Eeeeek! I'm getting a new ACM AND the update 13B07

[Adair]

I emailed the dealership yesterday with the news and heard back last night. I'm taking the car in  Friday afternoon and waiting while the update is performed again.

 

However, I still wonder if part of it might have worked the first time.  I noticed on the way home from the dealership (7 miles) on Thursday that it went into EV easier and stayed longer than before, but I eventually chalked that up to wishful thinking. On Friday I got my highest mpg ever on the ride home......the same exact trip, route, speed that I've taken M-F since I got the car. My previous high was 55, I think. Friday it was 60mpg! I didn't get a picture  tho, so in forum land, it didn't happen.

 

BUT, yesterday, same trip, same time of day, I got 61.3 mpg, and this time I have proof

 

61.3 by JellyBean439, on Flickr

 

I have no explanation for the 6.3 mpg increase from 1 week to the next other than partially successful  updating.

Edited August 6, 2013 by Adair

[tvtarzan]

Brand new C-Max here.  When I brought it home from the dealer, I could not get electric to kick in above 62.  Everybody knows the story.  Of course the dealership told me they already did the update and tried to me feel like an idiot.  Like I can't keep my foot still when I drive.  I told them I can move my foot really softly.  My toes aren't like all twitchy when I drive.  No electric on the highway!

 

So I brought it in.  They said they drove it and got it into electric mode.  I figured they were either lying or tried it again with the correct software version.  I noticed it had like 60 extra miles on it so they must have been testing the crap out of it.  When I drove home I could get in electric mode at high speeds.  I could set the cruise in electric mode also at highway speeds.

 

The problem with the cruise is it will shift to hybrid after a short distance which is understandable for recharging or acceleration.  But..it won't go back to electric only.  That bothers me.  I have to tap the brake, move out of cruise, and set it again if I want to drive in electric mode only.  I think it should automatically go back and forth in cruise control.

[zhackwyatt]

Brand new C-Max here.  When I brought it home from the dealer, I could not get electric to kick in above 62.  Everybody knows the story.  Of course the dealership told me they already did the update and tried to me feel like an idiot.  Like I can't keep my foot still when I drive.  I told them I can move my foot really softly.  My toes aren't like all twitchy when I drive.  No electric on the highway!

 

So I brought it in.  They said they drove it and got it into electric mode.  I figured they were either lying or tried it again with the correct software version.  I noticed it had like 60 extra miles on it so they must have been testing the crap out of it.  When I drove home I could get in electric mode at high speeds.  I could set the cruise in electric mode also at highway speeds.

 

The problem with the cruise is it will shift to hybrid after a short distance which is understandable for recharging or acceleration.  But..it won't go back to electric only.  That bothers me.  I have to tap the brake, move out of cruise, and set it again if I want to drive in electric mode only.  I think it should automatically go back and forth in cruise control.

Have you tried pulling the left paddle on the steering wheel, let it drop in EV and then pulling it again?  This just temporarily disables cruise, instead of having to press the brake.

[tvtarzan]

no..will try that.  Would be better than tapping brake.  Would think the computer should go back and forth from EV and hybrid though while in cruise.

[zhackwyatt]

no..will try that.  Would be better than tapping brake.  Would think the computer should go back and forth from EV and hybrid though while in cruise.

Do you  use the Empower mode in the gauge?  You can see the power demands of the car versus the threshold it takes to get into EV.  I don't have the FE update yet, so I have not played with EV at high speeds, but even around 45 mph sometimes using Cruise doesn't get into EV when I think it should.  Eco Cruise doesn't do anything "special" to get into EV.  It's just holding the car at a steady speed.  When you are using your foot, if you ever drop below that blue line (which is very easy to do) then you'll go into EV mode. But when in Eco Cruise, it'll never really drop unless the power demand drops, like going down an incline.

[Jus-A-CMax]

I emailed the dealership yesterday with the news and heard back last night. I'm taking the car in  Friday afternoon and waiting while the update is performed again.

