New Fusion energi owner, only getting 33-34mpg, whats wrong?

[NorCalTitanium]

Hey guys, i bought a 2015 clean title Titanium with 80k miles, oil was just changed and serviced, tires are new and in good condition, car is overall in like new condition.

 

There are things i like about the car, but i cant seem to get over the absolute paperweight of a motor that is the 2.0 atkinsons.

 

This has to be the slowest, torqueless POS 4banger i have ever driven.  Its loud, i cant control the RPMs or shift it when i want to, and to top it off according to my calculations it only gets 25-26mpg by itself.

 

Is something potentially wrong with my fusion?  I just put 1300 miles on the car in one week, 3 fill ups.  I am only getting 400-420 gallons per 12 gallon fillup.   My computer average states i am getting 33.34mpg total.

 

My trips were 75% freeway.   I have not been able to charge to battery so its been on 100% hybrid mode.   My ratio of electric miles to gas miles is about 30% overall.  I have not been driving it hard, i try to let the EV mode takeover whenever possible.  But i cannot believe they would pair the EV with such a low power 140 hp 4 cylinder in this car.  I am honestly so frustrated with the lack of low end gasoline torque on this car that im debating on whether i want to keep this car.  I HATE THIS MOTOR, i seriously feel like my golf cart is more powerful.  I just sold a 4cyl 2014 honda accord sport which felt 2x as strong as the fusions motor.  

 

My last trip was 420 miles, of which 100 were EV.  It was 12.5 gallons to fill. so the overall mileage was 33.5 mpg.  However, when you subtract the 100 EV miles off, that means the gas motor alone is only averaing 25-26 mpg?  How is this even possible?  I own v6 that get near the same mileage with 2-3x the power.  Hell, ive driven a 5.7l HEMI challenger that got 25mpg combined and thats with multiple burnouts and fast acceleration....

 

Am i missing something here?   Is there anything i should check regarding my 2.0 motor, it seems louder than most similar cars (my old 2014 Honda Accord Sport felt 2x more powerful and averaged around 30mpg during the 2 years i owned it)

 

My main commute is often 350 miles a day on my car during work days.  I commute from a little mountain town down to the bay area and back.  I baby the motor, try to keep the engine under the 2-3kw power marks (for some reason no RPM on mine).   I let the EV take over as much as possible, i dont do WOT accelerations even onto freeways, i feel like im driving the car way less slower than my 2014 accord which i had leadfoot and would still get 30mpg overall and would get 34-36mpg on freeway trips)

 

Im tempted to take it into Ford and see if there is something wrong with the engine.  Or should i give this car a full charge and maybe that will change things.  

Edited January 24, 2019 at 09:04 AM by NorCalTitanium

[murphy]

There is no relation between RPM and vehicle speed.  Forget everything you know about listening to an engine.  The gas pedal tells the computer what you want.  The computer controls the engine to an RPM that optimizes the operation.  There is no "shifting".  It's an eCVT transmission.  It sets vehicle speed by the ratio between two electric motors and engine speed when the engine is running.  The L position is not a gear change.  It puts regenerative braking on the accelerator pedal.  It takes some time to learn how to use that.  Acceleration is provided by the electric motor, not the engine.

 

As with all cars the faster you go the lower the gas mileage will be.  Air drag increases with the square of the velocity (speed).

 

Charge the battery.  Mine is for local driving only.  From late spring to early fall my engine doesn't run at all.

[jj2me]

I agree that you should charge the car before worrying too much. With some available kWh, you may not be complaining about low-end torque, as the electric motor will replace or augment the gasoline engine at lower speeds and rpms. I love the pull of the electric motor when turning left from a busy stop street--no possibility of stumbling in front of speeding oncoming traffic like a cold gas engine might.

The lack of spare kWh might also explain the 25 mpg of the gas engine when you subtract out the EV miles. The Atkinson engine is efficient in steady state driving. If you're calling on it to do often varying rpms, that's not its strength.

It's an eCVT, so like most CVTs, it's sound and fury before it rubber-bands you forward like you had expected.

If after charging it you're still seeing 33 mpg indicated while driving smoothly, and are still hearing a loud engine, then it's time to be concerned. I only see as low as 33 mpg when I'm in a rush. Driving smoothly I'll see 40 mpg or more at 75 mph. I can hardly hear when the engine kicks on from when it was previously running EV only.

Edited January 24, 2019 at 02:14 PM by jj2me

[ptjones]

I would recommend using some good injector cleaner which should help with the number of miles that are on the car. You can't separate EV from ICE miles per gallon in Hybrid Mode because the ICE charges the Hybrid part of the HVB. You didn't say how fast you drive on the FWY, You need  to keep it below 70 mph to get good MPG's. Also you didn't what tires you have on the car.  Michelin Energy Savers get the best wear and MPG's at 50 psi.  I'm getting 64 to 85k miles on mine. BTW I race a F150 V8 door handle to door handle to 60 mph when we had to get off the gas.  The guy gave me a thumbs up. :)

 

Paul

Edited January 24, 2019 at 04:47 PM by ptjones

[NorCalTitanium]

Thanks for the replies guys!

