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How to Drive FEHP/FEH the Best Range and MPG

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51K views 335 replies 48 participants last post by  ptjones 
#1 · (Edited)
Here are the total of all the improvements that I have done to my FEHP.

Installed Gas Pods which I had on my CMAX, don't know if they made a difference. Raised tire pressure to 44 psi., the max tire pressure on the tire, they were 32psi according to my digital pressure gauge. I would expect 1/2 mile range gain or mpg in ICE Mode. I use EV Now Mode around town and EV later on trips.

I have been noticing that if you start the ICE to increase acceleration it will stay on until it reaches 128*F like the CMAX Hybrid did. It took about .8 miles to make it happen.
Installed Top Grill Cover and ended up taping all the way around the edge to seal it off to get the WT above 215*F

I installed the Grill Cover for the bottom and it blocks the sensors so I had to hole saw 1.25" holes for them to work. I hope these pics give you ideas for what can be done. It could take awhile to determine what kind of range improvement I get. I hope to install wheel covers shortly too. I'm using Velcro to fasten bottom Grill Cover so they can be easily removed. Screwed on the top Grill Cover because it doesn't need to be removed. Painted the backside of Grill Cover so letters look better and last longer.

Paul
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To get the OT to work properly I drilled a 3/4" hole. I used a fountain pump 3/4" adapter that I screwed into a 3/4" hole, I will see how it works. It looks like I gained 2 miles in range and mpg. If you keep your car in a garage during the Winter the Grill Covers will keep your ICE, Trans/motors warmer and the inverter also to improve your range more.

Here are some pics of wheel covers that I'm installing. Backside of wheel with aluminum plug copper silicon rubber applied ready to install. Rim Gas Engineering Circle Machine showing backside of wheel cover with 1/4-20x 2" screw, 1" plastic spacer and fender washer. Wheel Automotive tire Tire Hood Motor vehicle Wheel cover installed. Wheel Tire Land vehicle Vehicle Automotive tire 1/4" plastic screw out toward edge to keep wheel cover from spinning when stopping hard with the brakes. Wheel Covers add 2 miles range and mpg.

I use Premium to improve mpg's by 1-2 mpg.

For EV Mode you should gain 4 miles and ICE mileage should improve 6 mpg.

Paul
 
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#2 ·
Only have Level 1. I mean visually out of the window I can't tell how fast I'm going yet, car has very good acceleration, 0-30 mph if you mash the accelerator the ICE will come on with the electric motors.

This morning with 100% charge it showed a range of 46 miles and it went up to 47 miles when going some down hill and ended up with 39 mi. range to go when I got to work. When I turned car back on it dropped to 35 miles range. I went to lunch and back, 8 miles + the 7 miles to work = 15 mi. and add that to the 32 mi. range left it looks like I can get 47 mi. on this charge. This is with speeds of 35 to 55 mph. I think EPA range per charge is 37 mi. so that works out to 10 miles farther without any Mods or Hypermiling. I'm using coasting in Neutral going downhill though, I can't help myself.:) If I used the same plan tomorrow I would end the day with 42 miles and 5 mi. left on the range. Maybe by the end of next week I will have my Mods ready. One of the easy things to do is raise tire pressure from 34 to Max pressure of 44 psi. I have my Gas Pods from CMAX they're magnetic, easy to install. I'm thinking I will be able to improve range by atleast 3 miles, maybe 5 mi.
Range1.jpg



Paul
 
#3 ·
I checked this morning and the All Electric mode didn't change. Last night when I plugged it in the display showed 100% charge range at 50 mi., but this morning it showed 45 mi. and when it got to work it had 38 mi., 7 mi. to work. My garage doesn't cool down very well and the HVB temp was 84.5*F and when I got to work it was 86*F.

Specs say that the HVB has 14.4 kw capacity , the SGII says at 0 there is 24% left and fully charged 91% which means EV is only using 9.5 kw (91%-24%=67%x14.4 kw), the numbers don't seem to be coming out right. Last night when I got home the Display showed 4.5 mi./kw and range of 50 miles which = 11.1 kw capacity. This morning at 100% charge the range dropped down to 45 mi. and divide that by 11.1 kw=4.05 mi./kw. On the Electric Efficiency display it says "Average 4.5 mi/kWh or Estimated range on next full charge is 50.2 mi".

Decided to go ahead and install Gas Pods and raise tire pressure to 44 psi., they were 32psi according to my digital pressure gauge.

Paul
 
#5 ·
... are you losing out on any regen?
That's the goal: motion without braking or propulsion. Very easy to do in Escape Hybrid; just add throttle to zero-out the right side display, 0/0/0 for regen/EV/ICE.

It's situational. When driving downhill, coasting may be the most efficient option, depending on grade. Regenerative braking captures what would be waste energy, but it's 85-90% efficient. Coasting is as close to 100% as you can get. The only downside to coasting is increased aero drag due to increased speed, road and traffic conditions permitting.

