Reporting about a Mondeo Hybrid in Germany

[Mister MMT]

I've been introducing myself here.

 

After a lot of research aiming at finding a replacement for my 2Gen Prius, I went for a used Mondeo Hybrid on offer in Leipzig. Last Friday, I travelled by train 400 miles from Kehl to pick up this car, a 2014 model equipped with all the available options, and driven only 18000 Miles. I drove it back with a detour, making it a 500 miles drive with an overnight rest in beautiful Coburg. Remember, the Mondeo is assembled in Valencia (Spain), but its hybrid components are imported from the Fusion plant in the USA.

 

Here are my first impressions.

 

The special taint called here “arctic white” yields nice lightning effects under certain illumination conditions. The black leather multi-contour seats are quite comfortable, offering heating, ventilation and massage. Here are a few pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Together with the electrified steering column, the seats can be adjusted electrically, and recede when stopping the car’s hybrid system. That’s not common here in Europe. The sun roof provides a clear interior.

 

Here, the Mondeo is standard delivered on 16” rims. My car has ContiWinterContact SP830 P 215/60 R16 99H tyres from Continental, a high quality German manufacturer. Together with the well tuned front and rear suspensions, it provides a very nice ride. I do not feel any need for other rims.

 

It has the adaptive LED headlights and all available security and driver assistant systems. My long drive allowed me to get acquainted with them on the crowded high-speed German Highways, and I’m delighted.

 

I set the ACC to 135 – 140 km/h (80 – 83 MPH) whenever possible, which made me a somewhat slower car then many cruising at 150 – 160 km/h (93 – 100 MPH) (with some typically well over 200 km/h (124 MPH!). There are, however, also numerous trucks cruising at only 90 km/h (55 MPH). This situation which some of you may have experienced requires constant attention and frequent lane changing. We are indeed only allowed surpassing by changing lane to the left side, and we must go back to the right lane as soon as possible! The speed junkies gently remind you this by heavy flashing lights…

That’s the conditions I will use it in for about 25% of my driving, my aim being to limit fuel consumption and travel fast enough, without becoming stressed by the speed. It’s my first car with such assistants, and it took a moment to apprehend them. Now, I would not like to miss them anymore.

 

The adaptive cruise control (ACC) used in the ECO setting makes for very smooth automatic slowing and re-acceleration. It prevents the ICE from getting into high revving. When approaching a much slower vehicle, it suffices to put the blinking light and the car “understands” there is no need to start braking. It works best when anticipating such events.

 

The lane keeping assistant (LKA) is indeed an active one, and at first, it appeared a bit weird. But here again, it turns out to be a big aid for keeping right on track, also in gentle curbs.

 

The blind spot warning system is less needed on the left side, since there is virtually none left, but on the right side, it accurately indicates when it is safe to get back to the right.

 

The power delivered by the hybrid system is more then sufficient to keep this speed and more. The motor revs higher when climbing, but compared to my 2Gen Prius, there is no rpm concert! And the information provided by the LCD screen left to the speedometer nicely shows how the big traction motor (MG2) keeps assisting the ICE even at these speeds.

 

I did not yet thoroughly test the premium sound system and Sync 2. I like the central touch-screen because it has almost no glare and a nice contrast and resolution. In a way, it reminds me the one of my Prius, but in a more up-to-date version. I know there are better performing systems, but car multimedia is not in the center of my interest. I hardly use my smartphone for anything else then phoning and only listen to local radio stations when driving… The GPS layout suited me, and voice command worked out.

 

The Automatic ParkPilot system also seems to work just fine. In Europe, a Mondeo is considered to be a large car, and finding a parking slot will definitely be more difficult in our crowded cities. But I already found out that parking in an underground parking lot was as easy as before.

 

Finally, the car is very quiet, although I would wish Ford had done a better job on road noise. In spite of the active sound cancellation, I could hear noise coming from the back of the car. I’ll try and see how to improve this.

