Remote start advantage

[rjent]

There is a thread about can you remote start your car and not effect your mileage.

 

My theory is that the ICE uses very little gas when maintaining the battery and HVAC. I know while it is doing that it can and will charge the battery to full.

 

I had been getting about 30 MPG on my 2 mile commute which I do three times a day. (don't ask LOL).

 

I did an experiment this morning. I went out and manually started the car about 15 min. before departure (Pilot talk :)). When I got in it to leave, it had a maxed out battery. Did my "commute" and I got 67 MPG!

 

I want to do it a few more times, but I think remote start (with a runtime setting as long as possible) for a short trip around town will give a very positive result.

 

I hope more of us try this and report back, maybe to this thread, so we can get a baseline on the data.

 

Anyway, worked for me so far! :wub:

 

 

[acdii]

Now do this for an entire tank and see what your actual MPG is. Trust, but Verify!

[rjent]

Now do this for an entire tank and see what your actual MPG is. Trust, but Verify!

That is what I am asking for .... :victory:

[neod192]

It's starting to warm up here, so only used remote start once or twice. I sold my old car, so I now park the Fusion in the garage :)

[hybridbear]

There is a thread about can you remote start your car and not effect your mileage.

 

My theory is that the ICE uses very little gas when maintaining the battery and HVAC. I know while it is doing that it can and will charge the battery to full.

 

I had been getting about 30 MPG on my 2 mile commute which I do three times a day. (don't ask LOL).

 

I did an experiment this morning. I went out and manually started the car about 15 min. before departure (Pilot talk :)). When I got in it to leave, it had a maxed out battery. Did my "commute" and I got 67 MPG!

 

I want to do it a few more times, but I think remote start (with a runtime setting as long as possible) for a short trip around town will give a very positive result.

 

I hope more of us try this and report back, maybe to this thread, so we can get a baseline on the data.

 

Anyway, worked for me so far! :wub:

 

 

 

So your theory is that idling the ICE to charge the battery before beginning to drive will be more efficient that running the ICE while driving?

[rjent]

 

So your theory is that idling the ICE to charge the battery before beginning to drive will be more efficient that running the ICE while driving?

Absolutely! I kept hearing how the ICE needs to run for a couple of miles before it gets warm enough to let the HVB take over. I also read that the ICE only burns about .08 Gallons per hour in the running/parked state. As a programmer and general digital logic PITA type of person :), I thought that well, hell, maybe burn a couple of hundredths ( :worship: ) of a gallon getting the ICE warmed up AND charge the battery as well. I also thought that I have to manual start it because that will include the idle time in the trip summary. If I prove that remote starting, even in summer, will get the short hop mileage up, then just remote start it knowing you burned a thimble of gas to save a gallon .....

 

This morning may have proved my theory right. I want to do it through the week and I will report back here. I hope others try this as well. Remember, I am only trying to up the efficiency on short hops. I am not sure it is necessary on longer runs....

Edited April 29, 2013 by rjent

[acdii]

Your theory does make sense. When you consider the small load placed on ICE to recharge the battery and not also to propel the car during the warm up period, it does make sense. The sooner you can come off ICE while driving, the better it will be.

[aaronj1159]

I'm intrigued. Perhaps another reason to have my dealership install remote start sooner rather than later (was the one option my car didn't have that I wanted).

[rjent]

I'm intrigued. Perhaps another reason to have my dealership install remote start sooner rather than later (was the one option my car didn't have that I wanted).

Do us all a favor, and just go out and start your car ten or fifteen min. before you go on a short hop (2 miles or less). Or, just go drive it on a 2 mile loop and then get home shut it off and see what your summary says and post it here. I did it again at 10:30 this morning and got 46. So so far, that is 67 and 46. I truly believe this will work.

 

Now I also tried it a few mins. ago, and just drained the battery because the engine was already warm .... LOL So cold engine only .... :)

[terryb]

I was gonna say, instead of a remote start to an unknown chargestate to top off, park and run it to charge at the end of the day while you watch the SOC. But since you can't force the car to charge a battery when the motor is warmed up, that won't work. Trying to make the computers perform to your ideas instead of the factories software is pretty futile.

[Nmadole]

This is my 2cents on the topic...

 

I have 7000 miles on my Hybrid and am at a lifetime average of 30 MPG

 

I tried numerous experiments this winter with warming up my car... This is the result

These trips were the same route, same time of day, and similar temps**

 

Trip #1 Warmed up the car for 10 minutes then drove to work

Outside temp 35 Degrees

Second trip previous day

Outside temp 35 Degrees

Car Warmed up for ten minutes, turned off, turned on and the driven to work

 

 

So idling dropped my MPG by 24.9 mpg

By my calculations my car used .119 gallons of gas to warm up for 10 minutes...

