BWP Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 Can you try too hard to maximize the highway mileage at low highway speeds (55-60 mph) by pushing the car into EV mode too often? When I've pushed the battery charge down by doing that, I've noted when powered by ICE the mpgs are pretty low, a little above 20. I think this is because the engine is having to charge the batteries as well as power the car. When it kicks into ICE with a somewhat full battery charge (>50%), the mpgs are closer to 40, sometimes a bit above 40. Maybe I should relax a bit instead of trying to overmanage the system and let the computers do the work. One area I think I do some good at is scanning the road ahead and putting the car in EV or ICE based on upcoming road conditions (incline, decline, curves, etc...). Has anyone else noticed an mpg difference when on ICE with low vs high battery charge? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus-A-CMax Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 (edited) I use to run down the battery as much as possible and I am finding that anything below 30%, the output you get does not really contribute that much to cruising and it takes forever to recharge back to the middle. You'll get more by having the battery level above 75% and not letting it drop below 50%, imo. I did a thread on eco-cruise vs p&g vs ICE high (here) and when the batteries are up above 80% (even possibly 90%), ICE seems to be more efficient with > 40MPG vs 20MPG. I don't know what mode to call this but I am going with "ICE High MPG" mode. Also, I think a high (almost full) battery level really helps with the high speed cruising - which something I noticed but I am still trying to re-create it as its hard to keep a really high battery unless you go a continuous ICE without going overboard and starting a discharge. Feather the pedal. Yeah....I agree it is a lot of work, sometimes dangerous as its a distraction to watch the gauge so throw the car into eco-cruise mode where it does a pretty good job imo. You can manage eco-cruise to kick it into EV when you know theres a downslope coming up using the on/off pedal (a great tip from CMax Jaxon). Keep testing and post your findings here, good stuff. Edited January 23, 2013 by Jus-A-CMax Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FoutsNC Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 I have noticed a difference between the 2. I have also noticed that the EV assist with ECO cruise comes on a lot more than when I am not using cruise. I was really trying hard to play around with different approaches for the best MPG. What surprised me is that my MPG was quite good when I just stopped paying that much attention to it. Much like you, I have found that paying attention to terrain can really help though. For me, I am using ECO Cruise whenever possible and using the Cancel/Resume lever to manage speed, stops, hills, etc. I found that I could probably squeeze another ~3-4 MPG out of the car with P&G and Neutral glides, yet it was too much work for me. I will pay the 25 cents more in fuel per day and just drive normally. I am still whooping my MPG from my Explorer I traded in without thinking about it. My wife's 2013 Escape is only getting 23MPG with the 2.0 Ecoboost, so I am really happy with a 39 average in the winter here. By the way, by cutting out one of my daily Starbucks Venti Fraps per month, I can save more than enough to enjoy the drive :) Jus-A-CMax and Adair 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C-MaxJaxon Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 You can manage eco-cruise to kick it into EV when you know theres a downslope coming up using the on/off pedal (a great tip from CMax Jaxon). I use a quick cancel/resume on the steering wheel cruise control button to force EV model on a downhill. It's usually not very smart about doing it quickly by itself. Decreasing cruise speed by 1-2 MPH may also work. When not using cruise, you can let off the accelerator pedal for a second. Adair 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jus-A-CMax Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 I have noticed a difference between the 2. I have also noticed that the EV assist with ECO cruise comes on a lot more than when I am not using cruise. I was really trying hard to play around with different approaches for the best MPG. What surprised me is that my MPG was quite good when I just stopped paying that much attention to it. Much like you, I have found that paying attention to terrain can really help though. For me, I am using ECO Cruise whenever possible and using the Cancel/Resume lever to manage speed, stops, hills, etc. I found that I could probably squeeze another ~3-4 MPG out of the car with P&G and Neutral glides, yet it was too much work for me. I will pay the 25 cents more in fuel per day and just drive normally. I am still whooping my MPG from my Explorer I traded in without thinking about it. My wife's 2013 Escape is only getting 23MPG with the 2.0 Ecoboost, so I am really happy with a 39 average in the winter here. By the way, by cutting out one of my daily Starbucks Venti Fraps per month, I