Ford to offer free updates to boost hybrid vehicle efficiency

[cwb1183]

3:38 p.m. CDT, July 16, 2013

DEARBORN, Michigan (Reuters) - Ford Motor Co will offer free updates to its hybrid vehicles to improve their fuel economy, a company executive said Tuesday.

Among the improvements, Ford plans to increase the maximum all-electric speed on those vehicles from 62 miles per hour to 85, according to Raj Nair, vice president of global product development.

Owners of about 77,000 Ford hybrid vehicles in the United States and Canada will be offered the upgrades free of charge.

(Reporting by Deepa Seetharaman in Dearborn, Michigan; Editing by Gary Hill)

 

[TX NRG]

"Raj Nair, Ford’s group vice president of global product development, on Tuesday announced the updates, which also include optimizing active grille shutters to reduce aerodynamic drag."

 

"Nair said Tuesday the EPA “is aware of the changes we are making,” but said the updates will not change the EPA sticker mileage claims.

 

Current hybrid owners will be notified and can have the software in their vehicle updated by the end of the month."

 

From The Detroit News: http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130716/AUTO0102/307160105/1361/Ford-updating-software-to-improve-fuel-efficiency-of-hybrids

[keybman]

Wow.

 

Just wow.

 

 

Is this a gamechanger? Will it really work? How will this affect MPG in the long run? Is this April 1?

 

Wow.

Edited July 17, 2013 by keybman

[corncobs]

Wow.

 

Just wow.

 

 

Is this a gamechanger? Will it really work? How will this effect MPG in the long run? Is this April 1?

 

Wow.

I actually thought about April 1 for a moment as well.

[SteveB_TX]

Alright! Maybe now I will be able to break the 36 MPG barrier! ;)

[cwb1183]

more info...

 

 

 

/ July 16, 2013, 7:50 PM

Ford offers free recalibration to improve fuel economy of hybrids

A man reads the specifications of a Ford C-Max hybrid vehicle displayed on media preview day at the Los Angeles Auto Show on November 28, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. The show opens to the public from November 30 to December 9. / FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/GETTY IMAGES

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DETROITFord Motor Co. is offering free upgrades to U.S. and Canadian hybrid customers to improve their fuel economy.

The company plans to recalibrate the vehicle control systems on 77,000 Ford C-Max and Fusion hybrids and Lincoln MKZ hybrids from the 2013 model year.

• Ford Shines In Vehicle Quality Rankings

Some customers have complained that the cars aren't getting the 47 mile-per-gallon fuel economy promised in Ford's advertising.

Ford will increase the maximum speed the cars can be driven in electric mode from 62 to 85 miles per hour.

It also plans to make better use of the grille shutters, which improve aerodynamics; reduce the electric fan speed; shorten the engine warm-up time and minimize use of the air conditioning compressor.

Ford will notify owners next month. It won't say how much it's spending on the upgrades.

[GrySql]

Sounds good to me too.

[c152driver]

Sounds interesting. I wonder what effect these changes will have on the life of the battery and drive train in general. I thought I had read somewhere that the current 62mph cut-off had something to do with protecting the transmission. Also, I hope running the AC compressor less won't negatively affect the cooling capability. Personally, I'm happy with the 44MPG I'm averaging over the first 1500 miles. I'll probably wait for reports from other upgraders first before I take mine in!

 

[JSKershaw]

My gut feeling is that this is similar to the software that's currently in the Energi models. It won't effect your transmission because everything under the hood is exactly the same as the Energi. The only difference is the size of battery.

[neod192]

So now a fully charged battery will be used up in 10 seconds ... it'll then take 1 minute to charge it again :)

 

minimize use of the air conditioning compressor.

I wonder if they'll fix the software so that the A/C button will actually turn off the compressor?

Edited July 17, 2013 by neod192

[hybridbear]

Since there's already a thread about this I'm going to lock this one so it's not repetitive

http://fordfusionhybridforum.com/topic/7188-software-updates-from-ford-to-improve-mpgs/