FE progress

[tehuti]

I've had the C-Max for a little over a week now and I am getting the hang of this "fuel efficiency mambo" with the hybrid. At first it seemed like a lot of work, but as I become more accustomed to watching my heavy foot, it is getting easier. Today I averaged about 42+mpg on my drive in to work. It is about 70% freeway/30% street, with a pretty serious hill climb for about the last 4 to 5 miles. In EcoCruise mode I have been able to get up to around 70 in EV mode for some stretches. 

 

BTW, I got the latest FE update last Wednesday. I didn't have the car long enough to really tell if there was much of a difference. But it does seem like I am able to get EV mode easier and at higher speeds than originally.

 

My overall average has been creeping up steadily and I am now over 36mpg. I will be happy with an overall average of over 40mpg if I can maintain that without having to drive like grandma.
 

[Jmonty]

The way back from work should more than make up for the way in. I bet you can get mid 50s if traffic doesn't cause you to rush.

[fotomoto]

If that hill is steep enough for regen on the return leg, you should strive to end up at work with a depleted battery and then let inertia fill it back up when leaving.

[tehuti]

If that hill is steep enough for regen on the return leg, you should strive to end up at work with a depleted battery and then let inertia fill it back up when leaving.

I actually take a canyon route home rather than going down the hill. The freeway is brutal in the evening, so if I can avoid it I do. This afternoon I stayed on EcoCruise as much as possible between 55-60mph. Between the canyon and the streets I got 48.1 mpg without too much effort. Not bad.

[ScubaDadMiami]

It may now be worth it to sit in some traffic while gliding and regenerating all the way home.

[tehuti]

It may now be worth it to sit in some traffic while gliding and regenerating all the way home.

I have plenty of opportunities to do that between the canyon and home. Lots of street traffic.

[GaryM]

I still do not have the 13B07 FE update, so mine still goes into IC engine mode at anything over about 63 MPH. But that does not mean it get's bad mileage. I just drove from just north of Los Angeles down to San Diego. My total miles on the trip so far is 145.6 miles. I only used 2.85 gallons of gas. That pegs my average at 51.0 MPG since I left home and only about 25 miles were in EV mode. Most of the trip was at close to 70 mph to stay with trafic in the 65 posted areas. It is a bit of a down slope, but when you figure I went from 1000 foot altitude and I am not at 140 foot altitude spread over 145 miles, that is not really down hill, but the C-Max is definately very sensitive to any slope at all, which does make sense, since it weighs over 3600 pounds. Lifting it up 860 feet is going to take a chunk of energy on my way home on Thursday. If I can keep up this mileage, I may have an entry for the 600 mile club. It is still showing a distance to empty of about 490 miles still which suggests over 630 total miles on this tank, but I do know it drops off kinda fast on the last 1/4 tank.

 

On the "Old" software, I did kick it into "High ICE" mode from 45 to 60 MPH a few times to keep the battery from dropping too low. I think this helped a lot on getting this excellent mileage. After seeing this in the thread on the new software, I tried it on the old software. It Works! If I am in ECO cruise in EV mode and the battery gets close to 50%, I just give the accelerator pedal a blip and the IC Engine fires up and the pack charges while getting 30-40 mpg, but it kicks back to EV mode at about 70% charge. If I let it go down to 25% or so, where it goes into ICE mode by itself, it get's low 20's on MPG and stays there much longer. Of course, when I was sailing down a mile long hill at 72 MPH, it sure would have been nice to kill the IC Engine while charging up. I hit the tach up and it was spinning away at nearly 2000 rpm. Obviously the pack was charging and the MPG bar was pegged at 60+, but is it still burning gas, or is the engine just being spun from the car coasting with the injectors shut off? Most fuel injected cars cut off the injectors during over run, and I bet the C-Max does too, but we are still losing some energy to the drag of pushing the pistons up and down.

 

I see the good sides of the new software, and it certainly does not seem to have hurt anyone yet. My plan is still holding, I will just have it done at the first oil change. I am at almost 4,400 miles now. How smart is the oil change reminder? I have done over 1300 miles of regen, so the engine has run less than 3500 miles so far.

[tehuti]

A little more progress today. 50.3 mpg on my ride home today. It CAN be done, though granted, I am sure it's not so easy in cold weather.

[tehuti]

Second tank was not quite as good, and I am not sure why. However I finally got the latest updates, so that may have been a factor.

 

Gallons: 10.28

Price/Gal: $3.679

Total Price: $37.82

Miles: 383.6 miles

Fuel Economy: 37.2

[salsaguy]

if you do that hill be sure to turn OFF eco cruuse as it will want to hunt waround ith the rpms and waste more gas. eco cruise is best for flat highway or longer stretches of road.

 

 

I actually take a canyon route home rather than going down the hill. The freeway is brutal in the evening, so if I can avoid it I do. This afternoon I stayed on EcoCruise as much as possible between 55-60mph. Between the canyon and the streets I got 48.1 mpg without too much effort. Not bad.