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2013 C-Max

44 messages,  Last post on May 23, 2013 at 10:07 AM

You are in the Ford C-Max Hybrid Forum.

What is this discussion about? Ford C-Max, Car Buying, SUV

Messages Page 3 of 5

#16 of 44 Re: MPGs Low so far??? [rrollntdi] by sliu777

Jan 29, 2013 (8:39 am)

Replying to: rrollntdi (Jan 29, 2013 7:37 am)
Once a while my battery shows 15-23 miles when I left it charged overnight on the 110V charger cable. For a whole week it was showing 18 miles. My Energi is in the garage (50 degrees) so its not the cold weather affecting the low miles on the battery. I started using the "extra charge" button next to the shifter when I'm going downhill or need to stop quickly then I noticed my battery would show 20-23 miles when I charge overnight.
Also use the Empower Gauge mode so it will show when the gas engine will kick in so you can easy up on the accelerator.
Right now I'm on my 2nd tank of gas (bought it on 11/18/2012) and my lifetime MPG is about 72 and my MPG for my 2nd tank is about 70 MPG.

#17 of 44 Re: MPGs Low so far??? [rrollntdi] by greenroger

Jan 29, 2013 (10:14 am)

Replying to: rrollntdi (Jan 29, 2013 7:37 am)
One tip that I have found is ECO Cruise.
It had to be set on ours (it was not the default when we got it).
 
With all the complaints about the hybrid model not getting the MPG people wanted I decided to do a test on our Energi it is a little heavier than the hybrid but all I had to test with.
 
I drove 50 interstate miles on ECO cruise and got 48mpg.
Simple test I know but it gave me piece of mind about the MPG issues.
It was 64o when I tryed this (I don't know if temp makes any difference at all).
 
Try it yourself if you can:
Put the EV mode (mode cannot be changed if the Battery has been depleted) in EV later (if you have a full charge it will go 2 miles in full EV mode to burn off the charge, I guess it is to prevent over charging the battery?) after 2 miles (when it kicked out of EV mode and the ICE kicked on) I pulled over and shut if off / restarted and check that it was still in EV later mode, accelerated to 62 MPH and set the cruise, I had to use the + and - buttons a little with some traffic I did not use the brakes and after 50 miles I pulled over and shut it off and it showed 48 MPG for the trip.
 
My wife let me drive it two weeks on my commute (40 miles each way) 80 miles per day (I can and did charge 110 at work) I used the ECO cruise as much as I could but it did finally go below 80 MPG.
 
3000 miles now on it used 42 gallons of gas (about 3 tank fulls) and a little better than 70mpg. It will start going up now since the wife has it back, she drives 15 miles all electric per day.
 
My Focus Electric will be here Feb 26th!

#18 of 44 Re: MPGs Low so far??? [greenroger] by bobw3

Jan 31, 2013 (10:12 am)

Replying to: greenroger (Jan 29, 2013 10:14 am)
You said you drove 3000 miles on 42 gal of gas. Have you factored in the cost of electricity for those 3000 miles. If for example this 3000 miles was over three months and your electric bill went up by $10/month to charge the car, then you'd have to figure in that $30. Plus if you factored in the "free" charging at Walgreens or other locations at $$20 for example, then you have a total of $50 in electricity cost. At $3.50 in gas, the $50 would pay for a little more than 14 gal. Add that to your 42 gal used would equal 56 gal for the 3000 miles driven, which would be a more accurate MPG figure of 53.5MPG.
 
Still good of course, but only a couple of MPGs better than what a regular Prius will get. My main issue with plug-in type hybrids is that I don't trust that their batteries will last as long as a regular Prius hybrid battery, which has proven itself to last hundreds of thousands of miles.
 
Of course it really depends on how a person travels. If it's a lot of short trips, then a plug in would be more efficient, but if person takes a lot of long trips, then probably not. And again the different battery type on plug-ins makes me nervous until they have a longer track record.
 
Just my opinion...