can save more than enough to enjoy the drive :) Congratulations, that has to be the quote for this week :rockon: Adair, hmatthews102, pomtrey and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BWP Posted January 23, 2013 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 Good feedback. Looks like we're all experiencing the same thing to some degree. While it's a fun challenge to try to get those big mpg numbers, I'm not going to push quite so hard for it. Whether I'm getting 40 or 42 highway, it's a great car to drive. I use the quick cancel/resume trick also. I wish the instantaneous mpg gauge gave more clarity between the 20 to 50 range. I feel like I have to interprelate too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Generalbeluga Posted January 23, 2013 Report Share Posted January 23, 2013 Good feedback. Looks like we're all experiencing the same thing to some degree. While it's a fun challenge to try to get those big mpg numbers, I'm not going to push quite so hard for it. Whether I'm getting 40 or 42 highway, it's a great car to drive. I use the quick cancel/resume trick also. I wish the instantaneous mpg gauge gave more clarity between the 20 to 50 range. I feel like I have to interprelate too much. I said the very same thing in one of my previous posts on this forum! I agree, if you make it too much work, the car ceases to be fun to drive anymore. Each driver has his or her own level of effort that they are willing to put into driving the car. It will be different for each of us but, for me, ECO cruise does a good enough job and allows me to relax and enjoy the ride! hmatthews102 and CNCGeek 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidwitham Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 I'm finding a sweet spot at 65 and just over w the ICE using ecocruise that, according to the gauges, yields just over 40MPG. Lifetime MPG is 42.1..just over 900 miles on the vehicle. I'm liking this car. Very comfortable, and I'm almost 6'7"! Max Power 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roninsd Posted January 25, 2013 Report Share Posted January 25, 2013 I find the same, David. My MPG lifetime (reset at 1000 mi) is 4.3, and I'm around 1400. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reedmother Posted February 2, 2013 Report Share Posted February 2, 2013 I said the very same thing in one of my previous posts on this forum! I agree, if you make it too much work, the car ceases to be fun to drive anymore. Each driver has his or her own level of effort that they are willing to put into driving the car. It will be different for each of us but, for me, ECO cruise does a good enough job and allows me to relax and enjoy the ride! Yes, this is the challenge! Watching the EV mode gauge constantly could be a safety issue, seems to me - but I can't stop it! Better to just put the display on to something else and enjoy the drive. I'll work on it.... roninsd 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowbar Posted March 14, 2013 Report Share Posted March 14, 2013 Let me ask a rookie question. What is ICE? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceemax71 Posted March 14, 2013 Report Share Posted March 14, 2013 I had the same question several weeks ago. ICE = Internal Combustion Engine See the acronym thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptjones Posted March 14, 2013 Report Share Posted March 14, 2013 Good feedback. Looks like we're all experiencing the same thing to some degree. While it's a fun challenge to try to get those big mpg numbers, I'm not going to push quite so hard for it. Whether I'm getting 40 or 42 highway, it's a great car to drive. I use the quick cancel/resume trick also. I wish the instantaneous mpg gauge gave more clarity between the 20 to 50 range. I feel like I have to interprelate too much. Get a ScanGauge it reads out instantaneous MPG's digitally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recumpence Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 Ditto on the ScanGauge. I have one and it is wonderful. You get instant MPG numbers, engine temp, RPM, etc, etc, etc. It also shows any error codes and resets them if you would like. Also, I can achieve better MPG than the Eco Cruise if I really try hard. However, I have been surprised that when I stop paying too much attention to the MPG and just drive the car, that I look down and find my MPG has gone way up since I last checked! Of course, I have also found that it has gone way down when I cease paying attention to it. For me, this is a $30,000 video game. I spend about 5 hours per day in my car for work and find this thing is really entertaining. Matt JAZ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtb9153 Posted March 31, 2013 Report Share Posted March 31, 2013 (edited) Interesting way of putting it but you are right it is a video game and we are always trying to better our last score. Just enjoy the ride and let things take their own course. I wise person told me once...it is what it is. Edited March 31, 2013 by mtb9153 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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