 

Totally makes sense that the zero charge is affecting my low end electrical torque.  I notice that the EV and gas motor do not work combined much, its either at 30% EV throttle and then switches completey to gas.   Sometimes i see the EV throttle push up 10-15% when the gas is up at 3-4 (RPM)  i know its not RPM, but i mean the dash marks.  

 

Like  JJ2m mentioned, i do NOT have that heavy low end electrical torque.  I feel it in parking lots or reverse for a split second, but then the gas motor ALWAYS wants to engage super prematurely.  I wish there was a way i could push the elctric side of things to like 40-50% throttle because it is switching to gas way too early.

 

I think a charge might be order, but also thanks on the tips for injectors etc.  I figure its got 80k on it, and even though the cars computer says things are good i can tell this engine is a little noisier than it should be.  It sounds almost as loud as my 2012 subaru legacy 4cylnder that had notorious engine noise.

 

 

I was a bit brash last night, there are actually several things i really like about the car, i like the dash setup and i love the "engage" mode for driving, i do love cruising through parking lots and traffic in EV using no gas.  I get lots of compliments strangely on the car, for something with 7+ year design thats impressive.  I just HATE HATE HATE this 2.0 gas motor, the 2.4 in the regular fusion feels much smoother, every other 4cyl ive driven from altima to accord is better than the 2.0 fusion.....it feels like it has the power of a toyota yaris hatchback (Which actually smoked me on a freeway onramp with TWO ladies inside, my soul kind of died)....

[NorCalTitanium]

I would recommend using some good injector cleaner which should help with the number of miles that are on the car. You can't separate EV from ICE miles per gallon in Hybrid Mode because the ICE charges the Hybrid part of the HVB. You didn't say how fast you drive on the FWY, You need  to keep it below 70 mph to get good MPG's. Also you didn't what tires you have on the car.  Michelin Energy Savers get the best wear and MPG's at 50 psi.  I'm getting 64 to 85k miles on mine. BTW I race a F150 V8 door handle to door handle to 60 mph when we had to get off the gas.  The guy gave me a thumbs up. :)

 

Paul

 

So last night my freeway speed was very tame, pretty much a flat route from san francisco to chico, there isnt many hills or grades.  I kept the vehicle around 60-65, or as long as my gas MPG indicator showed i wasnt dipping below20 mpg but usually in gas mode holding its speed at 65mpg the meter will show it getting just shy of 40.   But as soon as i get back onto city or country toads where the speed is around 35-45 and its depressing so have the gas motor only getting 25mpg around town seperate of the EV miles.

 

I am now getting used to being the slowest car on the freeway, im always getting tail gaters speeding past me now, i am not used to this LOL.   I drive a Jeep EcoDiesel that usually has me beating everyone else on the road and burying them in 420lbs of torque.  

[NorCalTitanium]

 

 

Charge the battery.  Mine is for local driving only.  From late spring to early fall my engine doesn't run at all.

Is this ok for the motor?  Usually with regular cars like my diesel trucks i have to start and run them at least every 1-2 weeks.   Ive never let a vehicle sit for longer than a month without running the engine.

 

Interesting....so the only way to really get that insane 50-60mpge is to literally just drive it around town on 20-30 mile commutes and thenback to the charging station.  My commute from my suburb to the main part of my town is about 12 miles each way so i dont have a EV only option.  I could see why this is much better for big cities with charging stations everywhere.

[murphy]

Is this ok for the motor?  Usually with regular cars like my diesel trucks i have to start and run them at least every 1-2 weeks.   Ive never let a vehicle sit for longer than a month without running the engine.

 

Interesting....so the only way to really get that insane 50-60mpge is to literally just drive it around town on 20-30 mile commutes and thenback to the charging station.  My commute from my suburb to the main part of my town is about 12 miles each way so i dont have a EV only option.  I could see why this is much better for big cities with charging stations everywhere.

Mine only gets charged in my garage.  The computer monitors the engine.  If the gas gets too old, more than 18 months, it forces the engine to run until the tank is down to 1/8.  It also monitors the oil and will force the engine to run if it needs to be run.  Gas can last 18 months because the gas tank is pressurized.  The button to open the gas door also depressurizes the tank.

 

The car doesn't have a starter motor or an alternator.  The engine is started by one of the high voltage motors.  12 volts comes from a DC to DC converter that runs off of the high voltage battery (HVB).

 

My MPGe for 2018 was 71.  12.1 gallons of gas.

For 2017 it was 80.  12.8 gallons of gas.

