broncosCA Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 I've had some pretty mixed mileage results from my Hybrid thus far - sometimes wonderful, sometimes really frustrating. Typically, I unless I accelerate like a snail, I can't seem to get it above 10-15mph before the gas engine kicks in. And as soon as it does, my MPG meter drops to about 15mpg. Anyway, today at lunch, it pretty much started in gas mode, and didn't change to EV until my little battery meter was fully charged. At that point, I drove the next mile and a half or so entirely in EV at speeds of all the way up to 40mph. It didn't actually switch back to gas until after I had stopped moving altogether for about 3-4 minutes. Really strange, but my MPG was through the roof during that time, obviously. Anyone else had this experience, or at least know how to do that/replicate it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff_h Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 My 2010 used to get 'moody' like that at times, but I think it's by design as sometimes the HV battery gets cycled up or down... a couple times the ICE kept running no matter what and the battery gauge was pegged and I thought "oh crap here it goes, this thing has no reason to be doing this so something has gone wrong and the HV battery is gonna overcharge and this is gonna wreck everything and cost BIG money"... but it was normally cycling and the Prius used to do it sometimes too -- but it was so infrequent that it is enough to freak you out. I don't know if this is what you also experienced, but it sounds like it since the system behaved much differently than you're used to... but it's probably normal, but run a VHR to make sure everything is still green if it will help give you a warm fuzzy, that's what I used to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanner83 Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Yep, I believe the manufacturer term is called conditioning the battery. They described the battery and a bunch of different cells all in rows and after some time(they did not give a specific time frame) they said that the battery conditions itself, at which time it will not go into EV mode at all. During this time when the ICE is running, the battery discharges all cells and then recharges all cells to same level. Then once process is done, EV will then resume as normal. I don't know where you live, but I do know the cold absolutely affects mileage and obviously style of driving and type of driving. I have never gotten below 30 and that was when I was beating the heck out of on the freeway. Your MPG really sounds off is the car broken in (over 1,500 miles), do you have the capability to run a vehicle health report? Just my two cents..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boogs Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Dont have experience to share (i have 2.0 EB) but when I was shopping for the car I asked about the hybrid. Salesguy said the gas engine will kick on if you go above "3k rpm", or above 60mph regardless. Obviously i have no idea if this is true, as I dont have the hybrid. But it makes sense if the input from the accelerator is more than the electric motor can handle. Could this be part of the issue? (At least regarding the 10-15mph cutoff) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tanner83 Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 The car can sustain up to 62 mph on EV, anything above that the ICE should be running according to the owners manual. Don't know about RPM's but don't think that is true, because the Hybrid uses a eCVT which means that the RPM's are always the same which is tuned to the optimum level of the engine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broncosCA Posted February 9, 2013 Author Share Posted February 9, 2013 I'm at about 350 miles on the engine/battery so far. My lifetime mpg is 35. It just feels weird, because sometimes the same drive will be 25, and then 45 the next time. And I'm always TRYING to drive it the same way. We'll see if it stabilizes a little better after the supposed break in period, and the summer blend releases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fordmantpw Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 I've had some pretty mixed mileage results from my Hybrid thus far - sometimes wonderful, sometimes really frustrating. Typically, I unless I accelerate like a snail, I can't seem to get it above 10-15mph before the gas engine kicks in. And as soon as it does, my MPG meter drops to about 15mpg. Anyway, today at lunch, it pretty much started in gas mode, and didn't change to EV until my little battery meter was fully charged. At that point, I drove the next mile and a half or so entirely in EV at speeds of all the way up to 40mph. It didn't actually switch back to gas until after I had stopped moving altogether for about 3-4 minutes. Really strange, but my MPG was through the roof during that time, obviously. Anyone else had this experience, or at least know how to do that/replicate it? I think you hybrid drivers would be a lot happier with your MPG if you would look at the average per tank and not the average per 6 or 7 mile commute. Not necessarily you in particular, but I've seen a lot of complaints about fuel economy, and the meter only has 6 or 7 miles. Seriously? I've had stints of 6 or 7 miles show 23+ and other show 3-4 on my SD. I've even had my gauge show 36 in a 2 mile spread once, but I've reset the meter towing my fifth wheel up a hill and had it show less than 2. It's all about the averages, folks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expresspotato Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 Mine does a similar thing - but its minus 20c outside so this kind of thing is to be expected. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest abjb Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 (edited) deleted I think you hybrid drivers would be a lot happier with your MPG if you would look at the average per tank and not the average per 6 or 7 mile commute. Not necessarily you in particular, but I've seen a lot of complaints about fuel economy, and the meter only has 6 or 7 miles. Seriously? I've had stints of 6 or 7 miles show 23+ and other show 3-4 on my SD. I've even had my gauge show 36 in a 2 mile spread once, but I've reset the meter towing my fifth wheel up a hill and had it show less than 2. It's all about the averages, folks... Edited February 9, 2013 by abjb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest abjb Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 I think you hybrid drivers would be a lot happier with your MPG if you would look at the average per tank and not the average per 6 or 7 mile commute. Not necessarily you in particular, but I've seen a lot of complaints about fuel economy, and the meter only has 6 or 7 miles. Seriously? I've had stints of 6 or 7 miles show 23+ and other show 3-4 on my SD. I've even had my gauge show 36 in a 2 mile spread once, but I've reset the meter towing my fifth wheel up a hill and had it show less than 2. It's all about the averages, folks... YEP A couple of yrs ago we had a 6.0. Over several yrs I noticed I was burning the same amount of diesel as my Dodge/Chevy friend/relatives but for some strange reason I never seemed to get in the high teens while towing. Finally one admitted he was quoting a 15 mile slightly downhill trip. ab 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckokie36 Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 I have 2 hybrids a 2005 Accord and a 2007 Prius. I reset my Mpg after every fill up. The mileage on both cars vary considerably depending on how I drive, temperature, how much city vs highway,speed etc. The good news on the V6 Accord hybrid I get better mileage than the 4 cylinder Accord and more power than the regular V6. The Prius mileage varies also but my city mileage is way better than any other cars highway mileage. The big thing to get used to is a 10-15 percent variance in a hybrid since it gets so much better mpg is much more noticeable than your avg 18 mpg car. Over all your outlay for gasoline will drop significantly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iggnutts Posted February 9, 2013 Share Posted February 9, 2013 There is an ev+ mode where your car learns routes u drive regularly. It can then anticipate when you will have a fuller charge in the battery and decide to allow ev mode for longer stretches. I got quite a long stretch yesterday on flat highway in Eco adaptive cruise mod and 40F temps where I normally have the gas engine in use at just below 40mpg on the instant readout. I also get boosts of gas + ev on some steep hills, especially when I have a topped off battery. On the short hills to my house I get ev+ mode where it's all electric up the hill if I keep the speed low. It didn't used to do that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghent360 Posted February 10, 2013 Share Posted February 10, 2013 ON two occasions my FFH would start in gas mode and would not switch off even with the battery almost charged. When I pressed the "leaf" thing on the MFT screen it says "running gas engine due to heater settings". The thing was that I have the same settings and almost never change them. I turned the climate control off and low and behold the car switched to EV mode. Turned the climate back on and it continued in EV mode and gas from time to time as usual. I recon the climate control gets confused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apm Posted February 11, 2013 Share Posted February 11, 2013 (edited) I've had some pretty mixed mileage results from my Hybrid thus far - sometimes wonderful, sometimes really frustrating. Typically, I unless I accelerate like a snail, I can't seem to get it above 10-15mph before the gas engine kicks in. And as soon as it does, my MPG meter drops to about 15mpg. Anyway, today at lunch, it pretty much started in gas mode, and didn't change to EV until my little battery meter was fully charged. At that point, I drove the next mile and a half or so entirely in EV at speeds of all the way up to 40mph. It didn't actually switch back to gas until after I had stopped moving altogether for about 3-4 minutes. Really strange, but my MPG was through the roof during that time, obviously. Anyone else had this experience, or at least know how to do that/replicate it? My 2010 Fusion Hybrid does this about one or twice per year... I think it helps keep the battery operating at maximum efficiency. Regards, APM Edited February 11, 2013 by apm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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