Ford fuel efficiency update guinea pig testers

[BondMan007]

So what does it mean if your dealer is not a "Certified Electric Vehicle Repair" facility? Should I trust them to do the update correctly?

 

The Ford service guy I talked to on the phone didn't question me on the letter I received from Ford yet he still asked me for the make and model of my car. Isn't the update only for the 2013 Fusion Hybrid? He did say it would take about half a day to complete which is exactly what the letter states.

 

Am I just paranoid?

[Geremy13]

I have learned that I can hit the 40+ mark if I just don't use the A/C..... So I am sure that my car can perform. (Or has potential).........

 

I am surprised at how much the A/C is affecting my MPG.....

 

If I don't use it I can gain 10MPG.. on short trips,(3 miles of so),,,,,, and at least 7MPG on long trips... (more than 10 miles).

 

Using it as a normal Hybrid (20 miles below the speed limit ;) ).... I get 36MPG.......

 

I'm very happy with the car..... BUT.... I'm wondering if there is something in my compressor that just isn't right. Might be the same problem for everyone getting less that desired results.

 

Hope this doesn't affect us in our cold winters......

[jeapa]

I wonder about that Geremy13. I use my ac in the afternoons on my drive home, but I set the temp. to 74 and the fan speed on low-medium. I usually see about a 2-3mpg drop versus my morning drive without it, no where near as bad a hit as you seem to be taken with it on.

 

What settings are you using?

[TerrorTodd]

Sorry but I'm not interested in sacrificing comfort for MPG...shouldn't have to do that. It is far too hot in Florida in the summer not to run the AC!

[djminfll]

TerrorTodd, I said exactly the same thing in an earlier post. I would love to get 50mpg, but not if I'm suffering in the heat to do so. I'm perfectly happy with 43-49 consistently with the A/C running on Auto setting until the interior cools down, and then turn the fan down to low.

[jeapa]

I use my ac. I am comfortable at 74 but if I wasn't I would crank it down lower. I am just wondering why some cars seem more affected by the ac usage then others.

[keithsm2]

here in texas with 100 degree days and pretty warm mornings....we take a big hit with the AC on....its a must.....i cant wait for fall.....i always use the AUTO AC....but sometimes i will start it at about 78 or 79....and then walk it down to 74 or 73......this seems to reduce the draw a lot..... I just had the car in WV for a short vacation....temp was much cooler and mileage was MUCH better.!

[cwb1183]

So what does it mean if your dealer is not a "Certified Electric Vehicle Repair" facility? Should I trust them to do the update correctly?

 

The Ford service guy I talked to on the phone didn't question me on the letter I received from Ford yet he still asked me for the make and model of my car. Isn't the update only for the 2013 Fusion Hybrid? He did say it would take about half a day to complete which is exactly what the letter states.

 

 

 

 

"Certified Electric Vehicle Repair facility" is to be able to sell and service the electric Focus, the C Max energi and the Fusion energi .

All Ford dealers are supposed to be qualified to sell and service the Hybrids.

 

My update took less than an hour and if you look at the earlier posts you will see many folks have updated in an hour or less

Edited August 13, 2013 by cwb1183

[jeff_h]

The Ford service guy I talked to on the phone didn't question me on the letter I received from Ford yet he still asked me for the make and model of my car. Isn't the update only for the 2013 Fusion Hybrid? He did say it would take about half a day to complete which is exactly what the letter states.

 

Am I just paranoid?

 

I believe the update is for the Fusion Hybrid and MKZ Hybrid, maybe that's why they asked make and model?

 

The letter said it was estimated to take "less than a half day", which I assume is the least amount of time they would reference in a letter like this, to keep customers from relying in it being a 30 minute procedure and being frustrated if it went longer than anticipated. For mine, the update part (where I saw my car sitting in the work bay) was about 40 minutes, and total time at the dealer was about 1hr 10min. So under normal circumstances it's quick but stuff happens in scheduling, which is why they note that also in the letter.

 

For those who never received a letter, I scanned the 13B07 letter and tip sheet for MPG improvement, is located on the thread linked below.

 

http://fordfusionhybridforum.com/topic/7334-customer-satisfaction-program/?p=62572

 

 

Added - personally I would not hesitate to get it. Today was my best commute-combo day yet (58 miles each way today): 55.1 in the morning, 61.2 in the afternoon.

