Rural and Highway Driving

[toywaltz]

I'm looking at a host of different vehicles for a commuter and interested in input from those that drive these on a regular basis on similar roads/terrain. Here's my typical commute:

 

-4 days a week, 60 miles RT. About 55 miles are on hilly/curvy rural state routes and the rest in-town with about seven quick traffic lights. I usually run about 65mph on rural section. I also need to pass trucks at times to avoid getting stuck behind them on the steepest hills, so it's not uncommon to have a couple quick runs to 80mph each day to get around traffic.

 

-1 day a week, 140 miles RT. 4 miles of downtown, 15 miles of (sometimes) stop-go heavy highway traffic, and the balance 75mph highway cruising, somewhat hilly.

 

I have included a FFH, FFE, and FF 2.0 in my cost analysis and I'm estimating averages of 40, 40, and 28 respectively. I tend to average about 90% of EPA highway on my gas vehicles and usually exceed it by 10% with my current TDI. I only estimated 85% of hwy for the 2.0 as they don't seem to hit their numbers consistently. For the FFE I've used the 40mpg number for the portion of the trip where the EV is consumed and then added the cost of electric.

 

Do you think my mileage estimates are realistic, particularly the 40mpg for the FFH for this type of driving? I'm not a hyper-miler by any stretch so if that along with the terrain/roads I'm driving will make the FFH even less economical, I'd like to figure that out now.

 

TIA for any input.

[Waldo]

That seems like a pretty reasonable estimate based on your descriptions. Any reason not to consider the 1.5 EB? It will probably get you about 30mpg and will cost less than the 2.0 while passing power will probably be about the same as the hybrid. Without doing any math, I'll bet the 1.5 would come out the winner economically.

[toywaltz]

That seems like a pretty reasonable estimate based on your descriptions. Any reason not to consider the 1.5 EB? It will probably get you about 30mpg and will cost less than the 2.0 while passing power will probably be about the same as the hybrid. Without doing any math, I'll bet the 1.5 would come out the winner economically.

Thanks. The 2.0 lines up better performance wise to other non-hybrid's i'm considering so I'm just trying to keep it someone comparable.

[rjent]

Driven carefully, I think you can easily beat your estimates, particularly in the FFH. :)

[jsolan]

The hybrid shines on rolling hills because of regen, but your statement of 65mph has me thinking that 40 will be the upper limit you'll see in good weather. I'd predict 37-38 conservatively for year round driving. If you drove 55 or even 60, then it would be a different story, but my experience is that as soon as I go above 60, my mileage drops below 40.

[bonzman17]

I drive 92 mile rt everyday 85% hwy @ speeds of 65 mph and yes even at 80 if need be to pass, and 15% back country roads. My trip to work is down hill but not by much ( I did the math one day and I believe it was for every mile I descended 5 feet in elevation) My average mpg is right at 45-48. I am still amazed at when I do push the gas to pass I often think wow this is a hybrid. Good luck hope some of this helps.

[Silver Bullet]

I'm inclined to agree with jsolan's comments. My experience is limited, as we've only had our 2014 FFHSE since Christmas Eve. It's driven primarily on my wife's 50 mile round trip commute at 55 - 58 mph on rural roads, three stop signs and one stoplight each way with about 2 miles of uncongested in-town traffic, and one 1000 ft mountain. The first 4500 miles, driven on studded snow tires, yielded about 37.5 mpg lifetime. Reset the odometer in late March when the original Michelin Energi's replaced the winter tires, and mileage has crept up to 41.2 mpg, including one 500 mi. freeway trip at 65 - 70 mph where headwinds reduced mileage to the 37 - 38 mpg range. How much is attributable to break-in, how much to tires, and how much to warmer ambient temperatures I cannot say. Driver technique has not changed, as we both drive just as we always have, complete with a five-minute cabin warmup on cold mornings. Hypermilers we ain't (so far, at least). We love this car!

[acdii]

The hybrid shines on rolling hills because of regen, but your statement of 65mph has me thinking that 40 will be the upper limit you'll see in good weather. I'd predict 37-38 conservatively for year round driving. If you drove 55 or even 60, then it would be a different story, but my experience is that as soon as I go above 60, my mileage drops below 40.

This is being conservative too. The faster you push the FFH the lower the MPG will be. 65 MPH is about the limit to where you can expect anything over 40 MPG, Go above that and it quickly drops to the mid 30's. My daily drive consists of rural 55 MPH roads, hilly for a good stretch, with a few stops and turns and acceleration back up to 55. Mixed in is some city traffic of 35-40 MPH with a few stop lights, and for the most part I keep it at or under 60 and depending on weather, get anywhere from 38 to 47 MPG. On the Interstate, loaded down at 65 MPH it got 43 MPG, at 80 MPH it got 35 MPG. Others have seen similar results.

[jsolan]

On another perspective, I was recently talking with a co-worker who bought the 2.0 fusion about a month or 2 after I bought my hybrid. He's very disappointed in the mileage. He's only getting about 24 mpg about 9 months in. While I don't know his driving style, I can assume he's doing most of it on the same roads I drive. My lifetime average is a bit over 42 mpg in the 11 months I've had it. My driving is a lot of 45-55 mph country roads and about 20-25% highway at 65+.

 

I estimated 36 mpg (hybrid) against 26 mpg (ecoboost) when doing cost justification before buying my hybrid. After hearing his numbers and seeing mine, I'm exceeding my estimated "payoff" period for the extra cost of the hybrid. It's one anecdotal story from someone on the internet, so take it with a grain of salt. I just always try to plan for the worst case, so I'm giving conservative numbers.

[toywaltz]

Thanks for the input. I don't think the 2.0 is really a serious contender regardless but I threw it in there. There are better performing non-hybrids out there IMHO. Of course they're not much cheaper than the FFH but don't appear to be far off on mpg for the type of driving I do. The FFH would then just be that much better for any around town or traffic situations so there's a pretty good case to be made for it.

 

The bigger diliema is between the FFE and FFH. Both are pretty close in price after tax credit on the FFE. I'm trying to arrange a couple day test drive of the FFH to see how it really performs. Not many FFE's around to pick from outside of the cities.