Why hybrids are so efficient

[Gregavi]

I agree with all who recommend turning off the leaves. I seldom have it in that mode. It's not the only thing distracting though. All of the technology is so fascinating that it will take time to get use to it. This from someone who's last car was a 1997 Camry. So most of this high tech stuff (as far as in my car) is new to me. With my '97, the only thing I had to deal with was DRIVING.

[BoomerGer]

Back when I first purchased my Honda Element, it was such an odd looking car that my salesman said, "Whenever you go grocery shopping, add 20 minutes to your time, because people will stop you and want to know about the Element." Sure enough, the first time we went to the store, I had to explain to 3 people while loading our groceries just what the car could do. Yep, 20 minutes was about right....for about a month and a half! NOW, being that the 'Max is a fairly new hybrid and a little odd in a cute kinda way, have any of you experienced any of the aformentioned reactions to your new 'Max after you bought it and then had to 'splain stuff to people who needed to know all about it when you stopped? Since it has been out for several years, I would assume that when I get mine (and there are a few others around that I see), the attraction to it will not be as magnetic as to when it was first new to the World, or at least the USA.

[md13ffhguy]

NOW, being that the 'Max is a fairly new hybrid and a little odd in a cute kinda way, have any of you experienced any of the aformentioned reactions to your new 'Max after you bought it and then had to 'splain stuff to people who needed to know all about it when you stopped? Since it has been out for several years, I would assume that when I get mine (and there are a few others around that I see), the attraction to it will not be as magnetic as to when it was first new to the World, or at least the USA.

Um, this is the Fusion forum...

[acdii]

Back when I first purchased my Honda Element, it was such an odd looking car that my salesman said, "Whenever you go grocery shopping, add 20 minutes to your time, because people will stop you and want to know about the Element." Sure enough, the first time we went to the store, I had to explain to 3 people while loading our groceries just what the car could do. Yep, 20 minutes was about right....for about a month and a half! NOW, being that the 'Max is a fairly new hybrid and a little odd in a cute kinda way, have any of you experienced any of the aformentioned reactions to your new 'Max after you bought it and then had to 'splain stuff to people who needed to know all about it when you stopped? Since it has been out for several years, I would assume that when I get mine (and there are a few others around that I see), the attraction to it will not be as magnetic as to when it was first new to the World, or at least the USA.

This happened a lot when I had the Flex.

[hybridbear]

It's happened to us in the Focus Electric. People see "Electric" on the door and ask about it. We notice a lot while stopped at red lights that ppl look at the door of the car and we see them mouthing "electric".

[Brandon Satterwhite]

 

Based on the above information we see that for peak efficiency we want to accelerate using the ICE, then back off once reaching cruising speed and use the electric motor to maintain our cruising speed.

 

So, you try to accelerate just enough for the ICE to kick in? In general I would think that the slower you accelerate (less power demanded) the better. You want to avoid "jack rabbit" starts, but according to what you're saying, you're also better off not accelerating too slowly?

[lolder]

Accelerate with the flow of traffic or the rate that the cruise control does in "Resume". Don't force EV.

[Hybrider]

 

So, you try to accelerate just enough for the ICE to kick in? In general I would think that the slower you accelerate (less power demanded) the better. You want to avoid "jack rabbit" starts, but according to what you're saying, you're also better off not accelerating too slowly?

 

If your HVB SOC is on the high side, say 5/8 to 7/8 of a full charge on the FFH gauge, then it can become almost impossible to get the ICE to kick on when starting up from a dead stop, no matter how hard you press the accelerator pedal on an FFH. But when the SOC is at a normal level on the HVB, one which is typically maintained by the computers on a level road, you can press the accelerator pedal close to what an average person would typically do from a dead stop, and the ICE will normally start up almost immediately. Then you can feather back off of the accelerator pedal and accelerate as slowly as you like, even slower than a typical granny if you like, and the ICE will continue to remain running until the HVB SOC reaches the normal point of charge level where the computers will turn the ICE back off.

[mwr]

There's another basic reason that hybrids are so efficient. They use a smaller and more economical gas engine that would provide very poor acceleration and drivability in a normal car, but when paired with an electric motor for more power when needed, that small economical gas engine provides the basis for increased gas mileage.