Hybrid Driving Techniques

[paulbuck]

Having owned my 2010 Fusion Hybrid for almost 2 months, I'm wondering if other Hybrid owners would have similar observations:

 

- I find that it takes a very light touch on the gas pedal to keep it in EV mode; any sudden pressure or load demand (going up a hill) switches over to gas motor.

- once the systems have warmed up, the easiest way to get into EV mode is to accelerate to the desired speed (say 30mph) and let off the accelerator, then gently

keep up the speed in EV mode

- I've had it up to 40mph in EV mode, but no higher (maybe downhill?)

 

Any comments/additions would be welcome.

[lolder]

Having owned my 2010 Fusion Hybrid for almost 2 months, I'm wondering if other Hybrid owners would have similar observations:

 

- I find that it takes a very light touch on the gas pedal to keep it in EV mode; any sudden pressure or load demand (going up a hill) switches over to gas motor.

- once the systems have warmed up, the easiest way to get into EV mode is to accelerate to the desired speed (say 30mph) and let off the accelerator, then gently

keep up the speed in EV mode

- I've had it up to 40mph in EV mode, but no higher (maybe downhill?)

 

Any comments/additions would be welcome.

That's normal. The state of charge (SOC) of the high voltage battery (HVB) affects how fast you can accelerate in EV. At mid-charge, you can only carefully accelerate to about 30 mph. You should be able to operate almost 1/2 mile at about 45 mph by feathering the pedal as you describe. If you got the HVB SOC near H by braking or cold weather charging, you should be able to go about a mile in EV at about 35 mph. This is all on level, clear roads with very light pedal pressure. You should be in the "Empower" dash mode so you can see the EV power available. As you gain experience and the car breaks in a little, you should be able to accelerate slowly more often in EV when there is no traffic. This is only useful when the car is cold and you aren't using heating or AC and you are forcing EV mode from a stop. Once the car is warm, it is more efficient to accelerate to whatever speed you want on the ICE. Below 47 mph, the ICE will duty-cycle on and off at about a 50 % rate. EV mode is actually less efficient at higher speeds. It is only efficient at lower speeds because the ICE becomes inefficient at low power. Watch when the ICE is running at about 30 mph. It'll be getting only about 30 mpg because it's running the car and charging the HVB. When it turns off, you get 60 + mpg (99.9 on the computer). The ICE almost never runs at less than 1.0 gal./hour. At about 50 mph, it is burning only a little more than 1.0 gph. This is not an electric car. It is a gasoline powered car that use electrical components to achieve very high thermal efficiency from the gas engine

Edited March 8, 2010 by lolder

[Grey]

My best MPG was on a 110 mile trip over county roads with the speed control set for 45 MPH I got 54.1 MPG with hills and many stops. I had minimal electrical load (A/C off).

 

I could have taken half of the trip on interstate highways, but gettting this much mileage was worth the extra 15 minutes.

[fsb99]

Having owned my 2010 Fusion Hybrid for almost 2 months, I'm wondering if other Hybrid owners would have similar observations:

 

- I find that it takes a very light touch on the gas pedal to keep it in EV mode; any sudden pressure or load demand (going up a hill) switches over to gas motor.

- once the systems have warmed up, the easiest way to get into EV mode is to accelerate to the desired speed (say 30mph) and let off the accelerator, then gently

keep up the speed in EV mode

- I've had it up to 40mph in EV mode, but no higher (maybe downhill?)

 

Any comments/additions would be welcome.

Do you have your dash set to Empower? If so, you can see exactly how much you can depress the accelerator before going into ICE. Bullet 2 is about right. I have no problems going up to 47mph on EV if I really want to (sometimes takes a lot of patience), especially using Empower - available battery charge has a lot to do with this and bullet 1.

[paulbuck]

Thanks for the input! I appreciate you all taking the time to chime in.

I will switch to "Empower" and work on my driving. I'm just the type that likes to see how much I can stretch a gallon of gas. I used

to practice 'high-miler' techniques in my Accord, so it's natural to continue my habits with the Fusion. And the mpg displays in the Hybrid make it even

more fun!

[sullied]

Having owned my 2010 Fusion Hybrid for almost 2 months, I'm wondering if other Hybrid owners would have similar observations:

 

- I find that it takes a very light touch on the gas pedal to keep it in EV mode; any sudden pressure or load demand (going up a hill) switches over to gas motor.

- once the systems have warmed up, the easiest way to get into EV mode is to accelerate to the desired speed (say 30mph) and let off the accelerator, then gently

keep up the speed in EV mode

- I've had it up to 40mph in EV mode, but no higher (maybe downhill?)

 

Any comments/additions would be welcome.

I've only driven a FFH for about 20 minutes while doing a test drive, but I was able to achieve 45mph in EV mode. Had an overall fuel efficiency of 49mpg on my test drive...good mix of highway and city driving in the test.

[Fuze-ion]

I'll need to try the different display screen also. I do know that I take the Non-Interstate route now, instead of the shortest method to help the gas mileage. I'm averaging upper 30's, but its not much city driving. It's rural roads, with 45-55 mph. I really try to mash the pedal gently, but it's not easy when you're used to driving something with 315 horsepower, and you really like the feel of getting pressed back in the Seat. (1970 Olds Cutlass Supreme)