ECO mode not necessary for great mpg's in Hybrid Maverick

[Raymundo76]

Interesting post, thankyou. Will try when (if) my hybrid gets here.

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[D512]

I haven't seen any posts mentioning this yet, so I just wanted to share my experiences relating to eco mode and mpg's so far. I received my Hybrid about a month ago, and got in the habit of immediately switching to ECO mode at the start of every trip in order to get the best MPG's possible. After a month of driving like this, I decided to try leaving it in normal mode and see what sort of difference I got in mpg's.

To my surprise, I saw a pretty miniscule difference in mpg's, but found the truck to be much more responsive and enjoyable to drive while in normal mode. I do about 80% city driving, and am averaging around 45 mpg in normal mode, which isn't far off from what I was getting in eco mode.

To me, the penalty of the sluggish response while in ECO mode wasn't worth the negligible difference it made in mpg's, and I MUCH prefer the power response while in normal mode. Not to mention the annoyance of having to manually put it in eco mode at the start of every trip.

To anyone else who shares this annoyance, try leaving it in normal mode! You might be surprised like I was to see it didn't make much of a difference. As always though, YMMV.

Yup. I have a 2023 XLT Hybrid. Got it in April and only have 1700 miles on it, mostly just around Austin.
In the first few weeks it was getting 42 mpg but for months I never get more than 33 mpg. I put it in eco mode, drive slow, doesn’t change. I’m still SUPER happy with it and just love driving it so I don’t think about it but it sure would be cool to get back in the 40’s!

 

[Benilla]

I live in the country and do mostly highway but I got the hybrid anyway b/c I didn't want to deal with turbos. Here are my observations for highway driving on cruise control:

ECO - most fuel efficient (2 better MPG)
Slippery - next most fuel efficient (1 better MPG)
Normal - baseline
Sport -Least fuel efficient (1-2 worse MPG)

 

[dwinch53]

Certainly for you Hybrid owners, the law of diminishing returns applies here. These modes are really just changing how the engine reacts to your input - if you can control your accelerations reasonably you won't see much of a change.

The first vehicle I owned that had an eco-mode was a nissan rogue. That CVT engine was already an unresponsive dog - putting it into eco-mode made it downright dangerous to drive (we just spent a week in California and ended up with...a rogue. UGH. A reminder of what a terrible engine that was!).

Just chiming in to say keep it in normal, enjoy an occasional fast start and take it easy the rest of the time and you'll see just as good results without any of the negatives!

Eco mode is best for regeneration, that charges the battery and saves on the break pads

 

[bkwagon]

I’ve driven my truck for 1200 miles now. Barely broken in. I can consistently get around 41mpg and try to remember to put it in eco.
My drive down to town is about 13 miles down hill. I can do almost the whole way there in electric. But on the way up it runs almost all the way on gas. I don’t see how anyone is getting 60 mpg. 41 is still a lot better than 18 in my old F-150. So I’m happy.

 

[Timothyd]

I haven't seen any posts mentioning this yet, so I just wanted to share my experiences relating to eco mode and mpg's so far. I received my Hybrid about a month ago, and got in the habit of immediately switching to ECO mode at the start of every trip in order to get the best MPG's possible. After a month of driving like this, I decided to try leaving it in normal mode and see what sort of difference I got in mpg's.

To my surprise, I saw a pretty miniscule difference in mpg's, but found the truck to be much more responsive and enjoyable to drive while in normal mode. I do about 80% city driving, and am averaging around 45 mpg in normal mode, which isn't far off from what I was getting in eco mode.

To me, the penalty of the sluggish response while in ECO mode wasn't worth the negligible difference it made in mpg's, and I MUCH prefer the power response while in normal mode. Not to mention the annoyance of having to manually put it in eco mode at the start of every trip.

To anyone else who shares this annoyance, try leaving it in normal mode! You might be surprised like I was to see it didn't make much of a difference. As always though, YMMV.

But the trained monkey in me is so used to hitting the economy button now.

 

[Ryom]

I don’t see how anyone is getting 60 mpg.

There's specific terrain needed for this. Low speed highways with rolling hills but without significant overall elevation changes and pulse and glide techniques will keep you in electric mode quite a lot.

Flat roads with high speeds and consistently up or down elevation changes aren't ideal.

 

[Elduchey]

There's specific terrain needed for this. Low speed highways with rolling hills but without significant overall elevation changes and pulse and glide techniques will keep you in electric mode quite a lot.

Flat roads with high speeds and consistently up or down elevation changes aren't ideal.

This. My daily commute is exactly like your example and the only time my ice kicks on is to charge the battery or merge onto the highway. My drive home today posted 71mpg over 24 miles and I wasnt even trying to hypermil it. However, that 24 miles took me almost two hours of sitting in traffic and I'd trade that off for 40mpg and an hour of my life back any day.

 

[Timothyd]

There's specific terrain needed for this. Low speed highways with rolling hills but without significant overall elevation changes and pulse and glide techniques will keep you in electric mode quite a lot.

Flat roads with high speeds and consistently up or down elevation changes aren't ideal.

Got my best milage on large rolling hills in the Ozarks.

 

[Mavster Mechanic]

This. My daily commute is exactly like your example and the only time my ice kicks on is to charge the battery or merge onto the highway. My drive home today posted 71mpg over 24 miles and I wasnt even trying to hypermil it. However, that 24 miles took me almost two hours of sitting in traffic and I'd trade that off for 40mpg and an hour of my life back any day.

Your profile says EcoBoost.

But yes. The hybrids are almost specifically optimized for heavy traffic.
Usually:
I CAN't GET LOWER THAN 50 MPG!

 

[Elduchey]

Your profile says EcoBoost.

But yes. The hybrids are almost specifically optimized for heavy traffic.
Usually:
I CAN't GET LOWER THAN 50 MPG!

Yeah I just picked up a 25 hybrid last week and haven't had a chance to update yet.

 

[HeyBales]

Eco mode is best for regeneration, that charges the battery and saves on the break pads

FYI - which can be perfectly duplicated with correct brake pedal usage, and staying in regen - which isn't hard.

Now - if you mean best for regen on your down slopes without needing to press the brakes at all - then indeed.

But for my down slopes - Normal is best, sometimes even a tad too much regen (but Slippery is too little), such that I'll use the Go pedal to lighten the resistance and coast longer.

There is usually a pretty decent range of brake pedal available and still remain in regen, Normal happens to give me more.

 

[Alfetta159]

About the only reason that I use Eco mode, is that I hate the high acceleration that the car uses when resuming the cruise control.

 

[Mavster Mechanic]

yes.

and great tv show

 

[Alfetta159]

and great tv show

So say we all!

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