Anyone taken a long road trip yet?

[howardbc]

Has anyone taken a long road trip yet in their 2013 Ford Fusion Energi? On the highway, what is the best speed? What was your average MPG when in hybrid mode?

 

Did you have any luck finding a quick-charging public station while on your trip? Is the Blink Network the best for available charging stations? If not, which charging stations are the most available, although I imagine it varies by location. I am wondering about charging stations traveling through the Arizona, Nevada, and California areas. 

 

Thanks!

 

 

[wbcampbell]

In the first 600 miles with our Energi we burned about 1.5 gallons of gasoline.  And then the summer season was upon us. We have put another 4800 miles on our Fusion Energi since June 21, mostly highway miles from Oregon to Montana and back (several trips).  I can say that it cruises along very nicely at 70-75 mph and will accelerate smartly for passing on two-lane highways.

 

After the first 20 miles on these trips I stop thinking "EV" and accept that I am driving a hybrid.  I brought our 120v charger along, but never did use it.  (Much of the time we were parked at our cabin: the nearest outlet was about 50 yds from our parking spot).  I didn't bother looking for charging stations; when I have hundreds of miles to go the 21+ miles that I can get in EV mode just doesn't seem that significant.  Our average mpg for these trips ranged from 38.9 to 39.5 mpg.  It is very nice to fill up and see an estimated range of 500+ miles, especially when you have 600 or 700 miles to knock-off before you stop.  We found that we had to make interim stops at gas stations just to scrub the bugs off the windshield. :-)

 

Now we are home for a couple of weeks and it is back to plugging into my 240v charging station between trips, enjoying the EV and feeling bad if we slip into hybrid mode.  This car has a split personality. (Or maybe I do :-)

 

I bought this car mainly as a comfortable and efficient commuter--I am very pleasantly surprised at how it handles on the highway.

-Bill Campbell

[howardbc]

Thank you, wbcampbell, for the great report. Like you, I will just have to accept the car as a hybrid when I take a long road trip. 

[mikenmar]

On the highway, what is the best speed? What was your average MPG when in hybrid mode?

 

Based on my experience with the 2010 Fusion Hybrid, the best speed is somewhere between 55 mph and the low 60s.  Once you get over 65, your mpg starts to drop pretty fast.

 

You should be able to get 45 mpg or higher, depending on various factors. 

 

If you get behind a truck (don't get too close!), you can do a lot better -- 50 mpg or more.  I stopped doing that after a cracked windshield though;  trucks tend to kick up small rocks more frequently than cars do.

 

Also, use the cruise control as much as possible.

Edited July 28, 2013 at 06:42 PM by mikenmar

[meyersnole]

Has anyone taken a long road trip yet in their 2013 Ford Fusion Energi? On the highway, what is the best speed? What was your average MPG when in hybrid mode?

 

Did you have any luck finding a quick-charging public station while on your trip? Is the Blink Network the best for available charging stations? If not, which charging stations are the most available, although I imagine it varies by location. I am wondering about charging stations traveling through the Arizona, Nevada, and California areas. 

 

Thanks!

 

 

larryh has done some wonderful analysis on speed vs energy consumption. Here is one of his posts you might enjoy (there are many more... do a search) http://www.fordfusionenergiforum.com/topic/1020-reported-trip-energy-used-vs-energy-required-to-recharge-car/?p=5509

[larryh]

Thanks meyersnole!  I wanted to find a way to reduce the gas consumed on my 56.5 mile one-way weekend commutes.  Using these results, I have been able to reduce the gas consumed for the one-way commutes from 0.8 gallons to about 0.6 gallons in my most recent trips.  And now following my weekend commutes, MFM shows my EV range to be 31 miles.  That goes down during the week with my commutes to work.

Edited July 28, 2013 at 11:04 PM by larryh

[dlb92]

Do you drive on highways or is it stop and go?  Is your average speed around 42mph?

 

The most I have been able to get is 28 miles off a charge without using climate control but that is with about 10 miles of highway so sometimes I am force to go around 50mph.

 

Everyone keeps saying breaking only captures 75% of energy.  Ford claims it is 95%.

 

http://www.greencarreports.com/news/1084850_ford-regenerative-braking-has-saved-100-million-gallons-of-gas

Edited August 15, 2013 at 04:29 AM by dlb92

[larryh]

The commute is via Freeways/Highways.  The trip takes about 1 hour 10 minutes.  So the average speed is 48 mph, but that includes a couple of stop lights.  The greatest EV range that I have observed for the commute is 27 miles when I used EV auto for the entire trip, which included segments where the posted speed limit is 70 mph.  After the results posted above, I now use EV later when the posted speed is about 60 mph and reserve EV auto for the 55 mph segments.  I haven't tracked the actual EV range when doing this.  I do not always go the posted speed limit.  To reduce consumption to 0.6 gallons, I also need to limit max speed to about 60 mph.  But it you have a long trip, and can choose the segments that use the least power to reserve for EV, it should not be difficult to get 31 miles from the battery.

