HPRifleman

To say that the C-Max is not calculating mileage correctly assumes the pump at your local gas station is accurate. We could just as easily say that the pump is over reporting the amount of fuel it is putting into the tank. Let's look at some actual data. Below are the car and pump volumes for my last 10 fill ups with the percentage difference. Tank---Gal (car)---Gal (pump)---Diff ...1........11.50..........11.62..........-1% ...2........12.47..........12.52...........0% ...3........12.37..........12.81..........-3% ...4........11.03..........11.50..........-4% ...5..........8.12...........8.04...........1% ...6........10.80..........11.13..........-3% ...7........10.08..........10.00...........1% ...8........11.90..........12.56..........-5% ...9........11.51..........12.54..........-9% ..10.......12.63..........12.14...........4% A negative difference means the pump displayed more fuel than the trip meter did. While there is a difference (about -2% overall) between the two there are several instances where the pump reported volume is lower than the trip meter. I just want to illustrate that we should be cautious before making statements that the car is "incorrect". It may or may not be but we don't know.

I never said my suggestion was perfect and I agree that capturing that data would be difficult. My purpose was to use a system that focused more on the car itself rather than the variables of the people driving it. For example, consider a conventional automobile that sits at idle (consuming very little non-engine energy) and the same model that is moving down the road. According to our present system the first one has a much lower MPG than the second simply because of the difference in miles traveled. In my proposal the car's efficiency is determined by the work it does when it is operated as intended. Granted, because of the challenge in getting the data this is more of a thought experiment than an actual feature request.

You will if you keep the state of charge high. I have done this on the interstate but it takes a lot of vigilance.

As we transition away from the conventional ICE-powered automobile I have thought that the traditional MPG measurement of efficiency is outdated. I would like to see a much more technical measurement that captures the car's true efficiency. Energy input into the car via gasoline, diesel (internal energy of a certain volume of liquid) or electric would be measured in joules. On the output side the energy used by the car for propulsion, climate control, rolling the windows up and down, etc. would be tracked. The output divided by input gives an efficiency that ignores other factors that make MPG misleading. The trick with this method, I believe, is somehow having the auto track the energy coming in and going out. I also think this is such a radical departure from the existing method that consumers would be more confused than helped.

I like this feature as well but I seem to have to play with the sensitivity too much for my liking. With autumn here we are getting more rain. Sometimes its a light drizzle and sometimes its a downpour. I would expect the auto wipers to accommodate both and everything in between. It does pretty well with the light stuff (drizzle, occasional drops) but doesn't clear as much when the rain is really strong. Having to change the sensitivity seems to defeat the purpose of a "set and forget" system. Still, I like the feature and it is the default that the wiper stalk is set at.

Deposited straight into the savings account.

While you can expect the MPG to do down when the weather is cold, the lower brake score is puzzling. In the past were you able to reach 100% braking on most of your stops? Do you feel like you are braking differently? Have traffic patterns changed to cause you to have to hit the brakes harder? Our temperatures are dropping here in the midwest and so is my mileage. A trip that used to be 50-55MPG is now 45-50MPG. Still, I can reach a 100% brake score on almost all of my stops just like I have since owning the C-Max. I would not expect the brake score to change with the season. Maybe others who went through last winter with the C-Max can comment?

It's not a real button actually. When illuminated, the small LED indicates that all 4 doors are locked.

I am curious what kind of things she didn't know about her car.

This is my entry. This mileage was done on 87 octane fuel and without the mileage update because I haven't had a chance to take the car to the dealer yet. It will probably be difficult to gauge the update's effectiveness now that the weather is turning colder. Also, this was done without any add-on plastic doo-dads.

I received mine last week but since my lifetime average is 47.3MPG and I get 50+ around town, I have been feeling too guilty to cash it.

My typical Sirius-surfing travels through the following channels: Hair Nation Boneyard 1st Wave Lithium Classic Rewind Classic Vinyl 60's on 6 70's on 7 80's on 8 90's on 9 and Hits1 when there are youngsters in the car. Also, my iPod is plugged into one of the USB ports for additional music when the above are not playing anything worth listening to.

Boy, you were really flying!

Aren't those jump starters overkill for the C-Max? Remember that the 12v battery in the C-Max is only there to close switches and connect the HV battery to the rest of the electronics. That's relatively low current stuff. It does not have to crank a starter motor like in a conventional automobile and therefore doesn't need a traditional "jump start". All you should have to do with a dead 12v battery in the C-Max is connect another 12v source to the posts under the hood. Another 12v battery would accomplish this. Just touching 12v to the posts should be enough to power up the car. I have never had to do this in my car so someone with more experience can chime in and correct me if I am wrong.