 

However, I still wonder if part of it might have worked the first time.  I noticed on the way home from the dealership (7 miles) on Thursday that it went into EV easier and stayed longer than before, but I eventually chalked that up to wishful thinking. On Friday I got my highest mpg ever on the ride home......the same exact trip, route, speed that I've taken M-F since I got the car. My previous high was 55, I think. Friday it was 60mpg! I didn't get a picture  tho, so in forum land, it didn't happen.

 

BUT, yesterday, same trip, same time of day, I got 61.3 mpg, and this time I have proof

 

61.3 by JellyBean439, on Flickr

 

I have no explanation for the 6.3 mpg increase from 1 week to the next other than partially successful  updating.

 

Keep that up and its the 700 Club for you...1st female to do it, if you dare...  :thumbsup:

[Adair]

Keep that up and its the 700 Club for you...1st female to do it, if you dare...  :thumbsup:

Thanks for the vote of confidence Jus.....but that's a big *if* 

 

This tank is at 47.1 so far with 290 miles on it, but there is no highway at all......just surface streets back and forth to work. We'll see how it all plays out.

[spyburn]

I find that with the update there is a bit of a hesitation to drop into EV at highway speeds - I'm getting the hang of "forcing" it. Rather than temporarily turning off the cruise control, which I find then forces the car to try and "catch up" thus coming out of EV mode, I accelerate slightly.  I'm talking increase my speed by 1 or 2 mph, then let off the gas and the car drops smoothly into EV and, depending on the terrain and SOC in the battery, stays there for as long as 1.6 miles at 70 mph.

 

Brand new C-Max here.  When I brought it home from the dealer, I could not get electric to kick in above 62.  Everybody knows the story.  Of course the dealership told me they already did the update and tried to me feel like an idiot.  Like I can't keep my foot still when I drive.  I told them I can move my foot really softly.  My toes aren't like all twitchy when I drive.  No electric on the highway!

 

So I brought it in.  They said they drove it and got it into electric mode.  I figured they were either lying or tried it again with the correct software version.  I noticed it had like 60 extra miles on it so they must have been testing the crap out of it.  When I drove home I could get in electric mode at high speeds.  I could set the cruise in electric mode also at highway speeds.

 

The problem with the cruise is it will shift to hybrid after a short distance which is understandable for recharging or acceleration.  But..it won't go back to electric only.  That bothers me.  I have to tap the brake, move out of cruise, and set it again if I want to drive in electric mode only.  I think it should automatically go back and forth in cruise control.

[Adair]

I find that with the update there is a bit of a hesitation to drop into EV at highway speeds - I'm getting the hang of "forcing" it. Rather than temporarily turning off the cruise control, which I find then forces the car to try and "catch up" thus coming out of EV mode, I accelerate slightly.  I'm talking increase my speed by 1 or 2 mph, then let off the gas and the car drops smoothly into EV and, depending on the terrain and SOC in the battery, stays there for as long as 1.6 miles at 70 mph.

Shelly, did you lose EV + locations and Regen miles?

[Jus-A-CMax]

Thanks for the vote of confidence Jus.....but that's a big *if* 

 

This tank is at 47.1 so far with 290 miles on it, but there is no highway at all......just surface streets back and forth to work. We'll see how it all plays out.

 

Thats the BIG SAUSAGE there in the city, you'll be killing it in the MPG and add the mustard to the sausage with a Hawaiian Sweet roll to boot :flirt:

 

I am doing the opposite now, mostly freeway and its 50MPG at the gauge, not trying at all...sensational :headspin:

Edited August 7, 2013 by Jus-A-CMax

[salsaguy]

zhack, slight correction....actually EcoCruise does NOT hold the speed constant. that is what normal cruise control does. eco cruise will move up/down (approx +/- 5 mpg or so around your setpoint for your cruise) so that it will rev at the most fuel efficient rpms to get the best mpgs. in normal cc the engine will significantly increase the rpms when you start to climb a hill in CC , which in turn will show a terrible mpg on your instantaneous mpg gage.

Eco Cruise doesn't do anything "special" to get into EV.  It's just holding the car at a steady speed  When you are using your foot, if you ever drop below that blue line (which is very easy to do) then you'll go into EV mode. But when in Eco Cruise, it'll never really drop unless the power demand drops, like going down an incline.

