TO ECO OR NOT TO ECO- winter

[toyfan2]

ive tried searching but did not see anything posted. Just wondering if it has been shown to improve mpg in winter to leave the ECO on or off. 

[Sky14FFH]

Do you mean ECO on the cruise control and the EV+ where when approaching home it uses only the battery?   I leave them both on all year round.  Or do you mean hypermiling?

Edited January 27, 2021 by Sky14FFH
changed "Eco+" mode to EV+

[toyfan2]

the button next to the shifter on the center console. 

[dogo88]

I leave mine on all the time. I do notice a slight improvement in the winter. But unless you're driving some distance, the cold weather continues to get the ICE circulating for cabin warmth.

[Sky14FFH]

5 hours ago, toyfan2 said:

the button next to the shifter on the center console.

I have a 2014 and the only button on the shifter is the downhill climb or engine braking button.   I've used it a couple times on a trip to the southwest.  Though this another subject I wonder the logic of putting wear on the engine to save the brakes.  Probably doesn't hurt the engine much and might be something atkinson cycle engines are able to do like diesel engines can on semis.

Do you have a picture of it?  Does it make any difference or is it one of those "placebo buttons"?   What does it do?  I know in the settings there is an Eco+ mode that sends the car into battery only mode when approaching home.   Here's what I did to make the most difference in winter.  https://fordfusionhybridforum.com/topic/13238-polycarbonate-grill-block/?tab=comments#comment-111182

 

Edited January 27, 2021 by Sky14FFH

[toyfan2]

the ECO button on the console puts more emphasis on the heavier regen and leaning more on the battery. let go of the gas and regen kicks in hard(like jakes on a semi). the older models done regen unless the brakes are applied from what i understood. the down hill button on the shifter keeps the regen from overloading the battery, again from what i understood whilst driving around in branson mo which is all hill... both ways 

[Sky14FFH]

Oh that's cool especially when you're slowing down to a light or coming off an offramp.  I wonder if I could see it in action.  So on my older model just pressing the brakes lightly does the same thing correct?

[toyfan2]

whenever i coast the regen kicks in automatically. FROM WHAT I REMEMBER THE '16 and older didn't do that on the fusion and cmax.  

[Sky14FFH]

Yeah it does the same on my 2014 but I just wonder how much more aggressively with the ECO button.

[khumprp]

Is there an ECO mode for 2013? The only thing I know of is Eco Cruise Control... The button on the shifter is for downhill to prevent rolling (I think?)

[Waldo]

18 hours ago, khumprp said:

Is there an ECO mode for 2013? The only thing I know of is Eco Cruise Control... The button on the shifter is for downhill to prevent rolling (I think?)

 

Nope, I think that came in with the 2017.

[Sky14FFH]

I'm guessing it's a placebo button since the post 2016s don't get as good fuel economy because after the fake scandal Ford had nothing to prove.  My 2014 often got 53mpg, well above the rated amount of 47/47mpg before I got the new tires.

[khumprp]

Holy crap, you’re getting 53mpg? I think the best I’d get would be around 40 - 42, but I had freeway driving mixed in.

 

[Sky14FFH]

2 hours ago, khumprp said:

Holy crap, you’re getting 53mpg?

 

That was suburban driving (speeds 25-54mph) and before I changed the tires.  The Michelin Energy Savers make a BIG difference even over the Michelin Premier A/S which I bought because they advertised them as the next most fuel efficient (which is kind of false).  But my fuel economy tanked after that combined with winter gas.  Having regrets.  Best fillups I've been getting since those are 49mpg but that's spring driving no a/c.  Even keeping the psi up around 38.  Oh well.  Now I am averaging more around 44 and frequent summer- early fall fillups of 46-47.  Spring is coming up so I'll try hard to get better on my next tank but with the pandemic I am not doing much driving and going into my second month without filling up.  The best I could do on long trips was 50-59mph on a country road and just squeaked past 51mpg.  That's when I was getting my 600+mile tanks and one 702 mile tank so I made it into that "club".

Edited March 19, 2021 by Sky14FFH

[MeeLee]

The eco button, all it does is give more throttle fidelity at low speeds. 

The first <5% of the throttle is regen braking, similar to engine braking when shifting down a gear on manual transmission car.

The next 50% is fine tuning between 2-3k rpm on the ice engine, or electric motor. This is where you'll get highest efficiency range.

Past halfway, the engine and electric motor are working in tandem, for faster acceleration, and anywhere past 90-95% the car accelerates at full power. The acceleration gains of the first 75-85% of throttle, roughly add the same acceleration as the last 15-25%, making the driver have less fine control over those last few percent of the throttle position, and a large gain of acceleration for a small movement of the throttle.

The acceleration curve has a dip, meaning lower than expected acceleration between 10-50% of throttle position, dipping at around 25-33%, making it easier to accelerate the car in optimal efficiency mode; but also making it feel more sluggish.

 

With eco off, there acceleration curve is much more linear, and what you'd expect from a car on how to accelerate.

The car feels more zippy, simply because you don't need to press the pedal as deep, to make the car accelerate the way you want it to.

You also don't have that first 5% of 10BHP regen of eco mode. Instead, you'll only regen for a few ~5BHP, which is very similar to engine braking in high gear.

If you want to brake at those ~10BHP like in eco mode, you'll need to lightly press the brake pedal.

 

Eco mode doesn't really make the car run more economically. It just changes the throttle curve, the way the ecu interprets the throttle position.

Side by side, one car eco off, the other eco on, if they accelerate exactly at the same speed, they will consume almost exactly the same power, with minor differences. 

 

And lastly the eco off will add some electric motor to the acceleration.

Eco on will mostly try to accelerate on the electric motor, then switch to the engine if more acceleration than the ~20HP of electric motor acceleration is required.

The ~140HP engine then will at the same time try to accelerate the car, and charge the battery, which at lower engine rpms, may feel very sluggish.

Eco off gets it's linear acceleration feel, by adding electric motor acceleration to the ice engine, perhaps even cutting battery charge for a moment, so you won't experience that dip in acceleration as much, between 25 and 45 mph.

Edited May 16, 2021 by MeeLee