Hi Ray

You need to come down to So. FL and cool down some. My son was just down telling me that he does'nt think we have a problem with global warming. That's because of how cold it has been in Boston during the past few winters. He has no car and rides his bike or walks to the T to get to work. I bet your heat will make him reconsider about GW TODAY!

With regards to your >38mpg tank, try using P&G ICE-ON with the glide in "N" with the A/C on max when under 40mph. The load of just the A/C on the ICE still lets you maintain above 40mpg. I see my average even hold or increase at 47mpg, depending on the SOC level during 40-50mph ICE-ON W/ A/C P&G. Get the cabin cold for ICE-OFF stoplights because that's where you take the biggest hit with MPG.

This morning's trip (cold start) to take my wife to work (~10 miles) via 1-95 (65-76mph), then to WPB (city driving), and back home (city driving), my today's average is at 45.7mpg. The A/C was on recir normal the entire trip of 44.6 miles.

Here's my SG information so far today:

Today - 45.7mpg AVG

76mph MAX

1.5 HOURS

4026 RPM's MAX (woops, that light was still yellow?)

44.6 miles

182 FWT MAX (coolant)

1.0 gal (this must have rounded up)

The current trip from the return read 50.2mpg (it resets when you shut off the car) from WPB. Most of the time, I do not take 1-95, but my wife's Exployer is being repaired and she was in a hurry.

This drive was during rush hour driving and I typically don't hold back traffic. The battery SOC was very low when I started, and very low when I left WPB and very low right now in my driveway. During the trip, the battery stays about 50% to keep the ICE running long enough to keep me and the battery cool. If I let the battery get full, this tends to let the cabin get warmer during EV.

GaryG

 

"In temperatures of about 85'F and above, the A/C is running nearly all the time to cool the battery pack, as outside air does little good at these elevated temps."

This was posted a little earlier. Thanks! Now I understand better why my ICE was going on at weird times. I noticed this last week that the ICE was on a little longer than at first, even though I've been doing some regen cycles on my usual route this last week. But, the temps have been >100degrees this last week!

I've read a lot this last week about the 'L' and 'N' drive, and have mixed it up a bit. My route is what I call rolypoly -- up and down the entire time. Also, the average is 30mph after I leave my street. Currently, I'm doing two regen cycles on one stretch with the BIG downhills, and trying to coast on "N" on the smaller bumps. This week, my FE hasn't been that good, likely due to the temp (the ICE hasn't turned off as quick as usual, and has turned on during stop lights!)

One thing I've noticed, however, is that coasting in "N" to the stoplight results in a minor dip into the recharging zone for a longer period of time. But, if I apply the brakes, I can get a major dip, just it lasts a little less time. If I think about the area under the curve (plot out time and amount of recharge,) the brake pedal will win.

For those of you who have had your FEH longer, have you experiment with coasting in "N" to the stop, vs. moderate braking? If so, which has resulted in better battery charge? (like to seperate this from any other changes like P&G or other gas saving techniques if possible)

 

Hi Ra

The only time I coast in "N" to a stop is when my battery is full or I don't want a restart of the ICE or both. There is no regen in "N" at any speed, so the only way to charge the battery in "N" is through the ICE-ON and small generator.

Here are the levels of regen charging from the weakest to the strongest as you slow down.

1 Let off the gas in "D" = the least regen charging the battery

2 let off the gas in "D" with brake pressure = the next level of regen.

3 let off the gas in "L" = a great slow constant regen as you slow, and go EV under 40mph.

4 let off the gas in "L" with brake pressure is the most regen, but you may get the same regen in "D" if you work the brake pedal right.

In "N", the axles are disconected from the traction motor, so you should not be seeing the charge needle moving with brake pedal pressure or coasting. If the ICE is running, the small generator may be moving the charge needle while charging.

GaryG

 

Okay, I have a really dumb question...

Many people mention on here that they only use L when their battery is close to being full, or people just emntion their HV battery back levels...how does one tell what these levels are?

I know on the prius it has the "regen" screen that shows a pretty little graph and a bar with the amount of energy available...however how to people get this same information out of the FEH? Is it by using a scanguage? Or is the little battery in the power flow screen actually telling me information based on the level of its little green battery?

Thanks!

