Highway Driving MPG Estimate??

[Bob Teddy]

Im looking at getting a 2013 ford fusion hybrid since I do roughly 20,000 miles a year. My only concern is most of my commute is all highway miles, so roughly 80%/20%. My drive each way is about 40 miles and 45 minutes all together, at 75 MPH what would my avg mpg be??? Hoping someone here also does about the same commute and will be able to give me some insight on if its a wise choice or not.

 

Thanks in Advance!!

[neod192]

This question has been asked before, so we can start over from scratch or have you read this post:

 

http://fordfusionhybridforum.com/topic/6375-90-hwy-driving-up-to-80-mph-to-buy-or-not-to-buy/

 

Going 75 MPG you'll most likely average high 30's, low 40's.

[Bob Teddy]

Read through that post and a lot of comments about driving 62-70, and speculation of what you would get at 80mph. Guess im looking for that person that actually drives about 75 mph that can verify their mileage. Hard to see high 30's when you would not be in electric mode at all. My dealer seems to think im better off buying a regular fusion. So hoping someone can prove it wrong for me.

[gadgetguy]

Read through that post and a lot of comments about driving 62-70, and speculation of what you would get at 80mph. Guess im looking for that person that actually drives about 75 mph that can verify their mileage. Hard to see high 30's when you would not be in electric mode at all. My dealer seems to think im better off buying a regular fusion. So hoping someone can prove it wrong for me.

 

I have a 35 mile mostly highway commute 65-75 mph and routinely get 39-42 mpg each trip, I got 41 this morning and temps were cold. I have had as high as 46.9 (almost hit that sweet spot lol) and as low as 36. I drove a 2010 Civic prior and my average mpg per tank for my normal commute was 30-32 mpg so I am doing better than one of the most fuel efficient gas cars on the road and the FFH is bigger, heavier and most definitely nicer and more comfortable.

 

My opinion is that you can't go wrong. As the car has broken in and temps are getting warmer it's getting better. Plus the car is just awesome!

 

I took a trip to Dalton GA a couple weeks back and on the return trip home with ECO Cruise set to 75 I had averaged 43 mpg on my return trip home. That included going back over the mountain.

 

Just do it lol..... :shift:

 

Oh and I forgot to mention that my Civic had 83000 miles in less than 3 years and my FFH had almost 4000 miles on it the first month. I took delivery 4-8-2013 so I average 30 to 35k a year easy.

Edited May 13, 2013 by gadgetguy

[tombarker13ffh]

You can buy a 2.5 Fusion for $21,000 and average 20 mpg driving 80% highway at 75mph or you can buy a Hybrid Fusion for $27,000 and average 40mpg driving 80% on highway at 75mph. If fuel economy is your goal, you will not be better off in a regular Fusion.

[gadgetguy]

You can buy a 2.5 Fusion for $21,000 and average 20 mpg driving 80% highway at 75mph or you can buy a Hybrid Fusion for $27,000 and average 40mpg driving 80% on highway at 75mph. If fuel economy is your goal, you will not be better off in a regular Fusion.

 

 

All things Hybrid hahaha :hysterical: :shift: :yahoo: !!!

[aaronj1159]

I have made 1 trip where a large portion was above 70 MPH. That segment of the trip came out to about 40 MPG. Mind you this was on hilly terrain. That by itself would be worth it to me.

 

However I should note that I used to drive 72 on the 65 MPH highway on my commute to and from work (80% highway as well) but since getting my FFH I've reigned it in a bit and set the eco-cruise to 68. I just relax a tiny bit more on my drive, I'm not the slowest car out there still, and I can get 45 MPG fairly consistently in decent weather conditions. I wasn't planning on adjusting my driving habits very much (and really I haven't, 4 MPH isn't really noticeable on the commute times) but it's easy just to make those little tweaks in this car.

[acdii]

Figure on getting 38 MPG going that speed, then figure a Non Hybrid getting, IF lucky, 32. If you go with a 2.0 EB, figure on 28, that appears to be what people are getting on the highway. So in a nutshell, you would NOT be better off in a non hybrid, unless you want giddy up go, but then you have to pay to play. The premium of the SE and Ti is not that great when you factor in what you can get in the car vs the non Hybrid models. The difference is less than $1500 in some cases, and you still are talking about a very refined car that is hard to beat by any other car company, especially Toyota. If you want the equivalent in Toyota, the closest is the Avalon, and now you are talking $44K.

[hybridbear]

My dealer seems to think im better off buying a regular fusion. So hoping someone can prove it wrong for me.

As we have discussed before, you will always get better gas mileage in the hybrid, even at highway speeds, when compared with a gas only Fusion. What you need to calculate is the payback period. The comments above provide you with some good feedback regarding real world MPG results to use in your calculations. City mileage should be close to 47 MPG as a year round average with highway mileage probably being around 38-40 MPG at your speeds. Then calculate payback versus a gas Fusion, or any other gas car, based on real world results for that car. Turbocharged engines tend to also fall short of their EPA estimates, so bear that in mind when looking at any turbocharged cars.

 

Also, if comparing across makes & models be cognizant of feature differences. True Delta (truedelta.com) has a calculator to account for feature differences when comparing the price of different cars

[Bob Teddy]

As we have discussed before, you will always get better gas mileage in the hybrid, even at highway speeds, when compared with a gas only Fusion. What you need to calculate is the payback period. The comments above provide you with some good feedback regarding real world MPG results to use in your calculations. City mileage should be close to 47 MPG as a year round average with highway mileage probably being around 38-40 MPG at your speeds. Then calculate payback versus a gas Fusion, or any other gas car, based on real world results for that car. Turbocharged engines tend to also fall short of their EPA estimates, so bear that in mind when looking at any turbocharged cars.

 

Also, if comparing across makes & models be cognizant of feature differences. True Delta (truedelta.com) has a calculator to account for feature differences when comparing the price of different cars

For me comparing the sticker price from the gas to hybrid fusion is only about $2,000 from the titanium gas vs hybrid titanium.(which seems so odd, but whatever ill take it. So looks like a hybrid it is, just think ill be waiting for the 2014 model titanium for the cooled seats.

[Charrua]

Here are some "real world" highway driving numbers.

 

I just drove 3000 miles from Michigan to Colorado and back. Temperatures were mostly 70-90. Eco cruise was almost always (traffic permitting - no adaptive option) set at 70 MPH. About 300 miles were mountain driving, the rest quite flat.

 

Overall MPG: 41

[gadgetguy]

That's great!

[corncobs]

Here are some "real world" highway driving numbers.

 

I just drove 3000 miles from Michigan to Colorado and back. Temperatures were mostly 70-90. Eco cruise was almost always (traffic permitting - no adaptive option) set at 70 MPH. About 300 miles were mountain driving, the rest quite flat.

 

Overall MPG: 41

That's awesome that's about 5 MPG better than we did on our trip! But we also had nasty head wind that might have played a role.