MacGyver

I thought I felt that, despite my ford salesman telling me the direct opposite. Got any numbers on which is most efficient? I would expect braking, hill assist, then coasting.

Trying to figure out how to post pictures of average mileage... wasn't there a thread about long distance mpg? I got 51mpg going to malibu and 56mpg coming back. https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B_0HkVXu8lXNUUcydTB4MmQtYk0/edit?usp=sharing [

I've gotten in the habit of activating my cell camera before shutting the car off to document mpg, if you miss the picture, you can hit the start button again and it will still show the same trip mpg if you hit the down arrow steering wheel button.

FYI I've seen all electric up to 63-64mph with an almost fully charged battery and a level to slight downhill.

I have come to regard my C-max as "the Fast hybrid" because I had been trying to drive it with what I THOUGHT would be the most efficient style, i.e., slowly. Tried to keep it in EV as much as possible, to the annoyance of anyone behind me. Tried to drive it at 55-60mph on freeways. Then I read an article that interviewed a ford engineer, who explained that people were getting low mpg because they weren't driving them HARD ENOUGH to charge the battery. Found out that I got BETTER mileage at 65-75mph than at 55mph ( 55mph=30mpg 65-75mph=40-50mpg). Found out that if I used the EV to start off the line until ICE kicks in, then accelerate briskly up to speed limit, do a quick liftoff of foot off gas to re-engage EV, I would get 0.1 MORE MPG. It's not a lot, but it's easier to drive that way, and doesn't annoy the people behind me, and recharges the battery better with the higher RPMs as I accelerate, and I'm burning more gas for a shorter period to reach cruising speed. This is my city driving style now. It's kind of funny when you see the people behind you realize they're behind a hybrid beginning to look to go around you, until EV switches off and I accelerate past all the other drivers. I also draft behind semi's to reduce wind resistance, (at a reasonable distance, it doesn't make that much difference) but not concrete trucks anymore since one dropped a big chunk of concrete that shattered and nicked my nice new car. Anyone know any numbers of how much more efficient brake recharging is vs. when you're just coasting and seeing the arrow above the batt display? I assume that depending on how hard I brake, that changes the CVT gearing ratios to generate more power? Or is that an incorrect assumption? I've come to drive progressively slower as I age, both for reasons of maturity, but also for comfort and FE. Also, my back hurts after driving so much ( I drive all over L.A. for my work) which was also why I chose the C-max over the Prius, which is a really harsh, tight ride. I almost bought an 2006 Honda insight, but couldn't find one with a nice ride (some have a VERY cushy ride, some bottom out constantly, it's fixable, at least according to a guy on the internet, but still) that I liked and didn't have multiple problems at a reasonable price, and both for safety reasons, greater storage capability (those little compartments behind the seat were a big deal to me! Sometimes it's the littlest things...) and to make my wife happy, bought the C-max. I wouldn't say it changed my driving habits much, my preferred ride is a full size van, which rides like a luxury car, which is no race car, so I drove that pretty slowly, as I do grandma's lincoln.

I saw 50mpg going 75mph, (maybe 50+ I forget) took a video of it, unfortunately, my sd card died, so I don't know if that was recovered by the recovery program, I'll post it eventually if it was. This was on a slight downhill on the 5 fwy just south of the 14. Maybe even level. Ditto the sweet spot, I had thought maybe the CVT was simply more efficient at 65-75mph, nice to get the high ICE / batt charge info, thanks! I use the brake to recharge on downhills steep enough, it can be activated with a light enough foot, unfortunately, the pressure required to do so is just a bit LESS than simply resting your foot on the pedal so as to recharge without slowing too much, requires a pretty high degree of touch sensitivity and muscle control. It would be nice if the resistance in the pedal could be adjusted so I could simply rest my foot on it while going downhill to activate recharging without slowing my speed too much, wife's sister lives in Tujunga, which is a big climb to the base of the mountains, then one loooong downhill back to Torrance. I've gotten 50-60mpg on that run consistently. Matter of fact, now that I think of it, I will have to take a look under the dash to see if I can add a spring to the brake pedal so I can rest my foot on it without having to hold some of the weight of my leg off of it... I've even gotten 70 mpg not on the instant, but on the average, in stop and go traffic, where I was basically just using EV to creep forward, then braking almost all that power right back into the batt, like a yo-yo. Of course, I had to reset the average while already on the freeway, and once I started driving in the city again, that 70 disappeared pretty quick, but it just goes to show how efficient this car CAN be. I lose a lot of mpg while idling, doing phone calls in the car, paperwork, etc. I think I lost 2-3mpg in a half hour once with the A/C on. It's stuff like that that makes me really happy to have this car now, because I am actually happy to see traffic, knowing I will get good gas mileage. Anyone know any numbers of how much more efficient brake recharging is vs. when you're just coasting and seeing the arrow above the batt display? I assume that depending on how hard I brake, that changes the CVT gearing ratios to generate more power? Or is that an incorrect assumption?