real mpg averages

[GaryG]

I have had my FEH for over a month now and I can report, I average between 40.2 and 40.7 mpg in my city streets within 6 miles of my house. This is where I do my driving 5 days a week. On the weekends, if I go visit friends/family on the highway, I only average 37 mpg... If I drive a long ways on the highway and there is not slow traffic so I can drive fast, I only am getting 33 mpg..

I used to drive like a bat out of hell when I was younger, but now that I can "see" my mileage per gallon, it is this incentive to drive like an old grandpa, and I am a 36 year old female!

 

When my husband drove on a trip, he only got 29mpg... he was so annoyed with me because I teased him about how I was kickin his but and was the "hypermile queen"!

 

:happy feet:

 

The Queen of Hypermiling in the '05 FWD FEH is Debbie Katz with a Lifetime mileage average of 40.62mpg. She is 54 years old and does not let her husband drive her FEH. She got 48.5mpg in her FEH at the '07 MPG Challenge at Hybridfest for third place and she let me drive her FEH and I got over 60mpg for 1st place. Your '09 FEH will get better MPG than a '05 FEH, so hopefully we will have a new queen.

[RichT]

'09 MMH AWD; 3400 miles; consistently getting 30+ in suburban/urban driving. got the AWD for winter conditions, and because i don't entirely trust those low rolling resistance tires; even get slightly nervous in the rain. should I?? can't really be a hypermiler because there's always somebody behind you. but when i'm on a quiet street, i feather the gas to stay green as long as possible. since there's usually a red light 2-blocks ahead, what's the rush?? my usual technique is to accelerate normally to cruising speed 30/35, then take my foot off the gas, go green and cruise gently. that works cause there's always a red light ahead anyway, and, believe it or not, average speed here in nyc is 11mph 9 mos a year, and goes up to 13mph in the summer. maybe with the recession and less people driving, unemployment, etc., the average will go up in the cold months, too. and lots of people have switched to public transportation. I have noticed a decline in rush hour traffic. even though the price of gas is declining, i hope the thrust to electrification of vehicles will continue. don't let our enemies manipulate us back to a gas powered culture like they did under carter. go ford; go green.

Edited November 22, 2008 by RichT

[rjm1]

General question; when you fill up, do you always stop when the pump stops pumping, rather than topping off? Assuming that you do not (can not) go back to the same station and the same pump every time, does one really get an accurate readimg of MPG?? I have found that pumps differ in when they cut off, which makes the ammount pumped on a 'refill" somewhat arbitrary.

[GaryG]

General question; when you fill up, do you always stop when the pump stops pumping, rather than topping off? Assuming that you do not (can not) go back to the same station and the same pump every time, does one really get an accurate readimg of MPG?? I have found that pumps differ in when they cut off, which makes the ammount pumped on a 'refill" somewhat arbitrary.

 

The Escape gas tank has a vapor space which makes most fills arbitrary and therefore an accurate MPG cannot be determined by one or even a few fills. The factory economy gauges and Nav Sys MPG average gauges help, but there not exact either. Comparing all the gauges like Trip OD, Miles To Empty, Gas Gauge, Econ Gauge, and Nav Sys MPG Average helps give you a good ballpark MPG average. Keeping a record of all the gas you add to the tank and the mileage on your permanent OD gauge will ultimately give you your overall MPG average. Even better is to begin a Lifetime Average from the first tank on a new vehicle and keep a record of gas pumped and the reading of the MPG gauges. I'm presently doing this on my '09 FWD FEHL W/Nav as well as member Twolostminds so we can determine the percentage we have to adjust the '09 Nav Sys MPG average readout. In addition, I'm adjusting my Scangauges to match my FEH speed and mileage. Soon I'll have a close to exact mileage reading throughout the entire single tank of gas. I did this with my '05 FEH and I know the correct MPG average throughout each tank of gas. One other tool I used but don't recommend is keep a record of your miles at 0 Miles To Empty and run out of gas. In my '05 FEH I have 1.3 gallons after 0 MTE, but in the '09 FEH I have only .8 gallons after 0 MTE. Now I know with my Scangauge set at a 15 gallon tank, just how much of a under-fill or over-fill I had at fill-up.

 

Once you understand your true mileage from your gauges you'll know how much you over-fill and under-fill just by the gas gauge. For instance, when you fill-up the gas gauge needle goes past the Full mark. You can tell how much you over-filled by the amount of miles you go when the needle hits the F mark. I've gone over one hundred miles on a overfill into the vapor space. I have put as much as 17 gallons of gas in my '05 FEH which has a 15 gallon tank. I generally know how many gallons of gas I have at each gas gauge mark in my '05, but I'm still learning about my '09 while it's breaking-in.

[Tango]

My last tank of gas I averaged 35.5 mpg. I do about 98% highway driving!

Edited November 25, 2008 by Tango