Edited August 13, 2013 by jeff_h

[Geremy13]

I wonder about that Geremy13. I use my ac in the afternoons on my drive home, but I set the temp. to 74 and the fan speed on low-medium. I usually see about a 2-3mpg drop versus my morning drive without it, no where near as bad a hit as you seem to be taken with it on.

 

What settings are you using?

 

Settings: AC set to Auto and at 74 degrees...... AVG temp last since I purchased the car (4 weeks) = 80 to 90 degrees. It's been nice outside but a little warm in a Black car so I have used the AC.... except for testing this last week. Remarkable difference without the AC. Curious what impact the MPG will have on our cold winters.

 

TerrorTodd, I said exactly the same thing in an earlier post. I would love to get 50mpg, but not if I'm suffering in the heat to do so. I'm perfectly happy with 43-49 consistently with the A/C running on Auto setting until the interior cools down, and then turn the fan down to low.

 

I agree, my wife won't put up without luxury (since she knows how much the car payment is..)... I would be perfectly happy with 43-49 too! But I can ONLY get that with the AC OFF.... BUT!!,,, it does show hope for my car. I had one of my mechanic buddies show me where this new fangled electric only compresssor is.... and ,, when I was younger I would just go to the junk yard and pick one up for $40 or so...... he said it's probably over $1000 for this one. Damn!

 

 

I use my ac. I am comfortable at 74 but if I wasn't I would crank it down lower. I am just wondering why some cars seem more affected by the ac usage then others.

 

I set ours on 74 too! but I am experimenting right now and trying to do a tank with minimal AC to see what I can get.

 

here in texas with 100 degree days and pretty warm mornings....we take a big hit with the AC on....its a must.....i cant wait for fall.....i always use the AUTO AC....but sometimes i will start it at about 78 or 79....and then walk it down to 74 or 73......this seems to reduce the draw a lot..... I just had the car in WV for a short vacation....temp was much cooler and mileage was MUCH better.!

 

I feel for you guys in Texas. I remember last summer was brutal for you. Here in Indiana we have a different kind of problem.. while it rarely gets to 100, it still does sometimes. And I ask the wife how we can live in a place that get's so stinking HOT (90+) and also get to stinkiing COLD (20 or below).

 

Today I did another long test of 52 miles, opened the windows, opened the sunroof, and convinced myself that I bought a convertible that doesn't have AC.... got 45MPG! Yeah!!

[corncobs]

I'm starting to like this PCM more and more so far after 300+ miles after the reset @ 10k and after the update.

 

[acdii]

Yep, me too. This morning I didn't take care to watch my braking, or anything else since I had a late start and traffic was heavier than normal. Still got 46.2, with a 96% brake. I was like, Hmm that's not bad!

 

Best part of the commute though, I got passed by a Walter in a Pickup who passed not only me, but the guy behind me, he also kicked up a rock that smacked my windshield, but no damage. At the first light miles away, I was right behind him. Then the next light, then the next light, then the next light( my Flying friend just happened to be in front of him, so I waved to him when I passed him). then we turned onto 14 and I caught the next light as it turned, I was in the right lane, Walter was in the left, and someone was turning left, so I breezed past, then Walter swerves into the right lane and blows the red light! Lets just say, for the rest of my commute he was far behind me, and I wasn't speeding.

 

Drive Smarter, Not Faster!

 

I Lol'd, my wife Lol'd. My friend was confused.

[kbailey990]

I just answered the question for a new forum member! Check the link its easy to tell if your dealer says it was done correctly get Ford involved member djminfll had to do this and was sent to another dealer.

 

http://fordfusionhybridforum.com/topic/7355-how-to-view-latest-pcm-update-in-vehicle/?do=findComment&comment=62895

Thank you for helping out! The first upgrade didn't work, and I took it back to the dealer yesterday. The corrected upgrade is fantastic! I was getting 43 mpg, and I got 48 mpg on this morning's 47 mile commute.

