Tips on using the trip meters?

[howardbc]

I tried using the Trip2 trip meter yesterday and would love to get some tips or feedback from other owners of the 2013 FFE on their experiences with the trip meters. 

 

It wasn't super easy to find/activate the trip meters, to begin with. I tried using a Voice Command like "Trip meter," but that didn't work. I eventually found it just by pressing the buttons on the left side of the steering wheel. But is there a simple voice command to turn one of the two trip meters on/off?

 

Then I looked in my owner's manual and was again so disappointed at how hard it is to find anything in it. In the Index at the back of the manual is where one should be able to find anything, but as I've already learned, this is not the case in our owner's manual. So I spent a lot of time looking through the whole manual until I found just a page or two about the trip meters. Really not much help. I know I can do a Search in the on-line manual but I've found it to be difficult to access and save. 

 

I was able to use Trip2 for a bit but am wondering what the best setting is for the trip meter(s) so that one can also see other important things. It still showed me my MPG(s) when I turned off the car, so that was good. 

 

I mainly want to use the trip meter so I can get an idea of how far I go using the initial battery charge. I know I can look that up on-line after I get home, but thought using a trip meter should give me instant numbers.

 

By the way, I usually use EV Auto.

 

Thanks for any tips or feedback. 

[Hybridbear]

Turn on the advanced trip meters so that you get more information. Since your car is a 2013 you can see MPGe. Use MPGe combined with the kWh consumed according to the trip meter to see how far you can go. Your MPGe number directly correlates to range. The higher the MPGe, the more miles you can drive on the same amount of electricity, just like MPG. Some EV owners don't like MPGe, but I think it has its place. Since most Americans are used to MPG, MPGe works as a suitable bridge to other EV consumption units such as Wh/mi or mi/kWh.

[Rexracer]

Maybe its just me, but I cycle the left window view probably 2-3 times per trip (5-10 minute trips), so getting into/out of the trip screen doesn't seem hard/difficult. Maybe just a little practice is needed.

I keep trip 1 for overall fuel consumption for that tank

Trip 2 is for whatever else I want to track, that days mpg/distance, or a weeks worth or, whatever, I reset it often.

 

I also don't use voice commands, with a 2 year old in the car, its hard to get a word in edge wise, so I don't rely on being able to do everything with a voice command.

[howardbc]

Thanks, everyone, for the great feedback. I turned on the enhanced option for Trip2 and I can already tell that it is really going to be very informative.

 

Today I drove 32.7 miles - of which 25.7 were EV miles. Yes, I can get all that info later if I feel like using My Ford Mobile and my calculator, but using the trip meter is much better. 

 

I will note the daily trip statistics for maybe a month and then do an average for how far I normally drive every day and for how many of those miles are EV. I can't find that kind of info anywhere else, can I? 

 

Thanks again. 

[Rexracer]

Sounds like a good plan to me. And I haven't seen that kind of information culminated and reported automatically.

[Tom]

I use the MPGE units because I like to see the instant read-out for efficiency as I'm driving in EV mode.  I don't worry about the actual total MPGE or MPG anymore, because I know I'm getting about the best range I can for each kilowatt or gallon of gas.  I rarely care about the miles driven, because I display the remaining range gas and EV.  The trip MPGE ranges from 999 MPGE to about 75 MPGE, depending on how and where I drive.  When I take longer trips I use the navigation with a set destination, so I get instant read-out of the mile remaining to the destination. 

[Hybridbear]

The trip MPGE ranges from 999 MPGE to about 75 MPGE, depending on how and where I drive.

How do you manage a trip MPGe of 999.9? This would mean you traveled somewhere with essentially 0 electricity use?

[stevedebi]

Just a side note, on the C-Max Energi for the 2014 / 2015 they removed MPGe. Is that true of the Fusion Energi?

 

Also, I think that if they perform some of the maintenance re-flashes of the 2013 C-Max Energi one will lose MPGe. Has that been reported over here?

[Hybridbear]

Just a side note, on the C-Max Energi for the 2014 / 2015 they removed MPGe. Is that true of the Fusion Energi?

 

Also, I think that if they perform some of the maintenance re-flashes of the 2013 C-Max Energi one will lose MPGe. Has that been reported over here?

MPGe & the Lifetime Summary were removed from the C-Max starting with MY2013 Job 3. Those displays were removed from the Fusion starting with MY2014 Job 1. No one has reported losing those displays during a software update.

[lonzo71]

Wish they would add it back or add it to the MFM or something

[Hybridbear]

Wish they would add it back or add it to the MFM or something

MFM does show MPGe I believe even though it says MPG. For example, if you drive a trip all in EV without the ICE turning on your car shows 999.9 MPG, but MFM shows a different number, right? One that's probably between 100 & 150? That's MPGe.

[meyersnole]

Maybe its just me, but I cycle the left window view probably 2-3 times per trip (5-10 minute trips), so getting into/out of the trip screen doesn't seem hard/difficult. Maybe just a little practice is needed.

I keep trip 1 for overall fuel consumption for that tank

Trip 2 is for whatever else I want to track, that days mpg/distance, or a weeks worth or, whatever, I reset it often.

 

I also don't use voice commands, with a 2 year old in the car, its hard to get a word in edge wise, so I don't rely on being able to do everything with a voice command.

 

I also cycle through the screens to gain what ever information I am looking for. I usually leave it on the one that they let you customize which has the mini coach screen with the engine/battery tach like graph. I agree with Rexracer the software for the dash was designed so much better than the MFT and is quite easy to use, a huge step up from my Acura TL. If they only would have had the same group of programmers tackle MFT!

 

For the trip meters I just use them for trips as I rarely burn any gas locally (once or twice a month and fractions of a gal when I do). To keep track of miles per tank I have a spread sheet an fuely. In my previous car I would use the trip meter to see what kind of mileage I got on that tank... it is just so long between tanks most of the time that I don't bother. I have already driven over 600 miles on this tank and have no trips planned for months... It really is nice not remembering the last time you went to the gas station or where. 

 

For stretching the battery I like the coaching screens. Maximize your scores, maximize your range. Also set the NAV system to shortest or ECO mode (basically avoid highways), keep the speeds down and enjoy the ride. However, no matter what I do in this car I am still way better off than my previous car which got about 21 mpg combined normal driving on premium fuel. It was a little more exciting to drive, but this one can be just as fun.

 

There is also a range screen that will tell you how many miles you have left on battery and gas, but I am not sure how that is any better than the battery gauge on the right that guesses how many miles range you have on the battery.