Greetings all. I am a new owner of an 06 FEH with just under 35k miles. Still getting through my first tank of gas. My driving is mostly in the city. I've read the suggestions here and @ cleanmpg re: FE. I am currently averaging just over 33 MPG.

I am not yet comfortable with Fake Shift method outlined in the 'hypermiling' thread on cleanmpg. I do not yet have a scanguage to watch SOC.

Here are some thoughts/questions....perhaps someone can tell me if I'm thinking in the right direction?

When building a charge, shifting into "L" and then coasting to my stoplight will bank more charge than "D". True?

Which is more efficient -- coasting in "D" with no gas or coasting in "N"? Assume no trickery here so the ICE will be running.

Once I'm past warm up and have sufficient charge, I'd really like to find a way to drop back into EV when decelerating. This will happen once I reach a certain point (20mph or so) but I'd like to make it happen sooner. if coasting and I drop into "N" my econ gauge goes all the way up (I have no NAV). Despite this, the ICE is still running (although down close to 1000RPM). I'm assuming this is equivalent to an idle but getting it to shut off completely seems like would help. I could then drop back into "D" and gingerly use EV to maintain speed. I understand this is not possible over 43 mph (possibly less?, I have 4wd). Keeping a constant 35 mph on flat ground would be ideal.

here is the relevant section from GaryG's article:
I've tried this...I cannot seem to ever get into EV under these conditions. Maybe I'm misunderstanding what is necessary?
1. moving under 43mph
2. shift to "L"
3. let off gas
4. shift to "N" before the tach drops

Related question: Is there another way to do this? A mentioned above, ideally I'd like to be able to drop into EV only from an "N" coast. I'll save "L" for faster recharges when coming to a stop.

Great Forum. Looking forward to tweaking at least 35MPG out of this FEH...

--Mak

 

Coasting in neutral eliminates regen so you will coast further and better than in "D". In other word you are dragging the vehicle in "D" any time you decelerate by using the traction motor (MG2) as a generator. Above 6mph the engine can still charge the battery with the small motor/generator (MG1). The best coast will always be in "N" in EV mode below 40mph. You can coast in "N" at highway speeds with the engine running to improve FE over "D" and I do it all the time in my '05 FEH. The new '09 FEH has agressive fuel-cut and is the only model it's better to coast in "D" while the engine is running.

The reason I say shift to "L" at 43mph is because it takes 3 seconds of decel to drop into EV at or below 40mph. Do not shift to "N" till the tach drops or starts to drop. You will see the tach bounce up a second and then fall just before you go EV. After some practice you can time this bounce and shift to "N" as the FEH goes EV. You can go EV below 40mph in "D" or "N" by lightly tapping the brake pedal 1-3 times. The '05 - '08 FEH will also go EV at 30mph and below by letting off the gas pedal for three seconds in "D" on its own.

The fake shift was first used to reduce RPM in "D" by letting off acceleration. It was modified to going EV at 40mph and below by shifting to "L" as explained above.

Enjoy your '06 FEH!

GaryG

 

In my 08 FEH 4WD I have been unable to maintain EV above 30 mph on flat ground. I was under the impression that 30 was actually some sort of software cutoff for powered EV. If you can get 35 EV on flat ground I'd love to know how because that 5 mph would enable me to be EV alot more frequently.

 

My 08FEH FWD will accelerate up to 37MPH in EV on flat roads. I just have to be very gentle with the throttle/acceleration past 20MPH and be aware of the battery SOC (which is more of an issue when accelerating from stop to 37MPH). It doesn't happen every time. It's also not the type of accelerating you do with someone behind you but it can be done.

 

GaryG -- Thanks for the response! I'll try your suggestions. I'm due for a fill up today so I get to start the experiment over from scratch.

Others,
I've managed to get above 30mph and close to 35mph from stop in EV in my 06. This has always been with I assume my SOC is high(er). During times when I believe my SOC to be low, the maximum speed seems reduced. This could be anecdotal though...I'll know for sure with some more testing once I get a SG.

--Mak

 

Above 30 is possible, I had the same problem, it seemed that 30 was an invisable barrier to break, as 31-40 seemed easy to maintain. After putting in the AMP code into SG and many repeated nights of 'testing' (driving home from work) it appears to me that if pulling 30Amps or more as you cross 30Mph, ICE will come on. no if you can cross 30Mph, you can increase Apms until you hit 40Mph or 50ish Amps before the ICe will come on (or 41SOC of course).

I tooo have never been able to do what Gary describes about shifting to N. I don't know if it's because I'm to impatiecent, as I don't like to coast from 50-0 in N from a 1/4mile from my stop, or what. But "fake shift" I use constantly. I try to keep my RPM's <2. It's just a light lift of the foot and watch the tach drop then continue pressing again. It works 9 time out of 10, the 1 time is when I'm in too big of a hurry, or climbing a small hill, or like most OK days, fighting a 30+MPH wind

Good luck, 32-33 out of a AWD is actually impressive!

 

An alternative to shifting into "N" in EV mode to avoid charging is to add slight pressure to the gas pedal until the nav screen goes to "idle" (vs. Electric drive or Charging). I would think non-nav cars would be able to do this with the scan gauge showing traction battery voltage, but I don't usually have that X-gauge up so I've never tried this.

Have you ever tried that Gary? Any thoughts on getting longer glides, etc when actually in "N" vs. cancelling regen with the gas pedal?

To the original poster, you can also drop into EV by double tapping your brake pedal. This isn't as subtle to the cars behind you, so I always check my rear view first. On mine, this seems to happen faster than using "L", and it seems to cost less momentum.

 

I know the "N" simulation with the slight pressure on the gas well but don't care to use it. The problem is you are going in and out of slight regen without really knowing it. I talk about doing this in the steady state speed test Wayne Gerdes ask me to perform to speak on at the '06 Hybridfest. The test results is in that article Wayne and I put together "Hypermiling The Ford Escape Hybrid". After the steady state speed tests I found out why the Owner Manual states to drive in "D" for the best fuel economy. During the test I accidently left the FEH in "L" a number of times and seen a big drop in MPG over driving the steady speed in "D". This happened with both the cruise control and without. What I'm saying is it's impossible to create 0 regen with the slight pressure on the gas pedal even though there are no arrows on the energy screen. When you shift to "N", all regen is canceled and the traction motor is freewheeling. Even in "D" trying to cancel regen you get slight acceleration and slight regen without knowing or seeing it on the energy screen.

GaryG

 

Just drive the d--- thing.

After awhile you'll get a sense for how the computer is set up, when it kicks in & out, and how much pressure to use on the gas pedal to keep it from starting up the ICE.

You'll get a feel for the roads & hills you travel alot and then start to challenge yourself to go a certain route & distance on the battery.

Being in "L" causes the charge rate to go up on the battery (designed to give you a feel for being in low when decelerating - does nothing when accelerating), until it is fully charged, then it causes the ICE to start up and provide some amount of compression braking

Once you have a feel for how the system responds then start playing around with all this stuff if you want.

Remember: what all these "tricks" do is fool the computer into doing something it wasn't programmed to do. Maybe good, maybe bad.

 

Is that an observation or by design?

This does not seem to consistently be the case with my FEH (06, 4wd). This is true even when SOC should be high enough to drop into EV. I was just curious...

Thanks,
Mak