New Owner...So far, not impressed

[arrg]

We picked up our 2013 FFH tonight from Gary Crossley Ford in Kansas City, MO. Had a great no hassle buying experience through the X-plan. Our salesman, Tim, was awesome! He even entertained our 3 yr old son while we finished up the paperwork in the finance office. We got in the car and immediately got on the interstate to drive home to Omaha (180 miles all but 5 of which were interstate). With the cruise set at 75 mph on the interstate the new car returned a whopping 28.9 MPG on the trip home. Ouch! I hope this gets a lot better because that's just sad gas mileage. The 2001 Mazda Protege it is replacing did better than that on the same trip (31.3 mpg).

Edited March 20, 2013 by arrg

[Nick P]

You need to drive a hybrid a little differently than a regular car. At 75 mph on the highway the ICE has to run all the time to maintain the speed. It won't allow the battery to kick into EV mode. Read a lot of the posts on this forum and you'll get great info. I have my FFH for 2 weeks now and have yet to fill the tank. I've gone 425 miles so far on the original tank of fuel. According to the gauge I'm getting about 41 mpg so far. It goes up a little every day. I use the "Engage" screen on the left side of the dash to show me when I'm running in EV mode and when I'm using the ICE. I do notice the cold weather has a significant impact on mileage. Yesterday it got up to about 52 degrees in the afternoon here in the Philly area and I got 53 mpg on my 25 mile commute home from work.

 

Once you get used to driving a hybrid I think you'll really love the car. The other great hing you'll find is all the terrific FFH owners in this forum. I've learned a great deal from them so don't hesitate to ask questions and see what other owners are doing. Everyone is most helpful. One last thing, your mileage will get better after a break in period, so you may want to keep the speed down a little until you got about 2000 miles or so on the car. You'll get better mileage at a slower spwd as well.

 

Welcome to the forum!

[camelot]

Yup! What Nick said.

[djminfll]

I agree with the others as well. My first fill-up was only 36.8mpg, but I quickly learned the proper way to drive a hybrid. I posted last week regarding a one-day road trip I took, and on the way out, I kept it under 65 mph, and I got 49.6 mpg; the trip home, I was in a bit more of a hurry, I did 70-75 mpg the whole way and mileage dropped to 43.8.

I attached a few pictures from my commute to work this week - I have had my car for almost exactly one month (Feb 18th) and I already have over 2K on the odometer. My current fill-up is estimated at 48mpg, and my last 2 trips to work missed 50mpg by a sliver. You can check out the mileage at the bottom to see that they are all from consecutive days.

Be patient and learn how to best drive the Hybrid, and you will be really happy with it. We don't buy hybrids for the speed, we buy them fro the economy. To be honest, I was a real leadfoot in my last car (2007 Volvo S60), and I find myself much more relaxed behind the wheel than I ever used to be.

[elle]

You'll not get much out of the car at those speeds unless you're driving downhill. Hybrids do take a bit of work to get used to; it's not the same as a gas engine and can't be driven like one. It will return decent mileage but it does need some mindfulness on the part of the driver to get there. I hope you'll work with yours and soon become happy with it. They are not for everyone.

[arrg]

Took a road trip down to see my parents in AR last night. 400+ miles of interstate driving yielded 32.1 mpg with the cruise set at 72 mph. I did some experimenting since it was the middle of the night and there was hardly any traffic. These are by no means scientific or anything because of varying terrain, winds, etc but just trying it out. I did 20 miles at 60 mph and got 34.4 mpg. 20 miles at 65 got me 33.7 mpg. The last 13 miles on the two lane at 55 mph this morning returned 38.7 mpg. It was in the high 20's-low 30's for the entire trip, so hopefully those numbers would be better if it was warmer.

