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Ford Escape Hybrid MPG-Real World Numbers

222 messages,  Last post on May 25, 2010 at 8:27 AM

You are in the Ford Escape Hybrid Forum.

What is this discussion about? Ford Escape Hybrid, Fuel Efficiency (MPG)

Messages Page 22 of 23

#203 of 222 Re: CARRYING WEIGHT ???? [videoguy1] by softpedal

Dec 05, 2009 (11:12 am)

Replying to: videoguy1 (Dec 04, 2009 8:47 pm)
About 'realistic' MPG for FE Hybrid carrying extra load, maybe this will be helpful.
 
Last summer, my wife and I drove our (2006) FEH 4WD cross country from LA to NY, loaded with us and our luggage, and we averaged about 30 MPG overall. We also traversed ALL of Texas from El Paso to Dallas, to Texarkana, summertime July hot hot hot, so our aircon was on most of the way, and our mileage did not suffer much. My experience is that in steady highway driving with aircon, my mpg drops about 2, (worse in city traffic if aircon is on max). But after 8,257 miles across the country and back, we were generally very happy with our fuel bill, which worked out to be a little over $750 total. The car's performance was flawless!
 
 Hope this helps. Good driving if you get one.

#204 of 222 Re: Other suggestions not yet touched on? [stevedebi] by ekiehn

Dec 05, 2009 (12:49 pm)

Replying to: stevedebi (Apr 15, 2009 2:38 pm)
I have a 2006 FEH, has about 78,000 miles on it live in South Florida and end up driving with Air on almost all the time. Here is my real life experience.
 
Fully loaded vehicle with 3 people (2 of which total around 250+lbs) fully packed back end, car topper fully loaded, bike rack on the back, traveling up and down I-95 to Georgia, South Carolina, fairly heavy on the pedal I get around 27MPG.
 
Closer to home, much more similar to what you want to drive, typical milage is around 29 to 30MPG.
 
Slightly different driving (lacking the extended highway driving) around 32 to 33MPG.
 
Note the last two options do not include the Car topper or Bike Rack or people but often the back loaded but probably not 250lbs.
 
Overall it's always a balance, if I am conservative on the highway and keep in the 75 to 80 MPH range I can keep it in the 29 to 30MPG range, so if I'm feeling cheap, I drive more conservatively and hence better milage (usually less stress as well).
 
Finally, don't forget to factor in the other savings, mainly in service. Per the manual I service the vehicle every 10,000 miles (in spite of what the local dealer would like to do) and so basically I pay for an oil change ($20) and occasionally an oil change and air filter ($60) and so far 2 tires (the other 2 are now due for replacement ($210 or so). So my total maintenance for the vehicle over 4.5 years has been around $390 not counting wiper blades
 
Also have saved a lot of money at the gas pump over that same time.
 
I love the vehicle and will buy another once I wear this one out (if I ever do).

#205 of 222 Re: CARRYING WEIGHT ???? [softpedal] by joseph85750

Dec 05, 2009 (2:33 pm)

Replying to: softpedal (Dec 05, 2009 11:12 am)
A few months ago we drove from Tucson to southern Utah in our 2008 FEH. A lot of this is pretty hilly. My average MPG was 32.5. I drive about 50 miles/day total going to work and back, and my average for that changes with the seasons. In Fall and Spring it's about 36; in Winter and Summer it's about 33.
It really does matter how you drive, too. If you're a psycho driver who has to floor it when the light turns green and all the way up to the next red light, your mileage will suffer as well.

#206 of 222 Thanks for the great answers!!!! by videoguy1

Dec 06, 2009 (11:18 am)

Hey, softpedal, ekiehn, and joseph85750 !!
 
YES, all 3 of you did VERY comprehensively address my specific questions, with excellent responses, and yes, it did help! So, thanks!!!
 
Based on the EPA numbers and some of the earlier comments made by others in general (about their mpg problems, not getting nearly what they expected), I'm actually a little surprised that you 3 are getting that much with the weight and AC on, but if that's the case, I'm glad to hear it, and it would probably still pay to make the switch! (And, actually, no, I'm not a maniac off the line----those hotrodding aports car years are over at this stage!!!!!) (-:
 
Once again, I really appreciate the time you took to write all that out in such a full, descriptive manner!!!! Happy cruisin' to y'all too!!!!
 
