What is going on with my Fusion's gas mileage?

[iamluke33]

Hi all,

 

I'm new to the forum. I bought a 2013 Ford Fusion Hybrid 6 days ago.

 

First of all, I filled the tank for the first time today. It had 22 miles to empty, so I figured it would need about 13.5 gallons, since it's a 14 gallon tank right? The gas pump wouldn't let me put more than 10 gallons in. Is it a 10 gallon tank or 14? After I put the gas in the fuel gauge showed that the tank was full to the brim. It showed 466 miles to empty. Is that average?

 

Second of all, I drove 111 miles of highway tonight and the car said I was doing 40mpg average, however the fuel gauge went from full to half empty. (I did not reset the mpg average before the 111 mile drive, but it read 43 mpg avg beforehand). Anyway at the beginning of my drive it said 441 to empty, when I arrived it was 293 to empty. That's 148 miles of fuel for a 111 mile drive.

 

Why can I only put 10 gallons in my car?

 

Why does it show 40mpg average when it appears that I used 7 gallons (half a tank) for 111 miles?

 

Am I missing something?

[lolder]

The miles to empty ( distance to empty DTE ) is an algorithm based on past and current driving. Drive it for a while. What did the fuel gauge say when the miles to empty said 22? There's 1-2 gallons left when DTE is zero. Uneven ground at the fuel pump can cause incomplete filling.

[murphy]

It has a 13.5 gallon tank. The Energi has a 14 gallon tank. They are both in the same owner's manual.

What speed were you driving? Air drag increases with the square of the speed.

Are your tires at the proper pressure?

Were you going uphill?

 

The car doesn't know how you are going to drive it. It can only estimate based on previous trips.

 

The tank is not empty when the gauge says it is empty. There could be up to 3 gallons more to go. Most cars do that to protect you from running out of gas.

[iamluke33]

The miles to empty ( distance to empty DTE ) is an algorithm based on past and current driving. Drive it for a while. What did the fuel gauge say when the miles to empty said 22? There's 1-2 gallons left when DTE is zero. Uneven ground at the fuel pump can cause incomplete filling.

 

Hi, thanks for the reply. Good to know. Actually I hadn't checked the fuel gauge when I filled up. I assumed it was almost empty since it said 22 miles to empty.

[iamluke33]

It has a 13.5 gallon tank. The Energi has a 14 gallon tank. They are both in the same owner's manual.

What speed were you driving? Air drag increases with the square of the speed.

Are your tires at the proper pressure?

Were you going uphill?

 

The car doesn't know how you are going to drive it. It can only estimate based on previous trips.

 

The tank is not empty when the gauge says it is empty. There could be up to 3 gallons more to go. Most cars do that to protect you from running out of gas.

Thanks for the reply. Was driving 70mph for 111 miles, all highway. It was the 5 from LA to San Diego, there are some gradual inclines and declines but nothing major.

 

Haven't checked tire pressure but I will today.

 

I don't understand why it would say that I was 148 miles to empty after driving 111 miles.

[Larry Twitchell]

Temperature, weather, wind, tire pressure and other factors have significant impact on mpg. I just completed a 1500 mi. trip from NH to FL in varying conditions. Left with temps below freezing, snowing, car loaded and two heavy bikes on back. First tank was 38 mpg. Weather improved and speed went up to 75 and mileage down to 28 on one tank when it was also windy. The bikes were like a huge sail on the back! Now, with temps in the 70s, mpg is back to normal.

 

Give yourself a chance to get used to the differences in this car and youll find yourself enjoying and marveling at what a great car you have. Hope you have many happy years with it.

[lolder]

I strapped a 5 ft. long antique "deacons" bench on top of my 2010 FFH for a highway trip. Mpg went from 40 to 30 but otherwise the car drove fine.

