How to Drive a CMAX Hybrid/FFH to get Great Gas Mileage

[ptjones]

I have made three YouTube Videos for driving a CMAX the way it was designed to be driven Called How to drive a CMAX Hybrid to get great gas mileage, Also CMAX Mods to improve MPG's and Hypermiling to improve MPG's.

 

 

 

 

Efficiency and Aerodynamic Mods:  The First thing to do is to raise your tire pressure of your Michelin's to 50psi which is safe to do and I got 64k miles for each set of tires on my CMAX. :) 

 

 

 

 

Hypermiling Video not recommended for those who can't focus on institutional awareness of traffic around you all the time.

 

Let me know what you think, any improvements. :)

Edited April 9, 2017 by ptjones

[SnowStorm]

"How To Drive..."   Good job.  You show the process quite clearly.  Its good you comment on what the hills are doing since they affect driving quite a bit (obviously) and you can't tell much about them from the camera.

(Unrelated trivia: (1) At the end, the left screen shows Trip, then Lifetime, but then goes back to Trip?  How did you do that?  (2) I see some differences from my 2013 SE like the box on the left screen after start-up (can't tell what it says) that goes away after a bit and the diagonal lines out from the compass with some text at the bottom.)

 

"Hypermiling"  Again, we can see how you do it but I'm afraid I'm still a bit too lazy to give up on Eco Cruise.  What do you do in flat terrain?  Just follow at the selected distance or do you let speed vary to stretch the EV time?  How often do you have people jump in the gap between you and the the truck?  Getting 56 mpg at those speeds is quite an achievement.

 

Looking forward to Aero mods.

[plus 3 golfer]

Great job, Paul.  

 

"... Again, we can see how you do it but I'm afraid I'm still a bit too lazy to give up on Eco Cruise..." _SnowStorm    

 

Agree but it's not only about FE but time.  The video is great for how to do it.  But, there's a balance between FE and time that is likely different among drivers.  There's no question that hypermiling (when I try it) reduces my average speed considerably and adds significant "stressful" driving time to my trips.  There's also no question that shifting to N increases FE (as does drafting behind semitrucks and simply reducing average speed).  But, hypermiling require more "stress" and time than simply using eco-cruise set at 3-5 mph above the speed limit, at least for me. I want a less stressful drive especially when I'm driving across country.

 

Paul, IMO you need to hypermile and calculate your average speed and then make a run using eco-cruise set at your average speed such that time of the trips are virtually the same. The effect of average speed (time) is now minimized.   You should reset the trip computer once on the highway at cruising speed.  Do the same for the return trip.  Also, I've always found that you need to go at least 20 miles to minimize the effect of SOC change. You wouldn't need to record the eco-cruise run.  I believe this is what most drivers want to see - how much money am I saving by hypermiling. 

[ptjones]

My main driver is MPG's and cost is a extra benefit which I have to add in the cost of Premium (+$.35-.40 a gallon).  For me doing all these MPG TIPS keeps my brain active and not that much stress, it's become a habit for me. :)   You know going across country many times it gets to be boring and doing these TIPS keeps me awake. :)  BTW you can speed and use these TIPS, plenty of Semis drive over the speed limit if saving time is your priority. :)  Thinking about it going over the speed limit has always added stress of looking for Law enforcement  and things happen quicker. :sad: In the end everyone makes the decision how they want to  drive, This thread shows the options. :)

 

Paul

[C-MaxSea]

Speaking of 'modus operandi' - ours emphasizes 'low stress'.  In other words, 'low stress' trumps 'time' and MPG's in our driving philosophy - thus like Snowstorm ECO Cruising with tapping (tapping in/out/up/down).  'To each there own'.

 

There is nothing more stressful for us than to 'drive to the clock' (trying to save time).  Hurried driving ('to the clock') is almost always harried driving, and almost always more hazardous - no thanks, 'been there, done that'.  We will leave for our destination with appropriate times, or 'get there when we get there', and leave the stress behind.  (Not to mention the loss in MPGs associated with speedier driving)

 

Although 'playing the MPG game' and hypermiling and modding looks to be great fun (and we do now have the grill covers working for us), I/we have limited patience for that level of effort..  Great to see many going after it though.

