mirak Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 I've got a Highlander Hybrid and love it. I'm looking to replace my old Mustang with another hybrid, and the FFH kicks the snot out of the Prius in terms of exterior/interior styling and features. But I haven't driven one far enough to really get a good sense of how the FFH's hybrid system performs. It's not just about MPG for me. I like the "full hybird" technology of being able to drive at certain speeds on battery alone. That's why I would never consider Honda's "mild hybrid" design, even if the overall MPG is good, because the gas engine is almost always running. As an example, in my Highlander, the engine kicks on about 6 seconds after every start-up. How long the engine runs depends on the outside temperture and how fast I'm driving, but I usually have to drive at least a couple of miles before the hybrid system really starts to kick in. At that point, I can usually employ the "pulse and glide" method of accelerating to speed with the engine and then running on battery alone at speeds up to about 38mph. On a relatively flat road, I can usually do this battery-only driving for several minutes, until the battery is mostly depleted. I hear the FFH can run up to 47mph on battery only, but for how long? How long does it take the system to warm up? Once the system is warmed up, can the FFH cruise at least a solid mile on city streets at 35mph plus on just battery? Describe your typical driving experience from start-up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nelsonlu Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 I've got a Highlander Hybrid and love it. I'm looking to replace my old Mustang with another hybrid, and the FFH kicks the snot out of the Prius in terms of exterior/interior styling and features. But I haven't driven one far enough to really get a good sense of how the FFH's hybrid system performs. It's not just about MPG for me. I like the "full hybird" technology of being able to drive at certain speeds on battery alone. That's why I would never consider Honda's "mild hybrid" design, even if the overall MPG is good, because the gas engine is almost always running. As an example, in my Highlander, the engine kicks on about 6 seconds after every start-up. How long the engine runs depends on the outside temperture and how fast I'm driving, but I usually have to drive at least a couple of miles before the hybrid system really starts to kick in. At that point, I can usually employ the "pulse and glide" method of accelerating to speed with the engine and then running on battery alone at speeds up to about 38mph. On a relatively flat road, I can usually do this battery-only driving for several minutes, until the battery is mostly depleted. I hear the FFH can run up to 47mph on battery only, but for how long? How long does it take the system to warm up? Once the system is warmed up, can the FFH cruise at least a solid mile on city streets at 35mph plus on just battery? Describe your typical driving experience from start-up. It does need to be warmed up, so how long the warm-up period is depends on how the weather is that day and when you last used the car, just as you described with your Toyota. (Because of this, I talked to the salesperson at my dealership about possibly getting an engine block heater, which he opined wouldn't be worth the cost given that I live in California, so I didn't get one.) (By the way, I don't think it's the "hybrid system really wants to kick in," whether it's on your Toyota or the Fords; from what I've read, it's that the catalytic converters need the gas engine to be sufficiently warm in order to work properly. It's not the hybrid system that needs the warm up.) Usually, on a regular day here in June in California, I'd drive for about a mile to a mile and a half before the engine is sufficiently warm. (The engine will still shut down when the car is stopped at a red light even when it is not sufficiently warm.) Getting the Fusion Hybrid to 47 MPH in EV is tricky, and it will stay there only very briefly -- I'd say a matter of seconds. I've had it hold 44-45 MPH for perhaps a minute or so, but it certainly will hold 35 MPH significantly longer. (For both discussions, I'm assuming flat ground; on a downslope it will hold EV mode at 45 MPH pretty much indefinitely if you can avoid having the car accelerate to over 47 MPH.) I'd estimate that the longest stretch that I've had it on relatively flat ground in EV mode at 35 MPH would be about a mile and a half. Note that I almost always have the air conditioning on; with the A/C off, it might be able to hold it longer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirak Posted June 30, 2009 Author Share Posted June 30, 2009 Getting the Fusion Hybrid to 47 MPH in EV is tricky, and it will stay there only very briefly -- I'd say a matter of seconds. I've had it hold 44-45 MPH for perhaps a minute or so, but it certainly will hold 35 MPH significantly longer. (For both discussions, I'm assuming flat ground; on a downslope it will hold EV mode at 45 MPH pretty much indefinitely if you can avoid having the car accelerate to over 47 MPH.) I'd estimate that the longest stretch that I've had it on relatively flat ground in EV mode at 35 MPH would be about a mile and a half. Note that I almost always have the air conditioning on; with the A/C off, it might be able to hold it longer. This is exactly the kind of info I'm looking for. If anyone else has impressions, I would appreciate them. The speed limit around town is mostly 35 to 40, and Wichita is flat, so I'm hoping the FFH can cruise at least a mile or two around town at 40mph. With all the stoplights, I rarely have the opportunity to drive more than a couple of miles before I have to stop and then reaccelerate. Because the FFH is lighter than my Highlander, I'm expecting it to be able to cruise faster and further on battery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WPWoodJr Posted June 30, 2009 Share Posted June 30, 2009 This is exactly the kind of info I'm looking for. If anyone else has impressions, I would appreciate them. The speed limit around town is mostly 35 to 40, and Wichita is flat, so I'm hoping the FFH can cruise at least a mile or two around town at 40mph. With all the stoplights, I rarely have the opportunity to drive more than a couple of miles before I have to stop and then reaccelerate. Because the FFH is lighter than my Highlander, I'm expecting it to be able to cruise faster and further on battery. The key is keeping your state of charge (SOC) high enough. Once the battery gets to about 35-40% charged the engine will come on. I've also noticed that I can apply more power from the electric engine when the SOC is high vs when it is low. That's why it doesn't always pay to eek out the last bit of EV mode - on a hill for instance you might be better off letting the engine start so as to reduce the load on the battery and possibly charge it - then you will have more reserves for later gliding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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