[Sky14FFH]

btw after doing a lot of long distance commuting this summer (85 miles each way) I discovered that the best highway speed to go to get as good or almost as good city mpg (about 49-51) is to set the cruise at 66mph and have it on ECO mode. The car tends to stay at 65mph according to the GPS. It may take you a few minutes longer to get to your destination but it is worth the higher mpgs. When I go up to 80mph my mpgs dump right down to 32-35. Not happy with that. Drove all the way out west last November. Granted it was probably on winter gas and the gas in the middle (especially Colorado) is absolutely the worst but I expected better. I wonder if the 2017+ Hybrid Fusions were better suited for higher speed freeway travel since they may have a stronger electric motor?

[Beachcomber86]

btw after doing a lot of long distance commuting this summer (85 miles each way) I discovered that the best highway speed to go to get as good or almost as good city mpg (about 49-51) is to set the cruise at 66mph and have it on ECO mode. The car tends to stay at 65mph according to the GPS. It may take you a few minutes longer to get to your destination but it is worth the higher mpgs. When I go up to 80mph my mpgs dump right down to 32-35. Not happy with that. Drove all the way out west last November. Granted it was probably on winter gas and the gas in the middle (especially Colorado) is absolutely the worst but I expected better. I wonder if the 2017+ Hybrid Fusions were better suited for higher speed freeway travel since they may have a stronger electric motor?

First regardless of what mileage you get, you should ALWAYS, REPEAT ALWAYS drive the posted speed limit on interstate grade highways!!!! 66 in a 70 zone is rude!!!

 

Rant over! I have 2018 with 2200 miles on it so far. 35 mile interstate commute with a 70 speed limit. With cruise set at 71 I will get between 36 - 39 mpg per the computer depending on the temperature. Needless to say, I'm not happy!

[murphy]

Air drag increases with the square of the velocity (speed). It takes more energy to push the air out of the way the faster you go. It's basic physics. The only way to change the drag is to lower the drag coefficient of the car which would be a complete redesign.

[Cobra348]

First regardless of what mileage you get, you should ALWAYS, REPEAT ALWAYS drive the posted speed limit on interstate grade highways!!!! 66 in a 70 zone is rude!!!

 

Rant over! I have 2018 with 2200 miles on it so far. 35 mile interstate commute with a 70 speed limit. With cruise set at 71 I will get between 36 - 39 mpg per the computer depending on the temperature. Needless to say, I'm not happy!

You've already been coached that part of the issue is that you do not vary your speed and drive at one that is not optimal for the car. You will get much better mileage when driving between 55 and 60. If you can't or won't do that then try doing some city speed driving mixed into the commute (somehow). Make sure your tire pressure is correct - temperature changes affect it and that can affect driving experience. Again, several of us have attempted to give you pointers and for some reason we don't seem to make a dent in your opinion. Oh well.

 

As for doing under the speed limit ... you are the rude one if you're climbing up the tailpipe of someone doing 66 in a 70. Use the other lane and pass them. Unless the vehicle in front of you is MORE than 15 MPH below the limit, you have no right to complain - and they should be in the right lane. And even then if they run 4-ways, they are still legally correct. If you are stuck in a 2-lane road and can't pass, then be patient ... your chance will come.

Edited December 1, 2018 by Cobra348

[ptjones]

Air drag increases with the square of the velocity (speed). It takes more energy to push the air out of the way the faster you go. It's basic physics. The only way to change the drag is to lower the drag coefficient of the car which would be a complete redesign.

You can lower your drag coefficient of the FFH by adding Grill Covers and wheel covers for around 4 mpg improvement. :) Doesn't require a redesign of the car.

 

Paul

[Sky14FFH]

First regardless of what mileage you get, you should ALWAYS, REPEAT ALWAYS drive the posted speed limit on interstate grade highways!!!! 66 in a 70 zone is rude!!!

 

Rant over! I have 2018 with 2200 miles on it so far. 35 mile interstate commute with a 70 speed limit. With cruise set at 71 I will get between 36 - 39 mpg per the computer depending on the temperature. Needless to say, I'm not happy!

Guess you're kidding but if not it is lesson time to the kiddies. The speed LIMIT means MAXIMUM LIMIT, not lower LIMIT. 70mph in a 70mph zone is the FASTEST you're legally allowed to go. The MINIMUM limit is usually and normally 45mph when not posted. What's more is driving 45 in the slow lane is NOT rude. Driving 45 in the passing lane may be but there is nothing so rude and as dangerous as tailgating. In the UK they'll drive 120mph in the fast lane, 75 mph in the middle lane and 45-55 mph in the slow lane. Not kidding it is surreal but they keep their lanes strictly and rapid lane changing is illegal. In Germany you're not even allowed in the fast lane unless you are passing someone. Lesson over. As far as your gas mileage, it doesn't surprise me since you seem to be quite a nube when it comes to driving. There's another sweet spot in the 70-80 range, I think it might be 78mph (real speed about 76) where the mpg gauge will hover around 49-53 mpg when the battery is no longer being charged or discharched. but I haven't used it in a while. Set your cruise there. Again there is no way to tell exactly what real mpgs you're getting unless you were to do a 600mile trip all at that speed but for some reason the gauge settles up there - if I can get my scangauge calibrated exactly right I'll be able to tell.

[Sky14FFH]

Air drag increases with the square of the velocity (speed). It takes more energy to push the air out of the way the faster you go. It's basic physics. The only way to change the drag is to lower the drag coefficient of the car which would be a complete redesign.

There are some interesting sweet spots however, even with jet airplanes. They found that by narrowing the body at the last 2/3rds of the fusilage the jets can achieve a higher speed with less impact from the sonic shock wave. Not sure of the specifics at the moment. Air changes properties at different speeds depending upon the shape of the car and I wouldn't be surprised if Ford engineers attempted adding some of those properties into the fusion/mondeo but you have to find out what speed the air flows smoothest around the car and the engine is at its most efficient. Miraculously in my little 19 year old ford I once discovered I was getting 40mph on a long trip doing 90mph. I couldn't believe it but traffic was fast that day. I tuned the heck out of it to make it more efficient though.

One gripe i have had about modern cars is their massive front ends. I can barely get my car up to heating temperature. 4 cylinders don't really overheat much. Once when I lived in the tropics my little old mazda sprang a leak in the coolant hose and I was almost completely out of water (without knowing it for sure). Just my forward movement was cooling the engine with the air flowing through and under the car. It wasn't until I got into the city did the engine start pinging and when I got stuck behind a redlight literally the corner of the gas station garage I was heading to only did the engine die right there. It was easy to push it in. Friend of mine came and found the leak right away and used his pocket knife to cut the rotten piece of hose off and we ...ok turning that into a story. So why is it they have such massively large grills increasing the D/C in this age?

[Waldo]

So why is it they have such massively large grills increasing the D/C in this age?

 

Because that air isn't just cooling the engine, it's cooling the A/C system, the Intercooler on many turbo cars and the transmission cooler.

 

Also tall front ends are essentially dictated by newer pedestrian impact regulations.

[Sky14FFH]

t's way overkill otherwise the Tesla would need more cooling. The intercooler on turbos is separate radiator and usually nestled on the lower grill. Never had a car overheat on me other than the one that completely ran out of coolant in 90 degree swelter when I came to a stop. The pedestrian thing doesn't make much sense either. If you can get onto the hood you won't get hurt as bad.

[Waldo]

t's way overkill otherwise the Tesla would need more cooling. The intercooler on turbos is separate radiator and usually nestled on the lower grill. Never had a car overheat on me other than the one that completely ran out of coolant in 90 degree swelter when I came to a stop. The pedestrian thing doesn't make much sense either. If you can get onto the hood you won't get hurt as bad.

 

The intercooler on most Fords, including the Fusion sits either in front of or behind the radiator. Either way, the amount of air needed for an intercooler is more than without, so you have to increase the opening somewhere. Saying you've never had a car overheat just proves that the system is working. OEMs need to design so cars never overheat, even in 120F going up mountains fully loaded. Just because you don't do that doesn't mean that somebody won't.

