New owner. 36mpg Phoenix to San Diego at 75mph

[tebby1]

I did make it from Phoenix to San Diego on 26 dollars worth of gas which is really nice (My explorer gets 22 mpg)

As a funny aside....my 1966 Fairlane GTA gets 9mpg out of its 428 CJ

 

This is not what I was looking for really(36mpg) but I can use it around town for 18 miles or so of battery driving.

I may have made a poor choice and should have gotten the Hybrid if 70% of the driving will be fwy.

 

1. Will we be able to upgrade if and when better batteries come out.\?

2. What are the best driving tips to maximize MPG.

3.I was cruising downhill and I fully charged one battery icon. It appeared that is started to charge ANOTHER battery icon. What is this?

 

 

I am going to buy a home charger for better speed. An electrician will install it.

Which one do you guys find the best

 

Thanks

 

[Russael]

Your biggest issue:  speed kills.

 

I've traveled from Southeast lower Michigan to Lisle, IL (305 miles), did all my in-town driving, and drove all the way back on one charge and one tank of gas.  I netted about 53MPG.

 

Traveled at 65MPH with climate on.

 

Time is money.  Case in point:

 

65MPH takes 4.7 hours one way.

75MPH takes 4.06 hours one way.

 

So I would've saved a whopping 40 - 45 minutes by traveling at the higher rate of speed.

 

53MPG means I used 5.75 gallons of gas one way.

36MPG means I would've used 8.47 gallons of gas one way.

 

It's a balancing act... a ratio.  I'm more money driven so I choose to travel at the pace a hybrid prefers.  Time doesn't matter much for me.

 

I make a trip from here to Baltimore, MD once a year, but for that, I take my ancient 1999 4x4 Expedition.  Sticker is rated at 16MPG.  I can usually get 20+ out of it doing 65.  That trip usually takes longer than the 7.75 hour estimate @ 65, but getting almost a 20% boost in economy is worth the added hour spent on the road.

 

----

 

As far as your 3rd bullet point, you were traveling in hybrid mode (with EV mode completely discharged).  If you regenerate enough, you'll come back out of hybrid only mode and will get access to EV modes again.  The battery is MUCH larger than the hybrid so it can capture a lot more energy.  The hybrid would've had to waste that energy by either turning the engine on, or applying the brakes once the battery filled up.

 

As far as EVSEs go, there are many choices.  They all pretty much perform the same, but some contain additional bells and whistles.  If you plan on sticking with an EV capable vehicle, consider future proofing and getting a bigger EVSE (one that does 32A or greater).

[Hybridbear]

+1 to everything Russael said. He covered all the main points.

[tebby1]

Thanks you guys....I LOVE the new technology

The funny thing is that us gear head V8 dual quad guys are really curious about the engineering aspects of the car

I cruised down the grade at the Tecate divide outside San Diego and recharged the ENTIRE battery. It is a loing steep grade

 

pretty cool

[stevedebi]

I did make it from Phoenix to San Diego on 26 dollars worth of gas which is really nice (My explorer gets 22 mpg)

As a funny aside....my 1966 Fairlane GTA gets 9mpg out of its 428 CJ

 

This is not what I was looking for really(36mpg) but I can use it around town for 18 miles or so of battery driving.

I may have made a poor choice and should have gotten the Hybrid if 70% of the driving will be fwy.

 

1. Will we be able to upgrade if and when better batteries come out.\?

2. What are the best driving tips to maximize MPG.

3.I was cruising downhill and I fully charged one battery icon. It appeared that is started to charge ANOTHER battery icon. What is this?

 

 

I am going to buy a home charger for better speed. An electrician will install it.

Which one do you guys find the best

 

Thanks

On question 3, if you deplete the main portion of the HVB, it still retains a small percentage, which is often called the "hybrid" part of the battery (in fact, it is all one big battery, it just reserves a part). This part is charged and discharged as you drive. On a long downhill, if you exceed the small portion allocated, it continues to add charge to the HVB. What you are seeing is that there are different battery displays. In hybrid mode there is a plain battery (I think of it as "2D"). If EV is available, there is a different battery icon. Prior to 2016 the "larger battery" icon had the estimated range in it, but I think they dropped that part for the newer models. The icons will only change when you have a downhill long enough to provide a lot of charge.

[Russael]

Also... you did reach the EPA estimate for fuel economy -

 

The Fusion Energi, while in Hybrid mode, is rated for 40MPG city, 36MPG highway.

 

40 city/36 hwy/38 combined mpg 95/81/88 combined MPGe

 

I do not hypermile either.  I do totally abuse adaptive cruise and will follow slower traffic (such as tractor trailers), but I won't follow really slow traffic... like 55MPH or barely hitting the minimum speed.  ;)