[fconway]

I'm wondering if something is wrong with your car. Even in hybrid mode (main portion of the battery depleted), i still have plenty of torque right up to 80mph. You are correct that the engine alone is a slug, but the electric motor really pulls hard (enough), and the car stores enough electricity for a couple pulls automatically (if you deplete the battery it will start aggressively recharging from the engine). The only time the car should feel sluggish is if you pull a couple of full throttle runs in quick succession, and if you do that regularly you bought the wrong car.

[Paul Creed III]

I am getting close to 40MPG here in Ohio in the winter which is roughly in line with what I have gotten the two winters prior that I have owned the FFE. 

 

The worst MPG that I ever got was on two long trips, both times refueling from the same Mobil station - just barely over 30MPG. I stick with BP fuel as much as possible. 

[muzicman61]

I stick with BP fuel as much as possible. 

 

I really miss BP since moving to Arizona.  :cry:

[jsamp]

You can't separate EV from ICE miles per gallon in Hybrid Mode because the ICE charges the Hybrid part of the HVB.

 

Paul

 

Absolutely true.  Part of the reason NorCal sees 25MPG when subtracting out the EV miles is that the car was "stealing" miles to create the electricity for those 100 EV miles.  So the "true" MPG is the 33.3 you are seeing.  That is what is coming from the Atkinson engine.

 

This has to be the slowest, torqueless POS 4banger i have ever driven.  Its loud, i cant control the RPMs or shift it when i want to, and to top it off according to my calculations it only gets 25-26mpg by itself.

 

Is something potentially wrong with my fusion?  I just put 1300 miles on the car in one week, 3 fill ups.  I am only getting 400-420 gallons per 12 gallon fillup.   My computer average states i am getting 33.34mpg total.

 

My trips were 75% freeway.   I have not been able to charge to battery so its been on 100% hybrid mode.   My ratio of electric miles to gas miles is about 30% overall.  I have not been driving it hard, i try to let the EV mode takeover whenever possible.  But i cannot believe they would pair the EV with such a low power 140 hp 4 cylinder in this car.  I am honestly so frustrated with the lack of low end gasoline torque on this car that im debating on whether i want to keep this car.  I HATE THIS MOTOR, i seriously feel like my golf cart is more powerful.  I just sold a 4cyl 2014 honda accord sport which felt 2x as strong as the fusions motor.  

 

My last trip was 420 miles, of which 100 were EV.  It was 12.5 gallons to fill. so the overall mileage was 33.5 mpg.  However, when you subtract the 100 EV miles off, that means the gas motor alone is only averaing 25-26 mpg?  How is this even possible?  I own v6 that get near the same mileage with 2-3x the power.  Hell, ive driven a 5.7l HEMI challenger that got 25mpg combined and thats with multiple burnouts and fast acceleration....

 

Am i missing something here?   Is there anything i should check regarding my 2.0 motor, it seems louder than most similar cars (my old 2014 Honda Accord Sport felt 2x more powerful and averaged around 30mpg during the 2 years i owned it)

 

My main commute is often 350 miles a day on my car during work days.  I commute from a little mountain town down to the bay area and back.  I baby the motor, try to keep the engine under the 2-3kw power marks (for some reason no RPM on mine).   I let the EV take over as much as possible, i dont do WOT accelerations even onto freeways, i feel like im driving the car way less slower than my 2014 accord which i had leadfoot and would still get 30mpg overall and would get 34-36mpg on freeway trips)

 

Im tempted to take it into Ford and see if there is something wrong with the engine.  Or should i give this car a full charge and maybe that will change things.  

 

 

It should be higher than 33.5, but factoring in winter weather, it's not too bad. 

 

The comments about the engine being "too loud" and "a slug" indicate to me that you are pushing it harder than you think you are.  Yes, Atkinson engines are a slug on acceleration.  That is a result of the Atkinson design... sacrificing power for efficiency.  The battery/motor is what is supposed to make up for the lack of power.  Mine is rather quiet until I start driving aggressively, then the engine starts to make noise.  With cruise set at 70MPH you should be seeing close to 40MPG.  I can get upper 40's MPG with cruise set at 70 or less going I-5 to LA and back to the Bay Area.

 

Trying too hard to keep it in EV when in hybrid mode can be counter productive.  If you creep off of every light, especially to 40+mph, you are using up the capacity of the battery just to get going, then the gas engine has to fire up to resupply that electricity.  Pulse and glide using the gas to accelerate usually nets better MPG.  Of course, if you've charged the battery by plugging in, it is fine to use that for acceleration as that is what the charge is there for.  It's quite a mind bending way of thinking about driving.

 

After a couple of charge cycles on the battery, it would be good for you to do a capacity test on your battery.  It is possible that in 80K miles it has been abused, though that high of mileage on a 2015 indicates a lot of gas use.  The test is described in some threads on the Battery/Charging forum.

 

Best of luck.

Edited February 5, 2019 at 10:38 PM by jsamp

[bdginmo]

If your trips are short and the temperatures are cool then 33-34 mpg isn't unexpected. My mpg is always low on the first 5-10 miles of a trip.