[corerwh]

I try to drive the same way to and from work -- 10.5 miles each way of urban freeway with moderately dense traffic that usually moves around 66-69 mph. My mileage on this route varies anywhere between 39 and 47 mpg, even when conditions seem identical, and I'm making every effort not to vary driving styles. If this were my car, a 4 mpg difference on one trip would be meaningless, I'd think that I couldn't draw any valid conclusions without taking an average of least ten round trips. What's your experience with the reproducibility of mileage results where you drive?

 

Predictability isn't crazy off nor is it dead on either. If I was a little more scientific about this process then 10 identical round trips would be ideal, but I still needed to live life and want to report some results sooner than later. Plus what I gathered from the forum was that more than 50% were seeing an improvement and so I thought I would take a stab at it. :) At the end of this week I'll be sharing what I've found and you can judge for yourself.

[B25Nut]

Since the first week of November, the only change made to my FFH was the 3.5.1 MFT update. Yesterday and today, I had all the other changes done at my dealer (gear shift, fuel pump,BS display, PCM update, cracking noise, latest MFT update). I had to drive a F150 loaner for a day, but it was so worth it.

My MPG history started with a 200 mile drive home from the dealer in So. Cal. that I purchased it from. It got 32.5 mpg. For the last nine months, my average has ranged between 36-38 mpg. The heatwave we had last month (108+ degrees) brought it down to 35.8 mpg. It was back to 37.1 when I dropped it off at the dealer. The best mileage I've gotten on the drive home from my local dealer was 42 mpg, without any A/C required. On my dirve home today, it was 96 degrees and I had the A/C set at 74. 80% of the drive was at 65-70 mph. I had just under a minute of EV driving at 70 mph. End result of my drive back to work: 46.8 mpg. This was also starting with a low SOC on the HVB and ending with it almost fully charged.

So I'm happy! Now I just have to reset everything tonight on MFT (phone, photo, etc.). That will test the Battery Saver. My front end had stopped making the cracking sound about a month ago so I can't say anything about the new shims except everything is still quiet.

Edited August 15, 2013 by B25Nut

[anguyen]

Since the first week of November, the only change made to my FFH was the 3.5.1 MFT update. Yesterday and today, I had all the other changes done at my dealer (gear shift, fuel pump,BS display, PCM update, cracking noise, latest MFT update). I had to drive a F150 loaner for a day, but it was so worth it.

My MPG history started with a 200 mile drive home from the dealer in So. Cal. that I purchased it from. It got 32.5 mpg. For the last nine months, my average has ranged between 36-38 mpg. The heatwave we had last month (108+ degrees) brought it down to 35.8 mpg. It was back to 37.1 when I dropped it off at the dealer. The best mileage I've gotten on the drive home from my local dealer was 42 mpg, without any A/C required. On my dirve home today, it was 96 degrees and I had the A/C set at 74. 80% of the drive was at 65-70 mph. I had just under a minute of EV driving at 70 mph. End result of my drive back to work: 46.8 mpg. This was also starting with a low SOC on the HVB and ending with it almost fully charged.

So I'm happy! Now I just have to reset everything tonight on MFT (phone, photo, etc.). That will test the Battery Saver. My front end had stopped making the cracking sound about a month ago so I can't say anything about the new shims except everything is still quiet.

Congratulations on the fix, Ford did the right thing get your car close to it advertise, great o see you happy with your FFH

[B25Nut]

Congratulations on the fix, Ford did the right thing get your car close to it advertise, great o see you happy with your FFH

 

I've always been extremely happy with my FFH. Fuel economy was about #4 on my priority list when I bought it.

I was able to do the settings last night to MFT for 14 minutes before the Battery Saver message came on. Not much better than before, but I haven't had the BS message yet when turning the key off. My fingers are crossed.

[aaronj1159]

 

I've always been extremely happy with my FFH. Fuel economy was about #4 on my priority list when I bought it.

I was able to do the settings last night to MFT for 14 minutes before the Battery Saver message came on. Not much better than before, but I haven't had the BS message yet when turning the key off. My fingers are crossed.

I had mine crossed too but it's back in my case. Now it seems even more random though, as it'll do it after long drives and short, but not all of them.

[B25Nut]

Only one time I have gotten over 40 mpg on my morning commute to work. It usually ranges from 33-39 mpg. This morning I started with a low SOC but still got 45.6 mpg, with most of the time spent at 65-70 mph. So my results seem to be consistent so far, and the BS message hasn't appeared again. I've said from the beginning that an average of 40-42 mpg was the most I expected with my driving conditions. This now seems to be a reality.

