Mileage and the short commute

[elle]

Geez, I almost hate to start a topic in here at this point, but I wanted to draw attention to something that could have an impact on your mileage.

 

I have a short commute to work-- 8 miles one way. My mileage to and from work has never been stellar and, though I don't take many long trips, on the few occasions that I have, I've done much better.

 

Particularly early, when the engine is cold, the car struggles to get into EV mode. I believe those first few miles are having a strong impact on my commute mileage and I also believe that, if I had a longer commute, I'd be seeing much better average numbers every day.

 

This morning I did an experiment. There is a long light not far after I get out of my neighborhood; by the time I hit this light my engine has just had a chance to get warm. Today I turned the ignition off and then back on at this light, to start the trip info there, with a warm engine. When I got to work my mileage for that leg of the trip was 53mpg.

 

I've been one of those consistently getting lower than average mileage in the car, but I don't believe that, in my case, there is anything wrong with this car. I also had a hard time getting close to the average in my Prius; I'm pretty sure that you're going to struggle in any hybrid to hit numbers if you have a short commute.

 

I'm eager to see what the numbers for my morning drive will look like once springtime arrives.

[acdii]

Agreed, short trips with a cold engine in these always returns low numbers. Same held true in all 3 of my previous hybrids.

[B25Nut]

Elle,

 

We have very similar commutes and I experience the same thing. If I were to special order a FFH now, I would try to insist that it have an engine block heater. I think they would be worth the extra cost in states that don't automatically get them.

[tombarker13ffh]

Im seeing the same thing with my 12 mile commute. If the engine is warm i get 50s, if cold its 37-42.

[acdii]

Whats odd is my 2010 has one, the Flex had one, the F150 had one, but the new Fusion does not.

[tombarker13ffh]

Block heater parts are $160, according to my dealer. I think at this point im just going to plan on putting one in by next winter. Calendar is showing lots of 50° days in the near future :)

[Fynack]

Elle,

 

We have very similar commutes and I experience the same thing. If I were to special order a FFH now, I would try to insist that it have an engine block heater. I think they would be worth the extra cost in states that don't automatically get them.

 

Now know that the cold destroys MPGs on the ffh more than any other car why should you have to pay for a block heater? The car doesnt have a "thermos" for the coolant which would probably be cheaper then a block heater and you wouldnt lose money heating the block, why couldnt ford just add that device since they knew cold weather was going to be this bad. Its not like it would have added that much additional weight, this car doesnt even have a spare tire.

[Da0ne]

Geez, I almost hate to start a topic in here at this point, but I wanted to draw attention to something that could have an impact on your mileage.

 

I have a short commute to work-- 8 miles one way. My mileage to and from work has never been stellar and, though I don't take many long trips, on the few occasions that I have, I've done much better.

 

Particularly early, when the engine is cold, the car struggles to get into EV mode. I believe those first few miles are having a strong impact on my commute mileage and I also believe that, if I had a longer commute, I'd be seeing much better average numbers every day.

 

This morning I did an experiment. There is a long light not far after I get out of my neighborhood; by the time I hit this light my engine has just had a chance to get warm. Today I turned the ignition off and then back on at this light, to start the trip info there, with a warm engine. When I got to work my mileage for that leg of the trip was 53mpg.

 

I've been one of those consistently getting lower than average mileage in the car, but I don't believe that, in my case, there is anything wrong with this car. I also had a hard time getting close to the average in my Prius; I'm pretty sure that you're going to struggle in any hybrid to hit numbers if you have a short commute.

 

I'm eager to see what the numbers for my morning drive will look like once springtime arrives.

 

 

yesterday was my worse mpg ever i drove 3 miles on a cold engine and i saw 28 mpg

 

Im seeing the same thing with my 12 mile commute. If the engine is warm i get 50s, if cold its 37-42.

 

same here cant wait for warmer weather

[Wildcat2xx5]

Fynack, what do you mean by lose money heating the block? Not entirely sure how an engine block heater works, is why i ask.

[tombarker13ffh]

You couldnt make the whole system save heat, it would overheat. The block heater for the FFH runs three hours to reach max system heat so i bet your power bill would show it if you ran it everyday, but an extra 10 mpg is probably preferred to more frequent fillups amd may be cheaper too..

[Fynack]

Fynack, what do you mean by lose money heating the block? Not entirely sure how an engine block heater works, is why i ask.

You have to plug it into a household outlet and depending on your electricity cost , itll cost you around $40 a month to keep that block heater on for 12hrs a day.

[B25Nut]

I don't think that it's been determined yet if the increased MPG would be offset by the increased electricity cost. I feel the almost immediate warm air from the climate system makes the EBH worthwhile, even if in the big picture the cost is not offset by increased MPG.

[Fynack]

You have to plug it into a household outlet and depending on your electricity cost , itll cost you around $40 a month to keep that block heater on for 12hrs a day.

