bymaine

Don't forget to remove the foam inserts before a carwash......

Just looked at my post. I gained 5.7 mpg....not 57 mpg!!!! Sorry

Paul, you will like this... I installed temporary foam grill covers last night and went for a 20 mile test run in 1 degree weather. Got 41.4 mpg. Removed the foam this morning, and repeated the identical course, and only got 35.7 mpg without the covers in place! The temp was 1 degree again. Big mileage gain with the 'covers' - and they match the sterling grey CMax color! Both tests were done with a cold car, sitting outside for hours prior to the test. It was very noticeable how cold the cabin was, and how much the ICE had to run without the covers in place. I was watching "my view" and had power and coolant temp on the screen. Every time the temp hit the lower hash mark, the indicator turned blue, and the ICE started...regardless of battery charge. Cabin heat was set to 72 degrees and slow fan speed for both trips. As many have reported, the longer the trip, the better the mileage. As the trip went on, the engine obviously warmed up, and wasn't required to start due to cold temps, but rather battery charge level. I know Paul is working on a grill cover design. 2 concerns I have - my front license plate sits in a bracket that protrudes out about 1/2". There are some weird bolts attaching the bracket that appear 'unremoveable' - so maybe there should be a cutout for the front plate? Also, at what temperature do we want to remove these covers to prevent overheating? I am convinced the grill covers are the way to go, especially up here in the New England winter! I gained 57 mpg with this test! Thanks for all your research.

Don't we have cool lobster plates in Maine?

Test results from Maine - 1 degree last night. Used (3) foam pipe insulators and wedged them into the lower and middle grills. I tried to attach pix. Huge improvement in mileage compared to the 35.6 I was getting all day ( even in warmer daytime weather!) My trial trip was 20.1 miles - I averaged 41.4 mpg! (10.8 EV, 0.8 regen, used 0.4 gals) Most of the trip was under 45mph. I set up "my view" to include the power screen and eng temp. The water temp is definitely running warmer and warming quicker - Staying warmer for a longer period of time. During the first 10 mins of the trip, the temp would drop below the lower line every time I went into EV mode and cause the ICE to start. As the trip progressed, the engine rarely kicked on due to temp. As others have noticed, the mileage increases as the trip goes on. I want to remove the foam and repeat the identical route today with the same frigid temp conditions. I am very curious to see the difference. Thank you Paul and Chinto for the pix and posts. Paul, do you think your plexiglass covers can be modified to accommodate a front license plate? More later. Brian

Maine requires front plates as well. We are looking at single digit temps tonight and tomorrow up here. Will try and get to the hardware store for some insulation to trial some temporary grill covers. Today, I averaged only 35 mpg with temps in the low 20s. The water temp gauge never goes above the first bar, like chinto reports. I think Illinois and Maine are in the same cold wave. Thanks for the pix Chinto. Great numbers from Ptjones! How would you compare your water temps to the gauge on the display screen...do you think 195-205 is equivalent to half way up the gauge? My SE doesn't have any numbers for the water temp - just a low and high mark. Thanks for the info. Hopefully some cold weather blockage will help my numbers!

Sounds great, thanks for the offer. The short trips are killing my mileage. There is nothing but freezing temps predicted for the next 10 days up here. I'm getting 35 mpg over the past few days due to the frigid temps. Will be very interesting to see how the grill covers increase the engine heat/mpg! Thank you very much. Brian

I saw pix in your gallery of the grill covers. Do you think they would help in cold New England weather? What is your reasoning behind installing them? To limit cold air intake into the engine? Will this force warmer air from under the hood? Do you have all 3 grills covered? We are in the teens this week in Maine...Thanks