Re: Cold Weather Effects on the FEH/MMH
I have also experienced increased consumption. I have a question about EV mode. As everyone has noticed, the FEH does not go into EV mode as much or at all inthe cold. Is this due to the cold engine, or a rapidly cooling catalytic converter?
Cheers, rcomeau |
Re: Cold Weather Effects on the FEH/MMH
Originally Posted by rcomeau
(Post 111800)
I have also experienced increased consumption. I have a question about EV mode. As everyone has noticed, the FEH does not go into EV mode as much or at all inthe cold. Is this due to the cold engine, or a rapidly cooling catalytic converter?
Cheers, rcomeau The water temp can be used to kind of infer the CAT temp..... However there is the question of if the designers also want to keep the engine warm in and of itself for restarts. It is harder (and less efficient) to start a cold engine than a warm one. Also a colder engine idles higher, and runs richer increasing emmisions. Whether a water temp below 140F qualifies as a cold engine, I really don't know.... but I did want to point out that it MIGHT not just be the catalytic converter temperature that the designers were thinkng about when they set the parameters. |
Re: Cold Weather Effects on the FEH/MMH
Based on what we've seen on our two Mariners, the idle
speed does stay on beyond the EV range much of the time until the engine warms up. Then a short time later and sometimes even when the "quick idle" is still on we can "hybirdize" (spelled this way on purpose) or coast up to a stop in EV mode from a fair distance behind allowing for a long and gradual deacceleration. I have yet to get either car to start out from a stopped position at an intersection and start out and stay in EV mode whether the idle is on or not. Even after a 60 mile highway jaunt I cannot stay in EV mode starting out from a stop and don't expect to. I can do it up until I put my foot on the gas peddle and start to accelerate. I agree about having ample air pressure in the tires. We have both cars at 42 psi in front and 44 psi in the rear tires. When we bumped up the tire pressure from what was in the tires after they had left from the showroom (Bird2) and the car lot (Bird1) with some driving around for a couple of months on them, we no longer had as much of the low range miles per gallon fluctuation that we had been getting at times. We got a stabilized low mpg that the cars no longer went under and built back up in miles per gallon from there. Until we had two weeks of cold for us and we went back down again but our low then was not as low as what we had prior to the added air in the tires. Jim |
Re: Cold Weather Effects on the FEH/MMH
Originally Posted by pianored1
(Post 111294)
but this frigid New England weather has got me down to 23 mpg, like many of you, and I'm smiling less than I was as a new purchaser in the fall!
I recently dumped the POS factory NAV system in favor of an aftermarket Eclipse setup so I lost the hybrid screens(which to me where just a gimmick anyway)with the constant mpg readout. I have my Scangauge calibrated to where it reads almost exactly the same mpg as the NAV setup did so I don't miss the displays anyway. We had one warm day a few weeks ago(right before we had 20" of snow)& on that day I got 31 mpg so I will pretty much ignore my mpg until it warms up again. ~John |
Re: Cold Weather Effects on the FEH/MMH
Originally Posted by jmorton10
(Post 112399)
Yea, I hear that. I have been getting around 23 mpg also, I rarely look at the mpg average anymore because it only annoys me & there isn't much I can do about it anyway(I was getting over 30 in warm weather, but it's been 5º here lately)
I recently dumped the POS factory NAV system in favor of an aftermarket Eclipse setup so I lost the hybrid screens(which to me where just a gimmick anyway)with the constant mpg readout. I have my Scangauge calibrated to where it reads almost exactly the same mpg as the NAV setup did so I don't miss the displays anyway. We had one warm day a few weeks ago(right before we had 20" of snow)& on that day I got 31 mpg so I will pretty much ignore my mpg until it warms up again. ~John There are two reasons I feel is causing the record mileage in colder weather. First, the outside air is cooling the HV battery under heavy use of EV driving and does not require the A/C compressor to run. Second, the use of KEY-OFF FAS (forced auto stop) during warm-up. It almost seems the FEH was designed for KEY-OFF FAS because of how well it works. Normally, it takes me ~20miles to get my average in the 50mpg range from a cold start in the morning, but I hit a record for myself and did it in ~10 miles yesterday morning. Was also floored when I reached a stoplight 1.3 miles away from my house above 37mpg average from that cold start. Of course, when the light turned green, my mileage started dropping fast, as I restarted the ICE till I was at a good speed for FAS again with a great glide in "N". Soon the battery was full, had a great MPG average during the cold start and the ICE was warm enough for EV driving at that point. Not sure at what temperature my mileage would start dropping instead of climbing in cold weather, it may be just below 32F. GaryG |
Re: Cold Weather Effects on the FEH/MMH
Can someone explain the physics of why running the cabin heat reduces EV mode and runs the ICE more often and for longer periods of time? I suppose I don't understand the actual "setup" of the heating system, where the heat is drawn from, and why using it has such an impact. I would think that several hundred pounds of metal and a gallon or so of coolant should retain sufficient heat that running the cabin heat shouldn't be triggering ICE startup to maintain engine temps....but I suppose my experiences are telling me I am wrong....
I ask because with the recent cold, snow, and ice, "we" (not me) have been running the heat alot....and my around town mileage has dropped from the mid twenties to about 20mpg. |
Re: Cold Weather Effects on the FEH/MMH
Originally Posted by Tim K
(Post 112433)
Can someone explain the physics of why running the cabin heat reduces EV mode and runs the ICE more often and for longer periods of time? I suppose I don't understand the actual "setup" of the heating system, where the heat is drawn from, and why using it has such an impact. I would think that several hundred pounds of metal and a gallon or so of coolant should retain sufficient heat that running the cabin heat shouldn't be triggering ICE startup to maintain engine temps....but I suppose my experiences are telling me I am wrong....
I ask because with the recent cold, snow, and ice, "we" (not me) have been running the heat alot....and my around town mileage has dropped from the mid twenties to about 20mpg. If the engine temperature is being cooled by both the radiator and the heater core, it's going to get cooler faster. The higher the fan setting on the climate control system, the faster the coolant is being cooled also. Some here use a radiator block in very cold weather to assist in keeping the coolant hot, but I have no need for that in my weather. Hope this helps. GaryG |
Re: Cold Weather Effects on the FEH/MMH
Originally Posted by jmorton10
(Post 112399)
Yea, I hear that. I have been getting around 23 mpg also, I rarely look at the mpg average anymore because it only annoys me & there isn't much I can do about it anyway(I was getting over 30 in warm weather, but it's been 5º here lately)
Once I dropped below 26MPG, I even got so disillusioned, that I stopped driving it "hybrid" style. Hey, if I can't get more than 23 MPG when the temp is in the teens, why even try? I might as well have some fun, and get some aggression out. ;) So, some of the drop in MPG might be due to my driving too. When the outside temp raises over 40 deg again (come on global warming!), I will go back to "hybrid" style driving again. |
Re: Cold Weather Effects on the FEH/MMH
Originally Posted by WaltPA
(Post 112494)
Me too.
Once I dropped below 26MPG, I even got so disillusioned, that I stopped driving it "hybrid" style. . ~John |
Re: Cold Weather Effects on the FEH/MMH
Originally Posted by jmorton10
(Post 112507)
LOL, same here. I figured if the mpg was going to suck anyway I might as well enjoy the performance it's capable of.......(these things are pretty snappy when you jump hard on the gas)
~John |
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