Did owning a hybrid like the C-Max change the way you drive?

[SnitGTS]

For me it's been a huge difference!  I went from being a relatively aggressive left lane driver to a relatively calm right lane driver.  I have been slowly calming down for a long time, but the switch from a 'dumb' car that got 30 mpg no matter how I drove it to a 'smart' car that actually gave me data about my driving and told me how to drive better has gotten the engineer in me interested, then throw in my competitive nature and that's a dangerous combination!  

 

I'm curious, the acceleration coach gives me good scores when I accelerate very slowly but I've heard people say to accelerate faster to get up to your speed and back into EV mode. (therefore spending less time with the ICE on)  What works best for everyone here? 

 

Thanks!

[fotomoto]

Snit, driving a hybrid is often referred to as playing a video game with the high mpg score as the incentive.  It sure beats flooring it to the next bumper in front of you, slamming on the brakes, screaming at them to move out of the way, and then flooring it again only to catch the next red light.   :banghead:   On your next commute, watch the number of people who actually accelerate towards a red and then slam on the brakes.   :doh:

[ceemax71]

I think it depends on what is up ahead.  If I am entering a highway or starting up a hill and I know the ICE will have to start anyway, I accelerate a little faster to start the ICE sooner.  If I am on a side street and know I can stay in EV mode for the road ahead, I accelerate slowly from a stop to stay in EV mode longer (of course if there is no traffic behind me).  There could be a lot of other factors such as the timing of traffic lights, making turns, etc. on how fast or slow I accelerate.

[SnitGTS]

Oh you are so right fotomoto! When you are one of the fast drivers you only notice the cars that are going slow and get in your way, now that I am the slow car I'm noticing just how many people drive fast and aggressive!  

[SnitGTS]

I think it depends on what is up ahead.  If I am entering a highway or starting up a hill and I know the ICE will have to start anyway, I accelerate a little faster to start the ICE sooner.  If I am on a side street and know I can stay in EV mode for the road ahead, I accelerate slowly from a stop to stay in EV mode longer (of course if there is no traffic behind me).  There could be a lot of other factors such as the timing of traffic lights, making turns, etc. on how fast or slow I accelerate.

So is the coach not always accurate?  It makes sense that the ICE being on less delivers better FE but going to higher revs to accelerate faster might still consumer more gas...  I'd be interested to see a study on this.

[wab]

Snit, driving a hybrid is often referred to as playing a video game with the high mpg score as the incentive.  It sure beats flooring it to the next bumper in front of you, slamming on the brakes, screaming at them to move out of the way, and then flooring it again only to catch the next red light.   :banghead:   On your next commute, watch the number of people who actually accelerate towards a red and then slam on the brakes.   :doh:

 

"It sure beats flooring it to the next bumper in front of you, slamming on the brakes,"

 

I used to wonder about that.

 

Then one day I was riding with a co-worker.

When I grabbed the dash she looked over and said "what?"

 

I did my best fish imitation, thought about it and asked

"how many of those white stripes are you looking ahead?"

 

She did her best fish imitation drove on for a while and said " 2 or   3 NO 4 maybe."

I told her to try 6 or 7 for a while then try to look as far ahead as she could.

 

A few weeks later I rode with her again, WHAT :) a change, she was SO much better.

 

to keep this = for men and women, I had a Dodge 3500 dually slide right up beside me on the left shoulder at 30 MPH after a hard slowdown from 70... TWICE, I gave him the left lane, and the middle one!

[hybridbear]

So is the coach not always accurate?  It makes sense that the ICE being on less delivers better FE but going to higher revs to accelerate faster might still consumer more gas...  I'd be interested to see a study on this.

The idea is to get the ICE to run in its most efficient range even if that means burning more fuel in the same amount of time. Sometimes that means stepping on the gas a little harder to start to first make the ICE kick on and then backing off to more moderate acceleration while not backing off enough that the ICE turns off. Once you reach your cruising speed you back off enough that the ICE turns off and then try to keep constant pedal pressure or use cruise even in the city. We use our cruise as much as possible when there aren't a lot of stops and are seeing our average MPGs rise. Last tank was 50+ MPG in still cold weather and current tank is over 55 MPG and on track to get more than 650 miles before I need to fill up again. This is all without hypermiling, but just "driving smarter, not faster"

[Edsel]