 

Good job Paul, glad you broke it down into multiple vids.  The first vid was a little confusing about the 'two bar' because your pointer/ruler has two points on it -  ;)  (actually four points - two at each end).

 

EV off the line, ICE to speed ...................... Ommmmmmmmming our way to MPGs

 

Nick 

 

(sidebar;  I would 'argue' the importance of burning up EV (HV battery) before cresting 'real hills' in order to save gas if the downhill side ahead is a big regen - perhaps meaningless, but it feels good  ;)   Science rules ?)

Edited April 9, 2017 by C-MaxSea

[C-MaxSea]

Hills?  Paul, were those hills or inclines ?  Hmmmm, what constitutes a hill ?  We have much steeper inclines here in Seattle, perhaps even 'hills'.  I think perhaps grades and inclines are more appropriate descriptors, certainly for our freeways around here.  ;)  Just pondering words.

 

Not to negate the importance of elevation.  On the contrary, I second your note that elevation is outrageously important.  I can predict my MPGs very closely just based on elevation differences between locations.  50, 100, 150 foot differences in elevation will radically effect any MPG result - thus the looping reqs for 'real' results.

[plus 3 golfer]

Let me rephrase as "time" is not about speeding to get to a point at a certain time.  It's about hypermiling which is stressful for me and costs "time" vs using eco-cruise at a speed one is comfortable with (for me that is 3-5 mph above the speed limit).  It virtually impossible for me to hypermile vs setting eco-cruise (and tapping to disengage when approaching traffic and reengaging when the traffic clears) and cover the same distance in the same time.  

 

I can use my example from another recent thread on a 31 mile round trip where I hypermiled on side streets instead of driving the freeway using eco-cruise. There was a lot more stress driving the side streets with speed limits of 55, 45, 35 and 15 mph (school zone) with traffic, lights, and stop signs than the freeway.  I added 30 minutes to the normal trip time taking the side streets but I did get IIRC 67.4 mpg on the side streets vs the interstate where I would get about 40 +ish mpg.

[ptjones]

Hills?  Paul, were those hills or inclines ?  Hmmmm, what constitutes a hill ?  We have much steeper inclines here in Seattle, perhaps even 'hills'.  I think perhaps grades and inclines are more appropriate descriptors, certainly for our freeways around here.  ;)  Just pondering words.

 

Not to negate the importance of elevation.  On the contrary, I second your note that elevation is outrageously important.  I can predict my MPGs very closely just based on elevation differences between locations.  50, 100, 150 foot differences in elevation will radically effect any MPG result - thus the looping reqs for 'real' results.

Hills are usually 100-200FT elevation changes, some more. With the camera it is hard to tell if you are going uphill or down and in fact I have found it is hard for me to tell if I'm going up or down sometimes. I watch the Garmin GPS elevation changes and small angles changes I can't tell. :headscratch: 

 

The whole purpose of this Thread is to explain most things that can be done to improve MPG's in a simple video that most members can understand. :) 

 

Paul 

[C-MaxSea]

Like I said, Paul good job - a huge plus to you for making those vids for everyone looking for help.

 

I was having a little fun with the note on hills. The point I wanted to make was how radically different our driving terrain is to yours, in general.  Looking at the first vid, you were essentially driving in 45 mph speed zones the entire time with seemingly minimal change in elevation, what I would describe as absolutely optimal conditions.  We rarely see anything like it, almost no 45 mph zones. Perhaps 90% of our driving is significantly different.  With respect to speed, most of our trips are either short runs around town in 25-35 mph zones with cold starts, or on freeways at 58-65 +- mph.  With respect to hills, we have some 'weeee' factor hills thrown in for coasting on every trip from the house - and subsequent hill climbs which quickly push the ICE acceleration past "2 bars" in order to keep pace with traffic. 

 

The net result with respect to speed & terrain in MPGs (your location to ours) is perhaps not great, but I do think more gentle terrain (which is a function of grade and not elevation difference - yours?) is more favorable (& certainly different) to the combination of "weeeee' down hill coasting and higher rev up hill climbs. Your 'hills' seemed perfectly suited to the C-Max, never having to push the ICE above the "2 bars".

