They should have made the little "marching ants" bigger, maybe a different color, like RED and explained the graphics better. "Some days are better than others..." I guess. Lol. It's a decent display for its time; and of course we all see perfectly in retrospect, just like Kierkegaard said.

"Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards." - Søren Kierkegaard

 

Great photos, BTW. Have you ever noticed the bar graph in question not being fully filled in when it gets dark?

 

Sorry, which bar graph are you referring to? The "Inst Econ" or the little stacked-up lozenges on the HV battery representing state of charge?

I guess I've been lucky because my display/touchscreen seems to work perfectly with no missing pixels or color channels. From looking at pictures of used Limiteds with this feature, I know that some of them definitely drop pixels and occasionally entire color channels.

According to SKeith (and I believe him!) the computers attempt to keep the little stack of battery SoC lozenges near the middle. Not too tall, not too short, just right. Once in a while, the computer actually runs its own Battery Balance function which brings the SOC very high (all the lozenges are dark) and then it gradually brings them back to the middle. Now let's say you're sitting in parking lot traffic in EV mode with the electric A/C on: the lozenges will drop off, one at a time, down to about three. Then the ICE will kick on and the display will read: "IDLE WITH CHARGING" because the computers are commanding the ICE on so that it can drive the second electric motor/generator in the transaxle (the same one that starts the engine) to tend the HV battery.

But no, my "Inst Econ" graph varies smoothly and I never notice anything "missing." It seems to work just like it was designed.

 

BTW the car was driven more than 400 miles today in a multistate round trip. After changing the oil and air filter, the average MPG clawed its way back to 33.1 MPG. A/C on the entire time and there was about 800 pounds of people+cargo in the car. I didn't take a picture, so you'll have to believe me, but it really did go up a little bit. Mostly highway driving! So it's right where it should be and even a little better. After 12+ years it's still proving to be a relatively frugal car during some tough times for us all. "More than the sum of its parts" but maintenance is key.

 

The designers probably used 2 graphics. One with that area light gray and one with that area dark gray. Completely inactive is that area grayed out to blend in and either powering the car or charging the battery the graphic is switched out for the "active" one and then the other stuff is drawn on top.

 

"Sorry, which bar graph are you referring to? The "Inst Econ" or the little stacked-up lozenges on the HV battery representing state of charge?"

I circled it in red in post #4.

 

@GatorJ I don't think it's a graph. It's just a part of the "graphic." It's like the little greyed-out areas on the Engine and so forth.

From what I've been able to tell, the "lozenges" representing state of charge are always visible (except when the key has been removed from the ignition but you have not yet exited the vehicle and locked the doors, in which case everything is greyed out.) The little area you refer to "lights up" or actually darkens whenever there is current flowing into/out of the HV battery, and the text: "HV Battery" also lights, along with the green perimeter surround. The area you circled is either ON or OFF (darker or lighter), but it is not a graph and doesn't measure anything. It's like the other areas surrounding the ICE, the fan and so forth, which also don't signify anything.

It's kind a confusing display in that way, but I am 99 44/100% sure that area you circled is not a graph and doesn't measure anything.

Here is what the manual says. Page 73/196 at https://www.fordservicecontent.com/F.../10ngnsn2e.pdf

"4. High Voltage (HV) Battery: This icon represents your High Voltage Battery. It will be highlighted when power is transferred to and from the battery. The fill level represents the state of charge of your HV Battery. The fill level will increase and decrease as the battery charges and discharges during normal operation, but the hybrid system will attempt to control the level to approximately the middle of the gauge under most driving conditions."

The "fill level" are the little stacked bars on the right. The area you circled is just part of the graphic and either turns on or off when current is flowing into/out of the battery with a green surround when the screen is backlit white.

 

Update: Approx 150 miles more on the same Avg. Econ., now after the oil, filter and air filter change: 33.5 MPG.

This last 100 miles or so has been on two and sometimes four lane roads, through townships, what I would call mixed city, (slow) highway.

The air filter change does not seem to have been wishful thinking. Outside temperatures today were about 84 degrees, sunny (so lots of heat through the windows) with the A/C on 70 degrees, recirc. the entire time.

I don't think I'll hit 34 MPG average but it's possible! In any case, that's exactly where it should be and surprisingly good for a 12+ year old car. Maintenance is key. I am not trying to "hypermile" the car - I'm driving normally, about 5-10 MPH over the speed limit but letting the EV mode take me up to about 10 MPH from stop signs, etc.

This photo is the Information display "Energy Flow" at 0 MPH in PARK with the key ON. Everything is in the ballpark. My display has at least one dead pixel - just to the upper left of the passenger side front tire. I think there are a few others, but it works perfectly.

EZ Listening music provided by Sirius playing one of the weirdest (and yet most memorable) songs ever written. My FEH "horse's name" is Eugene, "Gene" for short, no joke.



FEH 2010 Limited FWD, approx. 90k miles, after about 550 miles without resetting the Avg. Econ. Mixed City/Highway

 

BTW for anyone who would like to know how I took this photo: Handheld with my Samsung Galaxy A425G camera, no flash, in landscape mode. Then I transfer the photo to my PC and use the "Perspective Crop" tool in Photoshop, which makes the image rectangular without losing any information. Then I resize the image to 50% by 50% because the camera has more resolution than I need for the upload.