This is assuming its 650watts, which is the average.

[B25Nut]

Having the EBH on a timer that would have it on 2-3 hours before your normal departure in the morning would cut its cost. Timers only cost about $15.

[tombarker13ffh]

Owners manual says if you run Ford ebh for more than 3 hours, its a waste because it will not got any warmer after that. I would have it on a timer at home set for 2-3 hours in the morning before i leave and i would probably plug it in at work, so they can pay the bill.

[tombarker13ffh]

Or get a long extension cord and plug it into an outlet on your neighbors house lol.

[GrySql]

I have a short commute to work-- 8 miles one way. My mileage to and from work has never been stellar and, though I don't take many long trips, on the few occasions that I have, I've done much better.

 

Particularly early, when the engine is cold, the car struggles to get into EV mode.

I'm eager to see what the numbers for my morning drive will look like once springtime arrives.

Today, I did a 3.5 mile trip on surface streets 45mph max, from a cold start, 58F ambient, got 44+mpg.

The return trip, same roads, engine warmer now saw 45+mpg.

 

The definition of 'cold' is quite a bit different around the country.

If I lived in a snow belt area I'd move I'd definitely have an EBH on any car.

Around here, if we have anything lower than 27F all the palm and avocado trees get freezer burn.....

[acdii]

boo...hiss....grrrr.

 

 

:)

 

Nothing wrong with the cold, as long as the heaters work! Going to get a few inches tomorrow, should be fun.

[elle]

Yes, temps here in the morning tend to be in the 35*-45* range these past few weeks. It will likely hit 70* this afternoon, but it will probably still go down to 45* tonight. Even where it's relatively warm overall you still can get hit with cold desert type night temps.

[hybridbear]

We have very similar commutes and I experience the same thing. If I were to special order a FFH now, I would try to insist that it have an engine block heater. I think they would be worth the extra cost in states that don't automatically get them.

 

I don't think Ford would charge you for one. Being in MN the car automatically came with one, we didn't have to request it, and there was no charge. I can't imagine that Ford would charge if someone in a southern state wanted one when they don't charge the northern states for the EBH.

 

Whats odd is my 2010 has one, the Flex had one, the F150 had one, but the new Fusion does not.

 

I'm surprised that you didn't get one automatically being in Illinois.

 

Today, I did a 3.5 mile trip on surface streets 45mph max, from a cold start, 58F ambient, got 44+mpg.

The return trip, same roads, engine warmer now saw 45+mpg.

 

The definition of 'cold' is quite a bit different around the country.

If I lived in a snow belt area I'd move I'd definitely have an EBH on any car.

Around here, if we have anything lower than 27F all the palm and avocado trees get freezer burn.....

 

Hahaha I love living in the snow belt though! I could never take the heat in California.

 

Short trips are awful for gas mileage. I've noticed that even on 10-15 mile trips the engine doesn't reach normal operating temp. And that's 10-15 miles on the freeway. Driving in the city it never warms up. Even on days that we've had around 40 degrees here the engine never warms up driving in the city. On the cold days it seems to take about 20 miles on freeway driving to get the ICE up to full operating temp, but then whenever it goes into EV mode the temp drops really fast. Since our trips are almost all under 10 miles, most are under 5 miles, our gas mileage is lower. I hope that in the summer it will increase a lot because not only will the engine heat up more quickly, it also won't cool off as fast when parked.

[neod192]

I can't imagine that Ford would charge if someone in a southern state wanted one when they don't charge the northern states for the EBH.

I asked my dealer this and they said that because I live in MI the engine block heater is not standard and they can't even have it added. Price wasn't even in discussion, I couldn't get it. Period.

[tombarker13ffh]

Thats ridiculous. You can order the two EBH parts straight from Ford for $160. Dealer here told me an hour labor to put it in.

[expresspotato]

Thats ridiculous. You can order the two EBH parts straight from Ford for $160. Dealer here told me an hour labor to put it in.

Oooo neat! Any part numbers :)? One is probably to replace the left fog and the other for the actual engine block heater cord / element. I looked on FordParts.com and couldn't find it when looking for "heater" "block" etc..

Edited March 13, 2013 by expresspotato

[jeff_h]

Oooo neat! Any part numbers :)? One is probably to replace the left fog and the other for the actual engine block heater cord / element. I looked on FordParts.com and couldn't find it when looking for "heater" "block" etc..

 

I went to fordparts.com and put in the VIN for my 2013 FFH and searched on "block heater" - here are the two results that came up, whether they are correct or not, I have no idea but that's what the search provided.

 

[expresspotato]

I think you need this part as well:

 

http://www.fordparts.com/Commerce/PartDetail.aspx?n=XXbjA1B1gfhp8OXwLp7ORg%3d%3d&id=230408010&m=2&search=true&year=2013&make=Ford&model=Fusion