Rex362 Report post Posted January 6, 2010 (edited) I did a Chicago to Toronto run and thats 90% highway and only did 33 mpg total trip back and forth highways speed was steady 75mph Edited January 6, 2010 by Rex362 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
acdii Report post Posted January 8, 2010 I did a Chicago to Toronto run and thats 90% highway and only did 33 mpg total trip back and forth highways speed was steady 75mph Yah did it wrong! lol Next time, try this little trick I discovered driving the Prius. Find a flatbed truck, preferably one with a low load on it like steel. Get behind it by 1 1/2 seconds, no less than that, 2 at the most, and keep speed with it. This works with non hybrids too. I was getting 65 MPG in the Prius, 45 MPG in the Camry. With any luck you may even see 50 MPG in the FFH, I see 32 in the Sport with the V6 doing this. Whats funny is the TCH got better highway MPG than city, damned car was assbackwards, no wonder I didn't like it. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lolder Report post Posted January 10, 2010 (edited) I did a little 8.5 mile low speed tour around my town tonight and got 49.6 mpg at 41 F. This tour produced 60.3 mpg a few months ago at 70 F. Edited January 10, 2010 by lolder Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Oman Report post Posted January 10, 2010 I have found that I get better cold weather mileage if I park the car with the HVB drained, rather than over 1/2, if I choose to warm the car up before starting out. This seems to be due to the fact that the FFH will charge the HVB and warm up at the same time. If the HVB is more than 3/4 or so it seems to have to waste some of that warmup energy. It also warms up faster if the HVB is low... I think it works the ICE harder to warm up faster if it knows that the energy is not going to waste. Jon I'm in the Commonwealth of Virginia as well, north of Charlottesville, so our weather experiences will be similar. We have lots of different questions at play here, some regarding mileage, some related to wear, and some related to sound ecological practices. I think the issue of warming up the FFH in the driveway, related to mpg issues anyway, may also be dependent upon what kind of initial driving environment starting up and driving it puts it in. For example, my initial driving situation will always be uphill for the first mile or so. Warming it up in the driveway might make more sense, getting it quickly to optimum operating heat range, because it will labor a bit uphill. On the other hand, from a mileage point of view, it might make more sense to at least be putting miles under my belt while warming it up. I have the option of warming up in the garage, which runs around 55 degrees so that might work if I don't kill myself in the process. :) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ace43 Report post Posted January 11, 2010 When the cold temperatures started here in Virginia, my mpg seemed to decline. However, it has only dropped 2 or 3 mpg, and on a trip yesterday, I still managed 40 mpg on a 50 mile trip. I did turn the heater off as the heated seats seemed to be enough. The outside temperature never got over 32. My overall mileage has only dropped from 39.7 to 38.2. Now I'm starting to wonder if the Spring and Summer might not bring much better mileage because I only picked up the FFH in November, and it hasn't been in temperatures over 70 yet. We'll see. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lolder Report post Posted January 11, 2010 I have found that I get better cold weather mileage if I park the car with the HVB drained, rather than over 1/2, if I choose to warm the car up before starting out. This seems to be due to the fact that the FFH will charge the HVB and warm up at the same time. If the HVB is more than 3/4 or so it seems to have to waste some of that warmup energy. It also warms up faster if the HVB is low... I think it works the ICE harder to warm up faster if it knows that the energy is not going to waste. JonIn our first really cold weather in Florida (40 F.), I have seen all the behavior Northern Posters describe; long running engine warm-up, high battery charge amount, no regen braking (HVB SOC was high). At start up, the ICE wants to run mostly when cabin heat is called for. After it's first short run for checks and vacuum, it will still shut down if you slow below 12 mph and you aren't calling for heat. You can keep it in EV until the HVB low SOC calls for the ICE to run. Then turn the heat on. The computer seems to charge the HVB quite high to load the ICE more. When you see the charging arrow disappear, turn the heat off and the ICE will stop when you go below 12 mph again. I don't think warm-up in P is necessary. Everything is designed to keep the load on the ICE as high as possible when it's running. At 30 mph, you should see about 30-35 mpg on the instantaneous gauge. If it goes up to over 40 mpg, it's not running efficiently. Try to help it. While doing all this, you'll probably have an accident or freeze to death. This is a video game with real life consequences. Or put everything on "AUTO" and hit the Sirius. Lee Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
oldschool1962 Report post Posted January 11, 2010 (edited) I have a whole laundry list of issues but I'm only going to focus on the mileage. Basically....at my last visit for many of the problems I have mentioned in other posts.....the Sales rep, service reps and techs have all told me to just drive the car. Don't try and massage mileage, try for that little extra MPG, force the car into EV mode or try to get the regen system to charge the battery. Exact words were....."Drive the car like you would the one you just traded in. Ignore it's a Hybrid" Well....first off......I don't believe that is the purpose to the purchase but......I have been doing what they said. They said that was maybe a reason the car was acting funny or causing issues or at least that's what I perceived they meant by changing.......... Honestly.....on my soul................I don't drive like a maniac to begin with. Defensive but I also dont get caught in a jam or will do my best to get away from that proverbial "Wolf Pack". I always hover right around the Speed limit....maybe 2-3 mph over. I don't do "Jack-rabbit starts", even when I was driving the Odyssey, I kept the tach RPM's between 2000 and 2500 when driving from a stop. I don't race folks nor do I need to be first in line at the light but I'm not afraid to use the power if need be so........I really mean I'm a very consciences driver! Not just saying it to sound like a............. Right now................My mileage sucks I mean outright sucks. On our trip I averaged around 42 +- for average and 40 +- for long-term and recently.....pre service appt.......it wasn't what was advertised when I was driving for MPG's but respectable.......37 average and 35 Long-term But even with the driving the way I was told by Ford..........I still have some of the issues I mentioned in other posts but now I am getting a combined MPG of 33.7 and my Long term is around 32. Funny thing though today..........at 52mph.....while accellerating (allbeit not hard but I had pressure on the pedal)...............the car turned off the ICE and went with the Electric motor only. I know this because both the HEV screen on the Nav and the power gauge in the "engage" setting showed only battery operating the vehicle. The only thing was the power gauge didn't register the EV Mode at the bottom. Per the manual and many other sources....this is not only an impossibility per design but another imposibility because of "damage caused to the ECVT" Now ya'll can explain that one. I'm done trying to figure this car out. I appreciate the fact that some of ya'll have sent me ideas for diagnosing things but..........Being a consumer who just dropped 35 grand on a car.....it's not my job to figure out what;s wrong with it. If the Service Dept can't then Ford can have it back and diagnose to their hearts content. it's not my job to do their job. I want the car that was sold to me through the sales ad's, articles, reviews and advertisments.............. not the one I have. Edited January 11, 2010 by oldschool1962 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ace43 Report post Posted January 11, 2010 I've only had mine two months and 1500 miles, and so far not even a hiccup. Maybe taking it back to the dealer will change all that, eh? Regarding getting good mileage, and even hypermiling techniques, I can't see how such efforts would cause problems unless taken to extremes. As regards the dealer saying something like "just take it out and drive it", that seems to me just the typical irresponsible position dealers can take to redirect issues back at the customer. Driving passively, using EV mode judiciously, and attempting to increase mileage can't be a problem for a hybrid automobile unless there is a design flaw in the system. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites