MPG Observation - 1 week in...

[revelated]

This is a Hybrid Titanium. And yes, I have figured out 97% of the toys in the car.

 

After doing so i made sure to reset the meters to see what the real MPG of the car was. And what I found is strange. I'm almost thinking the gauge itself is wrong somehow, or the battery is not an efficient one.

 

I got up to 30 MPG easy. E-Z. A caveman could do it. So right there it beat the Altima handily. Our freeways don't exceed 60MPH unless you go towards Canada, so we can stay mostly electric almost all the time. So, I did. But that's where things got weird.

 

Over the past three days, I have been hovering between 39 and 39.9 MPG. What I noticed is that as long as I drive the car like a CVT should be driven it's fine. The first day I was trying to drive all EV, which is what you DON'T want to do. Coasting (not cruise control) is the #1 ticket to the MPG creeping up. Electric will do it too but if your battery runs low, the gas engine will kick in to charge it and the MPG won't budge.

 

It took a LOT to get up to 39.9. I'm talking, totally unfun driving style. And yet, I managed to coast, EV and EV+ for over 2 miles, and it didn't budge from 39.9. The only things going on: my hotspot was plugged into the lighter and the regular fan non-A/C was on. Screen of course was on, dash of course, but no other optional energy drains. And yet the meter never went to 40 MPG even after 2 miles of fully efficient driving. I'm currently 50% EV miles.

 

I also noticed the battery drains way too easily. If I drive EV for 20 minutes the thing is empty. That doesn't seem right.

 

This seems highly improbable. I'm wondering if the readout itself is just wrong - that the car is really getting better mileage than it's displaying. Either way, while the car doesn't get horrible mileage and nothing to complain about, I do think that a reasonable driver would get nowhere near the quoted MPG.

[neod192]

20 minutes of EV driving? I'd kill to get that. Mine's more like 2 minutes. The MPG readout is pretty accurate, maybe 2 MPG over the actual #. You'll see when you first fill up. The MPGs will get better as the car breaks in - it has a 6k mile break-in period.

[acdii]

6K, 10K 15K somewhere in there according to Ford! :) At least that is what Sandy from Ford kept saying, the number kept growing.

[Kwilli]

My first week I was not exactly thrilled with the numbers, mid 30s, and first fill-up was 36.7. I'm now at 1500 miles (one month later) and lifetime average is 41.5, on my last fill-up I got 42.3. It keeps going up. I'm consistently getting trips in upper 40s and 50s. Yesterday to work (14 miles I got 46.3 and on the way home got 59.6). It keeps getting better!!! Oh, and I'm not really working hard to get this. I just drive the car.

[hybridbear]

This is a Hybrid Titanium. And yes, I have figured out 97% of the toys in the car.

 

After doing so i made sure to reset the meters to see what the real MPG of the car was. And what I found is strange. I'm almost thinking the gauge itself is wrong somehow, or the battery is not an efficient one.

 

I got up to 30 MPG easy. E-Z. A caveman could do it. So right there it beat the Altima handily. Our freeways don't exceed 60MPH unless you go towards Canada, so we can stay mostly electric almost all the time. So, I did. But that's where things got weird.

 

Over the past three days, I have been hovering between 39 and 39.9 MPG. What I noticed is that as long as I drive the car like a CVT should be driven it's fine. The first day I was trying to drive all EV, which is what you DON'T want to do. Coasting (not cruise control) is the #1 ticket to the MPG creeping up. Electric will do it too but if your battery runs low, the gas engine will kick in to charge it and the MPG won't budge.

 

It took a LOT to get up to 39.9. I'm talking, totally unfun driving style. And yet, I managed to coast, EV and EV+ for over 2 miles, and it didn't budge from 39.9. The only things going on: my hotspot was plugged into the lighter and the regular fan non-A/C was on. Screen of course was on, dash of course, but no other optional energy drains. And yet the meter never went to 40 MPG even after 2 miles of fully efficient driving. I'm currently 50% EV miles.

 

I also noticed the battery drains way too easily. If I drive EV for 20 minutes the thing is empty. That doesn't seem right.

 

This seems highly improbable. I'm wondering if the readout itself is just wrong - that the car is really getting better mileage than it's displaying. Either way, while the car doesn't get horrible mileage and nothing to complain about, I do think that a reasonable driver would get nowhere near the quoted MPG.

How many miles do you have on the odometer and on the ICE? We found that until the ICE had at least 1500 miles on it our MPGs were lower. Our first tank was low 30s whereas later on we got over 40 MPG in very similar weather & driving conditions. Some of that is from us learning the car but the majority is break-in. I believe at one point Ford said 5 MPG for break-in Edited May 19, 2013 by hybridbear

[Riggo]

If that break in theory is true I'm going to be looking at 50 mpg trips in the future. I hope you are right!!

[kuzzi]

Nature of the beast I guess. When I did a rebuild on my bike, first tank of gas I got 30 miles out of it (2 gallons/15 mpg). It crept up slowly to my 50 mpg now at 1000 miles. The new engine is wasting a lot of energy just breaking in instead of charging the battery. In my Fuzzi, I'm currently sitting at 32 mpg with half an original tank left from when I got it. Heck of a lot better than my Silverado and I'm still learning how to drive the hybrid properly.

[revelated]

break in that long, huh...ok. I'll give it time.

 

But it still does not explain how I can go 2 miles in full EV mode and yet the meter not go above 39.9. That's not break-in related. That's just strange.

[fusionTX]

break in that long, huh...ok. I'll give it time.

 

But it still does not explain how I can go 2 miles in full EV mode and yet the meter not go above 39.9. That's not break-in related. That's just strange.

What meter are you referring to?

You can reset your Avg MPG after you start the car, but before driving it, and you should see the average change as your trip progresses.

You can reset the average MPG on any of the empower, engage, inform screens, by holding the OK button until the reest is complete

[terryb]

I'm right at 5k miles and this morning, before the sun got things yielding a mirage, I got two 6mi legs with 48mpg. After the A/C came on I got 28mpg in similar driving. I'm beginning to feel sad about the change from the '10. Love the car and toys, my drive train is discouraging me.

[revelated]

What meter are you referring to?

 

I'm referring to the Average MPG that is given as part of either of the trip meters. Or the DTE. Or any of the other various meters that show an average MPG. There's like 3-4 of them and they all showed the same.

 

I don't care about the "right now MPG". That's a useless metric. I care about average.

 

What I'm saying is, it doesn't add up to have your average MPG read 39.9, drive 2 miles in EV mode with NO super draining things on, yet the gauge not move even .1 in the positive. That doesn't track.

[fusionTX]

There are 3 places you can track mileage averages.

 

The lifetime average.

The average MPG

The trip computer Average. There a two trip computers.

 

I'm not sure which you are complaining about, but you should be able to reset any or all of them at any time, and then see how they change with your trips.

[B25Nut]

break in that long, huh...ok. I'll give it time.

 

But it still does not explain how I can go 2 miles in full EV mode and yet the meter not go above 39.9. That's not break-in related. That's just strange.

 

How many total miles do you have on your FFH? If you have 1000 miles on it and you're averaging 40 mpg, an additional 2 miles using no gas will make less than one tenth of a MPG difference in the average MPG. I also think you mean the battery drains in two miles, which is normal. You would have to have the Energi to get 20 miles from a battery charge.

[revelated]

 

How many total miles do you have on your FFH? If you have 1000 miles on it and you're averaging 40 mpg, an additional 2 miles using no gas will make less than one tenth of a MPG difference in the average MPG. I also think you mean the battery drains in two miles, which is normal. You would have to have the Energi to get 20 miles from a battery charge.

 

No, I said I drove for 20 minutes. Not miles. Minutes. A lot of that was coast time (which recharges), some was just pulsing (which minimizes drain between charge and drain), but the meter never left EV that whole time. Point is, the battery doesn't last long, but MPG should go up since distance traveled increased with no gas impact. That's simple math. If you set the counter at zero and coast down a hill, it will skyrocket until you apply enough gas at the straightaway.

 

In any event I think I see the problem.

 

So the gauge read 39.9 for the longest time. However the total estimated DTE was 580 and I got quite close to that before filling up. If the tank is 13.5 gallons that comes out to 43MPG rounded up, not 39.9. That would make more sense with what I'm seeing, and lends credence to the theory that the gauge is just plain wrong. The only way I can account for the discrepancy would be if it were a 14.5 gallon tank. But it's not.

[tombarker13ffh]

Rev, you're not answering anyone's questions so it's no wonder you're not finding any responses helpful. If you have a trip meter or a display mode's AVG MPG sitting at 39.9 no matter how you drive, you need to reset it. The miles you've driven, EV or not, since the meter was reset will affect how much your driving affects that number. I have a trip computer that has just about 1000 miles on it since it was reset and it sits at 49.9 my whole drive home from work (25 minutes). Whatever AVG you're looking at, hold the OK button on the steering wheel until it resets and then it will give you a more accurate count. When you said you were driving 20 minutes on EV that was very confusing as most people can not stay in EV for more than a minute or two at a time without the ICE running. If you are using EV and coasting to recharge, that's a different story, but even then, 20 minutes is fairly unbelievable unless you're traveling downhill.

 

Similarly, my car's Lifetime Average Fuel Use is at 45.0 MPG after almost 4,000 miles. I will have to drive for probably two hours for that number to budge even 0.1 MPG. It probably goes up 0.1 every 4-5 days.

Edited May 20, 2013 by tombarker13ffh

[Nick P]

Tom is exactly right. I haven't reset my lifetime average since I got the car 2 months ago. I now have about 3700 miles on it and my average is 48.5. I drive about 23 miles each way to work every day and I'm at the point where it takes 4-5 days to move the average 0.1 MPG. And I can never go 20 minutes in EV mode unless I park for 18 of them. 2-3 minutes of driving at 35 mph and the battery is drained enough for the ICE to kick in. But I will say it charges about as quickly as it discharges. About 55% of my total miles are EV miles.

[hybridbear]

I haven't reset my lifetime average since I got the car 2 months ago. I now have about 3700 miles on it and my average is 48.5.

That's a fantastic Lifetime Average MPG!!!

[Nick P]

That's a fantastic Lifetime Average MPG!!!

It is and I'm really happy with it. My wife accuses me of driving like an old man now since I try to keep it around 62-64 on the highway. But she's not the one filling my tank. Nor is the guy who comes screaming up behind me and then looks annoyed because he had to pass me. I think about people like him when I fill up after going 600 miles since my last fill up. They've probably filled up 3 times to do that. Better them than me.

[dalesky]

This is a Hybrid Titanium. And yes, I have figured out 97% of the toys in the car.

 

After doing so i made sure to reset the meters to see what the real MPG of the car was. And what I found is strange. I'm almost thinking the gauge itself is wrong somehow, or the battery is not an efficient one.

 

I got up to 30 MPG easy. E-Z. A caveman could do it. So right there it beat the Altima handily. Our freeways don't exceed 60MPH unless you go towards Canada, so we can stay mostly electric almost all the time. So, I did. But that's where things got weird.

 

Over the past three days, I have been hovering between 39 and 39.9 MPG. What I noticed is that as long as I drive the car like a CVT should be driven it's fine. The first day I was trying to drive all EV, which is what you DON'T want to do. Coasting (not cruise control) is the #1 ticket to the MPG creeping up. Electric will do it too but if your battery runs low, the gas engine will kick in to charge it and the MPG won't budge.

 

It took a LOT to get up to 39.9. I'm talking, totally unfun driving style. And yet, I managed to coast, EV and EV+ for over 2 miles, and it didn't budge from 39.9. The only things going on: my hotspot was plugged into the lighter and the regular fan non-A/C was on. Screen of course was on, dash of course, but no other optional energy drains. And yet the meter never went to 40 MPG even after 2 miles of fully efficient driving. I'm currently 50% EV miles.

 

I also noticed the battery drains way too easily. If I drive EV for 20 minutes the thing is empty. That doesn't seem right.

 

This seems highly improbable. I'm wondering if the readout itself is just wrong - that the car is really getting better mileage than it's displaying. Either way, while the car doesn't get horrible mileage and nothing to complain about, I do think that a reasonable driver would get nowhere near the quoted MPG.

97%? In a week? Really? OK, jealous here. Going on 3 now and have about 75%. Good Going!!

[dalesky]

This is a Hybrid Titanium. And yes, I have figured out 97% of the toys in the car.

 

After doing so i made sure to reset the meters to see what the real MPG of the car was. And what I found is strange. I'm almost thinking the gauge itself is wrong somehow, or the battery is not an efficient one.

 

I got up to 30 MPG easy. E-Z. A caveman could do it. So right there it beat the Altima handily. Our freeways don't exceed 60MPH unless you go towards Canada, so we can stay mostly electric almost all the time. So, I did. But that's where things got weird.

 

Over the past three days, I have been hovering between 39 and 39.9 MPG. What I noticed is that as long as I drive the car like a CVT should be driven it's fine. The first day I was trying to drive all EV, which is what you DON'T want to do. Coasting (not cruise control) is the #1 ticket to the MPG creeping up. Electric will do it too but if your battery runs low, the gas engine will kick in to charge it and the MPG won't budge.

 

It took a LOT to get up to 39.9. I'm talking, totally unfun driving style. And yet, I managed to coast, EV and EV+ for over 2 miles, and it didn't budge from 39.9. The only things going on: my hotspot was plugged into the lighter and the regular fan non-A/C was on. Screen of course was on, dash of course, but no other optional energy drains. And yet the meter never went to 40 MPG even after 2 miles of fully efficient driving. I'm currently 50% EV miles.

 

I also noticed the battery drains way too easily. If I drive EV for 20 minutes the thing is empty. That doesn't seem right.

 

This seems highly improbable. I'm wondering if the readout itself is just wrong - that the car is really getting better mileage than it's displaying. Either way, while the car doesn't get horrible mileage and nothing to complain about, I do think that a reasonable driver would get nowhere near the quoted MPG.

97%? In a week? Really? OK, jealous here. Going on 3 now and have confidence at about 75%. Good Going!!

[dalesky]

This is a Hybrid Titanium. And yes, I have figured out 97% of the toys in the car.

 

After doing so i made sure to reset the meters to see what the real MPG of the car was. And what I found is strange. I'm almost thinking the gauge itself is wrong somehow, or the battery is not an efficient one.

 

I got up to 30 MPG easy. E-Z. A caveman could do it. So right there it beat the Altima handily. Our freeways don't exceed 60MPH unless you go towards Canada, so we can stay mostly electric almost all the time. So, I did. But that's where things got weird.

 

Over the past three days, I have been hovering between 39 and 39.9 MPG. What I noticed is that as long as I drive the car like a CVT should be driven it's fine. The first day I was trying to drive all EV, which is what you DON'T want to do. Coasting (not cruise control) is the #1 ticket to the MPG creeping up. Electric will do it too but if your battery runs low, the gas engine will kick in to charge it and the MPG won't budge.

 

It took a LOT to get up to 39.9. I'm talking, totally unfun driving style. And yet, I managed to coast, EV and EV+ for over 2 miles, and it didn't budge from 39.9. The only things going on: my hotspot was plugged into the lighter and the regular fan non-A/C was on. Screen of course was on, dash of course, but no other optional energy drains. And yet the meter never went to 40 MPG even after 2 miles of fully efficient driving. I'm currently 50% EV miles.

 

I also noticed the battery drains way too easily. If I drive EV for 20 minutes the thing is empty. That doesn't seem right.

 

This seems highly improbable. I'm wondering if the readout itself is just wrong - that the car is really getting better mileage than it's displaying. Either way, while the car doesn't get horrible mileage and nothing to complain about, I do think that a reasonable driver would get nowhere near the quoted MPG.

97%? In a week? Really? OK, jealous here. Going on 3 now and have confidence at about 75%. Good Going!!

[hybridbear]

It is and I'm really happy with it. My wife accuses me of driving like an old man now since I try to keep it around 62-64 on the highway. But she's not the one filling my tank. Nor is the guy who comes screaming up behind me and then looks annoyed because he had to pass me. I think about people like him when I fill up after going 600 miles since my last fill up. They've probably filled up 3 times to do that. Better them than me.

