AgentCMAX

Off topic:

Bigalpha, is that a pic of your bearded dragon? How old and what sex is it?

Haven't posted for a while but I got my $550 check in the mail today.

How are you guys getting in the mid 40's! Consumers Report says it's bottom possible ;-)

I got my best mileage on the leg to work today:  53.7 mpg for a distance of about 25.4 miles!  I have 2100+ miles on the C-Max now.  My tires are inflated to 41 psi and the temperature this morning was around 49-51 deg F.  I just inflated the tire pressure to 41 psi last Friday so I'm not sure if that plays a part in the improve mileage or not.  Previous tire pressure was in the range 30-36 psi.

This leg of the commute consisted of about 55% city, and 50% hwy and contains small rolling terrain (both in city and hwy).  Max speed in city/back-roads was about 50mph and max speed on hwy was 65mph.  I would estimate 50% of the speed on the hwy was around 55-62 mph with.  I don't cruise at 65mph however.  I will drop it back down to 62mph to get into the EV zone when I'm at a flat or down-sloping portion of the hwy.  When the engine kicks in, I bring the speed back up to 65mph to recharge the battery.

However, I think my home is at a higher elevation than my work, so that maybe one reason why the leg home is normally less fuel efficient than the leg to work.  I normally get about 44 mpg on the leg to home.

PT, I think they look very nice. I like how you cut it to precisely mate with the grill. One suggestion I have is to enhance it with a sliding plate mechanism to control the amount of airflow to pass thru.

http://www.freep.com/article/20121220/COL14/312200068/Ford-C-Max-hybrid-excels-in-affordability-roominess-and-fuel-economy

Fuel economy is a reason to buy the * * * * 2013 Ford C-Max hybrid crossover, but not the only reason. That matters because critics have questioned how close the C-Max's real-world gas mileage comes to its eye-popping EPA rating of 47 m.p.g. in the city, 47 on the highway and 47 in combined driving.

I'm still here!  The world is still here!  My C-Max is still here!!! :happy feet:

Just added photos to my gallery. Tried to attach to this post with no luck - anyone else having problems with this site????

Yeah I can't link to the photos either.  It was working prior to the site attack the other day.

Thanks for the link.  Seems like a sophisticated BMS is required to carefullly charge the Li-ion batteries as well as the way the battery cells are laid out and whatever electronics/connectors that are part of that battery system so that it can properly charge each cells.

Just like every other car component (and everything else in life), the batteries used in hybrid powertrains degrade and eventually wear out. But a buyer paying a premium for a hybrid wants the best possible information about just how long those components will last. To try and predict how these batteries will fare, Ford developed the Key Life Test, which is actually a batch of tests designed to put 150,000 miles and a decade’s worth of wear and tear on its lithium-ion batteries in just 10 months.

 

 

 

Read more: How to Stress-Test Hybrid Batteries - Popular Mechanics

 

I remember reading in this forum as well as in the User's Manual that the C-Max will occassionally do some sort of resetting (not sure if that's the right word) of the Li-Ion battery system.  I was doing some research on Li-Ion batteries and ran across this site...

http://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/equalizing_charge

I wonder if that's what's going on during that phase.

(It would be cool if such a thing existed, but even after all this time I've never heard of a Prius owner doing that.)

I googled on this topic and there are actually companies out there (since 2007) that have been converting Prii to plug-in (even before there were a plug-in Prius) as well as Ford Escape hybrids.  I'm sure there are some pretty bright people who knows what they're doing.

Yeah, heard this on the radio today on way to work.  No mention of C-Max however.  Wonder how the C-Max did.

I noticed that sometimes when I get home, my C-Max battery is pretty low on charge (maybe 1/5 or 1/4 charged).  I was thinking it would be nice to charge that battery up over night.  But I'm not interested in a bigger battery like the Energi.  I simply want the Hybrid's battery to get charged.  What would it take to accomplish this?  Would it be possible to do it w/ a portable solar cell so I can set it up at work?