A white Lotus Esprit was filing up next to me at the gas station this morning. Yes, it is better looking than my FFH (it may even be the best looking car ever built), but standing next to it with its roof coming up to my belt, I had to question how comfortable it could be. If I could afford it, it would still be my second car that I would drive every once in a while.

[acdii]

It's good see that at least one persons not so good doing car has been "fixed" by this update.

 

 

I dont think there is a car out there that I would want as a Fun driver. really no place to have fun with one if you know what I mean. Now if I could afford one, it would be a plane, like maybe a T6 or T28 or maybe even a T34. Those would be fun! Dont need no stinking roads(except in emergency when you need to land in a hurry)

[hermans]

Only one time I have gotten over 40 mpg on my morning commute to work. It usually ranges from 33-39 mpg. This morning I started with a low SOC but still got 45.6 mpg, with most of the time spent at 65-70 mph. So my results seem to be consistent so far, and the BS message hasn't appeared again. I've said from the beginning that an average of 40-42 mpg was the most I expected with my driving conditions. This now seems to be a reality.

A white Lotus Esprit was filing up next to me at the gas station this morning. Yes, it is better looking than my FFH (it may even be the best looking car ever built), but standing next to it with its roof coming up to my belt, I had to question how comfortable it could be. If I could afford it, it would still be my second car that I would drive every once in a while.

I tried to fit in a Honda 2000 once....no such luck.

[corerwh]

So over a course of two weeks (one week before the update and one week after) I tracked my stats with what the dashboard reported back to me on each trip to and from work. This was meant more for my personal evaluation but thought I would share what my experience has been so far. I know this isn't a very "scientific" data collection by any means and a few things I could have done different, but its a little late now to change all of that. I've only had the car for about a month and half and only 2809 miles on the car (I think I'm still in the "break in" miles). I've put everything in a Google doc spreadsheet and here is an explanation of that spreadsheet.

 

Here is the detail that I've recorded: To and return trip, temp inside and outside the car, travel time, miles traveled, mph, gallons used, EV miles, break score, mpg, stop signs and stop lights on route, and number of stops. I recorded this during the 5 day work week with one special weekend route. There were two routes that I wanted to experiment with. I've broken these routes into 3 with the first 2 only consisting of different speeds traveled and the third route completely different than the first two. I have attached elevation charts for each of these routes, including the special route, however the third route I lost the original chart and will have to get a new one. Here is the break down of the routes:

 

Route 1 & 2 - consists of a short in town drive before entering the highway which is 8% of the total drive and speeds going from 25 mph - 40 mph. 88% of this route is highway with speed limit of 65 mph. The remaining 4% have speeds decreasing, after the highway ends, from 60 mph - 35 mph.

 

Route 3 - consists of 29.5% of the total route at speeds of 25 mph - 45 mph. 25% of route are speeds of 55 mph and 45.5% with speeds of 50 mph.

 

Here is the spreadsheet.

 

My driving habits have had a lot to do with the suggestions that I have found on this site. In the morning, to help the ICE warm-up faster, I put it into the lowest gear for about the first half mile until the temp hits or is just above the first temp line. I try to keep my acceleration in the 1.5 - 1.75 kW range ,unless on the highway, and I try to keep it within 2 - 2.25 kW on the highway. I used the ECO cruise on the highway to maintain speed and let the FFH do the work of switching between ICE and EV mode. Then in town from a complete stop I would try to use as much of the EOC as the battery will let me. I always have the A/C, inside air circulation, and auto climate regulation on. When the inside temp of the car is really warm then I bump the climate control temp up to 85 degrees and then during the course of my drive maintain a low fan speed while slowly dropping the temp down to my desired comfort level.

 

My observations:

1. According to my average mpg before the update compared to my average after the update, it appears that nothing has changed and the update really hasn't done much to improve my mpg.

2. There are soooo many factors in the calculation of the car's mpg that it is hard to get a true comparison.

3. My mpg was better in the morning when the temp was around the 50s vs the evening when the temp was around 90s. I am curious to see how colder temps around here in the winter will do to my mpg, along with the snow.