I repeated this process about 5 times and got the same results....

My car burns way to much gas "Warming Up" ... Warming up my car is not efficent and ford does not recommend it

[rjent]

I was gonna say, instead of a remote start to an unknown chargestate to top off, park and run it to charge at the end of the day while you watch the SOC. But since you can't force the car to charge a battery when the motor is warmed up, that won't work. Trying to make the computers perform to your ideas instead of the factories software is pretty futile.

What I am trying to do, and my theory is: If the engine is warm then it will cycle more and use less gas. If it is not warm and we start off with a cold engine, the engine is forced to run whether it needs to or not. Hence if the engine is pre-warmed with the little bit of gas used in 10 mins, it should get better mileage because it is doing the normal hybrid thing ....

 

 

This is my 2cents on the topic...

 

I have 7000 miles on my Hybrid and am at a lifetime average of 30 MPG

 

I tried numerous experiments this winter with warming up my car... This is the result

These trips were the same route, same time of day, and similar temps**

 

Trip #1 Warmed up the car for 10 minutes then drove to work

Outside temp 35 Degrees

Second trip previous day

Outside temp 35 Degrees

Car Warmed up for ten minutes, turned off, turned on and the driven to work

 

 

So idling dropped my MPG by 24.9 mpg

By my calculations my car used .119 gallons of gas to warm up for 10 minutes...

I repeated this process about 5 times and got the same results....

My car burns way to much gas "Warming Up" ... Warming up my car is not efficent and ford does not recommend it

 

That is an awful lot of gas for 10 mins of run. I am not doubting you, just saying that that seems very high. I also think the outside temps were influencing your numbers.

 

I am not saying you are wrong, but I think I will pursue this line of thinking until it shows that it doesn't work. So far, I think it does, but I don't have enough repeatable sessions yet .... :)

 

Edit: Also I am not aiming at the 5 to 10 mile trips, I am looking at the 2 to 3 mile trips. 3 miles is not enough to get the engine up to temperature.

Edited April 29, 2013 by rjent

[Nmadole]

The outside temp defiantly makes a difference, I think warming up my car in 60-70 degree weather would result in a lot less gas loss but my problem is terrible gas mileage in cold weather... So warming my car up in freezing weather is counter productive

[rjent]

Well, I am sorry to say that it didn't work this morning. The problem was that it didn't charge the battery and the engine was really not up to temp. The temp was just at the bottom line of the temp gauge. What's up with that?

 

I manual started it and made sure the engine started, then went back in the house for a cup of jo. Came out to go and the battery was less than half. It was still running (on, but engine not running), but no charge. That killed it.

 

Tomorrow, I am going to turn off HVAC completely to see if it will charge the battery. What I don't understand is why yesterday the battery was charged to over 80 percent. Oh well, this is how you learn. It may not work, but I am going to try to dial this in.

[neod192]

The problem was that it didn't charge the battery and the engine was really not up to temp. The temp was just at the bottom line of the temp gauge. What's up with that?

If the engine temp reaches the bottom white line, the car can go in EV mode. That's all it needs to go in EV, it doesn't have to warm up all the way to the middle to go in EV. So after the engine warmed up a little, it switched to EV and started draining the battery.

[rjent]

If the engine temp reaches the bottom white line, the car can go in EV mode. That's all it needs to go in EV, it doesn't have to warm up all the way to the middle to go in EV. So after the engine warmed up a little, it switched to EV and started draining the battery.

Great info! Thanks neod! It might mean that in summer you don't run it very long at all and in winter a little longer.

 

I will make adjustments! :)

 

BTW, I am still thrilled with what I am getting. It is 2 to 3 times what my previous car was doing. I am just trying maximize the experience :)

[gadgetguy]

There is a thread about can you remote start your car and not effect your mileage.

 

My theory is that the ICE uses very little gas when maintaining the battery and HVAC. I know while it is doing that it can and will charge the battery to full.

 

I had been getting about 30 MPG on my 2 mile commute which I do three times a day. (don't ask LOL).

 

I did an experiment this morning. I went out and manually started the car about 15 min. before departure (Pilot talk :)). When I got in it to leave, it had a maxed out battery. Did my "commute" and I got 67 MPG!