Hahaha exactly! I laugh at these people now and the gas they're wasting

[revelated]

97%? In a week? Really? OK, jealous here. Going on 3 now and have confidence at about 75%. Good Going!!

 

I work in IT. It's nothing more than a computer terminal. A very poorly written one, but still. It amazes me that a Kindle Fire HD can have a better interface than MyTouch.

 

Rev, you're not answering anyone's questions so it's no wonder you're not finding any responses helpful.

...

When you said you were driving 20 minutes on EV that was very confusing as most people can not stay in EV for more than a minute or two at a time without the ICE running. If you are using EV and coasting to recharge, that's a different story, but even then, 20 minutes is fairly unbelievable unless you're traveling downhill.

 

I corrected an error in what someone said. And no, I didn't bother answering about mileage because it was already given, if you take the time to read the post in its entirety. If a person says "1 week in", what is a realistic mileage to expect?

 

You figure the average person drives no more than 40 miles in one direction, every day, and likely takes a minimum of two trips. So at most you're talking 560 miles (basic math) possible.

 

Later, I shared a DTE of 580. Since it's not possible for the car to go more than 600-ish without a need to fill up, and since I did say I filled up when I hit the DTE, I was at least 580, but less than 1140.

 

The problem, I think, is that people aren't reading my entire post and instead focusing on finding ways I'm wrong. That's a flawed strategy. There are too many variables for you to tell me what I'm seeing is wrong.

 

"You can't go 20 minutes in EV mode!!" Yes, yes you can. If your battery is near full when you depart AND you don't heavy foot the accelerator, AND you go under the posted speed limit, AND you don't have many cars in front of you, it's doable. ECO Cruise on a flat back road with as many stop slgns, stop lights, pedestrian crossings, parking structures, right turn violators, etc. alone will net you half of it. If I drive from my house to the bank via city streets that's a 15 minute endeavor, and yes, it can all be done EV/EV+ if I really don't care about speed. Just because YOU can't do it doesn't mean it's not possible.

 

My point is, a week into the car, and less than 1140 miles, there's no explanation for why an average MPG gauge would stay at 39.9 and not go above that after driving for 20 minutes in EV mode, yet end up with a DTE of 580 miles. We're talking simple math, people.

 

13.5 gallon tank @ 580 DTE = estimated 43MPG, not 39.9MPG. << in my Altima, this math rang true. Whatever my DTE was correlated perfectly to the estimated MPG reported. In the Fusion it doesn't.

 

I DID get very close to 580 miles before needing to fill up, so the DTE gauge is fine. Which again, simple logic, can only mean one of two things.

 

(A) the computer thinks it's got a 14.5 gallon tank. At that tank size, you come right at the 39.9 mark, and so the readout is correct but the computer needs to be reprogrammed. OR

(B) the tank size is correct but the readout is wrong - where it should be telling me I'm at 43 MPG.

 

I'm thinking that either way the readout is faulty. I can't really trust what it's telling me, which is a problem. As soon as I confirm that everything is settled with the dealer (I'm sure it is, it's been over 2 weeks), I may take it to a different service center and have them check things out just for the hell of it.

[Powered By Fusion]

 

I work in IT. It's nothing more than a computer terminal. A very poorly written one, but still. It amazes me that a Kindle Fire HD can have a better interface than MyTouch.

 

 

I corrected an error in what someone said. And no, I didn't bother answering about mileage because it was already given, if you take the time to read the post in its entirety. If a person says "1 week in", what is a realistic mileage to expect?

 

You figure the average person drives no more than 40 miles in one direction, every day, and likely takes a minimum of two trips. So at most you're talking 560 miles (basic math) possible.

 

Later, I shared a DTE of 580. Since it's not possible for the car to go more than 600-ish without a need to fill up, and since I did say I filled up when I hit the DTE, I was at least 580, but less than 1140.

 

The problem, I think, is that people aren't reading my entire post and instead focusing on finding ways I'm wrong. That's a flawed strategy. There are too many variables for you to tell me what I'm seeing is wrong.

