Low reading on mpg meter? Trunk space?

[billdz]

Hello, first time poster here. Today I test drove a new FFH and really liked it, so quiet and looks great. Two questions, though:

 

1) There's display that shows the current miles-per-gallon. We were not driving fast, about 35 mph, but the display showed only about 22 mpg. The salesman said the display just needed to be "calibrated," because actual mpg was at least 35 mpg. Does that sound right? How could the reading be so far off in a brand new car?

 

2) The trunk sure seems small, and you can't increase space by lowering the back seats. Is it large enough even to carry a set of golf clubs? Is the trunk adequate in size?

 

Thanks for any info,

bill

[callawassie]

Bill,

 

I've had my FFH since June, now have about 8K miles on it.

 

First of all, you mpg reading was probably correct, and I think the sales guy was blowing smoke. You were not running in battery mode, so at that speed, using ICE, the mileage would be about right. My experience is that highway runs 35-37 mpg, depending on your speed and if the A/C is running or not. We don't really live in a town, but the suburbs where most trips are at a 55 mph speed limit. Anyhow, depending on how I drive, it ranges from 40 to 43 mph. If you really lived in a city where you had a lot of stop and go, you might do better.

Trunk space - OK, it looks small. However, we recently had a road trip where we put both our full size suitcases in (barely), and then could put things on top of them. I think they are 25" suitcases. And just last week, the wife and mother in law took the golf cart, so I put my clubs in the trunk with no problem. Did not even have to take the driver out of the bag to make it all fit. Spacious it is not, but adequate is my view.

 

We are retired, so someone with two kids taking an extended road trip might have a different view on trunk space.

 

As you can tell, we like the car!

[junehhan]

Hello, first time poster here. Today I test drove a new FFH and really liked it, so quiet and looks great. Two questions, though:

 

1) There's display that shows the current miles-per-gallon. We were not driving fast, about 35 mph, but the display showed only about 22 mpg. The salesman said the display just needed to be "calibrated," because actual mpg was at least 35 mpg. Does that sound right? How could the reading be so far off in a brand new car?

 

2) The trunk sure seems small, and you can't increase space by lowering the back seats. Is it large enough even to carry a set of golf clubs? Is the trunk adequate in size?

 

Thanks for any info,

bill

 

 

If you are talking about the long term fuel economy average, all you really need to do is reset it and do some driving. When I took delivery of my hybrid 2 weeks ago with 4 miles on the odometer, the fuel economy showed that it was getting 22-23mpg. 2 weeks and 980miles later, that same display is now showing a fuel economy average of 37.6. Since the sales guy told you that it needed to be calibrated, I guess he doesn't know much about the vehicle.

 

There is also an instantaneous fuel economy guage which fluctuates with every little change in throttle position.

 

The trunk is also a bit small, but this is going to be an issue with nearly every full hybrid vehicle on the market. I believe that among mid-size hybrid sedans, it actually has the biggest trunk as some like the Toyota Camry hybrid are even smaller. Some smaller suitcases will definately fit, but I have not tried golf clubs as I don't play golf. However, that battery has to go somewhere and it does take up space.

[billdz]

"You were not running in battery mode, so at that speed, using ICE, the mileage would be about right. My experience is that highway runs 35-37 mpg, depending on your speed and if the A/C is running or not."

 

I don't quite follow. The car was running in battery mode, so quiet I didn't even know the engine was on. It switched to gas mode when I exceeded 47 mph. Under what circumstances would the car get just 22 mpg?

 

The A/C was on. How much does A/C affect mpg? Here in Florida the A/C is on most of the time. My friend has a Prius and he says he gets 7 mpg less when A/C is on. The salesman claimed that A/C only has a minor impact on the FFH's mpg performance.

 

Thanks for the replies,

bill

[rfruth]

In all fairness the 2010 Camry hybrid has a rear 60-40 split-bench seat, corce if ya fold the seat(s) down there goes your passenger space... but there are good reasons I didn't get a Camry not the least of which is its hasn't had a major refresh in a few years thus compared to the competition (the Fusion hybrid) its ranks poor - Toyota really needs to update it and they will now there is some serious competition (i.e. Ford) so in a few years we will see an all new Camry (the FFH will also be newer by then so who knows) - this is my opinion.