This is very different from steep hills, where speed control is required. C-Max has a Hill Assist button, Escape a menu setting for it. Up to 35kW of regen braking until the HVB is full, then 20kW braking to the bottom (resistive load?).
 
#6 ·
As fbov said coasting is close to 100% efficient and you can control speed by switching back to Drive to speed up or Regen to slow down. My Range did increase while doing this. I'm currently at about 39 mi. traveled on this charge with 5 mi. Range left, I think I lost 2-3 miles in range do to the rain yesterday. Still 44 mi. is 7 mi./20% better than EPA 37 mi. range. It looks like I can push the range to 50 mi. with my mods installed. I think the idea of using EV on flat road, coasting down hill and ICE uphill is the way to go for the best mileage. If you are going to use the ICE make sure you keep WT above 202*F, 215 -220F preferably for the best gas mileage.

Paul
 
#7 ·
i had to look up gas pods.
seems like they are just vortex generators.
I've yet to see any definitive, repeatable proof that they help. vortices can bend the air to fill the wake, but they themselves have drag. kinda net zero.

a nice kammback would help though...

sounds like you got the driving/coasting/regen thing down. one of the frustrating things on my 3rd gen escape is that when you shift into N, it will hold the revs where they would have been in gear, instead of dropping to idle. kind of defeats the purpose of coasting in neutral. I also wish the Decel fuel cutoff was more aggressive, and would keep downshifting to stay in DFCO. currently just does it in the gear you were in until revs drop near idle.
 
#8 ·
Neat, we're considering trading in my wife's 2020 1.5 SE for a 2019 Energi Titanium Fusion, I like that I only fill up my hybrid escape about once a month but she drives about 40 miles a day out and about. it's almost a straight over the table trade at this point. I already installed a Nema 6-20R in the garage for use with a 16A 240v Charger.
 
#9 ·
Another thing about coasting it allows your HVB to cool down some when you don't use it. Was noticeable with my 2013 CMAX Hybrid.

So far I have 331.9 total miles, 312.2 electric mi. and 341.2 MPG. When I got the car it had 395 mi to E gas and currently has 387 mi. to E. It seems to be averaging 47+ mi. per charge range so 10 miles over EPA estimate range. Interesting that after a short 7 mi. trip the electric range goes up 1 mile when you use the car later. The highest HVB temp I have seen so far is 89*F with outside temps high 80's to low 90's*F.
As far as handling goes the FEHP has more body lean in the roundabouts than the CMAX Hybrid, probably from the additional weight in the back. CMAX Energi had less lean, but similar issues.

From an efficiency standpoint it seems to me on a + 60 miles trip it would be better to use the ICE block heater to warm up the ICE and then stay in Hybrid/ ICE Mode to start the trip to keep WT up to improve ICE efficiency. Just HVB at the end of trip when the WT doesn't matter when you don't use the ICE.

Paul
 
#11 ·
Today it became obvious that short trips hurt your range, I have gone 41 mi. with 4 mi. left and I'm not sure I can make it home without turning ICE on. It's kind of close to go down hill some with 4 mi. left to go 7 miles. It usually takes 4-5 mi. of range to get home. So I decided to charge for an hour and a half to get at least 4 to 5 miles of extra range.

Paul
 
#12 ·
I drove to Cleveland and back in EV later Mode for the first time and posted fill ups on Fuelly.com I took a picture of my current tank when I got back. My previous three tanks I averaged 45.4 mpg in the rain. The tanks were off anywhere from 1.5 to 7 mpg. I think I will fill up the tank and see how it is off. Every time you start the car you have to reset to EV Later.

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Paul
 
#14 ·
Some more things I've noticed are the WT runs most of the time below 202*F (195-198*F) once in awhile I saw it get up to 207*F in EV Later Mode. It could be cooler in Normal Mode, maybe try it on next trip to see WT numbers. Generally the display for range is over optimistic after charging, this morning I started out with a range of 53 mi. and ended with 37 mi. after going 9.9 mi. which still gets me 47 mi. range for this charge. I have a couple of 49 mi., but most are 47 mi.



Paul
 
#18 ·
I have been noticing that if you start the ICE to increase acceleration it will stay on until it reaches 128*F like the CMAX Hybrid did. It took about .8 miles to make it happen.
I charged up to full at work and only showed a range of 49 miles. This was caused from driving uphill to work which lowered the range by 4 miles, if you add 4 mi. to 49 mi. it gives you 53 miles which is the normal range when I charge up at home. I gained 2 mi. back when going to town and back, 8 miles, will see what I end up with driving another 24 mi. when I get home.

How many members have FEHP now?

