Driving continuously in "L" mode?

[FiremarshalBill49]

Lately I've been driving my hybrid Maverick with the "L" button on the transmission wheel engaged all the time and it seems to give me more of a "one-pedal" driving experience like in my Tesla Model 3. Are there any advantages (or disadvantages) to driving with the "L" button engaged ALL the time? Are there any threads on this forum that address this?

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[commadorebob]

You are likely not getting the best of gas mileage as it keeps the transmission from upshifting. I personally wouldn't do it.

 

[801dute]

Low is for steep down/up grades, typically at lower speeds. I can't imagine anything good can come from keeping it engaged all the time. If I had to guess you could be doing damage to your transmission and/or engine by overusing it.

 

[SuperDave71]

It’s fine, I do the same to achieve the one pedal effect. On the eCVT there is no low range. People with the fusions have ran that way forever

 

[Darnon]

On the hybrid it's fine. I drive in L almost all the time.

Technically it can be less efficient because as soon as you let off the pedal it's applying a lot of regen (even more than Eco) whereas it's typically better to coast unless you actually need to be slowing down that fast. This is why Slippery is in practice the more efficient drive mode for the Hybrid. But if you don't mind having to feather the throttle to hold it near neutral power to coast it's quite doable while still get that automatic near max regen the mode offers.

 

[BradnChristine]

You are likely not getting the best of gas mileage as it keeps the transmission from upshifting. I personally wouldn't do it.

No shifts in the Hybrid...but depending on the terrain, I could see an impact as if it works like my C-Max, the regenerative braking would be increased. Haven't tried it with my Maverick.

 

[Rod]

It’s fine, I do the same to achieve the one pedal effect. On the eCVT there is no low range. People with the fusions have ran that way forever

What are you referring to when you say “one pedal effect”? Does refer to not needed the brake pedal as often?

 

[Darnon]

What are you referring to when you say “one pedal effect”? Does refer to not needed the brake pedal as often?

In L mode it applies more regen when you let off the throttle especially increasing >30mph to near the max at about 40mph. Makes it easier to stop while maximizing regen without overshooting into the friction brakes.

 

[GPSMan]

You are likely not getting the best of gas mileage as it keeps the transmission from upshifting. I personally wouldn't do it.

Glance under the person's name.
He has a Hybrid, not an EcoBoost.
So N/A.

 

[GPSMan]

Low is for steep down/up grades, typically at lower speeds. I can't imagine anything good can come from keeping it engaged all the time. If I had to guess you could be doing damage to your transmission and/or engine by overusing it.

Glance under the person's name.
He has a Hybrid; so N/A.

 

[commadorebob]

Glance under the person's name.
He has a Hybrid, not an EcoBoost.
So N/A.

I saw that after the fact but didn't feel the need to go back and edit.

 

[Old Man]

Johnny's Car Care and Reviews did a Youtube on this a couple of weeks ago with test data.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

Lately I've been driving my hybrid Maverick with the "L" button on the transmission wheel engaged all the time and it seems to give me more of a "one-pedal" driving experience like in my Tesla Model 3. Are there any advantages (or disadvantages) to driving with the "L" button engaged ALL the time? Are there any threads on this forum that address this?

I drove quite a bit in low mode for awhile to maximize Regen and it is excellent thing to use in heavy stop and go one pedal driving but noticed in relatively low miles that the HVB would apparently exceed the 70-72% charge point at which time engine braking would occur as the rate of charge of HVB is reduced there. Engine braking at 40+ mph is quite noticable. I will push the low button when approaching a turn or a speed limit reduction as it will maximize Regen without activating the hydraulic brakes. Have not measured but guessing 65 to 20 mph in (500 feet??) Will get 95+%regen. Do this three or five times in five or so miles and engine braking should occur whether hvb becomes charged enough or battery temp rises enough to cause computer to reduce rate of charge/discharge. Someone with monitoring equipment could check this out. I have taken to using slippery mode most of time....

 

[TheWizziard]

Probably no other thread on this subject because it it just ain't right to drive in "low range" all the time.

I can see a new post starting soon, "My transmission gave out with low mileage and I just don't know why."

 

[Darnon]

Not really. Effectively all it does is shift the throttle/brake inputs which other drive modes already do.

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