 

The articles I have read claim 75% of the kinetic energy captured by regenerative braking is recovered to propel the vehicle.   I have measured, using a Kill A Watt electricity meter attached to the electrical outlet, that 72% of the energy from the outlet is used to propel the vehicle.  It takes energy to charge and discharge the battery.  I don't think the efficiency is 95%.  Here is what I have read in other articles:

 

Depending on the battery’s state of charge and your driving, regenerative braking can account for more than 90% recovery of the energy that would normally be lost in friction braking.

 

I think when they say 95% efficiency in the context of the article, they are saying that 95% of the kinetic energy is used to generate electricity and 5% if wasted as heat via friction.  The 95% that is consumed to generate electricity and charge the battery is not fully recovered as kinetic energy to propel the vehicle.  Only about 75% of the kinetic energy can be recovered. 

Edited August 15, 2013 at 10:42 AM by larryh

[larryh]

I did an informal experiment this afternoon.  I accelerated to 60 mph and observed that about 5.2% of full battery charge was used to do this.  Most of the time it took 5%, but occaisionally it took 6%.  To get better measurements, the EV info screen would have to show charge to more accuracy than 1%.  With the car in L, I then measured the amount of charge recovered by regen going from 60 mph to 0 mph.  That was about 2.3% of full battery charge.  Most times it was 2%, but sometimes it was 3%.  Assuming it takes about 40 seconds to get to 60 mph and another 40 seconds to get back to 0, the average speed for the trip is 30 mph and the distance travelled is about 0.67 miles.  To go 0.67 miles at 30 mph requires about 1.8% of full battery charge.  So my very rough calculations indicate that 2.3/(5.2 - 1.8) = 68% of the kinetic energy is recovered.  There is a very large margin of error in these calculations. 

Edited August 17, 2013 at 08:35 PM by larryh

[larryh]

The kinetic energy of the car going 60 mph is about 0.185 kWh.  2.3% of the battery energy is about 2.3%*5.6 kWh = 0.128 kWh.  So the amount of energy restored to the battery is approximately 70%.  An accurate measurement is difficult since the EV info screen displays % charge of the battery to the nearest percent.  It would be better if it were to the nearest tenth of a percent for a more accurate measurement.

Edited August 18, 2013 at 09:25 PM by larryh

[meyersnole]

Just took my first road trip. I am impressed.

 

The trip was from Raleigh NC to Bethlehem, PA. For that trip I spent 9:35:02 driving with 483.2 total miles, and the car managed to do 195.9 of those in EV mode. This yielded an impressive 46MPG, burning 10.48 gallons of fuel.

 

On the trip I had the A/C running the entire time, speeds were up to 75mph and of course much slower as I made my way through the DC area.

 

For the trip home it was almost as impressive traveling 9:22:47 and 483.1 miles, but only 174.9EV this time. This dropped my MPG to a still impressive 43.6MPG consuming 11.07 gallons of fuel.

 

I did not bring my charger on the trip, and did not see any real options to charge there. It felt good to drive to breakfast this am in EV mode.

 

On the downside, this has KILLED my lifetime averages, I was well into the 200's and now have dropped to only 104.5 driving 4335.7, 3278.4 in EV (661.6 from regeneration).  I have another trip planned at the end of August where I am driving back up to Pitt and back, which will drop my average even more. However, the next few weeks its back and forth to work in EV mode! 

[dlb92]

Nice, I would like to see the FFH try the same trip and compare MPG.

 

I'm doubting it would have broke 40 seeing the actual driver results from here:

 

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/Find.do?action=sbs&id=33083&id=33373&id=33398

Edited August 18, 2013 at 05:14 PM by dlb92

[meyersnole]

Well, some of that is going to depend on options like tire size but in theory it should do better not carrying around the extra battery weight. I have wondered how much the 18 or 19 inch tires cut into the fuel economy though -- my guess is quite a bit.

 

However if you use the same 17s with the same tires, my guess is that it would do better. I think when you go to the 18s you may also lose the low rolling resistance tires too... double whammy.

[howardbc]

Meyersnole, your post really made my day. If I can get 46MPG on my next trip while in hybrid mode, I would be thrilled! I only got 42-50 in my Prius. Heck, anything in the low 40s would be great, considering the Energi is 1000 pounds heavier than the Prius. I am pretty good about coasting and braking to get every regen mile I can snag. 

 

I will be going uphill for about 3 hours and then downhill coming home. I'm still confused as to whether I should use that "downhill" button on the gear shift or Low or just braking. 

 

Thanks for giving me hope. 

[Eric4539]

I drive a 270 mile round trip twice a month.  This month I will do 4 of these trips.  I start with a full tank of gas each time.

