New 2017 Fusion Hybrid Battery Not Full

[bwl8772]

HI,

 

I have just bought my first hybrid. It's a 2017 Fusion Hybrid Titanium and I have had it for about 1 week. I have driven it on the highway, and around town. It seems like no matter what I do, the battery charge indicator only peaks at 50% full. I have driven about 100 miles so far probably 50/50 highway and city. I'm averaging 43 MPG which is great. It seems to charge well when I stop and coast.

 

My Questions:

Since I just bought the car (used - it was a rental car before).

 

1) Should I make sure it will fully charge the battery? How do I fully charge it?

 

2) Should I expect the gauge to hover around 40%-50% at all times?

 

 

Thanks for the help. I'm a hybrid newbie!

 

BL

 

[Texasota]

2) Should I expect the gauge to hover around 40%-50% at all times?

 

On average, that is what it will do. It is designed to operate this way. The car has lots of software controlling the battery management to achieve long battery life and maximize fuel efficiency. In my experience, the only time I notice the battery achieving full charge (as indicated by the dashboard graphic) is when descending a long grade or decelerating on the interstate exit ramp.

 

Focus your efforts on smooth gentle acceleration and gentle braking (not the battery SOC). You are already off to a very good start with your 43 MPG.

[lolder]

The HVB is also used for regenerative braking so if it's full it can't do that. 50% is average. It will go significantly above and below that at times. It's mostly automatically controlled and you can't change it much. You can sometimes milk some more EV distance with a light foot but that's not necessary. Drive normally, a steady foot on the pedal yields the best results. Getting on and off the pedal yields the worst. Look at lights as far ahead as you can and coast up to them, traffic permitting. Many may pass you but don't worry about it and relax. You're getting 40mpg and they're getting 20. Your blood pressure will be lower and you'll live longer.

Edited July 25, 2017 by lolder

[Griswald]

That dash gauge is just an approximation of the battery charge.

 

Not to worry, when you drive it down a long mountain road, it will fill up.

[Cobra348]

Agree with all that's been said. I've had the HVB to really, REALLY low charge as well as topped off. It all depends on things going on with the car. If you use cruise control on a trip and encounter a good downhill area, keep cruise engaged and let the cars attempt to maintain speed kick in regen braking. That'll put some charge back in the HVB.

 

You're pretty much in line with mileage ... just keep plugging away!

Edited July 25, 2017 by Cobra348

[Beachcomber86]

Swapped a 16 Fusion SE for a 18 Fusion Hybrid SE. First tank of gas, 35 mpg..WTF???

 

Granted I commute 50 miles to work, 8 city and 40 on 70 mph interstate. Still, 35 mpg, by ecoboost got 30 to 32 combined. Cruise is set at 71.

[murphy]

Air drag increases with the square of the velocity (speed). The faster you go the worse the mpg will be.

[Waldo]

If it's your first tank, how do you know if was full when you started? Also there's a lot of break-in and computer learning that goes on. Ford puts 4000 miles on every one before they run any fuel economy testing.

 

But it's true that driving at 71mph you're not going to see much difference in fuel economy between a hybrid and an ecoboost.

Edited October 30, 2018 by Waldo

[lolder]

Mpg is very dependent on temperature. It's most likely the SE mpg was in warmer temperatures than your recently acquired hybrid. It's 2 mpg less per 10º F. temperature drop.

[gkinla]

Swapped a 16 Fusion SE for a 18 Fusion Hybrid SE. First tank of gas, 35 mpg..WTF???

Granted I commute 50 miles to work, 8 city and 40 on 70 mph interstate. Still, 35 mpg, by ecoboost got 30 to 32 combined. Cruise is set at 71.

 

To get the Energi’s quoted mileage, you need to drive at city speeds, without air or heat. Heat is worse for battery range. When I do my job with battery management, I get the quoted estimated mileage in the city, this is without heat or air. Freeway mileage set at 70 to 75 on Eco-Cruise, I will get 32 to 35 mpg. Battery management is, L in the city below 45mph, D when above 45mph. L is nice in the city, because regen is more aggressive and you can almost drive one pedal, this is with steady traffic and moderately changing speeds.

[Beachcomber86]

The Highway EPA number is 41 mpg!!! Yes, it is a bit cooler now, but I'm not running the AC!

[Waldo]

The Highway EPA number is 41 mpg!!! Yes, it is a bit cooler now, but I'm not running the AC!

 

But the EPA highway cycle isn't just setting the cruise at 71mph. It involves several accel and decel cycles, which on a hybrid actually help mpg, on a gas engine they don't.

 

But as I said, first tank doesn't really mean anything. You will almost certainly see improvements as it breaks-in, although it will be offset by the colder weather coming.

[Beachcomber86]

 

But the EPA highway cycle isn't just setting the cruise at 71mph. It involves several accel and decel cycles, which on a hybrid actually help mpg, on a gas engine they don't.

 

But as I said, first tank doesn't really mean anything. You will almost certainly see improvements as it breaks-in, although it will be offset by the colder weather coming.