What I am thinking of is some sort of portable unit with a power cord where on one end has a quick-disconnect and on the other end, connects to the Hybrid's battery so that this cord can stay inside the car and remains connected to the battery for easy connect/disconnect.  Then, portable unit that can be connected to the wall or to a portable solar cell panel.

Sort of like those battery tender devices but capable of delivering enough amperage or wattage (?) to charge the high-voltage battery in the Hybrid.

Thoughts?  Referrals?  Links?

Thanks!

The numbers first displayed when you shutdown are for the Trip Summary segment you just finished driving.  The info used in that display begins when you start up and ends when you shutdown each time automatically.  To check it if you reset Trip One on start up the segment display and Trip One display should be very close when you shut down...  The reason I say close as they display different data fields and I do not know how the system accounts for Regen Miles....

But if I reset Trip 1 as soon as the car is started and prior to driving, shouldn't Trip 1 and the "Trip Summary" be the same?  And why would Regen miles be a factor in determining avg. MPG?  And if they are factor, then how do they affect MPG calculations?

EDIT:

Looking more closely at the data provided from the pictures,

Trip 1 shows: 26.8 mi using 0.50 gallon.

Trip Summary shows: 26.5 mi using 0.4 gallon.

And now I remember.  You are correct, RedLdr1.  I forgot that I had dropped off my daughter at school in the morning on the way to work.  So that explains the discreprancy.  So my Trip Summary actually shows only the trip from my daughter's school to my work.  Where as Trip 1 shows the data from my house to my work.

Thanks for clearing that up!!!

There are 4 averages.

 

1) Trip 1

 

2) Trip 2

 

3) Lifetime for which a reset will reset EV+, etc

 

4) And a 4th average which you can reset by holding down the ok while in empower/enlighten/engage etc.

Then what is the avg MPG that is shown as "Trip Summary" at the end of the trip when you shut down the car?  Because that is different from all four numbers you listed.

For me, Trip 1 says A, Trip 2 says B, Lifetime says C, and 4th average says D.  And then there is this "Trip Summary" that is displayed when the car shut down.  And this "Trip Summary" is different from all those.  I upload some pictures but for some reason I can link them here.  But if you look at my porfolio under my user id you will see pictures labled "Trip1 Summary" and "Trip Summary".  Before I left the house, I reset Trip 1.  By the time I get to work, the picture "Trip1 Summary" shows my mileage info for Trip 1.  Then I shut down the car, the picture "Trip Summary" shows that information.

I'm not sure if my assessment is correct but when the car shuts down, it displays two MPGs.  The MPG for the trip and then the Lifetime MPG.

On my way to work today, I noticed a discrepancy in the avg. MPG displayed on Trip 1 vs. the MPG displayed for the trip (not the lifetime MPG) when the car shuts down.

I will take pictures and post them later.  Essentially, Trip 1 was reporting 53mpg or so while the display during shut down was showing 55 mpg for the same trip.  I reset Trip 1 prior to leaving the house.  So shouldn't both display match?

Has anyone checked to see how far off the odometer and speedometer are? I don't have an empty enough stretch of highway to test on. So, an indicated 60mph vs scangauge to see how far off the speedo is. Then a scangauge 60mph vs gps to see how far off the car's computer is. And then, let's say for example indicated speed is same as that reported by scangauge (meaning that the ODO would be accurate as far as the car knows), but like with a lot of cars out there, it is actually over reporting, (indicated 60mph = 58mph according to GPS), then driving 600 miles and consuming 12gallons would actually be 580 miles with that same 12gallons which would mean 48.3 mpg instead of 50mpg. Of course i doubt the computer is smart enough to do this, but if this was the case and we're actually getting more real world results, wouldn't that be the goal in the long run?

I don't have a Scangauge.  But I've measured my C-Max's speed with an external TomTom GPS device and it's within 0.5 to 1 mph at 60-65mph as well as at 35mph.

If you top off, then you are somewhere between that 6" mark and the actual top, but you don't know how far between them you actually are. Of course, you have to fill slowly enough that you don't trigger the shutoff too early due to foaming or turbulence effects, but that's going to be the same in either case.

