the car. Once I started accelerating onto the freeway I turned on the AC. Check out the graph below. You can see that the first 2 bars (12 minutes) of driving have lower fuel economy because of the electricity being used by the AC to initially cool the car. Once the car was cooled down the electricity required to maintain that temp is much less and the subsequent bars are much higher. My MPG results for the whole trip at 65-70 MPH on the interstate are below, not bad for running AC at that temp. Those first two bars show what happens when using the AC on short distance trips. When you're getting into a hot car and driving only a few miles you don't drive long enough at the lower power draw to make up for the high initial power draw of the AC. If the first 10 minutes or so come at lower fuel economy while the car is cooling down you'll need to drive many minutes more to bring the trip efficiency back up or else your trip MPGs will be very low. When it comes to hot weather here are some observations I've made about how to be comfortable while using the AC efficiently. When the car is hot and you first turn on the AC set it to a higher temp and make sure that recirculate is on - we usually have the AC set at 72 or 73 to be comfortable while driving, but when first turning it on in a hot car I'll set it to 76 or 77 until the auto climate control drops the fan speed, once the fan speed starts dropping I gradually decrease the temp one degree at a time over the next few minutes until it is down to 72, doing this gets you to the lower power draw state more quickly because then decreasing the temp one degree at a time doesn't increase the load or fan speedTry to do without the AC on short city trips - even in the hot humid weather we've been trying to do without the AC on short trips, if you're only driving for 5 minutes the AC isn't going to do a whole lot anyway and will really hurt your fuel economy, it's better to have the windows downIf you're driving a short city stretch and then on the highway don't turn on the AC until you reach the highway - often times leaving our house we are driving a couple miles and then getting on the freeway, we'll leave the AC off until getting onto the freeway and then turn it on for the highway portion of the journeyIf you're using AC it's better to drive the freeway rather than take the city route - we can view AC power consumption as a rate over time, as long as the AC is running it will draw x kWh from the HVB, when using the AC it's better to take the highway route because then your total driving time is shorter and thus your kW consumed by the AC is less and thus your MPG is higher. For example: to one of our frequent destinations we usually get 55-65 MPG over 6.6 miles depending on the lights taking the city route with no AC, taking the city route with AC drops that to 40-45 MPG, or we can take the highway route using AC as mentioned above only on the miles spent on the highway and get 50-55 MPG (since discovering this over the weekend we won't be driving the city route anymore unless the weather is cool and there's no need for AC)Hoepfully these tips will help all of us to keep cool in the summer while still getting the most efficiency out of our cars. Please feel free to add additional tips below to maximize efficiency while using AC

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1084565_gaming-the-epa-gas-mileage-tests-how-it-really-works There is no doubt in my mind that Ford did exactly this. The Road & Track article they reference can be read here and is a good read

Clouds reflecting in the clean hood Me wiping down the car

This was mentioned before in a thread long, long ago but merits mentioning again with all the new owners on here. You may have noticed that sometimes your trip MPG and brake score numbers on the Trip Summary screen show up as blue and sometimes they show up as white. The numbers are blue when they are greater than your Lifetime Summary numbers and white when less than or equal to your Lifetime Summary number.

