Accuracy of "Lifetime Summary"?

[howardbc]

Hi. I've just had my FFH for less than 3 weeks. I have 400+ miles on odometer. There are so many info resources that the car displays, it has taken me a while to notice them all, but yesterday I noticed the "Lifetime Summary" for the first time.

 

It said that I was getting over 59MPG! Is that really what I'm getting from the hybrid/gasoline system? Does that include the miles I'm getting in pure EV mode? If so, it should say MPGe, right? 

 

Also, when I eventually fill up the gas tank (and it's still got over half a tank), will the "Lifetime Summary" just continue to display overall averages, or do I need to press a "reset" button somewhere?

 

In fairness, my results may not be typical, as I drive very conservatively and don't even drive every day. But I won't be the older person driving 50mph in the left lane with the turn signal on! 

 

Thanks. 

 

 

[47Minutes]

The displays have a setting option to show MPG or MPGe.  I prefer MPG as I am mostly concerned about the gasoline usage/performance.  MPGe will use a calculation to factor in the EV range but I believe the displays default to MPG.

 

Lifetime Summary should just continue to roll on unless you do a specific reset of the lifetime stats.  You don't need to reset this but you can if you want.

 

There is also Trip 1 and Trip 2 counters you can use for specific trips or for the duration of a particular tank of gas.  I use Trip 2 for my tank of gas resetting it on refuel.  I use Trip 1 for specific trips.

 

My first full tank achieved 56.2MPG by calculating the miles driven/gallons filled.  My 2nd, current tank is about half down and I was at around 72+MPG.

[FusionEnergi]

My lifetime summary appears to be starting my Regen miles over. It looks like 99.9 may be my limit before it starts back at 0. Has anyone else noticed this and/or are you showing higher?

[howardbc]

Well that's a bummer about 99.9 being the highest MPG that shows for Lifetime Summary. I haven't gotten there yet, but it goes up every time I drive the car. I think I'm at 79 MPG now. I've got approximately 700+ miles on the odometer. 

My 2008 Toyota Prius only went up to 99.9MPG too, so maybe the manufacturers have an agreement to stop there. On the Prius, it wasn't a Lifetime Summary but rather the reading showing at a particular time, like when I was braking. 

Thanks for letting us know. 

 

 

[TX NRG]

Well that's a bummer about 99.9 being the highest MPG that shows for Lifetime Summary.

 

Not MPG, but Regen.

 

"...lifetime summary appears to be starting my Regen miles over. It looks like 99.9 may be my limit..."

[FusionEnergi]

We now have the ability to show over 100 regen miles. If you check my prior pics you will see that it had rolled over previously, but now it mysteriously works. Thanks Ford!

I am averaging 100 miles regen every 600 miles

Edited May 25, 2013 at 01:06 AM by FusionEnergi

[Guest drfeltersnatch]

how do we get the lifetime to change to mpge? 

[FusionEnergi]

This should do it.

Using the left controls on the steering wheel select:

Settings_display_units_fuel economy_ choose fuel + electric.

[howardbc]

Hi. The steering wheel select settings you quoted are (I think) what I already have. Let me put my question in some detail:

 

Odometer = 882

Lifetime EV miles = 635

Lifetime Regen miles = 118

 

Okay, doesn't that mean that the Lifetime miles driven while in hybrid (gas) mode are 129?

 

I put 11 gallons in the tank. If I only got 129 miles from those 11 gallons, why is my Lifetime Summary showing 72MPG? I'm not using the MPGe setting, at least not yet. . 

 

I went to a Ford event and tried to get an answer to this question. I couldn't corner the engineer who spoke at the event, but another Ford employee (not an engineer) wasn't able to give me a direct answer. 

 

Since I filled up, my gas gauge has gone down a LOT faster than before and my Lifetime MPG displays are lower. Maybe it's because it is starting to get really hot here in Phoenix.

 

Still love the car but just want to know/understand as much as possible. Thanks.

 

 

 

 

[larryh]

Lifetime summary MPG is going to show around:

 

882 / 11 = 80 MPG.

 

The EV miles and Regen miles both contain miles from when the vehicle was driven in hybrid mode (as well as miles when the vehicle was using plug-in energy).  The car does not separate miles driven using plug-in energy vs. gas.  EV miles show the number of miles the vehicle was propelled by only the electric motor.  Some of those EV miles came from plug-in power, and some came from the ICE running the generator to recharge the battery or the vehicle coasting and recharging the battery.

 

Similarly, regen miles are from the regenerative braking system recharging the battery.  This could occur while the vehicle is in hybrid mode or when it is running on plug-in energy.

 

The only reliable way to determine your mileage in hybrid mode is to deplete the battery until the ICE turns on and then use the trip odometer to determine the mileage and gas used.  However, I'm not sure how accurately the car measures gas consumed. 

