Best Driving Scores

[dlb92]

So I just drove to my parents and back..no AC on the way there but we kept it at 75 on the way back.

[easyv]

Nice! I haven't been able to get past 84 yet, but I've just bought mine last week.

[Depauwler]

My highs are a 97 and a couple 95s, 94s, 93s, with lows of 76, 78, 79s.  The lows were when I had to use the ICE, going 75mph on the interstate.  I only saw reports for the last month, and it doesn't count my frequent short trips which are all EV.

[easyv]

Curious as to why yours displays MPGe. Mine displays MPG

 

Edited August 19, 2013 at 01:56 AM by easyv

[dlb92]

You change the setting in the car "display units"...whatever that is set to that is what it will display

[dlb92]

Can someone help me decipher this?  I went the whole way with no gas but trip two says 98% electric--you see 999MPG so you know no gas was used.  Secondly, it says 5.7KWh was used.  I thought the battery was 7.6Kwh?  Does the 5.7 only include power to the wheels? I used the AC on the first trip but not on the way home.  I used the audio system the whole way and headlights on the way home.  How much energy does the audio system use by the way?

Edited August 28, 2013 at 03:14 AM by dlb92

[larryh]

The plug-in energy used displayed on the car's console is the amount of energy extracted from the HVB used to propel the vehicle and to power climate control and other accessories.  No battery is 100% efficient, so you cannot extract the entire 7.6 kWh from the battery.   In addition, the car will not allow you to completely drain the battery.  1.1 kWH of the battery capacity is reserved for hybrid operation.  Generally, the car tries to keep the "hybrid battery" at about 50% charge.  So you can use at most 7.6 - 1.1/2 = 7.05 kWh of battery capacity.  The most plug-in energy used that I have observed is 5.9 kWh.  That implies the battery is about 5.9/7.05 = 84% efficient in transforming the stored charged to electrical energy.

Edited August 28, 2013 at 08:28 AM by larryh

[Andre07]

See if I can try to help to clear this up a bit.

A secondary battery, any Secondary Battery (chargeable) stores Energy. In the this case the HVB of on the Energi is rated at 7.6 KWh. Meaning that it has 7.6 KWh of Energy that can be used to propel the Vehicle and operate the AC and cabin Heater.

From what I have been reading, Fords Hybrid Batteries for the Energi operate at a Peak 300+ VDC, so if this Battery has a capacity of 7.6 KWh then it can deliver power to the Electric Drive Motor, AC and Heater Coils at at rate of 25 Amps. 7.6KWH = 300VDC x 25.33 Amps x Hours

Have not read anything on the Actual Voltage or Current Numbers delivered by the HVB, so these may be off by 5 or 10 %

I believe that Ford uses Panasonic Li-Ion Batteries that are made up into Modules rated at 7.2 VDC each then connected in Series and Parallel to create The 7.6KWH HVB. Most Batteries used in these Battery Module Packs I believe are 18650 type Cell and delivers 3.7 Volts each and are rated at 3000Mh (3.0 Ah) each.

This is why that although these Batteries can be rated at 300VDC +/- 5-10% the current that these Batteries can deliver is in the 25 to 30 Amp range..

As the Batteries become depleted, the Voltage it can deliver is lowered as is the Current and this is why I believe that the most that the HVB can deliver is around 6.0 KWh...... the more regen power that can be made the more the Battery is charged and can then deliver but as has been stated, I believe 1.2kWh is left in the HVB as reserve cause the Voltage and Current may be too low to be functional and also to preserve the batteries so they are not allowed to drain to too low a value.

Hope this helps to figure out what those numbers may mean.

Kind of wish the Meters on the screen could display not only the KHh but the Actual Voltage and Current that the HVB is being used to drive Motor, AC and Heater as well as when the Battery is being Charged, but for whatever reason the Ford Engineers decided to display values in KHw which is of course a Measure or Energy. Watts=Current x Voltage.

As I have stated before I do not yet own a Hybrid but have been reading up on Hydrids and their Operation to get general information on how they work. I am hoping to get the Ford Fusion Energi cause I believe that this is the best Car on the Market for the price at the moment and hope to get one early next year.
 

Edited August 29, 2013 at 06:52 AM by Andre07

[dlb92]

Does anyone know how much energy the Sony audio system uses?  I'm just wondering how significant it is--if its like running the AC.

 

Some audio systems really use a lot of watts.

[Russael]

The Sony system is supposed to be 390 watts peak, and I'd assume that's at full volume.   But that may just be audio output watts and not total system consumption. 

[larryh]

The audio system power usage is much less than AC.   The AC uses from 0.5 kW to 5 kW.  The audio system generally uses only a few watts (unless you turn it way up). 

Edited August 28, 2013 at 08:55 PM by larryh

[dlb92]

Good to know..now I can listen to my tunes without feeling guilty.

 

I got to work and home for the first time today with absolutely no gas..29.2 miles going an average of about 40mph (at times 20 mph under the speed limit!). I got a 97 on the way there and a 98 on the way back.

[larryh]

I would estimate that the range of the car going a constant 40 mph is about 32.6 miles.  The only way to get a high score for cruising and overall driving score is to keep the speed down.

Edited August 29, 2013 at 08:14 AM by larryh

[dlb92]

Whats weird is when I got to work I had 15 miles on battery and 8 hours later when I left it had dropped to 13 miles.

[murphy]

Whats weird is when I got to work I had 15 miles on battery and 8 hours later when I left it had dropped to 13 miles.

Did you turn the A/C on?  That would drop the mileage estimate the instant it was turned on.