Ford’s Fuel-Saving Innovations Spur More Jobs, New Facilities, Electrified Vehicles, More Customer Choice Ford doubles size of vehicle development teams focused on fuel-saving technologies globally versus five years ago; dozens of additional engineers to be hired this year Ford is converting its Advanced Engineering Center – a 285,000-square-foot building – for its newly centralized team of engineers working on hybrid and electrification programs Company continues adding production capacity for fuel-saving EcoBoost®, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric vehicle lineup New Fusion is the best example of how Ford is giving customers true power of choice for fuel-efficient vehicles. From Fusion with EcoBoost and Fusion Hybrid to Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid – each will help customers save money at the pump Ford Fiesta Ecoboost Ford Fusion Energi Forum – Ford in the past five years has doubled the size of the team working on fuel-saving technologies like EcoBoost® turbocharged gasoline engines, hybrids, plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles globally, and is now converting one of its largest research and development labs as it continues to hire for further fuel-saving advancements. Ford’s team of more than 1,000 engineers working on hybrid and electrification programs – including Fusion Hybrid and Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid – has grown so fast that the company today is announcing the conversion of its 285,000-square-foot Advanced Engineering Center in Dearborn, Mich., to electrified vehicle development. Profiles Kevin Layden, Electrification Programs and Engineering Director Ben Pence, Battery and Vehicle Controls Engineer Stefan Pototschnik, Focus Electric Program Management Supervisor Steve Daleiden, Focus Electric Powertrain Team Supervisor Jim Gibbons, Hybrid Vehicle Battery and Application Systems Manager “Ford remains absolutely committed to providing a wide range of choices of top fuel economy solutions for our customers – from EcoBoost-powered gasoline vehicles and hybrids to plug-in hybrids and full electrics,” said Mark Fields, Ford president of The Americas. “To meet growing demand for our fuel-efficient vehicles, we are continuing to invest in new jobs in the U.S. and converting our facilities for further advancements.” The new jobs are part of Ford’s plans to add more than 12,000 hourly and salaried jobs by 2015 in the United States. The company also has announced it is tripling production capacity of its hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric vehicles in the U.S. next year compared with 2011. From EcoBoost to hybrids and from plug-in hybrids to full electric vehicles, this year Ford will offer nine vehicles reaching an anticipated 40 mpg or more. Ford will offer fuel-efficient EcoBoost engines in 11 vehicles in 2012, up from seven in 2011, tripling the production capacity of EcoBoost-equipped Ford vehicles. This expansion of fuel-efficient offerings will be led by the 1.6-liter EcoBoost engine in the high-volume Escape compact utility vehicle and Fusion sedan nameplates. Delivering up to 20 percent better fuel economy than conventional engines, EcoBoost uses smaller overall size combined with turbocharging and gasoline direct injection to bring customers the power they want and the fuel economy they need. “EcoBoost expansion and availability in high-volume nameplates such as the all-new Ford Escape and Fusion will take this affordable, fuel-saving technology to the heart of the market,” said Fields. Kevin Layden, director of Ford Electrification Programs and Engineering, says the new Fusion is the best example of how Ford is giving customers true power of choice for fuel-efficient vehicles. “From Fusion with EcoBoost and Fusion Hybrid to Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid – each of these cars will help customers save money at the pump,” Layden said. Fusion offers customers the broadest selection of fuel-efficient powertrains in the midsize car segment, including a choice of two EcoBoost four-cylinder engines, a normally aspirated four-cylinder engine, a hybrid and a plug-in hybrid. The new Fusion is expected to deliver best-in-class fuel economy across the lineup: 2013 Fusion 1.6-liter EcoBoost: Projected 37 mpg highway, which would make it America’s most fuel-efficient non-rechargeable midsize sedan. Ford Fusion Forum. 2013 Fusion Energi plug-in hybrid: Aiming to become the world’s most fuel-efficient midsize sedan with a projected 100 MPGe rating. Ford Fusion Energi Forum. 2013 Fusion Hybrid: Expected to become the world’s most fuel-efficient non-rechargeable midsize sedan with 47 mpg. Ford Fusion Hybrid Forum. Ford Fusion Hybrid Forum. Ford Advanced Engineering Center: Past and present The Ford Advanced Engineering Center is located within the company’s Henry and Edsel Ford Research & Engineering Center, the 500-acre technical complex in Dearborn that opened in 1953 and serves as the home for research and engineering efforts. The AEC was constructed on the research campus in 1993 as part of an $84 million project that centered largely on noise, vibration and harshness testing with several state-of-the-art labs within. That changed in 2009. As Ford’s investment in electrified vehicles like Fusion Hybrid increased, so did the size of the Sustainable Mobility Technologies team behind it, said Chuck Gray, Ford chief engineer, Global Core Engineering Hybrid and Electric Vehicles. The rapid growth has not only brought together a large group of talented and smart engineers, it has brought together innovators from diverse backgrounds. Many have experience in aerospace working on jets, rockets, missiles, satellites and unmanned aircraft. One engineer even spent time in the driver’s seat of the Goodyear Blimp. There also is an Emmy Award winner, an individual who was presented an award from retired Army Gen. Colin Powell for outstanding performance and excellence, and another engineer who helped develop Intel’s Pentium processors. “Working with such a diverse group makes it exciting and fun to come to work every day,” said James Gibbons, Ford’s manager of Battery Units for Hybrid Vehicles. “With this group, we never run out of fresh ideas or new ways to provide our customers with better fuel efficiency.”