Coasting in Fusion 2013

[fusionTX]

I test drove a Fusion Hybrid today for the second time. Enjoyed the ride as I did the first time. This time I concentrated on the coasting abilities, as some reports suggests there may be some issues here.

 

I can confirm that the car I test drove today does not coast very well or very far. I drove highway and access road to highway for 10 miles. Many times, as I was approaching lights, I would take my foot off the accelerator only to have to re-accelerate because the car would not make it. On my Camry Hybrid, I use coasting a lot, and it can go on forever, it seems.

 

This seems like an issue to me as having tomacclerate when you could be coasting can't be very efficient.

 

BTW my MPG for drive was around 35. Temperature around 45 degrees.

[terryb]

my test drive of a couple weeks ago involved baasicly the same conditions and I remember no dceelertion

with foot off. It didn't feel different than my '10 in this regard. I'm anxious to get my own car hopefully Monday and see what I have to deal with. I think my ride was in warmer conditions. So, the two possibilities are conditional software requirements or specific issues with individual cars.

[fusionTX]

I use coasting extensively in my Camry Hybrid. I'm not a hypermiler by any means, but I think coasting is one of the things that is easy to do and comes naturally to me after driving a hybrid for almost seven years. Coasting and letting off a bit on accelerator after getting up to speed are probably the two things that I do frequently, and keeps by MPGs decent.

 

It would be a real bummer if new Fusion does not take advantage of coasting. I look forward to hearing from you once you get your car, and from others who are already driving their new hybrids.

[brcd131]

I read somewhere that a Ford person said that the Fusion does not recharge the battery while coasting, but now I can't find that article. In testing that I've done, it appears to be true that it does not recharge the battery while coasting but I could be wrong. I've driven my Prius from TX to PA many times and gotten 45-46 MPG. Much of this driving is over fairly good sized mountains. I attribute the good mileage to the car capturing a fair amount of energy on the down side of the mounting and charging the batteries. If the Fusion doesn't do that, the MPGs on a trip like that will be terrible. It appears that the only time the Fusion charges the batteries while coasting is if the cruise is set and the car exceeds the cruise set speed, then it's like applying the brakes.

[rfruth]

More aggressive regen.in the 2013 - is the car in D not L ?

[DeeCee]

My 2013 FFH coasts just fine. In fact, if going down mild grades it will gain speed and I can use regen braking to help charge the battery.

 

Did so more checking when coasting and the ^ indicated the battery was being charged while coasting. I was not using any braking.

Edited December 30, 2012 by DeeCee

[terryb]

I did just fine in western PA during the summer running 43 MPG for tank averages.

Foot hills of allegheny range.

[acdii]

Mine slows down quickly too, my 2010 though, take my foot off and it takes a long time to slow down. I had my wife follow me once, and she had to ride the brake whenever I took my foot of the gas to keep from hitting me. It does regen when coasting, and I believe that is the reason it slows so fast.

 

So what you experienced in your test drives was normal for these cars, the only time I found it will coast is if the battery is fully charged.

[jerseyjim53]

Just got my 2013 Fusion Hybrid SE two days ago. I asked the Salesman if the FFH will regen / recharge like when coasting down hill. NOT while gently holding the brake - but simply coasting. After some research on his part he simply said - there's no documentation to say that it will regen when coasting. Well I've owned hybrids for 8 years or so now. An early Honda INSIGHT (2000), a 2007 PRIUS and now the 2013 FFH. Both the early INSIGHT and the Prius would - yes - recharge when coasting. So I was surprised when the Salesman could not concretely answer the question for my FFH. So I played with the left hand side of the 2013 dash to display a vertical BAR that shows mpg/effeciency... and when in EV Mode, the bar is shaded BLUE. So when driving the past couple of days, I can clearly see I'm in EV mode (no ICE going) and when I lift my foot off the gas and coast downhill, the EV Mode stays on PLUS, the little "arrow" displays on top of the BATTERY icon which, according to the manual, means that the battery is charging. So I need someone to tell me otherwise, please. But as I see it, my 2013 FFH really DOES regen / recharge coasting downhill. And not because ICE is charging it or from tapping on the brake - but simply by regen/recharge from intertia. Any body else see those results - or have another explanation? Thanks. Jim

 

PS: Both the early INSIGHT and the Prius would "perfectly coast" without any regen-drag by simply throwing the tranny into "N"eutral. That disengaged the Honda/Toyota hybrid regen mini-generators and would let you "free-wheel" coast to your heart's content. The FFH owners here would have to confirm if that's how it works on a Ford hybrid, too.

Edited February 25, 2013 by jerseyjim53

[murphy]

My 2010 Fusion Hybrid clearly shows battery charging when going down hill with the ICE not running, I think that is where the back pressure to avoid accelerating while going down hill comes from.

[jeff_h]

But as I see it, my 2013 FFH really DOES regen / recharge coasting downhill.

 

Yes as I also see it, my 2013 FFH charges the HV battery when coasting. On I-95 Southbound there is a place called the "HOV merge" (VA users know exactly where I mean) where we rejoin the main lanes, it's slightly downhill and goes for about ½ mile and since there are 2 HOV lanes merging into the 3 existing main lanes and thus going 5 lanes to 3 there is almost always a backup at the merge point, and you can see it coming from that ½ mile away and so that means in light traffic you have that time to go from 60 down to 10 MPH and with a slight downhill (on Fridays fuggedaboudit, it's backed up a few miles up the road but most Mon-Weds the coasting can be done), so every day this is when I coast and the 'up' arrow immediately goes on, and by the end of it you can see that the HV level appears to have risen a notch or two -- so I believe the answer is yes, the charging occurs during coasting, just not as much as when easing on the regen braking.

[DeeCee]

My battery gauge shows the up arrow (charging) while coasting downhill in EV mode. Also, with ACC engaged and going downhill, regen braking comes on as needed to keep from exceeding the selected cruise speed.

[B25Nut]

I have found that the Grade Assist button really helps when going downhill for a long period. While all the cars around me have their brake lights on, the GA keeps me at 68-70 mph. But I wonder each time if I should be using my regenerative braking instead. It really doesn't matter since the battery gets to 100% SOC long before I get to the bottom of the grade. Does anyone know if there is more charging going on when using Grade Assist?

[tombarker13ffh]

My 13 ffh will regen when coasting in EV or ICE running, which drags it to a stop faster. If I pop it in neutral, however, it will coast forever with hardly any resistance. Personally I'd rather have the regen at highway speeds than the coast miles, but i will neutral up to an intersection and go back to drive before applying the brakes as the brake regen wont work in neutral. Either way, no automatic coasts like a manual does. And im guessing no cvt coasts like a multispeed auto does either.