rhwinger

Generalbeluga Why would anyone drive like this? Didn't we all pay a bit of a premium for this vehicle? Isn't the very fact that we purchased a C-Max an indication that we all are motivated, to some degree, to reduce fuel consumption? I'm not proposing that everyone drive like this all the time. But there are times and situations that, if you are so inclined, where this technique could help. There are all kinds of ways to reduce fuel consumption. This probably isn't the best, but it is one way to try. I also think the fact that we have demonstrated that this vehicle can cruise at 50+ mpg is as indication that if Ford chose, they could make a software change to make this condition easier to happen for everyone. And it might help with their mileage problem.

I have managed to find a way to cruise at about 55 - 60 mph at 47 - 53 mpg. Setup conditions: Put the display in Engage mode where you have the two curved bars showing on the left hand side. Engine warmed up to normal operating temperature. Only works if the battery nearly fully charged. Relativley flat road to enter this operating condition. If the battery charge is nearly topped off, you can induce a steady engine on cruise condition by very gently manipulating gas pedal pressure. Pulse the gas pedal and ease up on the pedal to get the engine to run without EV. You might have to do this a couple times to get the feel of it. Once the engine is warmed up, on a relatively flat road, you are at about 55-58 mph and EV is off, slowly and GINGERLY back off on the gas pedal pressure. Watch the instantaneous mpg (impg) indicator climb above 40. Continue to gently reduce pedal pressue. You might have to repeatedly apply a slight amount of pressure and then back off. After awhile the impg will start to climb to the high 40's/low 50's. (pic was with display in Empower mode - Engage easier to use) Just gently maintain pedal pressure to continue in this condition, but you will have to ever-so-slightly adjust pedal pressure to compensate for gentle grade changes to keep this going. It's very easy to reduce pedal pressure too much and cause EV to kick in. Watch the power demand threshold bars on the left side of the display to keep out of EV. Pretend like you are stepping on an egg shell. If Ford would open up the deadband between engine on and EV on conditions, along with battery charge requirements, this operating condition would be a lot easier to establish and maintain. I think a software patch allowing this would help them improve overall mpg for this great vehicle.