Actually, I was thinking of topping it off until you can see the gas at the inlet or put some sort of flotation device with a stick in it so that you can more accurately measure it.  As soon as the stick hits the tip of the inlet, you know it's at the same level and you pull out the device.

But there's possible more interesting things happening here: at least on my Energi, I think the fuel system is pressurized when driving. And it's also possible that the fuel tank isn't rigid, but a flexible bladder within a shell. Both of these could make a difference in our fuel measurements, either as it's consumed or as it's added.

Interesting.  I can see this as helping in the delivery of the gas but I fail to see how this design would allow for accurate measurement of the gas level.  I guess if you pressurized from the top of the tank downwards so that the fluid is always at the bottom then I guess that would work.  But this would seem to be a more expensive solution...would they not want a system that costs less?

I find it strange that an organization like CR can influence what the EPA do based on testing that is completely different from EPA test guidelines.  Why bother having a standard approach to testing if you allow others to influence you because they tested the products differently?

 

Of course, I think the core problem is the EPA tests themselves, not Ford's claims about the test results, so Ford will probably fight this and win easily.

The problem is also these greedy class-action lawsuits lawyers wanting to make a quick buck before all the facts are out.  But at the same time, perhaps this is the only way to get the facts out!?!?

I have noticed the fill inconsistency that I believe is related to capless fill inlet. I reset the Trip 1 with every fill and make a note of how much fuel has been consumed since the last fillup. Next if the pump shuts off before the gallons consumed is below what the trip meter reads I continue to squeeze the pump handle until the numbers are close. Never has the gas over filled using this method.

 

As always your results may vary.

 

 

Yes, but this approach still doesn't accomodate for the possible flaw in the way the C-Max determines the amount of consumed gas.  For my situation, it reported 10.46 gallons.  However, the actual filled amount was 11.77 gallons.  I can see how this method to fill a tank will address the situation of filling under the reported amount.  But how will that resolve the situation where the reported consumed gallons is actually less than what was filled? 

That's why I'm thinking topping off is the more accurate way since you always know the amount of gas is the same in the tank because you are making sure of it being topped off.  (I'm not recommending this by the way...just want to analyze how filling-up methods can affect actual mileage calculations).

Your C-Max has two ways to move, a gas engine and electric motor. If your battery has enough charge the gas engine will shut off, using no gas, and the electric motor will move the C-Max.

 

With the gas engine off its consuming no fuel and the C-Max fuel gauge registers correctly that no gas is being consumed.

 

I understand how the gas engine and electric motor behaves.  What I don't understand about the comment is how it is supposed to explain the difference in the reported mileage?  What difference does it make if the mileage is based on EV or not?  You simply tally up total miles driven and divide that by total gallons consumed.  That gives you the avg. MPG value.  Unless you are trying to say the C-Max calculates the mileage for gas engine operation separately.  But if that's the case, then it's even off by a much larger margin. 

I'm sorry if I'm not making any sense.  I'm just not clear on how the mileage can be so way off.  Based on my experience, the C-Max appears to be way off on its tracking of consumed gas.  However, I'm not sure if my method of filling-up is correct either (even though I'm using the same pump from the same station).  So that in itself may affect the outcome.

Until then, I'd suggest that everyone use caution in parking, so that they aren't on a slant and will immediately drift into a car or other object if the car starts to roll.

Thanks for the update, Scooter. And if any one does park on a hill, then I suggest using the hand brake before reversing to make sure the car is in gear and can move just as a precaution.

What is the proper way to fill up? It seems to me topping off is the more accurate method since you know exactly where the gas tops off and can easily determine how much fuel it takes to top off the next time since you know it is the same level each time. If you don't top off then you are at the mercy of the pump nozzle stopping (which may not be operating correctly).

He says it's because when we are stopped at a light, we are using NO fuel, vs. a normal car, using fuel but driving zero miles.

I don't understand this statement. Could some one please elaborate on this. Is he saying because we sit still with engine off it is not using any gas so it calculates less amount of gas consumed?

That can't be right since doing that may result in a tank with no gas...and that's a hazard.