Observed MPG reduction in cold weather.

[Benilla]

About an 8-10 MPG loss in temps lower than 0F

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[Mach E CP]

Last Saturday night on my 35 mile drive home was with a dead cold engine at 17°F . Usually on this drive on the combo of 8 miles of 60 mph country highways, 25 miles of Interstate that I drive with the cruise set at 68 mph and 2 miles of intown to get to my address. I set the heat to 68°F. There was a slight headwind.

Normally this drive results in 38 to 40 MPG. When I got home and shut off the truck, it showed 30.7 MPG with only 1.3 miles of electric driving. Pretty sure that electric driving was in the last 2 miles after getting off the interstate.

My 2¢ on this:
Cold and speed are not a good combo for good MPG"s. My truck 90% of the times starts out from a heated garage. Had visions of worse figures, so I am pretty happy as this same tank of 87 oct E10 is half gone now, still showing mid 40's MPG.

I made a crude analysis of the temp on FE, and I averaged the to/from trips. I found the trips were lower in one direction and higher in the other. Windy conditions will certainly also add load:

https://www.mavericktruckclub.com/f...hybrid-owner-fuel-economy-observations.10947/

 

[RDRahn]

Being in my second hybrid, there are 3 things to think about when driving in cold(er) weather - and I'm talking about below freezing here.

1. How does your battery perform when starting any car in very cold temps? Believe that is what Cold Cranking Amps is about. Battery efficiency just drops significantly the colder the outside temperature gets. Same thing with the hybrid battery. Normal drop in efficiency during colder weather = drop in overall MPG.

2. What accessories do you have on to keep you more comfortable while driving? Heater - check; Heated seats - check; Heated steering wheel - check. All of these are draw on battery and cause the gas engine to run more often. Result = drop in overall MPG. I've seen some comments in the forum about similar drop in MPG for those in hot areas during the summer months where the AC is cranked up.

3. Highway driving. As I have experienced taking the hybrid on the freeway means a natural drop in MPG as the gas engine works more in that enviornment..

Combine all three and I saw a 20-25% drop in my MPG over the past two weeks as temps have been in the teens and below - and I love my heated seats/steering wheel.

 

[Daverick]

All summer in Chicago I was getting 44-48 MPG combined. 50+ if I was actively paying attention to my acceleration and braking.

Last week when it was sub-zero more like 20-24 MPG.
The engine would never reach a normal running temp unless I was traveling at highway speeds for a while, and even then maybe only 26 MPG which is still a good 10 less than highway in summer.

It started getting back to 40+ MPG combined once temps reached about 25°F outside.

 

[GPSMan]

Use heated seats and steering wheel and heated mirrors as much as you want. Power draw is negligible. Combined power = a laptop computer. (30 watts, guesstimate)

Air conditioning: equivalent of a 1 to 2 horsepower loss. ( 750 to 1500 watts )

Heater vents: equivalent of a 4 to 8 horsepower loss. (Depending on setting)

Driving steady state, steady speed you only need 16 horsepower at 60 mph.

Now you see why heavy heater use pulls down MPG so much. Add to that stiffer rubber tires, lower air pressure in the tires, and heavier air density to push out of the way when really cold.

 

[r100gs91]

Consistent 40+ MPG is only 3 months away here.

 

[Joe Kelly]

If your this obsessed with gas mileage perhaps you should ride a motor scooter. In Bali I saw a family of 5 on a scooter. Might be a bit risky but the gas milage would be excellent.

 

[Kwanzaa]

i get about 500 km per tank in my 2.0L at -35C. its closer to 850km in the warmer weather.

 

[GPSMan]

If your this obsessed with gas mileage perhaps you should ride a motor scooter. In Bali I saw a family of 5 on a scooter. Might be a bit risky but the gas milage would be excellent.

I had a MY 2000 Honda Insight with 5 speed manual transmission.
Myself and others could get well over 100 MPG in mild weather conditions.
And I don't mean on a test track. In real world conditions but moderate 40-50 MPH speeds that will beat most scooters.

This one. This color.
Only 1000 made in this color.
Now THAT should have been called "Area 51".

 

[r100gs91]

If your this obsessed with gas mileage perhaps you should ride a motor scooter. In Bali I saw a family of 5 on a scooter. Might be a bit risky but the gas milage would be excellent.

Who are you responding too. If me fuel mileage is money in your pocket. If I burn less fuel, you can breathe cleaner air.

 

[TheGriffin1313]

FYI check tire pressures...mine were low and after pumping them up to 35psi from the 29 they were at got me 1-2 mpg back

 

[Daverick]

If your this obsessed with gas mileage perhaps you should ride a motor scooter. In Bali I saw a family of 5 on a scooter. Might be a bit risky but the gas milage would be excellent.

And I saw a guy riding a camel in Egypt. But this conversation is about cold weather and it's effect on fuel economy of the Ford Maverick.

 

[GPSMan]

And I saw a guy riding a camel in Egypt. But this conversation is about cold weather and it's effect on fuel economy of the Ford Maverick.

Name the movie:

"I wouldn't let him drive my camel around an oasis!"

 

[brnpttmn]

Set the thermostat to 60°F (and turn off intermittently when driving in sunlight during sunny days until inside starts to fog) and you'll get a lot of those MPGs back once the engine is up to operating temp. I was able to keep in the low to mid 40mpg on cross town trips during our -5°F daytime highs last week. Short trips in the cold there is no way around a big MPG drop (whether it's ICE or Hybrid).

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