 

Summing up, I think this highlights (at least for me) the notion that there are three fundamental elements playing here, with regard to gas mileage: weather condition differences, driving pattern differences, and terrain differences.  I would be so bold as to rate them with an arbitrary 55/30/15 significance; with weather differences being the preeminent 55% significance over our range of latitudes from Hudson Bay in Canada to Texas, driving patterns being secondary at say 30%, and terrain differences being as much as 15% of the difference 'equation'.

 

Just thoughts, 'weeeeeeeeeeeeeing' down our drumlins in Seattle - and 'grinding up' at "2-3 bars" if in the opposite direction,

 

Nick

 

(((Difference+-+- say: 50-32 = 18; 55% = 10+-, added to 32 equals 42+-; 30% = 5+-, added to 42 equals 47+-; 15% = 3+-, added to 47 equals 50+-;  then with aero/heat retention mods add 3-5 and you can get 53-55 MPG, .............voila )))

Edited April 20, 2017 by C-MaxSea

[jestevens]

Thanks for the driving tips, the relatively flat terrain where you are at and the physical MODs seem to help with your MPG. I normally use the split power gauge but I did switch over to the Empower gauge for a while to see if I can get better MPGs. I am getting maybe 2MPG better now..

[ptjones]

Up to 234 views total for my YouTube videos now.  :) Would be nice to see an improvement on Fuelly.com. :)

 

Paul

[ptjones]

There is a direct relationship between the lower percentage of ICE use and higher MPG's. The two tanks that I got 68mpg, my ICE % was 28-30%, that is why the 2 Bar rule is so important, when you use less than 2 Bars the ICE runs less efficient and longer so you lose more heat to the radiator.(water pump doesn't run when ICE is off) Running above 2 Bars, the HVB doesn't charge faster and the ICE is less efficient. Obviously it isn't practical to only run at 2 Bars all the time because of driving conditions, but the more you do the better MPG's. :)

 

Paul

Edited April 22, 2017 by ptjones

[ptjones]

Today I took off wheel covers and rear fender covers so I could check tire pressure and spray off car and wheels. Tires where 50 psi on cool side of car, Great, and 52 psi on hot side of car, what I would expect. :)  I did some running around for about 20 miles including spray off car at car wash. I could actually tell a difference in gas mileage to the tune of 1 1/2 to 2 mpg with covers off. I'm cleaning them off and reattaching and will see if my mpg's bounce back.  :headscratch:

 

Paul

[jestevens]

I've gotten exceptionally high 50-60MPG around town just running errands on a nice weather day with things warmed up just right, etc. but that's not my daily commute.  I'm not sure where they are all going to but folks around here are in a huge hurry.  I'm not hypermiling and they still sometimes pass like I'm standing still. 

 

The limit on the sidewall says 52PSI and I'm just not willing to push it that far.  It's nice to know the potential of the car anyway.

[ptjones]

I've gotten exceptionally high 50-60MPG around town just running errands on a nice weather day with things warmed up just right, etc. but that's not my daily commute.  I'm not sure where they are all going to but folks around here are in a huge hurry.  I'm not hypermiling and they still sometimes pass like I'm standing still. 

 

The limit on the sidewall says 52PSI and I'm just not willing to push it that far.  It's nice to know the potential of the car anyway.

Great! :)  Michelin's 93V are 51 psi Cold, probably get maybe 4 psi higher when hot.  One of the advantages of drafting Semis, drivers can't really get mad at you and with a 100 feet spacing they can get around you and then pass Semi at the next opportunity. :) 

 

I put the wheel and fender covers back on and got my mileage back! YA  It looks like it's worth 2 mpg.

 

 

Paul   

[joshg678]

On my trip to Nashville I noticed that 2.5 bars is where the battery indicator switched from charging to discharging so it make sense that 2 bars is a good sweet spot for charge/assist. Above 2 it starts to assist more up to the equal of what the MG makes.

Some hills were 3 bars for miles and at the top I had pretty low SOC

 

Wheel covers would have helped on my trip I'm sure

Edited April 29, 2017 by joshg678

[fbov]

I owe Paul some comments... he's done a nice job with these videos, giving folks a concrete idea what he's doing. I just wish you could see the road, to get a better idea of why you're doing what you're doing. Terrain matters, too. We ought to try driving one of my standard routes in parallel.... 