My point was that the C-Max does not use a conventional transmission design that has been around forever. The hybrid powertrain is very different from a conventional automobile.

CarpeNivem, Those are great. They are both uploaded to my MFT. The simpler Android one is now displaying on my home screen. Thanks.

How does the C-Max have a transmission?

I had this same thing happen to me this summer with MFT 3.5.2. The only solution was a master reset via the 8" screen. As you already noted, a re-pairing of the phone was necessary as well as having to re-enter my radio channel presets.

Did he tell you what he was unhappy about?

So those of you who are doing both city and interstate driving, it sounds like your mileage has gotten better at higher speeds, yes? In addition to the improvement at higher speeds, have you seen improvement in city speeds? Would you still recommend getting the update?

I have had Sirius for almost 8 years and the talk/news channels have always sounded bad. Like local AM on a cheap transistor radio. The music channels were pretty good until about a year ago. Then they would occasionally sound garbled. Like listening to a cassette with a stretched tape. I don't know if this is due to their data compression. I am also dating myself by using terms like transistor radio and cassettes.

I guess I don't understand how the new update could improve highway/interstate mileage. Previously, it looks like the best way to drive at higher speeds was to keep the battery as charged as possible by going 65MPH+ and not let the car go into EV. While this keeps the ICE running, after a while the battery gets charged and the instantaneous mileage goes up. In my experience it would rise to about 45MPG or so. If you slow down and the ICE shuts off you can just blip the throttle and turn the ICE back on to keep a charge flowing to the battery. With the new update the upper limit of EV-only running goes from 63MPH to something higher than typical interstate speeds. This means that during a normal highway drive of say 65 or 70MPH the ICE shuts off and you drive in EV for a while. This is confirmed by JohnnOhio's post above. Because of the higher speed doesn't this drain the battery quickly? After only a few miles? Then the ICE has to work harder to propel the car and charge the battery again. I would think this would drop the mileage of the ICE part of the trip to 20MPG. So you are running at 999.9MPG for only a few miles and at 20MPG for many more miles. Doesn't this drop the overall trip mileage to something lower than just running with a high charge on the battery? I have been holding off getting the new update because of this but maybe I am not understanding this correctly.

While I have made some adjustments to having the C-Max I don't feel my driving habits have drastically changed. My last vehicle was an SUV that got 17-21MPG. As is typical for a conventional automobile the better mileage came on the highway/interstate whereas it was worse in city driving. Previously, I would still try to anticipate stop lights and traffic, go easy on the brakes when slowing, try to maintain as much speed as possible in case a light turned green, and moderately accelerate. These are the same things I do now but with a few changes to take advantage of the electric running. I have found that the mileage range with the C-Max is much greater than with my old car. Before, I would get no higher than 21MPG regardless of what I tried and low end was in the 16-17MPG area (unless I drove like a maniac). Now, low side is about 40MPG on the interstate if I take it up to 70MPH or more. High side can be 50-55MPG on short city trips and over 60MPG for longer trips with the engine warmed up. One factor that has altered people's perceptions of hybrid mileage is the fact that there is a mileage gauge staring at you at all times. While some newer cars have these now, most cars don't. The reality is that most people only have a vague understanding of the true mileage they get in their vehicles. The ever-present gauge brings mileage numbers front and center. Topic tangent: I had a 1977 Chevrolet with a fuel mileage gauge. This was connected to intake manifold vacuum and did not display any numbers, just a range. But it was the only gauge of this type I had until I got the C-Max.

The 3.5.1 MFT on my C-Max has been "fair" when it comes to stability. It has rebooted itself twice and earlier in my ownership the voice commands stopped working altogether until I reset everything. It also tends to lag a bit when the car is first powered on. That being said I really like the technology. I don't know what Consumer Reports are talking about regarding complication. I have found it pretty easy to use for common tasks such as picking radio stations and making phone calls. The large screen with a map has been very helpful at times even when I did not have the navigation engaged. I can't say too much about the climate portion as I have almost never used that. Bottom line: Despite the bugs I am glad I have MFT. If I had to make the decision again I would still purchase it.

I have found that it is more traffic and stops than SOC at the beginning of the trip. Having a high charge on the battery is not a great help in a residential area as the speeds are low and you burn up that charge without a lot of miles to show for it. Being able to cruise through green lights and not having to push hard because the guy behind me wants to go 10 over the limit are much bigger factors. My commute is only 7 miles. As many of you know, a longer trip with 40-45MPH speed limits will greatly raise mileage. Sometimes I have had to run errands after work which drag the overall trip to 15 or 20 miles. In those situations 60 MPG is not difficult to achieve.