Edited August 16, 2013 by salsaguy

[zhackwyatt]

zhack, slight correction....actually EcoCruise does NOT hold the speed constant. that is what normal cruise control does. eco cruise will move up/down (approx +/- 5 mpg or so around your setpoint for your cruise) so that it will rev at the most fuel efficient rpms to get the best mpgs. in normal cc the engine will significantly increase the rpms even you start to climb a hill in CC , which in turn will show va terrible mpg on your instantaneous mpg gage.

You right, I was just assuming a flat road though.

[Testdriver]

I'm not convinced it's more fuel efficient to go to EV modes at high speeds, drain the battery, then recharge and repeat. That just means you're going to be regen-ing the battery 90% of the time. The ability to go to EV mode at high speeds basically gives your car a means of turning off the ICE at opportune times -- going down hills, slowing down, etc.

[plus 3 golfer]

I'm not convinced it's more fuel efficient to go to EV modes at high speeds, drain the battery, then recharge and repeat. That just means you're going to be regen-ing the battery 90% of the time. The ability to go to EV mode at high speeds basically gives your car a means of turning off the ICE at opportune times -- going down hills, slowing down, etc.

I agree there's simply more opportunity to run the hybrid powertrain more efficiently including providing higher levels of EV assist to maintain speed for example going uphill for short distances rather than run ICE in an inefficient operating range.

 

I also am not convinced that "forcing" EV operation at high speed makes a lot of sense unless one is trying to do high speed P&G (IMO tough to do at 75+ mph on a freeway) or anticipate conditions (drain battery fully going uphill to allow capture of more kinetic energy going down hill but that will likely happen now anyways).  When I'm cruising at 75+ mph for hours, I want to set eco-cruise, relax and let the PCM choose the most efficient operation.  I really don't see any benefit of kicking down the cruise a notch or two (1-2 mph) just to run in EV at high speed.  Effectively one has slowed their speed down and will get better FE (less drag).  If one wants to get better FE, reduce ones overall average speed.

[Jus-A-CMax]

+3 did you notice anything with the active shutter grills and how -if- they made changes there for the higher speeds to improve efficiency?

[plus 3 golfer]

+3 did you notice anything with the active shutter grills and how -if- they made changes there for the higher speeds to improve efficiency?

No, I really haven't checked shutter operation as that would require me to mount my camera and simply observe and I really don't have a good baseline for comparison (I couldn't record the time I did observe the shutter operations because my old laptop is to slow).  

 

It's going to be hard to determine individually the FE effect of the PCM upgrade, AC efficiency improvement, and the shutter operations improvement.  I think we just have to drive more, worry less about the FE improvement and wait to see whether our overall FE has improved from prior to the update.  It seems that I'm getting maybe 2 mpg better at higher speed cruising (65 - 70 mph) but it's difficult to assign the improvement to PCM, AC, shutters or something else.

[Jus-A-CMax]

No, I really haven't checked shutter operation as that would require me to mount my camera and simply observe and I really don't have a good baseline for comparison (I couldn't record the time I did observe the shutter operations because my old laptop is to slow).  

 

It's going to be hard to determine individually the FE effect of the PCM upgrade, AC efficiency improvement, and the shutter operations improvement.  I think we just have to drive more, worry less about the FE improvement and wait to see whether our overall FE has improved from prior to the update.  It seems that I'm getting maybe 2 mpg better at higher speed cruising (65 - 70 mph) but it's difficult to assign the improvement to PCM, AC, shutters or something else.

 

No worries. I'll have to wait till the end of this year before I run my Mammoth trips again. I got good baselines there especially coming home. 

 

O'ptjones...where art thou?  ;)

[zhackwyatt]

No worries. I'll have to wait till the end of this year before I run my Mammoth trips again. I got good baselines there especially coming home. 

 

O'ptjones...where art thou?  ;)

And Rachel?

[kicker48219]

does the engine not kick in til after 85mph? that's what my recall letter states.

