Mark Mooney here, from Petaluma CA.
I have an 06 awd Escape Hybrid. Nearing 3000 miles.

Looking for tricks or info about how to get her to cruise at 35 ish in ev mode.
I can tickle mine up to about 32, 33, and then ICE comes in...

Also, tickle is the operative word here, If I hit the wrong bump and my foot jiggles at all, back to ICE...

Any insight from you high miler old hands?

 

Well, I've seen as high as 40 mph on EV mode. This is a notably downhill drive though. You'll need a similar area to pull off the 35 mph runs. As your vehicle breaks in a bit more, it'll get a little easier. I have about 5k miles on mine, and can do it pretty easily so long as there is little to no uphill component of the roadway. Mine is a FWD model as well, FWIW.

 

Mark, I was in the same place you are now with my FWD FEH, so great question for me to answer. Break in has much to do with rolling resistance than engine break in, this hybrid has shown me that. EV is where great mpg can be had. From the first time I drove my FEH, I knew EV was the way to go. It was a lot of work but I could get 40mpg from the start driving city (no A/C). I could only get to 31mph then in EV with the cruise set till the battery needed to be charged. With 6,000 miles and the tires at 44 psi, I could go EV at 35mph till I drained battery on flat roads all day long. I do this every day now without the A/C and I can average 44mpg to a tank. The "low gear advantage" and the "fake Shift" help kept the battery charge for the extra 4mpg. I don't have to work hard for this mileage any more.

If I take a trip, I'll drive the coast in the future at city speeds and get close to 60mpg using EV to the max. You can to.

GaryG

 

aren't you afraid of taxing the battery too much? How would you recharge the battery besides going downhill?

 

No, not at all! If this battery will go bad, Ford will replace it. If it can go bad, I'll be the first to show it. I'm driving EV to the max every day. So far, its the best battery I've ever seen.

GaryG

 

Since I have been using the "L" gear trick, I have found getting into EV mode much easier and for much longer periods of time. I have had the speedometer read 42 on one EV run, but I will assume that the speedometer is not as accurate as I think and the car was actually only doing 40. I have been able to do runs of 7 miles on EV before the ICE will cut in.

 

Ok, cruise control and ev. "Lucy, you got some 'splainin to do..."

Are you setting the cruise on ICE at say, 35, then going faster than that, doing a 'double tsp' to get to ev and then hitting resume?

OR
Are you tickling the car up to say 33 on foot pedal and then invoking cruise while IN ev?

MM

 

MM, I hope this helps.

Setting the cruise in EV at speeds of 30-32mph can be done fairly easy for me. Setting the cruise at speeds above that while in EV gets a lot of premature ICE starts. For this reason, I set the cruise while the ICE is running between 30-35mph. After setting the cruise at say 35, I increase my speed to 43mpg, let off the gas shifting to "L". Just before the ICE shuts down at 40mph, the tach bounces at 1,000 RPM's. During this bounce, shift back to "D". The FEH is now in EV and coasting to the preset cruise setting (don't touch the gas pedal). No need to hit resume!

The double tap at 40mph and below will work also but the method above is more of a sure thing.

GaryG

 

Thanks for the walk through. Wife has the truck or I'd go out and try it right now!

Mark

 

Hi Mike and welcome to the FEH Forum –

I have REALLY learned a lot from many of these guys here. It takes a little work to fret out the best threads but a BIG thanks goes out to Pravus Prime for his new topic “Ford Escape Hybrid FAQ”. So far he has expanded it from 1 to 3 and am sure there will be more.

A lot of the hints/tricks are from none other than GaryG. We have traded thoughts back and forth and with each new thing the FE keeps getting better and better.

Gary - thanks for the meticulous and easy to grasp explanation on getting the CC set up and working for 30-35 MPH on EV. I have one problem with one thing you stated, “Just before the ICE shuts down at 40mph”. For some reason mine will not go to EV unless I tap the brakes – not even a double tap. It doesn’t seem to matter if I am in L or D even down to 30 or below. With it doing this I have to do what Mike said about hitting ‘Resume’. Must just be my VSC is off - OH well.

The other that really hurts me bad around here in ATL is the hills, they are generally Never a slight grade but STEEP so I have little chance to use the EV-CC combo. Hit the hill and bam on comes the ICE

Mike - on the break-in part I would say they are right on. I now have over 12K on my ’05 and today I hit 40 in EV while on a flat road - not coasting downhill or anything - and looking at my A/N screen I was still pulling power and not in a cruise.

You might also want to check out the topic ‘For Us New On The Block’ and look at thread 20 & 21.

Phillip