Ev miles

[howardbc]

I've had my Fusion Energi for almost 4 months now and still love it. After overnight charging, the MyFord Mobile app usually shows that I have 28-34 miles available on the battery. And according to the app, during one recent trip I got over 44 miles in EV mode. And this is in the brutal heat here in the Phoenix area. I do get high braking and driving scores. But my usual EV miles are closer to mid-20s to low-30s. 

 

I have 2 questions:

 

1 - Is there any advantage to keeping the EV setting in EV Now versus EV Auto? My trips are usually 35-70 miles round-trip.

 

2 - When the app or in-car display says I've driven "X" miles in EV mode, does that figure include the regen miles, or would the regen miles be in addition to the EV miles?

 

If this discussion should be in another forum, please let me know. I am still finding it difficult to see if my question or comment has already been made somewhere else. The "Search" function usually doesn't return the requested results. Not a complaint really ... this forum keeps growing.

 

Thanks!

[Depauwler]

1 - I've seen it suggested elsewhere and have experienced the same--EV's is almost always going to be better than hybrid, but where EV really shines is at lower speeds.  I think I saw someone suggest using EV when under 60, but if you're doing more, do EV later.  You might experiment with your own trip to see when it would be best to switch to EV Later.  So actually, I guess I'm saying I'd avoid EV Now, myself.  I would think the only reason to use it is so the engine won't come on if you punch it, but I'd rather have that option, and would probably be in EV Later if I needed to hit the gas anyway.

 

2 - You know, I'm not sure.  I've assumed from how it's displayed that the regen is a subset of EV.  Because those miles you drove were EV, regardless of where the electricity came from.

 

How are you getting such great EV miles?  Are you not using climate control?  I turn on the air when it goes over 80 and my projected miles drop to 18 or 15 when on a full charge.

[larryh]

EV miles include the regen miles.  If you drive entirely in EV mode, you will see as an example in MyFord Mobile:  Trip Distance = 7.8 miles, EV miles = 7.8 miles, regen miles = 2.6 miles.  So the 7.8 EV miles includes 2.6 regen miles. 

Edited July 26, 2013 at 09:27 PM by larryh

[Depauwler]

From the manual:

 

Distance - The total distance traveled,

distance traveled on battery power

only (EV distance) and Regen distance

are displayed. Regen distance is the

estimated range gained from energy

recaptured through regenerative

braking.

 

My take-away from this is that the amount of regen is how many of your EV miles it estimates came from regen.

[Rhyalus]

I really don't see the benefit of EV now unless you want to sneak up on someone in electric mode.  :-)

 

I use EV Auto unless I am going on a highway (at which point I switch to EV later).  This reserves EV power for when I am on city streets and may get some regen.

 

R

[Depauwler]

LOL, yeah.  I've been on the look out for a sneak-up-and-honk opportunity. ;)

[Eric4539]

Rhyalus, I use the same modes as you use especially on my long drives.  On Thursday I drove 125.3 miles to get to a hotel and used EV Auto until I got on the highway, then I switched to EV Later.  The Trip Log shows EV miles = 29.4, Fuel Economy =  38 (yikes!), Brake Score 91%, Driving Score = 66.

 

Then today I drove from the hotel to my appointment.  The car started in EV Auto so I switched to EV Later.  15.8 miles drive.  EV miles = 7.6, Fuel Economy = 45, Brake Score 78% (lots of traffic!), Driving Score = 67.

 

I drove home from my appointment using a different route than driving up to the hotel on Thursday.  I started in EV Auto but switched to EV Later as soon as I got on the Interstate.  I did use EV Auto a bit when I was in traffic moving 20 mph, then went back to EV Later until I got off the highway near my house.  The return drive as 131.0 miles to my house.  EV Miles = 41.4, Fuel Economy = 44, Brake Score = 87% (lots of traffic again), Driving Score = 58 (sad!).

 

I am still learning the best way for me to drive the car and I seem to do fine using EV Auto most of the time.  If I am driving to the grocery store or to Lowe's and back I will use EV Now since the round trip is no more than 10 miles.

 

My Driving on MFM shows that I have saved 1266 lbs of CO2, enough to fill 1 mid sized house(s), and saved 15 gals of gas (compared to 30 mpg), 1308 total miles driven.

 

I have not yet attempted to achieve maximum MPGe or see how many months can I go between fill ups at the gas station because of my 2 hour drives here and there.  I welcome coaching from everyone on how I might improve my Driving Score and MPGe; you all are experts on this forum!

[pluggedin]

I have never used Auto mode for speeds less then 55 MPH, I have always used EV Now. I will have to give Auto mode a try.

 

However, at freeway speeds my Auto mode uses up the EV battery first and and uses it up FAST if I am doing 70 MPH+. Then you are left with hybrid only to get you home. Therefore, your MPG's will suffer.

 

I have been using EV Now exclusively for speeds less then 55 MPH and switching to EV Later (EV later is a hybrid mode too, but will not deplete your EV battery) for anything over that, especially freeway speeds; saving my battery power for when I get off the freeway or I am close enough to home to use it up on the freeway, by switching back to EV Now, which helps to increase overall MPG.

 

At this writing my average MPG's are over 127 and climbing, because I have been doing almost all short trip of 20 miles or less.

Edited October 24, 2013 at 01:35 PM by pluggedin

[larryh]

Rhyalus, I use the same modes as you use especially on my long drives.  On Thursday I drove 125.3 miles to get to a hotel and used EV Auto until I got on the highway, then I switched to EV Later.  The Trip Log shows EV miles = 29.4, Fuel Economy =  38 (yikes!), Brake Score 91%, Driving Score = 66.

 

Then today I drove from the hotel to my appointment.  The car started in EV Auto so I switched to EV Later.  15.8 miles drive.  EV miles = 7.6, Fuel Economy = 45, Brake Score 78% (lots of traffic!), Driving Score = 67.

 

I drove home from my appointment using a different route than driving up to the hotel on Thursday.  I started in EV Auto but switched to EV Later as soon as I got on the Interstate.  I did use EV Auto a bit when I was in traffic moving 20 mph, then went back to EV Later until I got off the highway near my house.  The return drive as 131.0 miles to my house.  EV Miles = 41.4, Fuel Economy = 44, Brake Score = 87% (lots of traffic again), Driving Score = 58 (sad!).

 

I am still learning the best way for me to drive the car and I seem to do fine using EV Auto most of the time.  If I am driving to the grocery store or to Lowe's and back I will use EV Now since the round trip is no more than 10 miles.

 

My Driving on MFM shows that I have saved 1266 lbs of CO2, enough to fill 1 mid sized house(s), and saved 15 gals of gas (compared to 30 mpg), 1308 total miles driven.

 

I have not yet attempted to achieve maximum MPGe or see how many months can I go between fill ups at the gas station because of my 2 hour drives here and there.  I welcome coaching from everyone on how I might improve my Driving Score and MPGe; you all are experts on this forum!

First of all, look at the Coach display on the console at each of the individual Acceleration, Braking, and Cruising scores.   You will need to determine what technique you need to work on the most.  If it is cruising, then you are driving too fast.  I think you need to stay below 60 to get a relatively good score there. 

[howardbc]

Hi, depauwler. I commuted the mileage by using the trip info from 5 recent trips. First I added the miles that were 100% EV and then I figured the other miles based on the percentage showing as EV. For example, 10.3 miles at 68% EV is actually 7.00 pure EV miles. If I'm figuring the EV miles incorrectly, please let me know. Of the 5 trips I commuted, my EV miles ranged from 22.58 EV miles for a 31.1 mile trip to 44.33 EV miles for a 74.3 mile trip. 

 

And yes, I am definitely using the a/c! The temps are well over 100 here in the Phoenix area this time of year. I've only tried the "pre-conditioning" a couple of times because I just don't see the benefit - or at least not much of one. I do have a garage and usually start a trip in the morning when it's cooler, but the temps outside still require a little a/c to begin with. After the cabin cools down, I keep the fan at the lowest setting and recirculating inside air. I have a white car - that has got to help. But the interior is black. Of course if I park, I need to later hit the Max A/C button for a few minutes when I start again. But the a/c system works great. 