 

Pedestrian impact is all about having some "crumple zone" on the hood, so when the ped does get on the hood, the hood can bend down and absorb the energy. That means you need to move the hood up from the engine to leave enough space.

[ptjones]

It is unfortunate that FORD was unable to come up with a more efficient cooling system that got the ICE temps up quickly to 215-230*F range aerodynamically like I did for an improvement of 3-4 mpg's and they wouldn't have had to deal with the MPG EPA fiasco and may have sold twice as many cars. ;(

 

Paul

[Sky14FFH]

 

Saying you've never had a car overheat just proves that the system is working.

That's incorrect because I have been driving for a few years, and the frontal areas of all the cars I have had were quite narrow. The Mazda in mention was a 92 Protege LX (1.8 DOHC engine) and had very little frontal area. Like I said it only overheated when it was completely out of water and I came to a standstill..in the summer..in the Tropics. The backup "system" that worked was my driving fast enough for the air flow to pass through its narrow grill. Other 4 cylinder cars I have owned also had very little frontal area and took 3 or 4 miles for the engine to reach operating temperature (too long for the winter in my opinion.) The current 19 year old car I blocked off the grill entirely and it still never overheated. The fusion hybrid I own takes about 20 minutes to heat up. If I keep the heat off the engine will turn off once it reaches 130 degrees, with the heat on the engine turns off at 143 degrees, that's when it reaches the first line on the digital dash gauge and the heating system blows lukewarm and I shivver. The only way is to be driving at freeway speeds for about 20minutes when the system finally gets up to where a normal car would after 3 miles 190*. So the system would work far better if there wasn't any grill whatsoever and the engine runs efficiently enough to be cooled simply with the coolant system and air scooped from below. My other car's Zetec engine has a backup system built in where it uses the fuel spray. It will never overheat even if it looses coolant. Pretty cool design. So having huge frontal areas on cars these days is outdated and inefficient.

 

It is unfortunate that FORD was unable to come up with a more efficient cooling system that got the ICE temps up quickly to 215-230*F range aerodynamically like I did for an improvement of 3-4 mpg's and they wouldn't have had to deal with the MPG EPA fiasco and may have sold twice as many cars. ;(

 

Paul

 

Personally I think that is a crank job because I always got over 47mpg as the window sticker indicated except in the winter and on long trips at 80mph where the speedlimit was posted as such. I didn't complain at getting the rebate though. I laughed at my younger brother who got a regular fusion and ended up paying more for it because he got leather seats. He wouldn't listen and just argued with me. You can lead the kids to water but you can't make em drink right Beachcomber! I just think people can't drive and the fiasco is their pulling the fast one on FORD. Yeesh I'd love if my car ran at 215*F. I've never seen it above 190* and if I am mistaken the coolant can handle up to 250* degrees correct? I still drive with a lead foot though and a little more in the winter just to get the dang temperature up. Doing the grill block soon, very excited for the results. PTjones yours looks amazing.

 

Edited December 3, 2018 by Sky14FFH

[ptjones]

I calculated the boiling temp at 264*F for the coolant at 21 psi. and I said before the overheating alarm goes off at 246*F. :)

 

Paul

[airbusguy]

Check your math.

[ptjones]

I found this with google search: https://durathermfluids.com/pdf/techpapers/pressure-boiling-point.pdf That said with 50/50 coolant/ water at 20 psi the boiling point would be 282*F. I was looking for a formula, but the closest I got was 2-3*F for each increase of 1 psi. 50/50 mix boils at 223*F with no pressure so it looks like 3*F for each 1 psi increase so at 21 psi radiator cap pressure that brings it up to 285*F. That's way above the overheating alarm of 246*F. :) I think I read 2*F for each 1 psi. before which is where I got 264*F for 21 psi radiator cap.

 

Paul