I currently drive a Mercury Mountaineer that gets about 15 mpg in city driving and 21 mpg highway. I need an SUV to haul grand daughters, their karate gear, pine bark mulch and items to Goodwill.
I have ordered an Escape Hybrid as a replacement for the Mercury because it will get beter fuel economy, emit much lower emmissions, qualify for a tax incentive and possibly permit me to drive solo in the HOV lanes in Atlanta. Plus it will give me bragging rights about getting 36 mpg in city driving (80% of our driving).
I estimate that I will achieve payback on the $3,000 higher price of the Hybrid within 5.5 years.
I recognize that I could buy a small, underpowered vehicle that gets better fuel economy but it would not have the performance I desire, nor the carrying room or safety that I want.
Why the Escape? Because it is a full hybrid that can operate on battery power only for 2 to 3 miles and up to 25 to 30 mph. Much of our driving is to the store, daughters, school, etc. where we will be on battery only (except for recharge).
I would think that everyone would see the benefit of achieving 36 mpg city vs. 15 mpg. The fact that the Government encourages that is OK by me.
I hope Ford wins the arguement and the legislators see the value in permitting HOV solo driving in the Hybrid Escape. Just another reason for SUV owners to consider Hybrids and the attendant positive impact on fuel consumption and emmissions reductions.

 

Hi Red:

___The following thread entitled “You aren’t going to believe this …” should help improve your various SUV’s FE by a rather nice margin. I was driving a Mercury Mountaineer back from the U of I (University of Illinois) earlier this year and had a nice 27.9 mpg after ~ 100 miles showing on its rudimentary FCD before my daughter took over and drove it right into the ground …

___Anyway, in warmer weather, I usually receive ~ 25 mpg around town and > 30 out on the highway in the MDX if that helps … The wife? Well, she can’t drive for FE if her life depended on it imho but it is just my opinion Take off 20 - 30% and you would be in the ball park …

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

 

I'm not sure I understand what the drivers did to improve their mileage.

 

Hi Ogakor:

___That was my own thread and although it is filled with the disbelief of many who do not know what their automobiles are actually capable of, it describes my first experiences at figuring out what “driving with load” was, the study of the game gauge and how it relates to FE during accelerations, decelerations, and steady cruise in various mostly highway, city, and various traffic environments.

___Your Escape has an instantaneous fuel consumption display, IIRC? Make sure it is up and in view and take a glance at it every few seconds to 10’s of seconds over the next few months. Using it for data feedback, you can adjust your acceleration, steady cruise (steady cruise is a misnomer), and braking habits for maximizing FE under many different terrain and traffic conditions to a skill you did not know existed before. After a period of time, you will not only have a feel for the techniques, you can actually “feel” how the ICE is performing in terms of its gear ratios and fuel consumption and what to do to maintain the highest FE in whatever you drive. In other words, your Escape HEV’s game gauge can help teach you how to drive your other automobiles for max FE even though they do not include a game gauge themselves. Mainly, the game gauge study helps you see in real time how much each action of your right foot actually costs in terms of fuel consumption on a second by second basis.

___I can add that since our SUV’s and P/U trucks are rather ungainly as far as cheating the wind cleanly (high Cd’s) but are relatively stable in side winds, they draft like you wouldn’t believe. You will learn the various draft techniques later on as well but use the game gauge to judge what works and what doesn’t with general generic driving first. Get the feel for various RPM’s and how the car accelerates and decelerates from the prospective of your rear end as well as the tach and the game gauge. After a short period, you will become “one” with your Escape and it will happen in a very shorter period of time.

___In terms of setup, you really have to get your tire pressures up. The pressure you use is up to you given high pressure in all of my vehicles tires do not really help my wife or son very much. In our case however, it adds 10’s of percent to what will be your own hypermiling capabilities in a very short period of time.

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

 

Wayne,

Thanks very much for the good advice. Yes, the Escape (with the optional synergy screen) does have an instantaneous fuel economy display, along with a 15-minute average graph, electrical/mechanical power flow and battery state of charge icon. A charge/dischage instrument panel guage is standard.

I'm still experimenting with various suggestions on fuel economy. One that I tried was to run the ICE wide open as often as possible when it was in use and then coast. The theory is that the ICE runs most efficiently at a higher RPM. It seemed counter-intuititive and my results showed slightly less mileage, but others say they have had better luck. I dunno.

Almost all of my driving is at freeway speed up and down a very long, very high mountain, so there may not be much room for improvement, aside from keeping the speed down. I seem to be getting about 29 mpg +/- with my 4WD no matter what I do, which is what I honestly expected.