[dlb92]

No that is what is weird about it..no AC either way

[larryh]

The mileage is only an estimate.  If you checked the HVB charge on the EV info screen, it should have been the same when your arrived and left work.   Who knows all that it bases the estimate on?   Maybe it doesn't save all the parameters that it uses to make the estimate when you turn the car off or some of them changed in the 8 hours. 

[Andre07]

No that is what is weird about it..no AC either way

Were you the sole Occupant in the Vehicle?

 

Did it take the same time to get to work as it did to return home?

 

Is the road going both ways flat or is ther a Uphill Slope going one way and downward slope returning?

 

There can be some variables that need to be considered to try to figure out why the difference.

 

As larry has mentioned, the milage being displayed could only be an estimate but would thing there to be a low percentage, ie +/- 0.5 to 1.0%

 

Looking at your Snap shot that on Aug 13 trip you drove 24.4 Miles on EV and got 64 MPG

 

Yet on Aug 14 you drove 21.7 Miles and got 50 PG

 

So unless the Speed or the Road Grade was different or you had passangers between the trips, the values should have been much closer.

[jeff_h]

I've been able to drive my wife's Energi for the past several trips, made a collection of the driving scores.  I initially thought that in order to get the better driving scores it was important to have more regen miles -- but the bottom two trips from last night contradict that since the two trips at the bottom both had 1.1 regen miles and the trips were largely the same route where one went out and the later trip was the return home. 

 

 

[Andre07]

Thanks for sharing

 

Looking at the 2nd Last Pane it looks of the 18.3 Miles driven only 69% was using EV for a total of 2 kWh.

 

Last and third last Pane seems virtually equal since 100% of the trip was using EV and that was 3.6 kWh to drive the 18 Miles

 

Very impressive Numbers even if the Braking Regen may have been low, but then that would be determine by traffic conditions during your trip

 

I like the First Pane where it shows you drove 23.8 Miles on 5.2kWh..... Now that is impressive even if 7.5 of those Miles was as a result of Regen power.

 

Very impressive in deed.

[jeff_h]

I like the First Pane where it shows you drove 23.8 Miles on 5.2kWh..... Now that is impressive even if 7.5 of those Miles was as a result of Regen power.

 

Yeah that last trip was this afternoon, went without AC for the first 17 miles (trying to make HVB last as long as possible), but then there's a nice long ½ mile downhill where steadily regen-ing down will put 2 sometimes 3 miles back on the total... so once I got there the AC went on since I figured I could make it home.  Made it home with 2 miles left on HVB.  I love those little around-town trips where total will be 20 or less, had to make a slight detour on this trip which made 23 miles but that long hill kept it from needing to use the ICE.

[Eric4539]

Ok, my friends, I am sharing my awful driving scores and I'm asking for pointers/comments on what I should do to improve.  

 

Here is what happened today.

 

I drove to my local dealer this morning to drop my car off for the trunk TSB which is the first screen shot.  I always have the AC on but about 1/2 mile after I left my house I decided to open the sunroof and turn the AC off.  Amazing how many more miles I gained in the HVB.  I was in EV Auto all the way.

 

I was back at home waiting for the work on my car to be completed when my original salesman called me.  We then discussed the mileage I was getting and he said several of his customers share their best driving tips with him.  I really didn't think I was getting poor mileage, but he made me think about it, and Ok, perhaps I can improve.  So he recommended that I try this:

 

1) Use EV Later when I first get into the car and use the AC to get the cabin to my set temperature (since it was over 90 today)

2) Once that has been achieved he said to use EV Now until the HVB is depleted even on my 125 mile drive to Palo Alto, CA (I have never used EV Now).

3) Let the car run in Hybrid mode for the remainder of my drive, and he wants to know what my mpg I achieve.

 

So I picked my car up this afternoon, and on the drive home I started in EV Later, but then I thought my drive is less than 4 miles home so using EV Later would be crazy.  I switched to EV Now.  The second screen shot is the drive home.

 

I am driving to Palo Alto on Sunday and I plan to use Auto until I get on the highway and then switch to EV Later.  On my drive home on Monday I will try EV Later when the AC is cooling the cabin.  Once the set temperature is met I will switch to EV Now and drive home.  I will not be able to charge at my destination so I do not want to use EV Now on my drive up.

 

What do you all think?

 

 

 

• Friday, Aug 30, 2013Completed 3:17 PMUnsaved Location
•  

  84% EV

  Trip: 3.8 milesFriday, Aug 30, 2013Completed 2:03 PM
  Energy

   

   

  1.3
  kWh

  Total Amount Used

  EV Miles

  3.2 miles

  Fuel Economy

  79 MPG

   

  Brake Score

  92%

  0.6 miles from Regen!

   

  Driving Score

  87

   
•  

  100% EV

  Trip: 3.9 milesFriday, Aug 30, 2013Completed 7:59 AM
  Energy

   

   

  1.1
  kWh

  Total Amount Used

  EV Miles

  3.9 miles

  Fuel Economy

  999 MPG

   

  Brake Score

  92%

  1.1 miles from Regen!

   

  Driving Score

  78

   
•  

[dlb92]

I think less regen is better especially if you have flat roads because regen usually means you are stopping and going...its always more efficient just to maintain a speed.

[Eric4539]

The previous screen shot did not work....

 

 

[larryh]

You should cool down the car while it is plugged in using power from the wall outlet via preconditioning.  Either use GO times and set the cabin temperature or remote start the car with the climate controls set appropriately. 

 

Selecting the optimal EV Later vs. EV Auto/Now will not make much difference in the overall gas consumed--maybe at most 0.08 gallons.  To realize this small savings, reserve EV for the slowest speeds. 

Edited August 31, 2013 at 12:50 AM by larryh