Highway FE?

[SPL Tech]

Let's see some numbers. Plenty of numbers on mixed drives and city, but I am interested in knowing what people get out of a 100% highway trip. I am talking set the cruise control and drive until it's time to refill the tank—standard interstate driving.

post MPG and speed.

[Kelleytoons]

I did in another thread, but driving about 200+ miles yesterday at freeway speeds (70+) I averaged 41mpg (four passengers in the car with fully loaded luggage -- LOL, I couldn't even see out the rearview mirror).

[plus 3 golfer]

Here's an excerpt from a previous post for a 4000 mile plus, door to door trip:

 

"On the trip East I got overall 40.4 mpg - door to door with an average speed of 68.4 mph (gps miles / gps moving time). My average speed on interstates (about 1600 miles) was 72.3 mph.  On the trip back home, I averaged nearly 74 mph on interstates mainly because I drove very little during darkness so I set eco-cruise about 1-2 mph higher. I also battled a strong quartering wind from MO into AZ and rain in AZ high country and my overall return mpg dropped to 38.3 mpg.  Overall, door to door round trip, I averaged 69.1 mph and 39.2 mpg with me, wife, our black lab and luggage (maybe 450 - 475 pounds)."

 

Here's the link to my original post including experience using grille covers and coolant temps. 

[fotomoto]

Family of four loaded to the hilt plus a cargo carrier for a week long camping trip:

 

 

 

 

Interstate I-10 through west Texas where 80+mph, 100F, and strong winds are the norm in the summer:

 

[ScubaDadMiami]

With air conditioning running and set to 73F, I typically get speed/MPG of 55/47-49, 60/47, 65/45+, 70/43-45, 75/40, 80/38. This was over the course of over 5,500 miles of full to empty tanks, straight through without stopping, other than for fill-ups, meals and bathroom breaks, and overnight hotel stops, all done during summer conditions of outside temperatures ranging from 80 to 95F, mostly in the upper end of that range.

Edited January 11, 2015 by ScubaDadMiami

[Blue Tom]

Took a trip this past weekend Austin to San Antonio.  About 170 miles round trip.  35F outside.  Raining.  At night.  So we had the heater (and my wife likes it like 80 degrees on her side), heated seats, headlights, and wipers (front and back) on.  And stereo (bluetooth) and navigation, of course.  Speed varied 65-85mph, no traffic.  Overall slightly downhill there and slightly uphill back (with lots of slight variation throughout the trip).  Maybe 30% cruise control.  I've only had the car a week, so I'm no efficiency expert.

 

I think I averaged about 40 on the way there and around 35 on the way back, for a trip average of like 37.9.  Which I thought was pretty reasonable, considering the conditions and my lack of hybrid driving experience.

[SPL Tech]

I'll throw in my numbers from a 600 mile weekend trip. About 36 MPG driving between 75 and 85 MPH depending on the speed limit using eco cruise. It was pretty windy for about 150 miles and calm for the rest of the trip. Stock Energy Saver AS tires with 42 PSI. One rider (me) and no cargo.

Edited January 20, 2015 by SPL Tech

[RobMax]

I did a 93 mile trip door to door, 99% highway, drafting behind a semi rig doing 55-65 mph and got 53 mpg.

 

[Marc Smith]

Hey folks...  just got done with a monster trip

started in Northern VA  to Melbourne FL, then Orlando, then Naples, back to orlando and just got home today in Northern VA

 

I was just running by myself.  but I had 4 model boats, two golf bags, adult beverages, tools, clothes  the car was full to the belt line both ways  and in fact came back with more stuff than I left with...  I could have carried a passenger  but it would not have been comfortable.

 

temps ranged from 30's to mid 80's

 

43 hours 7 minutes total drive time

2466.4 miles

39.6 mpg

295 EV miles

62.3 Gallons.

 

thats an average speed of 57 mph.  I set the eco cruise anywhere from 65-75 mph based on the gps indicated speed.  no coasting/gliding,  the occasional draft...  but basically drove it like a normal ICE.  there were a few around town(below 45) miles,  but not many.  Id venture to say maybe 200...

 

not many overpasses to glide down to get many EV miles...

 

if you subtract the Ev miles you end up with 2171 miles  which would amount to an mpg of  35.  not bad for a small car,  but not stellar either.  but I'm not complaining.

 

for the duration of the trip I did log trans temp, coolant temp and ambient air temp, speed, rpm  if anyone is interested  I can email the  files once I get them cleaned up

[ScubaDadMiami]

Whether that would be at the better or not so better end of the spectrum would depend on the temps. I drove from Miami to New England and back, and I got 45.6 MPG, but that was at summer temps with air conditioning on, so more like 40 in winter sounds about right.  Did you use heat or A/C?

[Kelleytoons]

He said the temps were from the 30's to the 80's, so I suspect he used both at various times.

 

Driving to and from Orlando quite frequently nowadays and even at 70+ speeds I find it fairly easy to get over 40mpg, fully loaded with four passengers, with or without AC (no heat in Florida, natch :>).  I've kind of given up trying to get any better because our trips are usual "social" and I find it takes a lot more concentration to get the absolute best mpg (so just easy to put it in cruise control and enjoy the company).

