I'm also thinking of going green with an 08 FEH. My wife would be using it for her commute to work.This would be an all in- city,15k (10 miles) return drive with lots of red lights and rush hour traffic.I was under the impression that this type of drive would be ideal for the FEH.
My wife uses the A/C and heat on low settings and is not a "zippy" driver.
Do you guys think we should go with the FEH?

 

I have found that using Recirculated AC leaves me with good MPGs and allows for ICE off, and that should the need be, Max AC, then shift to Recirculated when you're going to be stopping slowing, would allow the cool, but also ICE off.

If you don't want to go with the FEH, that's fine. However, before abandoning the idea all together, may I suggest going down and test driving one? You may also be surprised should you go with it to see your style (or your spouses) style of driving change, but whatever suits you is what you should go with.

Also, might I also suggest the Toyota Prius for your commuting needs, which has an electric AC.

It's a bit of a short commute for some great Milage, but yes, it should serve you well. I would definately take a test drive and learn more if I were you.

 

I have indepth automotive knowledge. I own a Scion, the sticker stays 23/30 mpg. I run the AC on MaX. I get 23/30. I am not conservative, I get 23/30. I drive conservative, I get 23/30.

My wife has the same exact car, but a year older. She gets 23/30, she has gotten 23/30.

I called a guy from ford that is local in the area. He said a hybrid is not worth spending the money in our climate. It would be a waste of money and would not see the fuel savings like we would in cooler climate. He said that many people dont understand the Hosuton climate because of polution and the other elements that cause the hard heat we have from about March to Nov/Dec. I am all for going green and being conservative, but I dont on my AC. People sweat walking from their car to buildings because of the humidity.

 

Bacho, you were misled. Sure, the hybrid will not do as well in a hot climate as it would in 70F temps. But that is true with EVERY vehicle. You are going to take a hit no matter what you drive.

If you can get EPA in your current car, you should be able to get it in a hybrid. The a/c will hurt if you have a smaller engine more than a larger one, but it still won't totally eliminate the advantages of a hybrid. There are many hybrids in Houston and in hot climates. Your best bet would be to make a thread stating you are from Houston and you want to know what other people get in the particular hybrid you would drive.

 

bacho it sounds like you have already made up your mind about the FEH. I hope you will at least take it for a drive, try the AC methods others here have suggested, and see if it works for you. If not, there are other hybrids out there that will not experience the same AC shut off in electric-only mode, maybe one of them will suit your needs.

Or if you absolutely need a SUV, and the FEH wont work for you, look at some non-hybrid SUV's that still get decent gas mileage:

Ford Escape (4cyl, 5 spd manual EPA 24/29)
Kia Sportage (4 cyl, EPA 22/27)
Honda CRV (4 cyl, EPA 23/29)
Hyundai Tuscon (4 cyl, EPA 22/27)
Toyota RAV4 (4 cyl, EPA 24/30)

just a few

 

I know you are a little shy about getting a Ford, but how Ford is this car???

Engine - Mazda
Transmission - Aisin Seiki (they make prius transmissions)
Traction Battery - Sanyo (major hybrid battery supplier).

So, how "Ford" is this car

A Ford Hybrid mechanic I spoke with said that Ford overbuilt this car because they were afraid that if it failed, their reputation would be severly damaged.

My Mariner Hybrid has been trouble free so far. I do suggest getting an extended warranty.

 

I live in Indiana, granted it doesn't get as hot and humid here as in Houston, but we get as close to extremes in climate during the year as I can imagine (mid 90's in the summer and single digits to teens in the winter). I've found that cold temperatures (below 30 F or so) hurt my gas mileage more than hot temperatures. The weather here has been creeping up into the high 80's, and I got my best tank ever on my last one (35.1mpg!). And one day during that tank, my wife drove it most of the day with the Max AC on the whole time. My worst so far is 19.6mpg this winter when temperatures were in the teens to single digits. The ICE seems to never shut off when temperatures are that low.

 

I agree 100%, I use my A/C all the time in the Summer & still get great mpg.

When we had a stretch of two weeks this Winter when it stayed at about 2º my mpg was terrible.

~John

 

I live in Houston, Texas and own a 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid, and I can tell you that so far I have had no problem with the heat being a problem. I keep the A/C in recirc econ mode which keeps things fine at lights, and I have yet to get uncomfortable. It was fine even today when we hit the upper 80's. I can only see needing Max AC on our 2 or 3 100-degree days in August.

 

In Philadelphia, where we tend to get at least one brutal stretch of 95+ degree high humidity days every summer, I will say this. During those days my gas mileage was in the 24-26mpg (mine is an AWD too) range because I had to run MAX AC with my son in the car. For all other days, econ AC seems sufficient except for those times that I am stuck at long lights or in a crawl that keeps me in EV mode. In those cases I just flip on the MAX AC for a couple of minutes and deal with the MPG hit. For normal traffic lights - 20 seconds or so, I don't think you would notice the temp difference. Also, tinting the front side windows makes a big difference in cabin temps in my opinion. Obviously, that depends on your local laws.