[SnitGTS]

oes the engine not kick in til after 85mph? that's what my recall letter states.

 

The engine will come on when it needs to be on at any speed, it will only remain on 100% of the time when over 85 mph.  Basically this allows you to glide down hills in EV mode at normal freeway speeds.  Even on relatively flat ground my car would not go into EV mode at 70 mph, the blue threshold bar was there, but well below my power requirements so it would have never come on.

 

Jus, I can't wait to see what type of mileage you can get with this update, but I feel like you are so in tune with how your car works now that you are going to have to 'learn to drive it' again.  I haven't driven it a lot since the update, but it feels like a different car to me.  Definitely more aggressive with the use of the electric motor and it seems to make an effort to keep the charge higher than before.  Could just be my imagination, but that is the feel I got from my first day with it.

 

I'm not going to work today, it's raining pretty hard so I'm gonna work from home. (love being able to do that!!!)  So no attempt at breaking my 72.4 mpg record to the office today, maybe tomorrow.

Edited August 8, 2013 by SnitGTS

[VAbluecmax]

Second time's the charm for update 13B07 - I had a couple of updates 2 weeks ago but the car couldn't go into electric above 62 so I figured that the new update hadn't been released.  After reading of everyone's experiences here, I checked my paperwork and they had installed 13B07 so I called and made an appt for them to try again.  It worked perfectly and I took it on the freeway and was able to get it into electric mode at 80 mph (sorry, no pictures! :) ) I'll have to see if the warm-up time is shorter tomorrow morning.

[wab]

The engine will come on when it needs to be on at any speed, it will only remain on 100% of the time when over 85 mph.  Basically this allows you to glide down hills in EV mode at normal freeway speeds.  Even on relatively flat ground my car would not go into EV mode at 70 mph, the blue threshold bar was there, but well below my power requirements so it would have never come on.

 

Jus, I can't wait to see what type of mileage you can get with this update, but I feel like you are so in tune with how your car works now that you are going to have to 'learn to drive it' again.  I haven't driven it a lot since the update, but it feels like a different car to me.  Definitely more aggressive with the use of the electric motor and it seems to make an effort to keep the charge higher than before.  Could just be my imagination, but that is the feel I got from my first day with it.

 

I'm not going to work today, it's raining pretty hard so I'm gonna work from home. (love being able to do that!!!)  So no attempt at breaking my 72.4 mpg record to the office today, maybe tomorrow.

 

I usually make a couple of 0 to 60 runs on all my cars with a Passport GTimer.

Was waiting for better weather, and a few more miles on the ICE.

 

I sure wish I had made them, my butt dyno says THIS car now has much more torque with 13B07.

It's life the electric motor is actually doing it's job.

 

Before I could not accelerate from 45 on level ground... Now SAME road 45 to 50 NO PROBLEM and NO ICE.

 

:happy feet:

[Adair]

Ok, I was right......part of the update took and part didn't. That explains why my MPGs have been steadily creeping up this tank. I hope they didn't undo that when they redid it today. I've only driven about 10 miles since then, and none on the highway. BUT, the regen miles are gone and EV+ locations gone. I did not have to re SYNC the phone, however.

[dweiser]

I'm willing to bet big time bucks that you did not get the proper update. This is what happened to me. If you can't get into EV above 62 and the EV+ locations are still active, you didn't get it. I had to go back a second day to have them do the proper update. My dealer said they did not have the proper update in their laptops and had to redo that before re-doing me.

I guess my small dealer here in Brevard, NC got it right first time because my Regen Miles are gone.  I am, quite frankly, surprised and pleased.

Don

[dweiser]

I guess I would be more concerned, Laurel, if others hadn't had the same issue with their dealerships. It sure seems that not all of the technicians got enough training on all of this, tho.

While I can't explain the 17 mile discrepancy, I have to wonder if, with a software upgrade, maybe there's really no need for a test drive of any miles other than getting the vehicle out of the bay so the next service can be performed.  I'm a fairly untrusting individual but I think if they said they didn't test drive it, they just might be telling the truth.  I was there for my upgrade and all they did was back it out of the service bay and hand me the keys.