Day 1 in the Energi

[Mr. Fusion]

I have a 30.5 mile commute to work, with no ability to charge at work, so I pondered if getting a Hybrid over an Energi would have been more efficient. In terms of straight up efficiency, it's not even close. Of course the initial cost payback is a valid argument...

 

According to the trip summaries:

 

The trip in to work, low 40's, tires at 38 psi: 79.3 MPG. I used EV now for the first 6 miles, all city driving in EV Now mode. As I entered the highway, I switched to EV Later and set the cruise at 62 (Speed limit 60)

 

It went in and out of EV, as expected. Then I kicked it up to 70 mph, and it ALSO went in and out of EV, especially down slight hills. This answered my #1 question: Will it go Hybrid over 62 mph while in EV later - YES! Being able to coast down declines with the ICE off is huge, and it should give it better real world numbers.

 

Then I used all but 1 mile on my big battery on the rest of the highway trip by going into EV auto. Once it had only 1 mile on the battery, I switched to EV later. My work is right off the highway, but I wanted 1 mile so I could go EV when I left to get to the highway.

 

The trip to work netted a 79.3 MPG (Pic attached)

 

I figured the ride home, near 50 degrees, would be much worse since I only had 1 mile on the battery. I again stuck to 63 mph on the highway, kicking it up to 70 mph again to try the EV mode at that speed, plus I had to pass up a Prius. I just had to....

 

Near the end of my trip, in city driving, I used the last 1 mile in my big battery, and did run it down to zero, making it go pure hybrid. As I pulled into my garage, I had 75% of the hybrid battery, so I could have planned it a little better.

 

Ride home netted a 54.9 MPG. THAT really surprised me considering I only had 1 mile on the big battery. (Pic attached)

 

So a 60 mile commute to work got me upper 60's - pretty good I think considering the weather and long distance.

 

Having squeezed every drop of fuel out of my 2009 Escape Hybrid, I can't express how awesome this Energi is. It zips in pure EV. I accelerate so much faster in this than my Escape. Plus, it's great going any speed in all hybrid, as opposed to my 39 mph max in the Escape.

 

The 220 charger gets installed tomorrow, then we're out of town for 2 weeks, leaving the Energi at home, so this will be my only impression for a while.

 

Thanks for listening.

[Energized]

Great results...thanks for sharing the details.   

 

And those great results are with an engine that's not even close to being broken in.   With the amount of EV miles these cars deliver, it will take a lot of miles before the engine is broken in.

[47Minutes]

I too had a great day commuting.  For my trip in this morning I managed to get to my parking space on all EV miles and had 0 left on the battery range.  I've been floating between tracking MPG vs MPGe and think I prefer MPG but this morning I had it set on MPGe. 

 

 

 

Then for going home I had my best return trip yet at 55.1 MPG.  I figure we're doing pretty good in regular Hybrid mode consider our Energis are 300# heavier than the Hybrid.

 

[Mr. Fusion]

Nice job 47M!

 

I think I like MPG better also.

 

Even though I know I'm paying for electricity, my main goal was to use less gas. Plus, doesn't MPGe include regen miles, making it inaccurate? I could be wrong...

[Polo-1]

I have a 13.2 mile run each way total 26.4, 2 miles of freeway. I get 552.3 mpg's 60-70* out round trip with no plug in at work. I can plug in at work, but they want $1.25 have not used it yet. My Ti has 320 ish miles on her.

 

Looks like eveyone use the other gauge, I was using the one with motor/EV and battery scale.  Need to check that one in the am.

Edited April 12, 2013 at 03:07 AM by Polo-1

[meyersnole]

I have a 13.2 mile run each way total 26.4, 2 miles of freeway. I get 552.3 mpg's 60-70* out round trip with no plug in at work. I can plug in at work, but they want $1.25 have not used it yet. My Ti has 320 ish miles on her.

 

Looks like eveyone use the other gauge, I was using the one with motor/EV and battery scale.  Need to check that one in the am.

 

I wish I had the option to plug at work, I would not even mind $1.25 even though that would be about 3 times the cost of the electricity I needed.

[Edman951]

How much power does it have in pure EV mode?

If the car only had that power, would you consider it enough?

 

I love driving in EV in my girlfriends C-max, and want more of that feeling. except in a hybrid, there is not much power, so if you press on the gas to quick, the ICE goes into action to easly.

[meyersnole]

How much power does it have in pure EV mode?

If the car only had that power, would you consider it enough?

 

I love driving in EV in my girlfriends C-max, and want more of that feeling. except in a hybrid, there is not much power, so if you press on the gas to quick, the ICE goes into action to easly.

 

Its no speed demon in EV only mode, but its not Yugo either. I think most of us go easy on the accelerator to preserve range in EV mode.

 

When I test drove the car I tried to merge on to the freeway in EV only mode and wished I had it in EV Auto (where there is less of a delay getting up to speed).

[Edman951]

Thanks!!

Do you feel like you are holding up traffic in EV mode? Or are you keeping up with traffic and holding good range?

I don't mind going slow, but don't want to be a guy making the traffic jam lol.

 

Need to get some youtube vids of people driving in EV mode, and seing how it compares to a normal car daily driving acceleration.

[meyersnole]

My general rule is, if you are in the right lane you should feel obligated to drive at or near the speed limit. If you are in the left lane (passing lane) you should be traveling faster then the cars on your right regardless of how fast you are going. People not following that are holding up traffic.

 

There is nothing about the performance of this car that will keep you from following the above guideline.  It would get severely dusted by my previous car (Acura TL) from the line (260hp), but I have no issues keeping up with traffic in my new ride. I do chose to drive a little slower now for the sake of efficiency, but I am doing it in the proper lane. 

[Mr. Fusion]

How much power does it have in pure EV mode?

If the car only had that power, would you consider it enough?

 

I love driving in EV in my girlfriends C-max, and want more of that feeling. except in a hybrid, there is not much power, so if you press on the gas to quick, the ICE goes into action to easly.

It zipps in all electric. I could see maybe if you needed to do a highway uphill merge, you will want the ICE kicking in, but the all electric power gives you higher than normal acceleration.

 

And the best part is when I know I'll be back for a charge soon, I'll drive faster than normal and have some fun with it. Something I couldn't do in my Escape hybrid without killing fuel economy.

[Russael]

The interesting thing is the Fusion Energi's powertrain is the second most powerful option for the car.  The only one that exceeds it is the 2.0L Ecoboost at 240HP (on premium fuel... I think it's 231 on regular gas).  The Energi gets a nice 195, hybrid 188, 2.5L NA is 175, and I think the 1.6L Ecoboost is 178.

 

I'm used to driving like a turtle since my 2001 Focus (with the smaller 2.0L splitport SOHC engine) has almost no umph, but that's not important to me.  Admittedly, I DID notice how slow the car was after test driving the Focus Electric.  I was laughing maniacally while mashing the accelerator in that. :)

 

Speed limit in MI is 70 and I putz in the right lane at 65.  Saves a lot of gas.