 

Having a hybrid before really helped to teach me how to do the coasting/braking thing to the best of my ability. I drive mostly on town/city streets - but nothing like a big city with people jumping out in front of me - so I usually can drive right around the speed limit and have time to come to a reasonably slow stop. My brake score is usually in the 90s. 

[ckrsFusion]

My predicted ev range is quite useless on my commute.  My commute is through the hills of the northern San Diego area and the hills eat the miles quickly.  Speed limit is 45mph and the 'flat' section of my commute is stop&go traffic.  My prediction ranges from 24-31, but I almost always get around 22 miles as long as I don't use AC.  My commute is 20 miles so I am right at the edge of EV range.  I was hoping it would learn my commute and adjust the use rate based on the terrain (ie hilly or flat).  Instead it just increases the range estimate and then uses miles more quickly on the hills.

 

See the attached altitude route of my commute.  

 

CKRS

 

[howardbc]

Hi, CKRS. I lived in San Diego and remember those very steep hills. If you haven't tried it already, check out the braking button on the left side of your shifter. A symbol for it will appear to the left of your steering wheel when you use it. 

 

The heavy traffic makes things difficult too but look for the swirling lines around the battery icon when you're braking. I bet things will get better the longer you have the car.  

[ckrsFusion]

Hi, CKRS. I lived in San Diego and remember those very steep hills. If you haven't tried it already, check out the braking button on the left side of your shifter. A symbol for it will appear to the left of your steering wheel when you use it. 

 

The heavy traffic makes things difficult too but look for the swirling lines around the battery icon when you're braking. I bet things will get better the longer you have the car.  

Thanks, I'll give that a try.  I have been using L for down hill and it works pretty well.  I have to be careful with traffic as the sudden slowing is dangerous.

[Depauwler]

I was wondering myself if L and that grade assist button were the same thing, or similar.  Is there any point in using it if you're already in L?

[murphy]

Doesn't L spin the engine, without feeding it any gasoline, to provide braking?

The button increases regenerative braking which dumps the energy into the HVB instead of wasting it.

[larryh]

I believe the grade assist attempts to maintain the current speed during downgrades by using regen.

L uses a more aggressive regen than D.  When you coast in L or D, it uses regen to slow you down.  L slows you down faster. 

Put another way, lifting your foot from the gas pedal is another type of "braking" via regen in either D or L.  You get more braking when in L.

If you want to maximize EV range, coasting should be used when you want to intentionally slow the car down.  Otherwise, try to maintain constant speed.

Edited July 27, 2013 at 11:41 AM by larryh

[pluggedin]

I believe the grade assist attempts to maintain the current speed during downgrades by using regen.

L uses a more aggressive regen than D.  When you coast in L or D, it uses regen to slow you down.  L slows you down faster. 

Put another way, lifting your foot from the gas pedal is another type of "braking" via regen in either D or L.  You get more braking when in L.

If you want to maximize EV range, coasting should be used when you want to intentionally slow the car down.  Otherwise, try to maintain constant speed.

I don't have many hills to negotiate here so I don't have any experience with L in the Fusion. In other, conventional, cars I have had L stood for go faster off the line or assist getting UP a hill, but maxed out the RPM's pretty fast. In the Fusion, can you drop the transmission into L at highway speeds going downhill without blowing the engine up?

[larryh]

I believe that L and D are identical except that L has more agressive regen.  You can use L at any speed.  It will just slow you down faster than D when you let up on the gas pedal.  The manual states that you can shift into L at any vehicle speed.  But if you are using L and let off the gas to slow down, I'm not sure that your brake lights will go on to warn drivers following you.

Edited July 27, 2013 at 01:15 PM by larryh

[Russael]

To reinforce what everybody else has said, L gives maximum electric engine braking so long as the battery has the capacity to absorb the energy.  If the battery becomes full, the engine will spin up to take the regen's place.  I've tested L a few times here in the city to try out 'one foot driving' and it works pretty well.  It doesn't completely stop me at lights or whatnot so I do touch the brake pedal once I get there.  L does not turn on the brake lights, but the adaptive cruise control will.