The idea is to get the ICE to run in its most efficient range even if that means burning more fuel in the same amount of time. Sometimes that means stepping on the gas a little harder to start to first make the ICE kick on and then backing off to more moderate acceleration while not backing off enough that the ICE turns off. Once you reach your cruising speed you back off enough that the ICE turns off and then try to keep constant pedal pressure or use cruise even in the city. We use our cruise as much as possible when there aren't a lot of stops and are seeing our average MPGs rise. Last tank was 50+ MPG in still cold weather and current tank is over 55 MPG and on track to get more than 650 miles before I need to fill up again. This is all without hypermiling, but just "driving smarter, not faster"

 

Are you using any EV to get rolling, or total ICE to get up to speed. I currently use EV to get going up to 10 or 15 MPH.  Would it be best to save the EV for when I'm up to speed?

 

What are you other high MPG people doing?

[hybridbear]

Are you using any EV to get rolling, or total ICE to get up to speed. I currently use EV to get going up to 10 or 15 MPH.  Would it be best to save the EV for when I'm up to speed?

 

What are you other high MPG people doing?

I try to get the ICE to kick in as soon as possible when accelerating. Depending on my battery SOC it's often between 5 & 15 MPH when the ICE kicks on. The higher the SOC the longer the car accelerates in EV mode. This thread helps to explain it. I need to write more on there to expand further what I've learned and the engineering behind it but I haven't had time yet

[SnitGTS]

I feel like I've found a little bit of a sweet spot where the car is accelerating at a decent rate on the ICE without the acceleration coach giving me a worse score.  My fuel economy for this tank is settling in right around 49 mpg, which I'm very happy with!

 

In addition to how much more attention I pay to how the car is behaving, I also pay much more attention to the road!  I've never noticed before just how hilly it is here in New Jersey, I seriously don't think there is a flat section of road on my way to or from work!  After a couple weeks with the new car I've figured out how to better handle different sections of the road to keep my speed up and maintain my mileage.  I never paid this much attention to my driving before, so absolutely this car has changed how I drive.

[salsaguy]

SOC = ???

[Edsel]

SOC = ???

State of charge. (I think)

[Jus-A-CMax]

SOC = ???

Look at my sig for the link to all the various acronymns... :)

[MacGyver]

Ford's eCVT does not change gearing ratios.  It is a planetary power-split type trans. similar to Toyota's, but with larger electric motors. Here is a description:

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/hybrid-car7.htm

 

From the article you linked to;

 

"If you're wondering why the word "gear" still appears in the explanation of a CVT, remember that, broadly speaking, a gear refers to a ratio of engine shaft speed to driveshaft speed. Although CVTs change this ratio without using a set of planetary gears, they are still described as having low and high "gears" for the sake of convention."

 

Unless you have a better suggestion of something that would more accurately describe changing the gearing ratio that uses two words or less?

 

So again I ask, does anyone know if the gearing ratio changes in respect to how hard you brake so as to provide more rpms to charge the battery faster?

Edited May 27, 2013 by MacGyver

[Jus-A-CMax]

Going back to the topic....so I had a convo with the wifey@dinner, told her that we finally had a female driver who broke 600 miles in a CMax. She immediately replied we were all crazy. To which I replied, I guess some people will never get it. "What do you mean". I never replied, that ended that convo. I didn't feel like explaining, and as long as she sits there and read the book while I do my driving, thats fine with me. I am about to hit my 10th 600+ mile tank in Maxine this week so as far as I am concerned, there is no way I will go back to driving a gas only car... :)

[hybridbear]

From the article you linked to;

 

"If you're wondering why the word "gear" still appears in the explanation of a CVT, remember that, broadly speaking, a gear refers to a ratio of engine shaft speed to driveshaft speed. Although CVTs change this ratio without using a set of planetary gears, they are still described as having low and high "gears" for the sake of convention."

 

Unless you have a better suggestion of something that would more accurately describe changing the gearing ratio that uses two words or less?

 

So again I ask, does anyone know if the gearing ratio changes in respect to how hard you brake so as to provide more rpms to charge the battery faster?

 

This video is a good explanation of the Prius transaxle which is basically the same design as the C-Max & FFH. It appears that there is only 1 final drive ratio, what varies is the electrical energy applied to the stater coil to speed up or slow down the MG1 & MG2 electric motors. Regenerative braking means that instead of applying electricity to speed up the electric motor to propel the vehicle the stater slows down the car by reversing polarity and thus generating electricity and slowing down the RPMs of MG2.