 

On Friday I did one of these trips.  I use EV Auto from my house to the highway which is about 4 miles. Once I am on the highway I switch to EV Later and I set the Adaptive Cruise Control at 74.  Depending on traffic I notice that I cruise along anywhere between 60 mph and 74 mph.  The drive has uphills and downhills.  Once I exit the highway near my destination I switch to EV Auto again.  The drive to my destination, the car said I averaged 46.5 mpg and the drive home was 47.5 mpg.

 

I topped off the gas yesterday and the car took 5.8 gallons and I had driven 305 miles total (I had a couple of 100% EV drives before I left town).

 

I do not try to maximize mpg when I drive so achieving 46-47 mpg without trying is fantastic!

[meyersnole]

I honestly started the trip thinking I would be thrilled if I got 40, given the size of the car. Remember that I got these numbers with the stereo going, A/C blasting, and using the passing lane when I could -- nothing extreme (basically the speedlimit plus 4 or 5mph).

 

I have gotten in the habit of allowing the cruise to accellorate in ECO mode, and always try to max my brake scores (with mixed results (91% lifetime score)). Given my results I am surprised there were so many complaints about the EPA numbers, but I am guessing that has to be the tires/wheel size.

 

As to your question on hill assit, are you using cruise control?  I would think the car would handle it just fine with out it.  If you are not using cruise, then I probably would use hill or pop it in L, which ever makes it easier to maintain speed.

[Energized]

I did an informal experiment this afternoon.  I accelerated to 60 mph and observed that about 5.2% of full battery charge was used to do this.  Most of the time it took 5%, but occaisionally it took 6%.  To get better measurements, the EV info screen would have to show charge to more accuracy than 1%.  With the car in L, I then measured the amount of charge recovered by regen going from 60 mph to 0 mph.  That was about 2.3% of full battery charge.  Most times it was 2%, but sometimes it was 3%.  Assuming it takes about 40 seconds to get to 60 mph and another 40 seconds to get back to 0, the average speed for the trip is 30 mph and the distance travelled is about 0.67 miles.  To go 0.67 miles at 30 mph requires about 1.8% of full battery charge.  So my very rough calculations indicate that 2.3/(5.2 - 1.8) = 68% of the kinetic energy is recovered.  There is a very large margin of error in these calculations. 

 

 

A driver tested the regen efficiency on a Focus Electric by driving up and down Mt Washington.   When the vehicle reached the bottom of the mountain, it had recaptured 96% of energy when accounting for rolling resistance.  Not accounting for rolling resistance, the number was 72%.

[larryh]

A driver tested the regen efficiency on a Focus Electric by driving up and down Mt Washington.   When the vehicle reached the bottom of the mountain, it had recaptured 96% of energy when accounting for rolling resistance.  Not accounting for rolling resistance, the number was 72%.

Stoplights have a significant negative impact on mileage.  It is unlikely that 96% of the kinetic energy can be captured and used to restore the lost kinetic energy stopping for a stoplight.

 

My best estimate of energy lost due to aerodynamic drag and friction going from 60 mph to 0 mph in 30 seconds is 0.05 kWh (based on the plots I have provided of MPGe vs speed in EV mode).  If I included that, I would also get around 96% efficiency.  But my measurements are not all that accurate to begin with.  And if you looked at MPGe for stopping at several stop lights vs. not stopping for any stop lights along the same route, I think you would see a significant difference.

Edited August 18, 2013 at 10:53 PM by larryh

[FusionDad]

We are just past the 6,000 mile mark into a cross-country trip which will end this week with a total of about 7,000 miles on the trip odometer.  We bought our 2013 Fusion Energi Titanium during the 2013 Memorial Day weekend.  We started the trip with 4,283 miles on the odometer.

 

The trip took us from Northern Virginia thru West Virginia to Louisville KY and area, then to the Black Hills area of South Dakota, then thru Wyoming to Yellowstone and Grand Tetons national parks, then down through Salt Lake City to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah, then to the Colorado Springs area in Colorado, then through Nebraska to the Minneapolis, Minnesota area, and we are now in Chicago, heading slowly home.

 

BLUF: the Fusion is a wonderful road car.  Comfortable with ample room for two (Son and myself + baggage), with some room to spare that makes me think three people could also do this trip, despite the small trunk space.  Fast, well-handling, plenty of power, easy-driving, well-designed.

 

We started with the MPGe indicator showing 47.9.  Right now, it shows 42.2.  Please remember that we drove through widely varying altitudes, on roads in the West which stayed at around 8 thousand feet at times for days (Yellowstone camping), and which at one point in Colorado went above 14 thousand feet (Pikes Peak climb).  The higher altitudes and the mostly 80+MPH sustained speeds out West sure ate our MPGe down.