 

I have MyView set up with RPM, and I switch displays a lot. I find that engine RPM at a given "power demand" setting depends on SOC. I try to keep it below ~2000 RPM, and sometimes, that's barely 1 bar... usually when SOC is very low. Normally it's more like 1.5 bar, and when SOC is high, as much as 2 bars. ( And yes, I step on it when traffic requires.)

 

Here's where I think terrain comes in. Paul's using a full 2-bar burn, which is similar to my baseline procedure of keeping the charge carat aimed up. I quickly found that was 2 bars. I kept it up for quite a while, as I was testing other things (only grill blocks had clear advantage). I then started to realize the behavior above, and changed strategies.

- accelerate at ~1.5 bars to shift the ICE output balance toward charging

- accelerate more slowly, and so the ICE burn is longer (flat roads)

- increase SOC due to longer charge time

- increase EV range due to higher SOC

- arrange the route so the accelerations are uphill, for an added energy store. 

 

It's what gets me into the 50's consistently. The key to all this is terrain. I think Paul has more hills than I do, so he needs 2-bar burns to keep up with traffic. I found I could back off them without traffic issues because the roads are flatter. I see it on the highway, too; better mileage in Ohio surfing the moraine than along the shore of glacial Lake Iroquois. 

 

Well done,

Frank

[ptjones]

I think it's a good time to explain how to improve the efficiency/MPG's of CMAX/Fusion Hybrids again..

 

1. All the energy to move the car comes from burning gasoline in the ICE, so to start with the more efficient the ICE is, the better the gas mileage is going to be.

 

2. From FORD we know that the approx. operating temperature range of the ICE is 202*F to 212*F, I typically run between 215*F to 230*F with no negative effects. My last oil change I got my best BlackStone Lab numbers with 153k miles. :)

 

3. The CMAX/Fusion Hybrid being unable to get up to operating temps is the main cause of poor MPG's especially in City and cold weather driving. :sad: This is why Grill Covers are so important to Gas Mileage, getting the WT to come up faster staying  above 202*F and should be standard on all CMAX/Fusion Hybrid vehicles. IMO     Also Grill Covers improve HWY MPG's up to 2 mpg by cutting down aerodynamic drag

.

4. From our 4.5 yrs of testing, 2 Bars acceleration seems to get the best gas mileage so use it whenever possible. :) And again the procedure is accelerating at 2 Bars to 5 mph over desired speed and then let off the accelerator so ICE will shut off and EV Mode will engage. Then try to maintain speed in EV until ICE kicks in again and repeat by accelerate at 2 Bars to 5 mph over speed limit.  :shift:

 

 BTW I'm upto 361 views on my YouTube video's :)

 

Paul

Edited May 3, 2017 by ptjones

[ptjones]

Just got back from trip using the A/C and it reminded me that the Radiator Fan is running all the time when A/C on. This effects gas mileage in two ways, one the fan and A/C pump use electricity from battery and second the fan lowers WT to below Operating temp for the ICE. :sad:  BTW YouTube views are up to 400 now. :)

 

Paul 

Edited June 6, 2017 by ptjones

[jestevens]

I decided to switch on the coach in MyView and use your 2 bar rule this morning when the traffic was light - I got 48MPG for the trip to work using secondary roads, normally on cold mornings I am lucky to get 38MPG.  I managed to get my acceleration and coasting scores up to 99%, braking - which is usually in the top 90's was 75% but I wasn't using the brakes very much.

[ptjones]

Great Job! :yahoo:

 

Paul

[ptjones]

Up to 458 views for My YouTube Videos and 2013 CMAX MPG's on Fuelly have gone up about .5 MPG's. :)

 

Paul

Edited May 15, 2017 by ptjones

[ptjones]

I was wondering if anyone has looked into a ECM Tuner for our Hybrids to improve fuel economy? :headscratch:

 

Paul

[ptjones]

With warmer temps (80-90*F) speeds 40-55 mph and a bike on the back half the time, I'm getting 60.5mpg, with 230 miles on this tank. Using the info from these videos you should expect similar MPG's. :)

 

Paul

[ptjones]

YouTube Video views are up to 548 and between three FORD CMAX/FFH Forums we are up to 3280 views.  Current tank at 59.4 mpg at 411 miles, looking like I'll reach 800 miles on this tank. Has anyone been using this technique seen an improvement in mpg's?

 

Paul