#19 of 44 Re: MPGs Low so far??? [bobw3] by greenroger

Jan 31, 2013 (1:57 pm)

Replying to: bobw3 (Jan 31, 2013 10:12 am)
bobw3, You are right and I see your point about adding it to the total mileage. But since the free charges are "free" I will not add that to my cost to drive.
 
I don't worry about the battery it has an 8 year warranty, I will not have the car that long.
 
Toyota's are nice, but the Ford seems to be a much better fit for our use.
 
The Energi was been in full EV mode all this week since the wife is driving it (15 mi a day) and creeping back to 80 mpg again...

#20 of 44 Where is the SAVINGS??? by rrollntdi

Feb 04, 2013 (11:30 am)

After driving just 444 miles, I refilled the gas tank with 10.629 gallons of gas. The lifetime summary says I have driven 191 electric miles. That is about 252 gas powered miles or only about 23 mpg on gas!!! Overall the car computes that it is getting about 43 mpg. I'm in the Detroit area and it has been cold, between 11 and 30 degrees. I have enabled EV Now and ECO Cruise. I have used the remote start sparingly. I can't find an 'Extra Charge' button near the gear shift. Is this car that affected by cold weather ??? I must be doing something wrong for it to only be getting 43 mpg. Can anyone tell me why I'm not getting somewhere between 43 and 100 mpg as advertised? This is much worse than the Diesel I was driving where I averaged about 40 mpg. I'm starting to get really frustrated .

#21 of 44 Re: MPGs Low so far??? [greenroger] by bobw3

Feb 04, 2013 (11:55 am)

Replying to: greenroger (Jan 31, 2013 1:57 pm)
So that makes sense for you personally, but I guess for others the caveat is that you'll only get 80mpg if you get your charging for free!

#22 of 44 Re: MPGs Low so far??? [bobw3] by rrollntdi

Feb 04, 2013 (7:10 pm)

Replying to: bobw3 (Feb 04, 2013 11:55 am)
greenroger - Electricity isn't free at my house and I assume you are spending something to charge the battery overnight at home, even if it's free at work. So your 80 mpg number is a fallacy, unless it's down hill with a 50 mph tail wind in both directions.
 
My on board fuel economy calculator has never shown an average of more than 45 mpg.... Even when it is running in EV Now. I reset it once too.... No affect. This number is some sort of estimate based purely on the gasoline you've consumed. According to the EPA testing Ford did, this car was supposed to get 43 mpg in ICE mode after the battery is used up. I barely get that with the battery miles included.
 
BTW... The manual says that it runs the ICE for a short time to warm up the emissions system. The heat for the cabin temp is nice too.

#23 of 44 Re: MPGs Low so far??? [bobw3] by greenroger

Feb 07, 2013 (6:40 am)

Replying to: bobw3 (Feb 04, 2013 11:55 am)
The gauge on the dash reads my MPG it does not seem to matter if I use free or paid for electricity. (91 this am so goodby 80's!)
 
I think your are missing the point of an PHEV.
The main advantage of a plug-in (or full electric) car is about helping the US get off of foreign oil.
 
That is why our government gives you a tax rebate when you purchase one and gives business (and home owners) tax breaks for purchasing and installing EV chargers.
 
Not only does importing less oil help the US financially since we spend billions of (what 80? or more) dollars each year to protect the oil supply in the middle east it also helps keep less tankers on the ocean, that means less shipwrecks and that means less pollution of the oceans and beaches.
 
Electricity (free or paid for) makes a much better fuel for vehicle propulsion than gasoline since more than half of the energy produced by burning gas is lost as heat and that with the exhaust gases released helps to warm our planet.
 
I know that coal is not much better when burned to produce electricity but coal does not need to be imported it is mined right here.
Personally I would rather pay the extra $10 a month in our higher electricity bill to a US company rather than give it to a foreign country (friendly or not).
 
I think that EVs and hybrids are a great tool to help the US get off of imported oil and I hope Ford (and other auto companies) continue on this path with more fuel efficient vehicles in the future whether they are electric, fuel cell or something else.
 