 

I did not yet refuel, but the ODB indicated 5,9 l 100/km (40 MPG). I consider this as very good, and not much worse then my Prius driven the same way (which is fast for it). I expect measured MPG to be a bit lower.

 

To conclude, I’m very pleased and happy with this Mondeo Hybrid as a clear upgrade from my 2Gen Prius. I thank the many contributors to this forum, who helped me with apprehending the strong and weak points of the sister model, the Fusion Hybrid, and in particular Hybridbear, whom I contacted by PM and Larryh for there efforts in helping people like me understand the HF35 hybrid system. I find it impressive, showing once more that the USA too, has bright engineers!

 

I will soon start using the car in my usual commuting, consisting of 2x10 miles driving in typical French (I work in Strasbourg) sub-urban traffic. A first test yielded 60 MPG OBD in cold (low 30s and humid) weather, using the same driving tricks I use with the Prius! I’ll soon let you know how that turns out…

 

Jan ;)

Edited March 19, 2017 by Mister MMT

[usererror]

Welcome aboard. I have a 2015 here in the USA. I am surprised to see yours is a 2014 with the center console using traditional push buttons for temperature and music controls. Mine are 'touch' operated; not real push buttons. I would prefer to have touch buttons like yours, which in the USA were put in the 2016 model years, I believe. Seeing yours gives me hope that I can swap the panel out at a later date after my warranty expires.

 

My favorite feature is the adaptive cruise control. I love it for long cruises.

[rdr]

I am glad to see that someone in Europe is enjoying their Mondeo Hybrid. The only thing that I cannot figure out for the life of me is why they gave the Mondeo the 16" alloy wheels that are reserved for the bottom of the line Fusion S (non-hybrid) when the standard wheel for the Fusion Hybrid in North America is 17" (and in my opinion, much nicer).

 

I was fortunate that my wife thought that a hybrid was worth the extra upfront cost back in 2010 when I bought my first Fusion Hybrid. Since that time, all of our family cars (except for teenager vehicles) are Fusion Hybrids. While I have the SE trim level for myself and my wife (my oldest son has a base S), they are all comfortable to drive. My 15, which looked just like Usererror's on the outside, was traded in with an average of 50.2 miles per gallon after 11,000 miles. And yes Usererror, the thing that drove me nuts on the 15. Fusion (and even the 13 before it) was the center stack. That and heated seats (and a lower price for more equipment made a good year-end deal for the 17 that I bought (Appearance Package, cold weather and technology).

 

Mister MMT -- Enjoy your Mondeo and keep us posted on how she does. Oh, and I lived in Dielheim as a teenager -- which is in Baden Wurtemberg -- near Heidelberg.

[Mister MMT]

I was not present here for a while, but I'm glad somebody showed interest in a Mondeo owner living in Germany, the country with the fast highways.

 

The choice of the 16"wheels is dictated by the wish to have a high MPG (less rolling resistance), greater comfort and less road-noise. I personally like the design of the wheels and wish to lower my consumption. I actually bought the same in order to mount a set of summer tires, keeping my winter tires on the ones with came with the car. It is true, however, that on the German highways at 100 MPH, which many car owners use as their cruising speed, 17" wheels would provide a better overall stability in curves. They also look nicer, but with the price we pay for fuel, and my interest in matters of climate change, I accept the smaller wheels.

 

My Mondeo is doing very well. I've been driving it now for 5 months and about 8000 miles without any problem. My 9 miles drives to work in the warmer season yield 55 - 59 mpg, and on the highway at 90 MPH max, 34 MPG. I drive about 50/50 this type of trips, and my mean and measured consumption so far is 40.50 MPG.

 

Something that may be interest to Ford Fusion drivers is my use of Hybrid Assistant, a free Android App which monitors on a phone or tablet several useful parameters and allows to create the same type of reports as produced a few years ago by hybridbear which made this forum so interesting for me.

