Don't get me wrong Ray, that was the best trick so far for the FEH. It really lead to the fake speed shift for additional charging of the battery. The only down side is the restart of the ICE to rev and burn off the overcharge. The double tap helps with a full battery in that regard. The "L" is perfect also for shutting down the ICE at 40mph and going into cruise for me. You and Rich need a medal for giving us this insight to "The Low Gear Advantage". These are real dollars we are saving on gas. Hope the AWD FEH's can benifit when it gets warm. I'm having the time of my life here in South Florida with my FWD FEH!

GaryG

 

What does ICE stand for?

 

ICE stands for Internal Combustion Engine. Good luck shutting it down and saving gas!

GaryG

 

I have just discovered the "L" gear advantage, by way of this forum/thread, and have noticed the 4000 RPM phenomenon, but it only seems to occur on long, aggressive, decellerations -- normal stops do not seem to demonstrate the revving. I believe the mileage is 10-20% better in L -- 34 vs. 31/32. I'm new at this "L" thing, but I wanted to let you know that I also was seeing the 4000 RPM occurrence.

 

Just curious, as a prius owner I have "B" which is "engine braking" - driving across country down the rockies this was my "L" (as was intended) Basically the kinetic energy in the wheels is sapped by the friction braking effect of the engine. Im not sure of the mechanics in the FEH, however, "L" may simply be Ford's implementation of "B" And running "B" all the time in the Prius actually consumes more fuel in the long run, hence Toyo's advice to pick nice downgrades to recapture kinetic->potential energy (back in the battery) but otherwise leave it in D.

Haven't tried this yet, but on the Prius, "B" won't let you engage the cruise control...is it the same in the FEH?

 

In case you didn't catch the answer to this: The revving to relatively high RPMs is done while in low after the battery pack is full and the generator has nowhwere else to put the energy. At that point, the generator starts spinning the engine (without fuel if you're below 40MPH) and if the deceleration/downgrade is steep enough, it must spin the engine faster to provide enough friction to absorb the energy created by the generator. It doesn't hurt anything and won't impact your milage negatively. I have a couple of spots on my commute where this happens. I set the cruise at 37 MPH (Its a 40MPH zone) and keep it in low and I almost always see my MPG go up over that 1 mile stretch. It's a little disconcerting to see the RPMs jump like that but once you know what it is, it's no big deal.

 

Thanks -- this forum in general, and your reply in particular, are quite helpful.

 

Leaving the shifter in "L" is not good IMHO for the best FE. "The Low Gear Advantage" post was for taking advantage of charging the battery and shutting down the ICE. Many choose to run around in low but this clearly IMHO hurts FE.

While I truly respect those who gave me the idea, I strongly disagree staying in low has any benifit with FE.

GaryG

 

To each their own.

Literally. It depends on the situation. I have found L to be of a tremendous benefit to FE in normal/heavy urban traffic here in the motor city, and to be a drag at higher speeds and in the winter. But it is no be all and end all solution to every problem; it is no magic bullet.

It's not a simple matter of chosing one and sticking with it, but instead going through a trial and error process to find what works for each driver and each vehicle in their own situation. What we here can do is help cut down on that trial and error time, and help provide ideas and techniques that seem to work for us in our areas.

The last time I was out, stopping was almost as complicated as if I were a steam locomotive. I'd shut off the defroster, shift into L until I hit 40 MPH, then shift into D, double tap, and coast in to stop. I found that L helped keep the battery charged, which I've noticed in the Winter does seem to be a concern of mine at times. (On the other hand, I gained almost 2 MPGs to my tank average on the drive) During the summer when I was logging almost 35 MPGs with my 4WD, it was with a combination of D and L, not one or the other.

If one were to spend most of their time in and about, on shorter trips that are lots of stoplights, seldomly above 50, I would say, try leaving it in L. If their commute on the other hand were long stretches free from much speed variance, at moderate to higher speeds, I'd say avoid L all-together.

I hate absolutes.

 

I commute 60 miles each way with 45 miles of that on the highway. I leave it in low most of the time unless I have a long downhill and there's relatively light traffic. The shifter is simply letting the computer know your preference. It won't hurt either way.