Enjoy,
Les

#207 of 222 Re: Thanks for the great answers!!!! [videoguy1] by joseph85750

Dec 06, 2009 (11:43 am)

Replying to: videoguy1 (Dec 06, 2009 11:18 am)
Glad to help! Here's another article I forward to people interested in improving their mileage (and driving safer):
 
http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/579/

#208 of 222 Four years of fuel mileage data by stevefeh

Feb 14, 2010 (4:43 pm)

I've owned my 2005 FEH 4WD new out of the factory. It now has 45,000 miles. I love it, and my wife has gotten used to taking it for local driving
 
For the first half of its life, I drove it about 70 miles per day on open highway. Since then, about 30 miles per day on mostly <50mph and local roads. From the FEH display, I often see 29MPG average on a 15 mile trip. When trying to hypermile I've gotten it near 40 for a few miles here and there. The fuel to tank measure is quite a bit different though. Here are my yearly averages: 2006 - 25.0 MPG (12 data points) 2007 - 23.4 MPG (14 data points) 2008 - 22.5 MPG (20 data points) 2009 - 22.0 MPG (18 data points) 2010 - 19.9 MPG (3 data points) All COLD winter here, snow, etc. Other information: In the summer I use the A/C mostly on norm, not MAX. In the winter, lots of high heat. I exclusively use full synthetic (Mobil 1) and change it 4x per year. Replaced the factory hard/noisy tires with Goodyear TripleTred. Much quiter, much better handling, no noticeable gas mileage change when plotted year on year. Has anyone else seen such year on year reduction in fuel economy? I might just be imagining it, but feel the battery doesn't run the car as fast or as long as it did prior. Otherwise, we are very satisfied with this first model year.

#209 of 222 Re: Four years of fuel mileage data [stevefeh] by ekiehn

Feb 16, 2010 (3:45 pm)

Replying to: stevefeh (Feb 14, 2010 4:43 pm)
Mines a 2006 (in service April/May 2005). My millage is still up there in the 31 to 32 MPG range, though I have noticed that it sometimes takes a little longer to charge the batteries than before (very subjective on my part).
 
I do my oil change and other maintenance strictly per the manual (every 10,000 miles) and so far it has worked well. Tires... those originals were very noisy and I replaced 2 of them with Goodyear, the other 2 now definitely need replacing (doing that this week) but I just couldn't let them go until they got down to the wear indicators (yup I'm cheap) and now that I've hit around 79,000 miles I think I can part with them. I also don't have to deal with snow to often and could get away with it
 
Love the vehicle, but the new ones make me envious when I see all the niceties that we didn't get with our early run units

#210 of 222 A little dissappointed by rpmura

Mar 04, 2010 (2:43 pm)

I bought a new 2010 FWD a couple of months ago. It may be a little premature, but I don't seem to get any better than 24 mpg. This is mostly city driving in Los Angeles. I try to drive conservatively since I know I can be a little heavy on the foot. The motor goes on whenever I accelerate, period. I thought the electric motor would run a little more. In fact it seems to run mostly when I'm just coasting, or in a parking lot. Is this unusual? It will occasionally run while driving if I'm very careful not to accelerate at all. It will briefly run up to about 42 mph on the electric, but then I have to stop at a light or something and then it's back to gas motor.
I talked to a friend who has one that's maybe 3 years old and she says she gets 30 mpg in town.
Am I doing something wrong? Could the gas motor be coming on to frequently?
I have never seen over approx 28 mpg on a long trip. My mileage is worse in city driving.
Otherwise, I love the car.
 
 Any help would be appreciated.
 
Thank you.

#211 of 222 Re: A little dissappointed [rpmura] by stevedebi

Mar 04, 2010 (3:10 pm)

Replying to: rpmura (Mar 04, 2010 2:43 pm)
"I bought a new 2010 FWD a couple of months ago. It may be a little premature, but I don't seem to get any better than 24 mpg. This is mostly city driving in Los Angeles. I try to drive conservatively since I know I can be a little heavy on the foot. The motor goes on whenever I accelerate, period. I thought the electric motor would run a little more. In fact it seems to run mostly when I'm just coasting, or in a parking lot. Is this unusual? It will occasionally run while driving if I'm very careful not to accelerate at all. It will briefly run up to about 42 mph on the electric, but then I have to stop at a light or something and then it's back to gas motor.
I talked to a friend who has one that's maybe 3 years old and she says she gets 30 mpg in town.
Am I doing something wrong? Could the gas motor be coming on to frequently?
I have never seen over approx 28 mpg on a long trip. My mileage is worse in city driving.
Otherwise, I love the car. "
 
Once the engine is warmed up, the ICE should cut out at all stops. My 2008 does not have a temperature guage, I use a scanguage 2 to monitor the temps. If engine stop is not occurring, take it back to the Ford dealer. The FEH is sensitive to short trips and needs careful acceleration and braking to achieve decent results. Also, it has been cold in LA lately (I live in the valley), and even my 2008 is sitting at around 29 during these temperatures. But I regularly get over 31 MPG on trips to Anaheim. I have the AWD model.

#212 of 222 Re: A little dissappointed [stevedebi] by rpmura

Mar 04, 2010 (3:52 pm)

Replying to: stevedebi (Mar 04, 2010 3:10 pm)
Thanks for the reply. It does shut down at stops and and usually when I'm coasting below 43 mph as well. It's probably my driving. I'll try to ease up a little more.
What's a scan guage? Was it easy to install? I don't have a temperature guage either. That's one thing I think the car could use.

Messages Page 22 of 23

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