Long commute advice needed!

[gauthit]

Hello everyone.  I'm new to this forum, new to the Energi (2015), new job, and unfortunately a new longer commute.  My last commute was 3 miles (each way) in a Jeep Wrangler.  I bought a Fusion Energi for my new 50 mile (each way) commute.  My wife has a 2010 Fusion Hybrid so I'm familiar with some of the driving techniques, but I could really use some advice from drivers that have a long daily work commute in the Energi.  Thanks in advance for the help.  

 

All of my data has been rounded, and I'm not looking to squeeze every last MPG out of this car.  My goal is to save the most money I can without analyzing this 100 ways to Sunday.  I understand that the variables (like traffic, weather, elevation changes, tire pressure, my weight, cargo weight, etc.) I'm leaving out of my data could radically change your advice.  That being said, I am not including that data to prevent a debate about specifics since I only need high level advice from people that are long commuters.

 

There are 4 routes that I can use for my commute.  What do you think?

 

1. 50 miles - 60MPH avg speed - 50 mins - 40 miles hwy / 10 miles city - Low potential for bad traffic
2. 45 miles - 50MPH avg speed - 54 mins - 30 miles hwy / 15 miles city - Potential for backed up traffic or congestion
3. 45 miles - 55MPH avg speed - 50 mins - 35 miles hwy / 10 miles city - Highest potential for heavy traffic and accidents
4. 40 miles - 30MPH avg speed - 80 mins - City and country road blend - Stop and go traffic, but low potential for traffic jams 

 

What is the "X factor" to saving money in this car?

or

What are the top three "X factors" for saving money in this car?

 

 

[lonzo71]

the big one is- dont use heat/AC. If you dont use it, you'll get more out of it...Before answering, can you charge at work?

[Timewellspent]

If you don't mind the extra drive time, I would say the order would be 4, 2, 3, 1.  Speed is a killer.  The slower the better.

[stevedebi]

Hello everyone.  I'm new to this forum, new to the Energi (2015), new job, and unfortunately a new longer commute.  My last commute was 3 miles (each way) in a Jeep Wrangler.  I bought a Fusion Energi for my new 50 mile (each way) commute.  My wife has a 2010 Fusion Hybrid so I'm familiar with some of the driving techniques, but I could really use some advice from drivers that have a long daily work commute in the Energi.  Thanks in advance for the help.  

 

All of my data has been rounded, and I'm not looking to squeeze every last MPG out of this car.  My goal is to save the most money I can without analyzing this 100 ways to Sunday.  I understand that the variables (like traffic, weather, elevation changes, tire pressure, my weight, cargo weight, etc.) I'm leaving out of my data could radically change your advice.  That being said, I am not including that data to prevent a debate about specifics since I only need high level advice from people that are long commuters.

 

There are 4 routes that I can use for my commute.  What do you think?

 

1. 50 miles - 60MPH avg speed - 50 mins - 40 miles hwy / 10 miles city - Low potential for bad traffic
2. 45 miles - 50MPH avg speed - 54 mins - 30 miles hwy / 15 miles city - Potential for backed up traffic or congestion
3. 45 miles - 55MPH avg speed - 50 mins - 35 miles hwy / 10 miles city - Highest potential for heavy traffic and accidents
4. 40 miles - 30MPH avg speed - 80 mins - City and country road blend - Stop and go traffic, but low potential for traffic jams 

 

What is the "X factor" to saving money in this car?

or

What are the top three "X factors" for saving money in this car?

I vote for number 1. 60 MPH is not that fast, and your time is valuable. Take the route with the least congestion.

 

20 miles EV (round trip use) is a bit low, but you should be able to get that even in winter, provided you don't overuse the heater in EV Mode. Keep in mind that on the highway, heat is provided by the ICE. So for winter use, it will be warmer.

 

If you can plug in at work, you could use EV Auto for a while on the highway, then plug in for the return trip. I often use it when I know how much battery I will need at the destination - it helps when going up hills at highway speed, where EV Auto will show MPG over 60 while the EV Later would show MPG around 20-25. It takes practice and knowing the terrain you will be covering, but a commute is ideal for that kind of thing.

Edited October 21, 2015 at 11:23 PM by stevedebi

[gauthit]

Thanks for the quick replies. Everything helps as I try to save some money and have fun! A sports car is worthless for my drive, but I feel like this car gives me a different type of excitement. The technology in the car makes for a lot of fun.

 

I'll post a detailed follow up with data from all the options early in January when I have captured enough data. I'll include all the factors like outside temp, elevation change, etc. Maybe it will help someone make a decision like mine.

 

Today I took option 1 and used EV Now to get to the highway, EV Later during most of the highway but flipped to EV Now when i thought it made sense. Traffic was about the same and it took me about 55 mins. Actual milage was 50.0. I got 60.2mpg going to work and 57.9 return. I have 4 miles EV left in case I need to run to the store tonight. So far that's great! I'm going to try driving faster one day and see how that changes things. Also, I did not use climate system at all. Winter is probably going to ruin my plan!

[lonzo71]

I'm about the same commute as yours, 44 miles with most of it is highway. My mornings I normally just do a CC at 60 on the hwy and just do 5 over the limit on locals. I'm normally in the 60s mpgs. Just depends on how hard you hit the gas/breaks and the other stuff like weather, stars, moon phases, ect ;)

Sadly, i cant charge at work so I'm mostly in ev later and use ev auto on the locals. My evenings, i get it with traffic for a bunch of miles so I use ev auto since sometimes I need that pep to move up. Just try a few ways and do your thing cause really, its up to you on how good or comfy you want to be

[Hybridbear]

I have 4 miles EV left in case I need to run to the store tonight.

I'd try to use up all of the HVB range on your commute. If you have a 240V EVSE at home you could add 4 miles of range in about 20-25 minutes. You charge the whole HVB from completely empty to full in 2 hours. I'd try to use up all of the HVB on your commute & then charge now when you get home if you need to go out again, otherwise just use Value Charge.

[hoagie]

I am a new owner and going to bump this thread up. I drive either:

 

59 miles, mostly expressway, or 51 miles, no expressway. 

 

After 1 drive of each, my mileage was about the same, around 54 MPG. The difference is that the night I took the shorter slower drive, it was 12 degrees with a much lower wind chill, and my battery lasted about 2/3 as long. FYI, I did 70 mph on the expressway, which is about 50 of the 59 trip. Also, they do have chargers at work, which was a real selling point for me.

[murphy]

For high speed driving put the car in EV later mode.  The drag from pushing through the air, which is denser when it is cold, will reduce the EV mileage.  Keep EV only mode for slow traffic and city streets.  Cold weather is brutal.  The car will work much better when the temperature gets up to 70 degrees.

 

When the temperature is over 70 I can do a 21 mile round trip without running out of battery.  In the winter I can only do half of that trip before the battery is empty.