 

We had four chances to charge via the EVSE on this so-far 21-day trip (once via level 2 in Minneapolis, thrice via the OEM EVSE cord in Western 1950's style motor hotels where you drive up to and park at the cabin door, and we significantly "stealth-charged" twice: once on US 16 in Wyoming, crossing the Bighorn Mountains from East to West and stealth-charging to an indicated 37 EV miles (ha!) on the very long, constant western descent, and again stealth-charging to an indicated 43 EV miles (ha haa!!!) during the descent from Pikes Peak, where the traction battery refused to take any more charge for the last three remaining miles of the PP road.  And no, the indicated "43 EV miles" turned into 23 actual road miles down on the flat freeway speeds right after we completed this descent.

 

So, to answer the OP's question, the Fusion Titanium, a great commuter car, is also a great road trip car provided you don't plan for four people AND their baggage, or unless the said four people pack only toothbrushes and underwear changes.

 

Our baggage list: one each duffle bag of clothing+toiletries, one each sleeping bag, one each Thermarest sleeping pad, one Eureka two-person tent, one each knapsack for our personal laptops etc, one Playmate top-grab food cooler, one each suit and assorted dress items for a wedding in Minneapolis, one each sweat shirt + rain jacket and, now, one each Stetson+box bought in Cody, Wyoming.  Additionally, trip mementoes accumulated as well, like a handmade inlaid canoe paddle from an old buddy, special visited place posters, a hand-filled Jim Beam bottle from their Kentucky distillery etc.  These sundries actually fit well and safely on the traction battery pass-through shelf between the trunk and the rear seats.  We found that the rear passenger seats worked best folded down, with the Playmate cooler and the sweatshirts and other quick-grab items and a case of water bottles easily accessible on this extra flat baggage area during the day.

 

Final note: our other car is a 2012 Prius Plug-in Advanced, which we had also taken on a long road trip in the past.  Although the Prius gets around 10 MPH better gas mileage overall on the long road, and actually packs more cargo stuff, the Fusion absolutely beats it in terms of comfort and livability when two people live in & out of the car for three solid weeks.

 

Hope this is helpful info.

Edited August 26, 2013 at 03:01 PM by FusionDad

[FusionDad]

...and oh yes, we had seven runs on the Bonneville Salt Flats.  Upwind and downwind.  We can reliably report that the Fusion's governor kicks in right at an indicated 105 MPH,  he heee....  and the salt, the salt caked on the wheel wells afterwards... took three hand washings to get rid of the 1/2 inch salt cake.

Edited August 25, 2013 at 03:08 PM by FusionDad

[howardbc]

Wonderful info, FusionDad! Thanks so much.

[TX NRG]

Thanks for the detailed report FusionDad. What a trip and good memories for you and your son. Please post some pics after you get home and settled in.

[dlb92]

Posted Today, 11:07 AM

...and oh yes, we had seven runs on the Bonneville Salt Flats.  Upwind and downwind.  We can reliably report that the Fusion's governor kicks in right at an indicated 105 MPH,  he heee....  and the salt, the salt caked on the wheel wells afterwards... took three hand washings to get rid of the 1/2 inch salt cake.

 

 

Well I think that may be why your MPGe dropped lower lol! I'd say 42 isn't bad for a car full of people and luggage.

Edited August 25, 2013 at 04:11 PM by dlb92

[howardbc]

Hi, everyone. Here is my report on my road trip:

 

Trip from Phoenix to Flagstaff – Aug 2013

 

Miles driven during entire trip = 456. Speed during 1^{st, , 2nd, 3rd days was mostly 70-75mph.}

 

1^st day – Drove 155 miles – 53.4 EV miles – had partial charge before starting

 

2^nd day – Drove 137.3 miles – 31.3 EV miles – no charging

 

3^rd day – Drove 17.8 miles – 9.89 EV miles – no charging

 

4^th day – Drove 52.4 miles – 38.6 EV miles – no charging

 

5^th day – Drove 102.1 miles – 51.84 EV miles – had charged for 1^st time during trip.

 

I got all of the above data from MyFord Mobile app. I didn't keep track of how many gallons of gas I used. Also, sure wish there was a way for the system to show MPGs when the car is in hybrid mode. My non-highway MPGs seem to fluctuate between 23-46mpg when I would look at the reading.

 

I used the Adaptive Cruise Control and it is awesome.

 

Still having problems using the Navigation system. It only seems to be user-friendly when one inputs an exact address with street number, etc. I couldn't figure out why I can't just input the name of the destination (like “Lowell Observatory”) and have it find it.

 

 

But the car drove like a dream. No problems at all. 

[larryh]

My Ford Mobile displays the MPG or MPGe for each trip.  You can deduce how much gas you used from MPG or MPGe values.  For the days with no charging, you can see how many miles per gallon you got in hybrid mode directly from MFM.