 

You can learn more about it on their YouTube channel

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZJ5eWI8vAY0haksRkFsbGQ

 

and using an online translator, my reporting on for example the German language Mondeo-Mk5 Forum.

 

http://mondeo-mk5.de/index.php/Thread/602-Ford-Mondeo-2-0-Hybrid/?pageNo=1

 

If you have any questions, I'll be glad to try and answer them. I wish you equal satisfaction with your 2017 Fusion Hybrid!

 

Jan

[Mister MMT]

I've been mounting an iTracker mini0086-Pro dashcam and am using Mobizen for recording screenshots of the HA app while running. I use VideoMeld for mounting everything in a full HD video. You can see the result of a first test here. Please use the highest resolution possible for your monitor.

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6rlaAhvOtVs&feature=youtu.be

 

Everything is in metrics, but HA allows also for miles and gallons.

 

Here are some pictures showing how the handy and the camera in mounted in the car.

 

 

HA is very well explained on the Dashboard page of their website. Braking quality and forcing battery-ventilation are not available for the Fusion Hybrid, but the first is well implemented in the Fusion Dashboard. And of course, the reports produced by Hybrid Reports remain an excellent complement.

 

Using HA has helped me a lot with optimizing my driving and provides on the side a lot of fun.

 

 

Jan

Edited August 8, 2017 by Mister MMT

[Mister MMT]

Here is a new video in which I had to sacrifice resolution in order to censor licence plates and faces, as the German law requires. Nearby readable licence plates were masked with the dynamic YT videotool which works well, but only allows for 20 objects. I'd have needed 60-80.

 

 

Too bad, since the tool works well in my hands, although I'm a beginner in videomounting. Other possibilities I studied were way to expensive and too slow while not dynamic. Only high-end software does it.

 

I've added text indicating when I used the ACC and at which set-speed.

 

I do appreciate VideoMeld for this type of work.

 

The result is certainly less nice as the original full HD video, but the essential ist the Hybrid Assistant window. The rest is meant to help with understanding the context. I hope it is still acceptable this way, but that's all I can offer for today.

 

Any feedback will be appreciated and questions will be answered with pleasure.

 

Have a nice day!

 

Jan

 

PS: Improved videos are accessible HERE

Edited August 19, 2017 by Mister MMT

[usererror]

I like your Hybrid Assistant! The dash cam also looks great, too. I have been curious about getting one for myself but wasn't sure what kind to get.

[Mister MMT]

I've been experimenting with having a smartphone dedicated to displaying Hybrid Assistant positioned on the dashboard in my line of sight, in order for me to use HA as my main interface with the hybrid system when driving.

 

I describe the so far "best" solution HERE.

 

Jan

Edited January 25, 2018 by Mister MMT

[Mister MMT]

I like your Hybrid Assistant! The dash cam also looks great, too. I have been curious about getting one for myself but wasn't sure what kind to get.

 

Thanks! Sorry for the late reply. I come here only from time to timely, because of the lack of response.

 

I'm very pleased with the Dashcam. It's an iTracker mini0806-S with GPS.

 

May I ask you whether you are actually using Hybrid Assistant or would like to use it? I'd indeed like to learn more about how it works in the USA for owners of Ford Hybrid or Energi models and report back on that to my friends Xavier and Alessandro. They developed this entirely free Android App for Toyota and Lexus Hybrids, and managed to make it work for all the Ford Hybrids. That was quite a challenge, in fact.

 

Please note that for good results, a safe and performing OBD dongle is needed. My friends tested several and strongly recommend the OBDLink LX model.

 

Jan

Edited January 25, 2018 by Mister MMT

[demagan]

could you explain how connect HA to Mondeo H by obdlink LX because in mine mondeoH(2019) it is not possible as you show. Any special configuration option?

[Mister MMT]

I followed the instructions provided on the HA blog

 

http://hybridassistant.blogspot.com/p/manual.html

 

Jan