 

Still makes zero sense! My ICE vehicles get very close (within 3 mpg) to EPA highway numbers when run at 4+ over the speed limit (65 or 70). I'm more than 6 mpg off the highway number!!!

[Cobra348]

 

Still makes zero sense! My ICE vehicles get very close (within 3 mpg) to EPA highway numbers when run at 4+ over the speed limit (65 or 70). I'm more than 6 mpg off the highway number!!!

If you are going 70+ MPH, how often is ICE running? 100%, 90%? The more ICE runs - especially at high speeds, the lower the MPG. Same as an all-gas model. You need to allow the HVB to do its job as well ... which is best at lower speeds/slower driving conditions. Terrain also plays a part. The flatter the area, the more likely ICE will run, so vary things as much as you can.

[Beachcomber86]

If you are going 70+ MPH, how often is ICE running? 100%, 90%? The more ICE runs - especially at high speeds, the lower the MPG. Same as an all-gas model. You need to allow the HVB to do its job as well ... which is best at lower speeds/slower driving conditions. Terrain also plays a part. The flatter the area, the more likely ICE will run, so vary things as much as you can.

My all gas ICE vehicles get within 3 mpg of EPA (sometimes more, sometimes less) running highway speed limit +4 mph (74 in a 70). This dang hybrid gets 6 mpg LESS than EPA when running highway speed limit +1 mph (71 in a 70). Something is wrong with that!!!

[Cobra348]

Then take it back to dealer with stats to back up the gas vs FFH numbers. But be prepared for a bit of stonewalling. You have not stated how many miles, but my '17 with close ro 40K is doing fine - after a rocky MPG start.

[aschulz261]

Many people seem to think that the EPA figures are a guarantee of what kind of mileage a vehicle will get. This is just not true. It was meant to drive all vehicles (on a dyno , I believe) over a given set of aceleration and deceleration standards. This is only meant to be able to compare one vehicle against another.

 

That being said, they FFH WILL get the advertised EPA numbers. You just won't want to drive it the way it needs to be driven to do so. In 2013, these same vehicles were rated at 47 mpg city, 47 mpg highway. The CAN do that, but the average human being actually driving in traffic can't.

 

If you let the car do it's thing (which means slower speeds and some city driving) you will see that it can do about half of your miles on battery power, which will get pretty decent mileage.

 

Any time the ICE is running and charging the battery, it's normal to see the mpg gauge sitting at 20 mpg. If the battery is full and the ICE is running, it's normal to see around 40 mpg. If you are driving a constant 70 mph for a distance, I would expect to see trip mileage around 40ish. Add in variables like temperature, rain, wind, AC, traffic, etc and it will be less.

[Waldo]

 

Still makes zero sense! My ICE vehicles get very close (within 3 mpg) to EPA highway numbers when run at 4+ over the speed limit (65 or 70). I'm more than 6 mpg off the highway number!!!

 

But you're ignoring everything I just said!

 

1. Your car is too new. Don't make any judgement on fuel economy until you've got at least 4000 miles on the vehicle.

2. The EPA cycle was designed for gas engines, therefore it's going to be closer to reality for gas engines. Trying to test a hybrid using a test designed for gas engines is going to mean you get more variation in the real world.

[Beachcomber86]

 

 

1. Your car is too new. Don't make any judgement on fuel economy until you've got at least 4000 miles on the vehicle.

 

Never heard that! Hasn't been true with 10+ other vehicles.

[Beachcomber86]

Considering that the Energi is the same car as the Hybrid with bigger batteries that you can plug in to charge. Why can't you plug in the Hybrid?

[lolder]

Never heard that! Hasn't been true with 10+ other vehicles.

Winter is coming and all cars get worse economy in colder weather. There is no break-in period for cars today. There is for drivers and the way you drive. Cold, speed, wind, rain and snow all lower efficiency. When the car is very efficient to begin with, the loss appears greater in mpg.

[Waldo]

Considering that the Energi is the same car as the Hybrid with bigger batteries that you can plug in to charge. Why can't you plug in the Hybrid?

 

Because you'd get at best 2 miles on electric power. Not worth the hassle.

[Beachcomber86]

Its 2 miles you wouldn't get otherwise. The last 8 miles of my commute home is city and I get about 7 of it on battery. But, I get very little on battery the next day

[Waldo]

But at the end of the drive everything is all warmed up and working efficiently. Batteries are very temperature sensitive, they don't work as well when they are cold (or too hot).

 

The Energi model also has an electric heater so you can warm up the interior of the car without starting the ICE. The Hybrid doesn't have that.

 

You need to remember a Hybrid is not an electric car with a range extending gas engine. It's a gas engine car with an electric system that helps eliminate the inefficiencies of that gas engine. But gas engines are pretty efficient at driving on the highway, so a hybrid isn't going to help much. Gas engines are not efficient in city driving, so that's where the hybrid shines. Operating a hybrid efficiently doesn't mean maximizing the time spent driving in electric mode, it means minimizing the amount of fuel used by using the hybrid system to balance out the gas engine.

[Texasota]

 

Because you'd get at best 2 miles on electric power. Not worth the hassle.

Agreed. No way I would mess with a power cord in the garage to get 2 miles (at best) of driving on battery power.