[VonoreTn]

Bill,

 

It will get just 22 mpg under a lot of conditions, but will also get 60 mpg under a lot of conditions. Don't overly concern yourself about short range mpg. Just check your mileage at fill-ups, either with your own chart, or just reset the trip mpg readout, and use the car computer number, they are both pretty much the same over time. You will get much better mileage than 22 over hundreds of miles. Note there are 4 mpg feedbacks on the car: Long term mpg (can be reset with some difficulty), trip mpg (easier to reset), the 2 minute bars (replaces the tree leaves with some fenagalling), and the summary you get just after you turn off the engine, summarizing the last engine-on trip. Note you can get this summary the next morning if you turn the key on but not to start, wait for the speedometer needle to swing back and forth once, then back the key off one notch, and there it is again. Once you hit "start" with the key, it is permanently gone.

 

AC will drop mpg, but not that much if you keep it in the recirculation mode, and manually keep the fan as low as possible for comfort. Recirculation mode is important, especially in humid or very hot climates. You don't want to be continuously drying and cooling fresh outside air, it's not very efficient.

 

"You were not running in battery mode, so at that speed, using ICE, the mileage would be about right. My experience is that highway runs 35-37 mpg, depending on your speed and if the A/C is running or not."

 

I don't quite follow. The car was running in battery mode, so quiet I didn't even know the engine was on. It switched to gas mode when I exceeded 47 mph. Under what circumstances would the car get just 22 mpg?

 

The A/C was on. How much does A/C affect mpg? Here in Florida the A/C is on most of the time. My friend has a Prius and he says he gets 7 mpg less when A/C is on. The salesman claimed that A/C only has a minor impact on the FFH's mpg performance.

 

Thanks for the replies,

bill

[hoyafan]

In case you would like to read (up to 88) independent reviews, go to this link at Edmunds.com:

 

http://www.edmunds.com/ford/fusionhybrid/2010/consumerreview.1...186741703.html

 

Note that out of 88 reviews, I think there are only two that are truly negative. (They both had mechanical trouble and did not update as to whether it was resolved). Overall score is a 9.5.

 

It might be helpful to scroll through those reviews to see what folks like/dislike and whether that will help you with your decision.

[FFHdriver]

Bill,

 

It will get just 22 mpg under a lot of conditions, but will also get 60 mpg under a lot of conditions. Don't overly concern yourself about short range mpg. Just check your mileage at fill-ups, either with your own chart, or just reset the trip mpg readout, and use the car computer number, they are both pretty much the same over time. You will get much better mileage than 22 over hundreds of miles. Note there are 4 mpg feedbacks on the car: Long term mpg (can be reset with some difficulty), trip mpg (easier to reset), the 2 minute bars (replaces the tree leaves with some fenagalling), and the summary you get just after you turn off the engine, summarizing the last engine-on trip. Note you can get this summary the next morning if you turn the key on but not to start, wait for the speedometer needle to swing back and forth once, then back the key off one notch, and there it is again. Once you hit "start" with the key, it is permanently gone.

 

AC will drop mpg, but not that much if you keep it in the recirculation mode, and manually keep the fan as low as possible for comfort. Recirculation mode is important, especially in humid or very hot climates. You don't want to be continuously drying and cooling fresh outside air, it's not very efficient.

IMHO the AC should effect MPG very little since it's electric driven.

[apm]

IMHO the AC should effect MPG very little since it's electric driven.

 

Although the AC is electric, it does impact the overall MPG's of the FFH. The FFH relies on the battery (EV mode) to increase the overall MPG's. If the battery power is used to run the AC it means less power to move the car and therefore lower overall MPG's as the ICE has to run more often to recharge it.

 

Just my 2 cents...

 

APM

[Howie411]

When I picked I purchased my car it had 8 miles on it and it listed I was getting 21 MPG. I don't know about calibration but a reset fixed it. And now I'm averaging 36-37 mpg. Who knows what that thing defaults to or does when it comes out of the plant. So you may need to reset it just once.

[fsb99]

I think the "long term average" is a rolling last 500 miles average fuel consumption. You can either reset it to start from scratch or keep driving normally and it should improve over the initial 20's you're seeing in your test drive. I don't know for sure, but the calibration explanation is probably NOT true; I would guess all calibrations are done at the factory to maintain quality and consistency.

 

As far as AC use, yes it does affect MPG - how much depends on how heavy your setting is; after all overall energy utilized have to be restored/supplied one way or another by the ICE. You can see the Accessory Power usage increase in Empower mode and as you increase you AC use. AC (at max setting/max fan) seem to be the highest power draw out of all accessories.

[VonoreTn]

IMHO the AC should effect MPG very little since it's electric driven.