 

If you did not reset your lifetime summary before you left the dealership, then the lifetime summary is going to contain mileage that you did not drive.

 

Note the lifetime summary MPGe is going to show:

 

882 / x, where x is the amount of gas producing the equivalent amount of plug-in electric energy consumed from the power company to charge the battery plus the amount of gas consumed.

 

The question now is why is Lifetime Summary showing 72 MPG rather than 80 MPG? 

 

The first time I filled up the gas tank, I had 908.6 miles and put in 11.291 gallons for 80.5 MPG.  However, the Lifetime Summary showed 70.5 MPG (which means I consumed 12.888 gallons of gas).  So I have very similar results to yours.  Does the car really overestimate fuel consumption by 1.597 gallons.  That does not seem right.  I reset the Lifetime Summary before I left the dealer.  Could it be excluding the regen miles from the MPG computation?  I did have around 110 regen miles which would explain the discrepancy.  Why would they exclude regen miles from the computation?

 

In  your case if I exclude the regen miles, I get:

 

(882 - 118) / 11 = 69.5 MPG

 

You probably rounded the amount of gas consumed to 11 gallons so the above computation is isn't quite 72 MPG.

Edited May 26, 2013 at 12:04 PM by larryh

[Guest drfeltersnatch]

my mpge is 44.5 lol

 

925.2 EV Miles

177.9 Regen Miles

44.5 MPGe

Brake Score 92 %

 

not quite sure what im doing wrong lol

[larryh]

If you did not reset the lifetime summary before you left the dealer, you will be including someone else's driving in your MPGe.

 

The more you drive using plug-in energy, the higher the MPGe number.  Driving on city streets (55 mph), I get between 135 and 150 MPGe using plug-in power only. 

If you drive a lot in hybrid mode, the MPGe numbers will be lower.  Driving on freeways/highways in hybrid mode I get around 43 MPG.  In hybrid mode MPGe and MPG are the same.

 

So your Life Time Average MPGe will be highly dependent on whether you drive mostly using plug-in energy or gas (maybe as high as 150 MPGe if you use electric only power and no gas, to 40 MPGe if you never plug in the car and use only gas).

 

I would use the trip 1 and 2 odometers to measure what you are currently getting for MPGe to see if you are getting similar numbers to what I get.

 

If you are using a lot of air-conditioning or heating, the numbers will be significantly lower.  For example, if I use the heater, my MPGe for city driving drops to around 100 MPGe.  In hybrid mode, in cold weather with heating and with a strong head wind, it drops to 37 MPG.  However, if it is warm, no heating or air conditioning, and there is a strong tail wind, I get 47 MPG.  Also, if you turn your car on, drawing power from your battery or outlet (especially with air conditioning or heating), for long periods of time to familiarize yourself with the controls in the car (or forget to turn it off), and not going anywhere, you will lower your MPGe.

 

Currently, my car displays 55.3 MPGe in the Lifetime Summary screen. 

Edited May 26, 2013 at 03:36 PM by larryh

[howardbc]

Thanks, larryh. Yes, I did round my Lifetime numbers off. It's a little disappointing if the Lifetime MPG includes EV miles. I keep the car in "Auto EV" and keep the car outline status display on the main screen. I have never seen the word "hybrid" come up while the car is in EV Mode. A pure EV doesn't use gas while in EV mode, but maybe the Fusion Energi does use gas while in EV Mode?  

 

Also wondering if I should reset the Lifetime Summary every time I fill up. I will look at the owner's manual to see if it tells me how to reset it. 

 

Great feedback. Thanks.

[larryh]

The car is in hybrid mode when the battery display on the left console no longer shows the estimated range remaining from the plug-in energy stored in the battery.  Instead, it only shows the fill level representing the charge remaining in the battery with no miles of range information.  By definition, EV mode means electric vehicle operation--the ICE is not on.  The Energi doesn't use gas in EV mode--only energy from the battery.  However, gas is occasionally consumed to charge the battery when in hybrid mode or the ICE turns on. 

 

I also keep the car in Auto EV.  The ICE does not turn on until the battery is depleted.  Until the battery is depleted, you are getting pure EV operation and no gas is consumed.  After that, the car enters hybrid mode.  Gas is used to propel the car and to charge the battery.  In hybrid mode, the car frequently turns off the ICE and operates in EV mode using the energy from the battery that was generated by the ICE.  I have not noticed any difference between Auto EV and EV now modes.

 

There is no need to reset the Lifetime Summary status everytime you fill up.  Simply use one the Trip 1 or Trip 2 odometers to keep track of the information since the last fill-up.

 

I use trip 1 to keep track of the mileage driven, kWh of plug-in energy used, and gas used since I last filled up.  I use trip 2 to keep track of the current trip.

Edited May 26, 2013 at 04:37 PM by larryh