I had not considered a domestic made vehicle for years but The C-Max Energi brought me back.

#24 of 44 Re: MPGs Low so far??? [greenroger] by rrollntdi

Feb 07, 2013 (8:57 am)

Replying to: greenroger (Feb 07, 2013 6:40 am)
I agree with using hybrids and EVs to stem the flow of many Billions of $ to the Middle East. I've heard the real cost of a gallon of gas is near $18 if you consider all the taxes we pay to have our military nearby to protect the flow of oil. I would also gladly pay $10 or more a month for domestically produced electricity. It just seems like the average mpg the car calculates is misleading since it is only based on the gasoline fuel consumed. 23mpg on the ICE is really bad if the EPA and Ford say it should get 43 mpg combined. I had a Jetta TDI and the Summer/Winter mpg spread was 42/38. My experience with all gas cars is about the same sort of Summer/Winter spread. Detroit is cold in the Winter so based on that I was expecting the ICE to get about 35 to 38 mpg. Also bought this car because it is a domestic company and it sounded like they finally offered something that could beat the mpg of my Jetta TDI.

#25 of 44 Re: MPGs Low so far??? [rrollntdi] by greenroger

Feb 07, 2013 (1:32 pm)

Replying to: rrollntdi (Feb 07, 2013 8:57 am)
rrollntdi, Sorry I was replying to bobw3.
So let me respond to you....
 
I do not know why your fuel mileage is so bad, but from reading your posts you seem impatient, I don’t know if that affects your driving habits (excessive speed, fast starts and stops) and I am pretty sure the cold has a lot to do with it. I am in the south east, we have had two evenings that the temp got down below freezing here so far this winter.
 
I guess I am confused you stated you got 43 mpg on 444 miles in winter driving and since you only got 38 in winter driving with your TDI, that sounds like an improvement to me.
Even though diesel fuel mileage is actually higher than gasoline fuel mileage. If you can get 30 mpg on gas you can get 40 with a diesel equivalent but it does not burn as clean as gas, it costs more and it stinks.
 
You also stated that you have a 45 overall with the C-max when you got an average of 40 in your TDI. Still that sounds like and improvement so again I am confused.
 
Have you used the ECO cruise or did you just change the setting? Using it has changed the MPG’s greatly for me when I was doing interstate driving with the C-max. I had calculated about 40 mpg on just the ICE before setting and using it and have gotten up to 48 mpg using the ECO cruise (in my 50 mile test run).
 
Did you turn off the “Braking Coach”? If you did turn it off I would turn it back on. It helps you adjust your braking to get more return to the battery. You have to use gentle pressure on the brake pedal to get the best results then when you come to a complete stop it will show you how much energy was returned to the battery. The battery display will show you when you are getting regen, if you press the pedal harder it engages the brakes and your score will go down.
My wife had a hard time getting used to it, she cannot judge distance’s well but with the braking coach she is getting better (97% up from 65%).
That energy can then be used to power the vehicle and improve your mpg’s.
 
Are you using the Engage or the Empower displays? They will show you in real time what the EV and ICE power modes are doing. EV is blue and ICE is white it will show you when the ICE will engage according to how much you are accelerating.
 
I have never seen the “100 mpg as advertised” that you are talking about, you had also mentioned earlier something about a “30 mile all electric range” again I have never seen that either.
 
You should call Ford (I am pretty sure they have an 800 number) and ask them why the electricity is not factored into the mpg rating (I do not know).
 
You might also see what they would recommend to improve your winter mileage. I used to live in Maine and had an electric block heater on an old Dodge it would keep the oil heated enough that the engine would turn over when it was very cold, plus it improved the mileage because the choke did not need to run as long since the engine was already warm.
 
If you will look around on the internet you can find people that swear by them in cold climates. That might be an easy fix for your mileage problems.
 
But you need to make your own decisions that way you will not blame others for what you do not know or understand, good luck.

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