Gas mpg on short trips 10 min or less?

[MavMeister25]

What numbers is everyone getting on their mpg when they drive very short trips for less than 10 min, starting with a COLD ENGINE when vehicle has been left overnight? It seems that the hybrid Mavs don’t really kick into their efficient status until at least 10 minutes. This is how long my drive to work is and I’m often barely rising above 30 mpg. But if my trip is even just a few minutes longer or I stop somewhere along the way, it shoots up to 40-45 mpg. I know it’s because some of the initial charge is used to get the engine and car system going, plus the charge from the previous day has been somewhat lost. I get this. Was just wondering what numbers everyone else is getting.

Sponsored

 

[Darnon]

Depends on how cold it is. <25 degrees sucks, but over that foregoing the HVAC for about 1.5 mi at town speeds is enough to get the engine warm enough to let it start hybrid operation. Then 35mpg or more is fairly doable.

 

[GyroRon]

It is because its cold outside. In cold weather, the engine needs to run... and run enough to get the coolant hot, to provide heat for the interior. If your drive is short, you essentially ran most of your drive under gas power with little to no miles driven under electric power.

In warmer weather, where the cabin isn't calling for heat, but A/C instead... the engine won't run as much, matter of fact on a short drive if your gentle on the accelerator pedal, it might not run the gas engine much at all, and you will see much higher MPG.

 

[Jimbow]

Would a engine block heater help?

 

[JHand]

You know, that's something I hadn't thought about. I live right off the highway, and my work is about 7 miles away. Since I live in a warmer area, I turned the heater off and just use the heated seats and heated wheel, but still only get 28-32 on a regular basis (given, only on my 4th tank). Just broke 1400miles, about 400 were on electric for reference

 

[Jah.]

Florida here . ecoboost 23 -24 mpg short trips .

 

[Waterick]

Would a engine block heater help?

You know, that's something I hadn't thought about. I live right off the highway, and my work is about 7 miles away. Since I live in a warmer area, I turned the heater off and just use the heated seats and heated wheel, but still only get 28-32 on a regular basis (given, only on my 4th tank). Just broke 1400miles, about 400 were on electric for reference

I understand that it is difficult to add an engine block heater after the Maverick is built (hybrid at least). I wonder if a dip stick oil heater would help, probably not as effective.

 

[JD71]

You're not going to get good MPG until the engine and oil is fully warm. You can use a block heater or a water circulating heater, but what you gain there you're going to lose paying for the power those heaters suck. Proving once again there's no free lunch.
Keeping it in a house attached garage cuts down warm up time by a lot and eliminates the need for engine heaters.
I live in Canada. We do winter 6 months a year. The other 6 months is just lousy skating.

 

[ZABSMAV]

What numbers is everyone getting on their mpg when they drive very short trips for less than 10 min, starting with a COLD ENGINE when vehicle has been left overnight? It seems that the hybrid Mavs don’t really kick into their efficient status until at least 10 minutes. This is how long my drive to work is and I’m often barely rising above 30 mpg. But if my trip is even just a few minutes longer or I stop somewhere along the way, it shoots up to 40-45 mpg. I know it’s because some of the initial charge is used to get the engine and car system going, plus the charge from the previous day has been somewhat lost. I get this. Was just wondering what numbers everyone else is getting.

This is typical for local trips with our 2023 Lariat Hybrid.

 

[The Real Maverick]

Would a engine block heater help?

Yes.

But you are paying for grid power instead of gasoline. But may be a winning combo.

I used to do this.

The block heater is about 400 watts.
You need to run it for 4 hours for maximum effect. So about 1.6 kWh you'll add to your electricity bill.

But, you'll have warmer air vents sooner too.

 

[Richard Harrison]

What numbers is everyone getting on their mpg when they drive very short trips for less than 10 min, starting with a COLD ENGINE when vehicle has been left overnight? It seems that the hybrid Mavs don’t really kick into their efficient status until at least 10 minutes. This is how long my drive to work is and I’m often barely rising above 30 mpg. But if my trip is even just a few minutes longer or I stop somewhere along the way, it shoots up to 40-45 mpg. I know it’s because some of the initial charge is used to get the engine and car system going, plus the charge from the previous day has been somewhat lost. I get this. Was just wondering what numbers everyone else is getting.

It’s tricky to get an accurate average for very short trips. When you reset the average, it sets to a zero MPG average. Then the initial acceleration is always pretty low MPG and it takes a while to “average” this up to the real number. If you plan on making several trips of this type in a row, don’t reset to zero. After a few trips you’ll have a much more accurate average.

 

[The Real Maverick]

I live in Canada. We do winter 6 months a year. The other 6 months is just lousy skating.

I used to live in Minnesota.
We had six months of winter and six months of poor sledding.

I joke. Really it wasn't too bad.
Those days I used a 400 watt engine block heater, and Ford also had a 40 watt battery heater in those days. That with a vinyl "bra" over my front grille and my winter MPG was nearly the same as summer.

 

[MavMeister25]

This is typical for local trips with our 2023 Lariat Hybrid.

I get that 50 mpg on occasion. But only when the temp is above 70 degrees, I’m not using AC or heat or wipers, and when the car has already been used that day beforehand and has lots of charge built up. Otherwise when it’s cold outside, and the engine has been sitting since prior day, and I’m using heat and wipers, I’ll be lucky if I get 30 mpg on an 8-10 minute trip to work. You must have a truck that was sprinkled with holy water by Jesus himself.

 

[The Real Maverick]

What numbers is everyone getting on their mpg when they drive very short trips for less than 10 min, starting with a COLD ENGINE when vehicle has been left overnight? It seems that the hybrid Mavs don’t really kick into their efficient status until at least 10 minutes. This is how long my drive to work is and I’m often barely rising above 30 mpg. But if my trip is even just a few minutes longer or I stop somewhere along the way, it shoots up to 40-45 mpg. I know it’s because some of the initial charge is used to get the engine and car system going, plus the charge from the previous day has been somewhat lost. I get this. Was just wondering what numbers everyone else is getting.

To directly answer your question:

Ideal MPG comes after 10 miles & 30 minutes of city drive. It takes this much to "warm up" at 40-50°F.

Ideal MPG comes after 5 miles & 10 minutes of continuous higher speed driving.

Anything shorter and you results will be under EPA estimates.

 

[MavMeister25]

To directly answer your question:

Ideal MPG comes after 10 miles & 30 minutes of city drive. It takes this much to "warm up" at 40-50°F.

Ideal MPG comes after 5 miles & 10 minutes of continuous higher speed driving.

Anything shorter and you results will be under EPA estimates.

The voice of reason.

I’ve noticed the same phenomenon with Maverick mpg claims that I’ve noticed with fishermen’s claims of their catches. Always a little embellishment. Or info left out. For example you’ll see a person bragging with a huge stringer of 15 fish but they don’t tell you they were out fishing for 8 hours. Meanwhile another person has 2 fish which doesn’t look impressive until you find out they were only out for 15 minutes. The critical details get left out on these forums.

Sponsored