[Nick P]

Those numbers make sense. Spend more time at the lowerspeeds and you'll see the mileage climb. I assume you could see the EV mode kick in during the lower speeds. It's pretty simple really. The farther you can travel without using the ICE the higher mileage you'll get. After 2 weeks in mine the lifetime numbers show I'm using the electric motor for about 55% of the miles I drive and the ICE for about 45%. And as the weather slowly warms up I'm getting more and more trips above 50 mpg. The best advise I got was just relax, drive and have fun with it. It's a bit like playing a video game. And I'm coming off a Mercedes CLS 500 with over 300+ hp so I know how it changes your attitude toward driving. Good luck!

[acdii]

If you tend to drive it over 65, then you must get the car into its ZONE. Every car has one where just the right throttle position allows the car to cruise at a given speed and use very little gas. It took me a long time to find it in my 2010, but when I can hit it, right around 63 MPH, I can keep it in the 40's.

 

I discovered this on the 13 as well, but only when the pack is fully charged and I can stay out of EV, I can keep it in the 40's as well at 65 and above. Takes a very light touch and extreme patience. One thing you will get out of it is a stronger right leg too as you will be working the calf muscles.

[B25Nut]

You'll not get much out of the car at those speeds unless you're driving downhill. Hybrids do take a bit of work to get used to; it's not the same as a gas engine and can't be driven like one. It will return decent mileage but it does need some mindfulness on the part of the driver to get there. I hope you'll work with yours and soon become happy with it. They are not for everyone.

It's probably true that hybrids are not for everyone, but even if you don't change your driving habits, you will still get better overall average mileage with the FFH than probably 99% of the other non-hybrid vehicles on the road. Some have stated "but I got 33 mpg with my last vehicle", taking into account only their highway mileage. When you factor in the city mileage, hybrids have a significant advantage in lifetime MPG.

Edited March 26, 2013 by B25Nut

[FlbrkMike]

1500 miles so far in almost three weeks. About half freeway and half stop and go I seem to get between 40 and 42 now matter what. Very satisfied at this point as I think it will only get better.

[arrg]

Got back from my parents house last night. Trip average for the entire trip was 31.8 MPG. I got my first chance to drive in city conditions today and averaged 46.8 MPG so I know it will be fine running around town, but the highway mileage is still absurd in my opinion. I realize that running down the highway at 75 mph is not ideal for MPG, but to all the guys telling me to slow down, you do realize that the speed limits here in the middle of the country are 70-75 mph and even up to 80 in some places down in TX right? I'd be a rolling roadblock at 65 mph on the interstate. That's safe neither for me or other drivers on the highway.

Edited March 27, 2013 by arrg

[murphy]

Unfortunately that's the way it works.

The faster you go the more gas you will burn.

 

http://www.mpgforspeed.com/

[arrg]

Unfortunately that's the way it works.

The faster you go the more gas you will burn.

 

http://www.mpgforspeed.com/

Using this info, I'd be at 36 mpg on the hwy at 75 mph not 29-30 like I've been getting. Hence my comment about the bad hwy mileage.

[lolder]

The speed penalty is 6 mpg for every 10 mph. The EPA highway test speed averages much lower than 75 at 48 mph. That's a 16 mpg loss. The temperature penalty is 2 mpg for every 10º F below about 60-70º F. Headwinds cost 3 mpg per 10 mph wind. It works the other way around also. If you drive very slow in hot weather downwind, the car will manufacture gasoline. Just kidding. It's unfortunate that new model year cars are introduced in the Northern Hemisphere often just as the weather turns colder, windier and rainier, all mileage killers. The cars we used to drive burned about 3 to 4 gallons an hour. These burn a little over a gallon. The difference between 40 and 50 mpg is one quart per hour. Every effect is magnified at these low fuel flows. Headlight high beams cost 0.5 mpg ! Since it looks like Spring will never come for you folks up North, you're stuck.

[ace8726872]

Headlight high beams cost 0.5 mpg ! Since it looks like Spring will never come for you folks up North, you're stuck.

 

Officer, I was just trying to get my MPG up to what Ford advertised by driving without my headlights...