 

I want to do it a few more times, but I think remote start (with a runtime setting as long as possible) for a short trip around town will give a very positive result.

 

I hope more of us try this and report back, maybe to this thread, so we can get a baseline on the data.

 

Anyway, worked for me so far! :wub:

 

 

 

I have read through this thread and I agree with your assessment 100%. The other morning I did not remote start and got terrible MPG early in the drive. Every morning I have done remote start I can drive in EV mode for a very good distance before ICE has to kick back in and mileage is much better. I think remote start is definitely a positive and not a negative. Sometimes more than others but overall it's better on MPG..

[rjent]

 

I have read through this thread and I agree with your assessment 100%. The other morning I did not remote start and got terrible MPG early in the drive. Every morning I have done remote start I can drive in EV mode for a very good distance before ICE has to kick back in and mileage is much better. I think remote start is definitely a positive and not a negative. Sometimes more than others but overall it's better on MPG..

Outstanding! What are your settings for the autostart setup? I have tried various settings with mixed results ......

[hybridbear]

The engine doesn't need long to warm up enough. You only want to start the car enough in advance that the engine temp will get up to about 50C. The coolant temp needs to reach the bottom line on temp gauge for the HVAC system to provide heat with the ICE off. If you look when first starting out the temp symbol is blue when the ICE will not shut off due to temp and then turns white once it warms up enough. You only need to idle the car until the temp symbol turns white. Once it turns white the car will automatically shut off the ICE and drain the battery. If you have the HVAC blowing heat the ICE will run until the temp gauge reaches the bottom line before shutting off. The only way to manually make the ICE run is to hold the brake and then step on the accelerator at the same time.

 

Since the ICE doesn't come on automatically as soon as you start the car you would need to start it and then step on the brake and accel at same time to force the ICE on to charge. Then as soon as it shuts off because the temp has reached the bottom line you could take off.

[rjent]

The engine doesn't need long to warm up enough. You only want to start the car enough in advance that the engine temp will get up to about 50C. The coolant temp needs to reach the bottom line on temp gauge for the HVAC system to provide heat with the ICE off. If you look when first starting out the temp symbol is blue when the ICE will not shut off due to temp and then turns white once it warms up enough. You only need to idle the car until the temp symbol turns white. Once it turns white the car will automatically shut off the ICE and drain the battery. If you have the HVAC blowing heat the ICE will run until the temp gauge reaches the bottom line before shutting off. The only way to manually make the ICE run is to hold the brake and then step on the accelerator at the same time.

 

Since the ICE doesn't come on automatically as soon as you start the car you would need to start it and then step on the brake and accel at same time to force the ICE on to charge. Then as soon as it shuts off because the temp has reached the bottom line you could take off.

This is right on! Expept that you CAN run the engine in park. In my experiments this week, I have found that with the car "on" and in park, you simply press the accellerator down (quite a ways) and the engine will start and run at about 1000 RPM. Keep you foot down and it will continue to run. I got another 40 plus trip this morning by simply remote starting. I have the remote start time set to 5 min. It probably doesn't need to run even that long .... :)

[gadgetguy]

Outstanding! What are your settings for the autostart setup? I have tried various settings with mixed results ......

 

I actually still have it set to 15 from when it was colder weather so I will probably be lowering it to the 5 min mark.It definitely makes a big difference!

[dalesky]

So your theory is that idling the ICE to charge the battery before beginning to drive will be more efficient that running the ICE while driving?

So your theory is that idling the ICE to charge the battery before beginning to drive will be more efficient that running the ICE while driving?

So your theory is that idling the ICE to charge the battery before beginning to drive will be more efficient that running the ICE while driving?

Do what I did Hybridbear- move from Mpls to S. Carolina! No cold weather starts, no need for a heater (maybe 2 or 3 times a Winter), just lots of air conditioning. Also, don't need rubber mats to protect the carpet. Sound good! I can send you some links to good housing!

[hybridbear]

Haha all right! I'm in ;)

 

Do what I did Hybridbear- move from Mpls to S. Carolina! No cold weather starts, no need for a heater (maybe 2 or 3 times a Winter), just lots of air conditioning. Also, don't need rubber mats to protect the carpet. Sound good! I can send you some links to good housing!

[acdii]

If only I could keep my job! LOL I would move too!

[corncobs]

My company would probably be very happy if I would decide to move to our HQ in Atlanta; but it's way too warm and humid in the summer time.

 

Sorry we are getting of track; it would definitely be nice if Ford would offer the EBH in northern IL as well.