4. Along with temp elevation has a factor in this since going from work I increase in elevation. However, this theory isn't held up in the special trip that I took where I dropped elevation and got worse mpg than when I increased in elevation.

5. 70 mph and higher the car doesn't go into EV mode on its own until you are descending a hill. Unlike when you are traveling at 62 mph or lower.

6. With the update I have only noticed once when the ICE heated up sooner than before the update. However currently at a cold start then the electric engine will run to the lowest possible point on the battery and then kick the ICE on. Not sure if this is how Ford is reducing warm up time or not.

7. It is very hard to get EV mode to come on around 80 mph because the electric engine is using roughly 2 kW and EV mode can't kick on with that high of wattage.

8. From a cold start the kW range is really high until 0.75 - 1 mile and then it remains around the first bottom mark the whole drive.

9. I'M DRIVING A COMPUTER!

 

Overall I am still happy with my FFH! I love to drive it and each day I come home from work I want to go back out and drive some more. Even though I'm not getting the EPA 47 mpg, my lifetime right now on the car is 41.4 mpg and Fuelly says 41.6 mpg and this is beyond better than my 1995 Honda Accord, that I got rid of for my FFH, that was 25-27 mpg highway. At the top of my list when looking for a new car was gas mileage and I feel this is the best looking, for the price, car to accomplish this. I hope that everyone is able to understand all my results and ramblings. Let me know if you have any question about my experience and I will try to respond. Enjoy!

Edited August 18, 2013 by corerwh

[Geremy13]

Excellent information. I am in the same boat as you. I bought the car for the MPG..... but the looks are outstanding.

 

I replaced it with a 2003 Sonata,,, which I am very happy with. I am sure that I have the best maintained 180,000 mile Sonata that still drive beautifully and keeps me happy. BUT... you had a 1995 Accord??? that got 27MPG.... (not that I'm Accord fan, but those were some pretty nice cars back in '95)... I'm wondering what kind of excellent MPG they get now......

 

Also,,, you driving a Computer.... I can totally relate with.... Since I work in the industry it has me somewhat happy and somewhat concerned.

 

It is not uncommon for my company to leave a business after servicing thier network and them to call explaining that ever since we serviced the systems that thier tire pressures are low...... (Which of course would be totally coincidence.... but possibly true). Hard to explain to people that the two have nothing in common other than the coincidence.....

 

so it will be fun to get an oil change at my dealership and explain to them that ever since that my microwave is not working right... and expect them to fix it. :victory:

[tclemmer]

Felt like I needed to report back after having some commuter runs after the PCM update. I had previously posted a link to a google spreadsheet where I was trying to gather data before and after the PCM update. Here it is again up to date.

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AvVlcS71qBqKdEREV040Qm5iTzN2aURuQzNrQXROenc&usp=sharing

 

I have to agree with what corerwh has said. There are just too many variables in trying to compare the before and after. I have decided that for my commutes, the improvement is negligable. It did however let me see which routes to and from work appear to be the best at this time of year. Looking at it you might say that route 1 (highway with a mx speed of 60MPH) had a significant improvement (About 7%) but I feel like I did not get enough data point before the update to have a lot of confidence in the numbers.

 

The Summary tab shows the results.

 

Edited September 9, 2013 by tclemmer

[hybridbear]

Felt like I needed to report back after having some commuter runs after the PCM update. I had previously posted a link to a google spreadsheet where I was trying to gather data before and after the PCM update. Here it is again up to date.

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AvVlcS71qBqKdEREV040Qm5iTzN2aURuQzNrQXROenc&usp=sharing

 

I have to agree with what corerwh has said. There are just too many variables in trying to compare the before and after. I have decided that for my commutes, the improvement is negligable. It did however let me see which routes to and from work appear to be the best at this time of year. Looking at it you might say that route 1 (highway with a mx speed of 60MPH) had a significant improvement (About 7%) but I feel like I did not get enough data point before the update to have a lot of confidence in the numbers.

 

The Summary tab shows the results.

 

Great information. Like you I haven't seen a noticeable improvement on our regular driving, none of which is commuting since I walk to work. I hope that the next time we take a road trip (tentatively planned for August 2014 to New York) we will see better than the 44 MPG we averaged on the two road trips we did already (California in 1/2013 and Canada in 6/2013).