[tombarker13ffh]

I work at a truck stop. I know there are a million trucks out there that drive 65-68 mph in every state at all times. Dont believe for a minute anyone who says they cant drive 65 on the interstate.

[B25Nut]

If you can stay away from 75 mph and keep it at 70, you should see 37-38 mpg on a longer trip. I have one of the early builds that doesn't get stellar mileage and this is what I get. 65 mph max gives me 40+ mpg in warmer weather.

[dalesky]

Those numbers make sense. Spend more time at the lowerspeeds and you'll see the mileage climb. I assume you could see the EV mode kick in during the lower speeds. It's pretty simple really. The farther you can travel without using the ICE the higher mileage you'll get. After 2 weeks in mine the lifetime numbers show I'm using the electric motor for about 55% of the miles I drive and the ICE for about 45%. And as the weather slowly warms up I'm getting more and more trips above 50 mpg. The best advise I got was just relax, drive and have fun with it. It's a bit like playing a video game. And I'm coming off a Mercedes CLS 500 with over 300+ hp so I know how it changes your attitude toward driving. Good luck!

I will use my Mustang GT for spirited driving, which it certainly is capable of. I appreciate the "wisdom" here in the forum, and love the phrase about driving smarter not harder.

[dalesky]

Some really good advice here. Thanks!

I use my cruise control a lot now ( FFH still enroute) and will enjoy learning how to get the most economy from the Fusion. Most of my driving is well under 60, so I am really looking forward to great city mileage.

[tr7driver]

Learning how to drive my 2010 Milan Hybrid has also helped me develop some better driving habits that have carried over to driving my Mustang more efficiently. However, you can't can't beat the thrill of getting on the V8, I just do it a little less often and when I have the distance to coast more.

[acdii]

Learning how to drive my 2010 Milan Hybrid has also helped me develop some better driving habits that have carried over to driving my Mustang more efficiently. However, you can't can't beat the thrill of getting on the V8, I just do it a little less often and when I have the distance to coast more.

Same with the Flex Ecoboost. It is very hard NOT to push into the pedal and feel that thrill of G's when that engine kicks in and gets rolling. However, I have been able to do pretty good so far, keeping it hovering around 20 MPG(provided the dash is accurate). Driving a Hybrid does change the way you drive other cars.

[rico567]

The design of hybrids is not optimum at sustained high speed on the highway. From the introduction of the hybrid (the Prius), it's been obvious that the way hybrids beat the straight ICE is in recouping energy via the regenerative system during the constant stop-and-go travel in town. PHEVs will add to this with their ability to go modest distances on EV-only. There are of course techniques even then that one may use to maximize mileage, but in general the hybrid is not the best road trip performer. Since our new car (which we will buy this year) will see a whole lot of highway miles, it's likely to be the VW Passat TDI. The hybrid and the diesel are sort of inverse performers in the two driving scenarios discussed.

[acdii]

Oh, I wouldnt say that, my 2010 actually gets exceptional MPG on the highway @ 65 MPH. Anywhere from 42-50 MPG depending on temp and traffic. In the Interstate the instant MPG hovers right around 40. The Prius I had I got 65 MPG in it doing 65 from PA to IL. This new one though, new techniques will need to be learned to get good Interstate MPG.

 

Keep this in mind when I say my 2010, it is only rated at 36 MPG highway, yet I have been getting 6-14 MPG higher on the Interstate,

[aaronj1159]

I agree. On relatively flat highway stretches I can easily get 45-50 MPG in my '13 FFH going 65 MPH. I'm in a mountainous area so sometimes I see some varying results. I considered a TDI but I believed I could get the results with the FFH and do it without paying the added price for diesel fuel. Now maybe it's not AS good as a TDI on the highway, but I'm impressed personally.

[tr7driver]

Drove my '10 Merc Milan Hybrid from Los Angles to Illinois and from Illinois to Virgina Beach. I averaged 37 mpg on both trips. Not too shabby.