Hypermiling the Ford Escape Hybrid ...

[tbaleno]

Oh, I just remembered. They will probably both be at hybrid fest. We may need to have an "invitational" class where the elite are in their own class.

[philmcneal]

wow hm..... i thought windows down is such a FE killer, even in the city. It makes me feel my coasts are dragged down so I rather take the heat No ac air is good enough most of the time anyway.

[VonoreTn]

With regard to charging Escape Hybrid batteries in our homes, there is something missing here. These are just batteries we are charging. With the correct, available AC to DC voltage converter, and maybe a voltage step device, anyone can charge any battery off of either 110 or 220 volts AC that we have in our houses.

I assume the Escape Hybrid battery pack ends up joining several batteries in series to operate at a higher than 220 volt DC level. It still can be done. We only need to know how the engine charges the same battery to figure out how to make a cheap battery charger.

The EDrive and Hymotion kits are fine, professional packages for fleet operators, but there has to be a huge aftermarket low budget option for current HEV owners.

Get back to me by email if you have any insights, suggestions, recommendations.

[GaryG]

If someone needs to charge the battery quick, the fake shift in "L" will do the trick real fast. The present system really doesn't another charger from an AC house plug IMHO.

Well, today marks another day of a 70+ RT and its starting to get easier to improve. Total distance was about 20 miles with 10 miles with a tailwind at 10-15mph and a strong dead on headwind of the same coming back. Kept the start better for the first 10 miles and the scangauge read ~78mpg low start battery and a ~73mpg with the battery ready for the glide again. Things turned around with the headwind and caused my average to drop to end up with 70.3mpg. The windows were fully down again but I may raise them next time going against the wind. Had alot of gust inside the FEH but was tring to hold my average and wasn't thinking about the real problem. On a calm day, I think the FEH is good for 75mpg just as Wayne predicted.

The trip was from my house north to Hope Sound National Refuge on Jupiter Island. Perfect beach road with the most expensive estate's in our Country. The police watch the speed limit of 30mph just great and golfcarts have the right of way. It is a two lane road with no passing along about 50% of the road. Except for the wind and traffic, I had ideal conditions for the FEH.

GaryG

[xcel]

Hi All:

___And here is a pic of Gary G’s SG in his FWD FEH after pushing it

Originally Posted by Gary G.

There were strong headwinds which brought my mileage down to a final 70.3 mpg for 20 miles. I took the pictures and some didn't turn out good but it's too late to do anything about that. The fuel used if you can read it is .3 gallons.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

[xcel]

Hi Gary:

___I think you are now crowned the absolute premiere FEH hypermiler on the planet

___Having driven John’s (GPSMan's) and knowing I was in the 65 + range given the 10 + miles of State highway after our 20 + miles 60.0 maxxed FCD before she dropped back under 60.0, I know I was maxxed. His FEH is slightly easier to hypermile in then yours too! That night you and I had in your FEH with a dead SoC, ~ 2 blocks of ICE-On with 2 fake shifts, and at least another ½ mile of EV/Glide afterwards impressed me as much as Dan’s Prius II’s during last years “Marathon Attempt”, Tom’s HCH when he “Took the gloves off”, and the Insight’s Hypermiling Tour of Illinois “Attempt” back in 04. The Fake Shift is what has pushed you and your FEH into the hypermiler hall of fame in my book and I cannot wait to see your first 75 + mpg segment. God only knows where you are going to end up but after seeing your capabilities with my own eyes, wow! Boy do I wish the Ranger had your FEH’s drivetrain right about now

___Good Luck and congrats.

___Wayne

[johnf514]

GaryG, quick question. Seeing as the FEH is an automatic, are you concerned about shifting between gears on a frequent basis to achieve such high MPG? Might this wear on the transmission and possibly cause premature failure? After all, it is a Ford . . .

[GaryG]

Hi John,

Not at all, the eCVT is built with no chains, belts, bands torque converters or normal transmission parts. Changing gears is not done by linkage, only software. The only time changing MODES you get a jump, is if you have your foot on the gas or brake. That might be a little hard on the axles because it's not a smooth change. There is no reverse gear, the traction motor turns the other way to go backwards. Same thing with LOW GEAR, there isn't one. You can drive the FEH 100mph in "L" because of the way the planetary gear set works. There is no shifting going on in the FEH eCVT and the designers claim it will out last a normal automatic because of it. You can tow the FEH in neutral over 70mph safely with all tires on the road. Letting off the gas pedal in "D" or "L" causes the traction motor to act as a generator. In neutral, the traction motor is prevented for being a generator (regenerative braking) and this allows for a very good coast or glide as we refer to it. If I'm under 40mph, I go EV and glide, over 40mph the FEH glides better with the ICE running. In the morning, I glide as much as possible, while the small generator recharges the battery with the ICE. Gliding under 40mph while the ICE is warming up is great also, but I grab "L" for a charge boost when slowing.