 

The car in D, if you're just coasting, will also regen, but it's very, very light.  If you have the arrow indicators turned on above and below your battery capacity, you'll see that when you lift off the gas when you're going over 30MPH, that you'll get an arrow pointing up, indicating energy is going back in to the battery.

 

Grade Assist I think mostly works in conjunction with the cruise control to try to maintain your speed on a descent by using the electric motor's regen feature again.  I've gone through the mountains in PA on the turnpike and on I-70, and when going downhill in my truck, I may be doing 60 on the way up but will hit 75 - 80 MPH by the time I reach bottom.  To compensate for it, I'll usually take the truck out of overdrive and make it go back to 3rd gear which does spin up the motor to like 3500 RPM, but it does slow me down without tearing up the brakes.  Because the Fusion Energi has a CVT (infinite gears, so to speak) the car can do anything it wants.  No risk of blowing up the motor.  Besides, most cars (aside from manual transmissions) are smart enough to not let you downshift to a point where the engine WOULD blow up.  If I dropped my truck in to 1 on the way down, it would downshift in to 3rd gear first until I slowed enough to move in to 2nd gear, and then finally in to 1st.

[Eric4539]

I have owned 2 hybrids before my Energi and both of those had B (brake) modes whereas the Energi calls it L mode. Tesla has a similar mode but i dont remember what they call it. Russell explains L mode well.

 

In my previous car I used B if I was in bumper to bumper traffic when it was stop and go. By using B you can get away with one pedal driving - the accelerator - so you don't have to use the friction brakes as often to slow the car down. When you want to move forward you step on the accelerator and when you want to slow down/stop you remove your foot from the accelerator. The regen is very strong in B so the car slows down quickly. It feels like you're braking but you really are not and your brake lights do not come on. You may still have to apply the friction brakes occasionally but definitely not every time traffic stops. It is one of those things you "play" with to get a feel of how to best use it for you

 

I even used B when exiting the Interstate. Once I am on the off ramp I "downshift" to B and let regen slow the car instead of me applying the friction brakes. I am using L in my Titanium in the same manner.

 

I have not used Grade Assist since I don't have any steep grades during my long drives. I am always using adaptive cruise so I keep pace with the vehicle in front of me or it will maintain my speed as I go down the hills that I have. If you have steeper grades to go down Grade Assist uses heavier regen to maintain your speed, but it will charge your battery quicker so if your battery is full you would have to use the friction brakes to maintain your speed since there would be nowhere for the regen to go.

[larryh]

As stated in the manual, and as others have reported, the ICE comes on with Grade Assist when the battery is full to maintain constant speed.  It turns on in a mode that uses no fuel.  It may startle you.

Edited July 27, 2013 at 04:41 PM by larryh

[Taylorjd]

I took a trip into Washington, DC Saturday. Went almost 29 miles on all EV, I charged at two different charge stations while in DC and came home on almost all EV. I was traveling on rural, highway and city roads. The weather was very warm, and I drove through a bit of rain coming home. That come out as a 700 mpg plus trip. I love this Fusion Energi.

 

 

[murphy]

It looks nice but it doesn't mean anything. 

MPG is based on miles driven versus gasoline used.  It ignores the contribution from battery charging.  If your engine hadn't run during a trip it would have been 999.9.

 

MPGe takes gasoline and electricity into account and provides a useful measure of your energy consumption.

[larryh]

From this data, I am guessing you had 26.8 EV miles from plug-in energy and 2.2 hybrid miles.  That matches the data in my other posts for average speed of around 54 mph.  The most plug-in energy I have observed used from the battery is 5.9 kWh.  You got 6.1 kWh for the first trip.  I wonder if you average lower power usage during the trip, you can extract more energy from the battery.  You had good driving scores.

Edited July 31, 2013 at 09:08 PM by larryh

[gary945]

Yes, unless you are in something like Vent mode (or Floor, or Floor/Vent), then you are in Auto mode and the little A/C light is just there for the fun of it, the computer will do what it wants to do with the A/C compressor. 

How do you select Vent mode?