 

"You can't go 20 minutes in EV mode!!" Yes, yes you can. If your battery is near full when you depart AND you don't heavy foot the accelerator, AND you go under the posted speed limit, AND you don't have many cars in front of you, it's doable. ECO Cruise on a flat back road with as many stop slgns, stop lights, pedestrian crossings, parking structures, right turn violators, etc. alone will net you half of it. If I drive from my house to the bank via city streets that's a 15 minute endeavor, and yes, it can all be done EV/EV+ if I really don't care about speed. Just because YOU can't do it doesn't mean it's not possible.

 

My point is, a week into the car, and less than 1140 miles, there's no explanation for why an average MPG gauge would stay at 39.9 and not go above that after driving for 20 minutes in EV mode, yet end up with a DTE of 580 miles. We're talking simple math, people.

 

13.5 gallon tank @ 580 DTE = estimated 43MPG, not 39.9MPG. << in my Altima, this math rang true. Whatever my DTE was correlated perfectly to the estimated MPG reported. In the Fusion it doesn't.

 

I DID get very close to 580 miles before needing to fill up, so the DTE gauge is fine. Which again, simple logic, can only mean one of two things.

 

(A) the computer thinks it's got a 14.5 gallon tank. At that tank size, you come right at the 39.9 mark, and so the readout is correct but the computer needs to be reprogrammed. OR

(B) the tank size is correct but the readout is wrong - where it should be telling me I'm at 43 MPG.

 

I'm thinking that either way the readout is faulty. I can't really trust what it's telling me, which is a problem. As soon as I confirm that everything is settled with the dealer (I'm sure it is, it's been over 2 weeks), I may take it to a different service center and have them check things out just for the hell of it.

Yeah you're right about one thing- the fusion's fuel tank is one that, arguably defies reason at times. Sure it has a 13.5 gallon tank, but if you've read around these forms on this site and several other fusion sites the average fill up is between 10.5 gallons (with DTE to spare) and 11.8 gallons) which is under 20 miles past empty. The most I've seen around here is around 12.6-12.8 gallons which is around 20+ miles past empty. What does this mean? You don't do calculations from 13.5 gallons on a spreadsheet because the tank just isn't that large realistically. Heat and even manufacturing process make it less than that in the real world- if even by a few tenths of a gallon. Second, you are advised to never drive until it dies on you or you won't be having your Fusion very long..so what does that do to your number of estimated 43 MPG? It lowers it. Lowers it to around 38 MPG for MOST PEOPLE.

 

38 MPG is driving on about 11.8 gallons of gas which most people seem to be able to get quite easily if they don't get scared and go up to 20 miles past DTE. Anything more than that is rarely recorded and not advised. This means the average person with a hybrid fusion who fills up and gets your 580 miles to empty can expect to get at least 38.1 MPG. If they are getting less then this then yeah, something needs to change- most likely driving habits or weather conditions. If they are getting better then this then they are getting really good average MPG which must be in the 40s and so they need not worry about their cars performance. Fortunately most people seem to be able to achieve at least 38-39MPG with many people being in the low 40s and higher. So I think realistically most people are getting the baseline mileage and even better than it they just dont know it.

 

So for anyone new. Want to know a simple way to see how well your Fusion is performing? Drive your car to around 10-20 miles past empty. Fill it up all the way and see how many miles to empty it gives you while logging how much gallons you put in at the station. Divide the DTE by the gallons you used by your next fill up and you'll see your average miles per gallon. The trick next time is to see if theres anything you can do to increase that number. It's that easy.

Edited May 27, 2013 by Powered By Fusion

[lolder]

You are in error about what mpg means. It has nothing to do with how much fuel you put in to the tank OR how low you run the tank before fill up. It has little to do with DTE either as that is a calculated estimate. The other on board mpg calculations are accurate to a few percent and the only other way is to log the miles between several fill ups to auto shut off of the same gas pump that is on level ground. There is absolutely no advantage to cramming fuel into the tank or running below the DTE 0 as these have no effect on mileage.

Edited May 27, 2013 by lolder