-Eric

 

The Navigation/Hybrid system upgrade has an energy distribution display, with the motor, the ICE, and the battery, with lines to indicate power flow. The battery picture has a green area to indicate charage, from running on sparks to fully charged, theres about five levels of charge indication there.

If you don't have that, I don't think there's any way to tell.

Also, I at least, use L when my SoC is low, not high, since I don't want/need overcharge.

 

Hi Rich (Pravus Prime) and Ray Martin (Nitramjr):

The "Low Gear Advantage" thread was founded because of you two. Thanks for both of your experiments, and input. I just read a thread and responded on the FEH Yahoo site about a Ford engineers recommending driving in "L" all the time. Do you both agree or disagree with my response?

"While there are advantages to using "L", there are many disadvantages
if you stay in "L" all the time. Here are a few:"

1 coasting or gliding is the worst in "L".

2 you do not have control of when the ICE shuts down below 40mph. A
good example of that is maintaining control of recir A/C. Constant
shut downs don't give the A/C time to cool the cabin in city driving.
I try to get the cabin cool for ICE-OFF at stoplights for instance.
Sometimes I coast in "N" up to a stoplight before shifting to "L" for
ICE-OFF to keep cool during the stop as well as the EV take off from
the light.

3 You get unwanted ICE restarts to bleed off overcharging.

4 Below 50mph, there is a reduction in MPG over "D" driving. This is
due to constant regen as the FEH trys to maintain a steady state
speed. Over 50mph, the wind resistance is steady and not much of a
chance to reduce some acceleration for regen to kick in, but I
recommend staying in "D" over "L" anyway. Anytime you want to hold
your speed or slowly reduce speed, go to "N" for a glide, with the
ICE-ON or OFF.

My recommendation is to use "L" for regen when needed or ICE-OFF under
40mph.

GaryG

 

I agree with what you posted with a couple minor exceptions. What you said is 100% correct but my driving style is just a little different.

Since this thread started, I have quit using L ALL the time. Once I get moving, if it looks like I won't have to stop or slow for a while, it is back to D. If I have a coffee or phone in my hand, I'll chose L over D since I like the way it decelerates in L better. I control decel/regen with the accelerator pedal if that makes any sense at all?

Most of my driving is either on a limited access highway that is posted at 50 mpg (about 13 miles of a 24 mile commute) with the rest being on "Parkway" type roads that are posted at 30-40 mph. Lots of stopping. L is perfect for this type of driving - for me.

Anyone who doesn't use L at all has no idea what they are missing. The way it smoothly slows you down is great. Kinda like driving a standard shift and using lower gears to stop versus stopping with the clutch in.

The overcharge bleedoff can be annoying sometimes but I have been driving the '06 for the last few months (swapping this weekend) and when it bleeds power it only revs to 3000 versus the '05 that goes up to 4500-5000 RPM. The tradeoff is in the regen/decel which is much stronger in the '05 than the '06.

I have pretty much gotten lazy and have stuck with the driving style I use now. It works and is pretty easy. I could do better I am sure but this last tank was right at 36 mpg and that was a week of really hot weather. It was 38 mpg until the two days we were at 100 or so. I guess I could do better if I worked at it but, likeI said, I have gotten "fat, dumb, and happy".

Keep up the good work Gary.

 

For me, it's essentially D to Drive, L to slow down. It's made me such a lazy braker.

 

I use L MOST of the time after the engine in hot in city only, less than 40 MPH.
My battery is used for EV so much, it is never close to full.

I use the pedal to get good glides ( some of you call deadband ) in L.
This avoids all the shifting back and forth, and is transparent to passengers, when I have them. All the shifting would worry non savvy passengers I think.

I use N only if going downhill, or if I'm by myself w/o traffic, and can do larger P&G.
I can get up to 70 MPG in city under ideal conditions, and up to 54 MPG in nearly any above freezing condition.

 

Thanks to the info I received on this site, I use L mostly as GaryG stated. As some have mentioned in other posts it seems there has been some improvement since I turned over 3k on my odometer. My ICE shuts off much quicker now when I shift to low under 40mph and I can regularly stay in EV up to 35mph, sometimes higher if I'm on a good coast. It also seems the ICE is shutting off quicker after initial startup now though that may be a result of the hotter temps now vs when I purchased it back in April.

Regardless, thanks to all who have offered tips to get the best mpg out of the FEH/MMH!