New Hybrid - First Hybrid

[pdiehm]

So 7 months in, my best tank of gas is 518 miles. On average I fill up between 480-495 miles every 12-14 days. I almost always drive with in ECO mode, as i find it gets me a lot better gas mileage.

 

No idea how people get 600 miles out of a tank of gas. If I drive 500 miles, 230 or 235 are in EV mode, which means I am burning through 13 gallons of gas in 265 miles (20 mpg). Not sure how accurate that is, but disappointing if true.

 

I am mostly open highway to work, I use eco-cruise a lot, almost everywhere I go, I am in eco-cruise. I am in city driving for about 5 minutes, and sometimes I-95/Rt 1 going into Wilmington get backed up, so I am in EV mode almost the entire trip. Think that's happened 1 time though. Other than that, I'm in cruise control at 65. anything over that and I see a significant drop in mileage.

 

On dash display shows 43.5 mpg. Fuelly shows 42.2. 239 gallons logged, 9,697 miles traveled. Average price per mile is $0.047.

[pdiehm]

Duplicate

Edited July 5, 2016 by pdiehm

[murphy]

All of the EV miles are also attributable to burning gasoline so your calculation that got 20 mpg is meaningless. If the engine is on it is charging the battery unless it is full. Your mileage is 500 / 13 = 38.46 mpg

[md13ffhguy]

^^^

Exactly. This is not like an engine from a non-hybrid. It's designed and tuned for powering a hybrid system, so a fair amount of power is put into charging the battery, and you get some of that back in EV mode.

 

Still, you may be able to do better. Tell us more about your commute, style of driving, the terrain you normally drive in, ambient temperature, heating/cooling use, number of passengers, etc... All of these things affect fuel economy. Best advice is to drive gently. However, if your commute is mostly 65-70 mph highways, you might not be able to improve a whole lot, especially if you prefer to push it 5-10 mph over the posted limit like a lot of drivers do.

[pdiehm]

I commute basically flat highways. I typically have the Air on 72. I don't go over 65 usually. It's almost all open highway.

 

I am a lot easier on the gas than my wife, who probably hits mid 30's when she drives. I am usually in the 40's.

[md13ffhguy]

This hybrid system seems to perform optimally with slight hills, like I normally drive in central MD. When I travel to MD's eastern shore, where it's very flat, my MPGs drop. I think this is attributable to the additional regen captured on downhill sections. When the uphills are too steep, this benefit will be negated.

 

Btw, my wife also drives an FFH, and her MPGs are also well under mine... Go figure! ;)

[pdiehm]

So, I turned off the air on the car last night after the kid's baseball game (and it was just me in the car). From Hockessin, DE to my house, with a stop at Grandma's to pick up my daughter, was about 22 miles. 50.6 mpg according to the car. Drove to work today, no air, and the window cracked with sunroof open. 16.1 miles to Wilmington. Made 51.7 mpg.

 

Miles To Empty went from 444 this morning to 428 when i got to work. I've used a quarter of a tank of gas on about 150 miles so far (right around half of that in EV). My goal is usually 100 miles by the time I hit 3/4 tank, 200 miles at 1/2 tank, and 400 miles at 1/4 tank.

 

I'll probably lose some mpg this afternoon on the way home since it's going to get up to about 100 today here, and at some point comfort comes into play :)

[lolder]

This hybrid system seems to perform optimally with slight hills, like I normally drive in central MD. When I travel to MD's eastern shore, where it's very flat, my MPGs drop. I think this is attributable to the additional regen captured on downhill sections. When the uphills are too steep, this benefit will be negated.

 

Btw, my wife also drives an FFH, and her MPGs are also well under mine... Go figure! ;)

Hypermiling is not important to most women. There are many tales from hybrid forums about how long it takes for the male driver to get the average mpg back up to normal after their significant other drove the car for a few days. My wife gets 5 mpg less than me. She's on and off the throttle continuously which makes it hard for the system to stabilize at the most efficient operating point.

[murphy]

She's on and off the throttle continuously which makes it hard for the system to stabilize at the most efficient operating point.

Is that because she is wearing high heels which probably prevent fine muscle control of her ankle?

[hermans]

Is that because she is wearing high heels which probably prevent fine muscle control of her Interesting.

Interesting. There maybe something to this. My wife doesn't own a pair of high heal shoes and she consistently gets a little higher mileage than me.

[pdiehm]

Last 3 times in the car with no AC and moonroof open with Windows got me 50.6, 51 something and yesterday 55.6 on way home.

 

So there is something about running the AC that really constricts the mpg. Zero change in my driving with the exception of that.

 

Now having said that when my wife is in the car, the air will have to be on. I would rather get 42 and not hear her complain.

[lolder]

AC costs 1-10 mpg.

[aditya]

Hey,

 

This is Adi!

 

This is my first week of buying 2017 Ford fusion hybrid SE model (from Ford Lincoln Livermore). Right now uncovering features, testing functionalities, reading manuals, watching videos and of course driving in the Bay area.

[mwr]

Hey,

 

This is Adi!

 

This is my first week of buying 2017 Ford fusion hybrid SE model (from Ford Lincoln Livermore). Right now uncovering features, testing functionalities, reading manuals, watching videos and of course driving in the Bay area.

Have fun, Adi. I'll bet you find your FFH does great on the SF steep hills :-)

[Briguyup]

Waiting for my new 2017 FFH. Ordered 7/27/16. Expected build date 9/24/16.

 

I really like this site, but much of it is beyond my understanding. I just hope it is a fun car to drive and it gets good mileage. I will have to learn how to drive a hybrid. My driving habits are not the best for high mpg --a bit of a heavy foot accelerating and a hard breaking. I usually drive the speed limit though. I have been working on my bad habits since I ordered my new car.

 

Bottom Line -- Gas prices will certainly rise again. I don't like sending my hard earned paycheck to the middle east, or even to the big oil companies. This is also the only planet he we to call home, so it might help to take baby steps at keeping our home clean.

[lolder]

Watch how the cruise control accelerates when you "resume" a speed. That's about what you should do. Brake early and slowly. Look at traffic lights as far ahead as you can and try to time your arrivals to "green". One poster on another FFH forum has the user name "Rightlanecruiser". Most people can adapt their driving styles. At the cost of just a few minutes more trip time, blood pressure and stress can be dramatically lowered. While parked, read all the manuals twice. You can drive the car in any manner and it will be okay. It takes some time for you to do a better job of fuel economy than the computers in the car. Don't get absorbed in the "video game" instrument panel while you're driving.