Paul
 
#20 ·
Paul,
I am still waiting on delivery of my Escape PHEV Titanium.. Dealer still thinks I'll have it before the end of September. I'm not holding my breath. It is being built this month..sure hope the Chip Shortage doesn't stop the delivery.
GARY
 
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#21 ·
My PHEV is on a train to the west coast. The arrival estimate is 9/11 to 9/17 but hoping for sooner. My 2013 FE TI with 64K is ready for a new home.

I have been in the dealer lot 2 times in the last week and they have maybe 16 new cars in total in the display area. 3 Bronco's, 1 Mach-E (49K), 5 Escape's, 2 Mustangs, some Edge's some fusion but essentially they are out stock. There are no 2021 trucks on the lot.
 
#104 ·
My PHEV is on a train to the west coast. The arrival estimate is 9/11 to 9/17 but hoping for sooner. My 2013 FE TI with 64K is ready for a new home.

I have been in the dealer lot 2 times in the last week and they have maybe 16 new cars in total in the display area. 3 Bronco's, 1 Mach-E (49K), 5 Escape's, 2 Mustangs, some Edge's some fusion but essentially they are out stock. There are no 2021 trucks on the lot.
I have 2020 PHEV. Around town on 850 mile tank getting 124mpg, Recently on 1950 mile road trip got 55mpg.
 
#22 ·
Paul,
I have an Escape Titanium PHEV that has been "in production" in Louisville since 8/31 (MSRP available 8/24), and dealer Visibility still does not have any updates, like "in body shop," "in trim," etc. They say sometimes they get nothing updated until it ships. Hoping for completion and arrival by end of September. Dealer has given me a trade-in value for my 2019 Lincoln MKC Reserve with 10K miles of $30K, good until end of month. Appreciate your posts providing your mileage experiences! I previously had a 2013 C-Max Hybrid, and really liked it. Tom
 
#23 · (Edited)
A New high for range with a full charge, 57 miles and after going to work 7 miles it has dropped to 38 mi. Currently have 2202 miles on the odometer. Still getting 47 to 49 miles per charge. I should clarify that by saying I'm not running it empty, usually 5 to 15 miles left and charge at night at home. I went out to lunch and now up to 17.6 mi. with 29 mi. range left which works out to 46.6 miles total range and this number will go up when going home.



Paul
 
#25 ·
Maybe you have it by the end of next week.

My PHEV is on a train to the west coast. The arrival estimate is 9/11 to 9/17 but hoping for sooner. My 2013 FE TI with 64K is ready for a new home.

I have been in the dealer lot 2 times in the last week and they have maybe 16 new cars in total in the display area. 3 Bronco's, 1 Mach-E (49K), 5 Escape's, 2 Mustangs, some Edge's some fusion but essentially they are out stock. There are no 2021 trucks on the lot.
Maybe you have it by the end of next week.

Ran the HVB to empty last night and had to use the ICE for 1 mile of ICE use. I used a charging station for 44 min. for free for about 7.5 mile increase in range for a total of 57.5 mi. EV

Paul
 
#26 ·
On page 209 in the OM it says: "Why does my vehicle have hum or fan noise when charging?" "A hum or a fan noise could be present when charging the high voltage battery. This is normal operation as your vehicle is keeping the battery cool while charging." This is a good thing to help the HVB last longer. I usually wait a hour or two before charging when at home.

Paul
 
#27 ·
I charged up last night and this morning the range was 59 mi. a new record :). Drove the 7 miles to work and range was 44 miles and when I turned on the car again it had dropped to 39 miles. :( The climb to work is bad for the range. LOL When I go home range only drops 4 miles for the 7 miles trip. Something to look for when you drive your FEHP when you get it.

Paul
 
#28 ·
Ran my HVB empty today for 48.5 mi. range, interesting that the car went over a mile on empty before the ICE came on. So it looks like I'm averaging 48 miles on a full charge for a 1k miles now.
I believe that anyone who drove a CMAX/Fusion Hybrid should get 44 mi. /charge non HWY driving with 44 psi in they're tires. Just checked SOC after a hour of charging, it has 7 miles. When I started charging it would take 11.4 hours to fully charge the HVB. dividing 11.4 into 48.5 =4.25 mile/hour so the HVB can be charged quicker at the beginning of charge and slow down at the end.

I don't have enough HWY driving in HVB Mode only to come up with a range yet.

This morning when I left for work the charger was still charging the HVB, but the ScanGaugeII had 93% SOC and the range was 52 mi. It is usually 56 to 59 mi. and SOC is 91%, strange. When I got to work the range had dropped to 42 mi. after the 7 mi. drive. That was better than normal.

Paul
 
#29 ·
Ran my HVB empty today for 48.5 mi. range...
but the ScanGaugeII had 93% SOC and the [projected] range was 52 mi.
Hi Paul,

I'm curious about why you include the projected values. Are you just noting that projected range and actual range will differ (say by 3.5 miles in this example) or are you suggesting that you think you could get 52 mi/full charge under other circumstances? I'm just wondering if I'm missing an implication of the projected range values.

Thanks,
WSG
 
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