 

I would say it's not stellar but it's more than I ever imagined I could get and with plenty of power for passing I don't envy any Prius owners on the road <g>.

[Marc Smith]

SD,

 

on the way down  no AC  once i was down there.  bumping around I-4  and the bee line, the turnpike and I-75  I was using the AC  It was in the mid 80's  the entire time i was down there..

 

 

coming back home yesterday  I left at 4:30 am  in The villages,  it was 56,  so I did not on the way home.. 

 

Saw lots of Cmaxes in The villages (nearly half a dozen)  and saw a few on the highways in florida...

[Kelleytoons]

Ah you were SO close to me then (yesterday I was at the south end of The Villages on 27 around 9am).  Never see any C-Maxes other than mine, but I have to admit I don't look all that closely.

 

And to think we might have had breakfast <bg>.

Edited March 11, 2015 by Kelleytoons

[Marc Smith]

Kelly,

 

by 9 am yesterday I was 4 hours well north of The Villages  I was surprised by how many I saw driving around The Villages...

[ptjones]

Let's see some numbers. Plenty of numbers on mixed drives and city, but I am interested in knowing what people get out of a 100% highway trip. I am talking set the cruise control and drive until it's time to refill the tank—standard interstate driving.

 

post MPG and speed.

If you click on my Fuelly Icon you can see all my trips for the last 2 1/2Years/ 91Kmi. and I usually have notes for each tank on conditions,speed, temps, winds and drafting.  I have Grill Covers on pretty much all the time except going up long uphill grades where I remove lower cover.  I have 82% HWY miles with 46MPG Fuelly average and CMAX Life Time of 47MPG. :)

 

Paul

[John Sparks]

Etowah TN to Houston TX. 984 total miles. 75 mph cruise.

 

40.6 mpg.

 

The mpg actually started to slip once I got to flatter ground. Was at like 42 till I got into southern Mississippi. Seems to do better where there are hills. Charges up on the way up then recovers on the way down.

 

But for some crazy reason this car is "now" rated at 37 mpg hwy. Maybe if I drove it like I stole it all the time, maybe!

[markd]

The 40mpg range is about the best I can do on the interstate, it doesn't seen to matter if I run 65 or 75 it stays the same.

[ptjones]

Interesting even with bad trans I got 54.5mpg going 65-75mph on I-40 from Flagstaff to Albuquerque 350mi. I do have Grill Covers, wheel covers, GasPods, 50PSI and some drafting. :)

 

Paul

[ScubaDadMiami]

40 MPG is what I get at 75 MPH, with A/C turned on.

[Podivin]

I recently got back from a 1650 mile round trip between Florida and Kentucky.

I didn't pay ANY attention to mpg while driving, I was just trying to cover ground. Minimum speed on the interstate was 70, spent most of the time around 75, sometimes up to 85 depending on the traffic flow where I was (I always just try to 'blend' with the traffic. I'm not the fastest thing on the road, neither am I the slowest). When I got back home I checked the mileage for that trip and it showed 39.6. I was pleasantly surprised, that's actually a bit higher than I was expecting (I would have thought it would come in closer to 37 or so). I know Ford says 40mpg on the highway, but since I wasn't exactly driving in the most efficient manner I didn't expect it to come in that high.

[ptjones]

That's not bad, were you using A/C?  With drafting I can get around 47 mpg (65-75 mph) with some A/C. Just got back from 1400mi trip.  FORD's EPA for CMAX Hybrid is 37HWY/42CITY/40mpg combined. :)

 

Paul

[Podivin]

You're right, that 40 is combined and not highway - so it did even better than I thought.  :)

Yes, AC on all the way, no drafting or anything like that.

[brbevil]

So my latest trip Charleston to Charlotte and back.  Trip 1 from Charleston to Charlotte - Almost 80 mph the whole way with eco cruise and no AC.  Returned almost 37 mpg via the trip computer.  Trip 2 the return trip I set eco cruise at 75mph air on 74 auto and the trip computer returned 42 mpg.  Speed kills mpg.  Patience is a virtue - at least I wasn't worried about getting a ticket.

[shinytop]

I made my longest trip to date in my C-Max today.  512 miles door to door, Pensacola to Houston.  My car reported mileage at 47.0 MPG.  My best previous had been 42.  This trip was all I-10 which is pretty flat.  I noticed it frequently going into the mode where SOC is maxed and the instantaneous MPG was jumping up around the 50 mark for miles.  I ran posted limits most of the way as traffic was moderately heavy. 

[SnowStorm]

Well I must say, "good show"!  Another example of the C-Max hitting 47 mpg in real world driving.  I'm wondering:

1. How fast were you going when getting 50 mpg with constant high SOC?  I've only been able to do this at 55 mph where I get about 52-55 mpg (hard to read on that dinky little bar graph).  Our car has never been where there is a really flat interstate for many miles.
2. What were the posted limits?  Supposedly they are 70 mph in the east, 75 in LA, 85 in TX.  For those speeds, 47 mpg is very impressive.  I guess those 2014 aero mods really do help!

Let us know what you get on the return trip.