 

About half of your AC drain was electric before, with an ICE engine only, that is the condenser fan and the evaporator blower were electric before, and still are. The part that is different is the compressor is now electric motor driven and was belt driven before. A belt drive is about 95% efficient as a power transfer mechanism, while running a compressor with an electric motor is only a 50% efficient process since you have to drive a 70% efficient alternator to run a 70% efficient motor. (.7 X .7 = .49).

 

Some people seem to think electricity is the most efficient thing going, it's not. But it is more compatible with computer control, which is where efficiencies occur.

 

Electric steering IS a lot more efficient than current hydraulic systems because you waste energy running 50 to 100 psi out of the hydraulic pump, whether you are using the powersteering or not. With electric steering the improvement is twofold, improved usage strategy (almost no energy when steering not being assisted), and electric systems are in general more efficient than hyrdaulic systems, due to hydraulic flow losses, and related heat buildup.

[lolder]

The AC compressor is electric so that cooling is available when the ICE is not running (at stop lights and low speeds). Early hybrids had belt driven AC compressors so the ICEs seldom shut down in warm weather. The electric AC compressor is a high voltage variable speed motor. I don't think there is any clutch to vary the cooling output by varying the duty cycle. You can't see any pulsing of accessory load. It probably takes as much power to run the AC at max in a hot car as it does to move it down the road at 30 mph.

 

Lee

[billdz]

So, about how many mpg's do we lose when the A/C is on?

[lrymal]

So, about how many mpg's do we lose when the A/C is on?

Insignificant... I thought it would make a major difference, but I'm hitting easily 40mpg average with or without the AC.

[lolder]

So, about how many mpg's do we lose when the A/C is on?

 

When you get in a hot car in the summer in southern states, the AC accessory load goes up to about 2/3 of max for several minutes and then ramps down to about 1/5 of max. I feel you loose almost 10mpg from say 43 to 33mpg. for 5 to 10 minutes. Once the car is cooled you probably only loose 1 or 2 mpg. Open all the windows (roof?) for a minute to get a lot of the heat out. Park in the shade. It all depends on how obsessive/compulsive you are. These cars can make you that way. Aside from a fairly nice car, they are one of the most sophisticated toys you'll ever own. The Prius people get even crazier.

 

Lee

[fsb99]

So, about how many mpg's do we lose when the A/C is on?

Depends how hot it is outside (therefore how much A/C demanded). I've driven home on 95-100 degree days (18 mile commute) and lost estimated 3-4 MPG.

[billdz]

Depends how hot it is outside (therefore how much A/C demanded). I've driven home on 95-100 degree days (18 mile commute) and lost estimated 3-4 MPG.

 

Sounds like it is better than the Prius, then, which I've heard loses 7 mpg when the A/C is on. Thanks for the replies.

[mirak]

bilidz:

 

I think you may have gotten some confusing answers here and from your salesman, so let me clear this up.

 

On the right-side instrument panel, you will see a mpg meter which fluctuates continuously with your current fuel consumption. If you were driving on battery, this meter would show "60+".

 

Also in the upper right-hand corner of the insrument panel, there is an overall mpg number. I think this is what you were referring to. This overall mpg does not need to be "calibrated" as your salesman told you. For whatever reason, this number starts in the low 20s and gradually goes higher, even though you may be averaging high 30s on each trip. It took me several hundred miles before I got my reading up to 38, even though I had been averaging at least 38 on nearly all of my drives.

 

Hope this clears that up.

 

With careful driving, I typically average over 40mpg when the temps are at least 60 degrees. In colder weather, my average drops into the mid 30s. After 4,000 miles, roughly 40% highway and 60% city, I am at 38.4. That's not bad considering the cold weather I've been experiencing this last month in Kansas.

 

You will love this car. I encourage you to splurge on the nav package. It's more than just nav. The touchscreen really enhances a lot of the car's technological features.

[ace43]

#1. My golf bag fits easily in the trunk.

 

#2. My FFH had 144 miles on it when I took delivery. It had been driven to my dealership from another one, accounting for the miles. It was averaging 29 mpg when I got it. The overall average is now 39.4 mpg. I have taken two 130 mile trips and averaged 44.5 mpg on the first one and 42 mpg on the second one. I have nothing to complain about in any area. I traded in a 2005 Mercedes E55 AMG for it. I find the seats actually more comfortable than the E55 and find it just as much fun to drive. The various screens for the Hybrid readouts and the Nav make it like driving a video game. It's a blast. It is also much quieter than my Mercedes was, believe it or not, and a great cruiser.