I've read damm near every patent on the FEH eCVT, and if it fails, it will be more than likely electronic. It carry's a 8yr 100,000 mile warranty, more in some green State's. The only repair at the shop is reprograming, other wise, replace the eCVT if that doesn't work.

I don't do any shifting on the move with my '02 Explorer automatic, till I learn that it's safe. Maybe someone here can help me out on that subject.

GaryG

[GaryG]

It’s time I shared some details for breaking 70mpg so everyone driving a FEH can benefit with my technique if they care too. This is not going work for everybody, but it may help you put together a similar technique for yourself or improve mine. I’m hoping I can perfect the technique to hit up to 80mpg on a short round trip. This sounds real strange for a SUV, but so does paying $5 a gallon for gas in the near future.

You may have to read the original article here to understand the Fake Shift better, but if you have any questions, just ask.

If you can travel a road with a 30mph limit, this would be my choice to get from point A to B. EV is the sweet spot of the FEH and what I did was take advantage of it. You can get excellent FE at higher speeds and I do, but if you want to squeeze it all out of FEH, under 35mph is where it’s at. You need a scangauge or something that measures a trip average over 80mpg. The Nav sys is only used for the battery level to know where your State of Charge (SoC) is. You can still hit those high numbers without knowing the SoC, if you follow my instructions carefully.

When you go EV, the scangauge reads 9,999 instant MPG. Your SG may show your reset trip average at over 2,000 mpg if you start with more than a half full battery in EV. As the ICE starts, that number will quickly drop depending on how long the ICE runs. The key is to get a charge as quick as possible and get back into EV. I’m going to guess and say the ICE ran less than 25% of the trip. Also, I would estimate that 80% of charging was from regenerative braking (regen) using the fake shift. When your forcing the regen to charge this fast, it has a limit. This will cause the system to reject EV with “L” or tapping the brakes in “D” or “L”. If this happens, shift to “N” and tap the brakes lightly till you go EV. For this reason, two fake shifts work great in my technique. Also, the distance you can travel in EV is near or over four times the distance it takes to charge.

As I’ve posted many times, the battery takes a charge the fastest with the lowest SoC, this is at the restart of the ICE to charge. It is the time to give the battery the quickest charge with the fake shift and go EV again ASAP. Two fake shifts in “L” , one at ~30mph and the other at ~32-35mph with the second fake shift causing you to go EV. When the tach indicates a fall to EV, shift to “N” for the glide. Do not let your speed fall below 20mph before you accelerate back to ~32mph in EV for another glide in EV in “N”. If I had someone on my tail, there was no problem gliding to ~25-27mph and accelerate to 32 in EV for another glide. You may get three glides in EV by keeping the speed up. Two glides in EV max (one from ICE off and one from the climb back to ~32mph) if you drop below 25mph. Most of the time, the start of the ICE is between ~25-27mph during EV acceleration to the second EV glide. After restart for the small generator to start charging, begin to accelerate at 1,800 rpm’s to 30mph for the first Fake Shift. Letting off the accelerator in "L" for the first fake shift, will give you a good charge without going EV most of the time (generally dropping to about ~27-28mph). If the ICE starts to shut down, accelerate to keep it running. This may cause you to make an addition fake shift between the last one to go EV. You just have to feel the first fake shift was to short and not enough charge and do a quick extra fake shift to make up for it. Anytime you come to a stop, get all the regen you can to help you get back to ~32-35mph again. If you know your coming to a stop, get two fake shifts and glide to the stop in EV from the longest distances from the stop. Place the shifter in “N” at a stop to keep the ICE off. If the ICE will not shutdown at a stop or you get a restart, use the key if you can’t get moving right away.

Don’t rush anything, slowly accelerate at 1,800rpm’s and act like a pro with timing and relax. It took me a few months with this technique to break 70mpg. Lets see what the AWD can do, you may have to adjust EV speeds and get those tires up to 44psi. Remember, I have 22,000 miles on my FEH and you newbee’s may have to wait awhile to push the limits. Only use this technique when and where it's safe too!

GaryG

[xcel]

Hi John:

___He understands the difference between MG1 and MG2 charging just fine but you are not taking FS to its conclusion. It is not just a simple fake shift for rev’s sake but also a dose of regen that brings the SoC up from a very low level to an adequate one in such a short distance. He really has discovered a unique method of forced charging I did not think would help but it works pretty darn good in the FEH if I do say so myself.

___Good Luck

___Wayne