When does the Hybrid Maverick use electric only vs. gas only vs. both?

[classicmet]

Do any of the well versed in hybrid tech have a good understanding of when my new hybrid uses electric vs gas versus both? It seems obvious at 1st glace but I have noticed if I back out the drive and very slowly drive it will initially say "all electric" . Somewhere in the computer a decision is made to eventually start using gas. Of course acceleration is a factor but I am sure there is much more. This is not a complaint but just curiosity about the mix of gas/ electric usage in day to day driving from a tech point of view.

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[Dunrollin]

Still waiting on the Maverick but I have a 2020 Escape which is somewhat similar. On mine the display will show whether gas or electric or both, a feature I use all the time. Anyway, the summary of trip data almost always shows battery is in use about half of the driving time. The rest is battery and gas or gas alone.

 

[GPSMan]

The battery is small.

It can be used for low horsepower, low torque, and generally lower speed driving.

The battery is usually maintained at about half charged. This means at any given moment it can give some boost via discharging, or it can accept recharging, helping to slow you down.

If it were fully charged often, it could only boost. If it were fully dis-charged, it could not help boost you along. Keeping it half charged is deemed about optimal.

The gas engine is most efficient under HIGH load conditions. If the hybrid has medium or high battery charge, and at the same time low torque/horsepower demand, it can stop the engine and run off battery power to save fuel, at any speed under 80 mph.

The HV battery is for boost, when you "floor it" to pass, and to recoup (regenerate) power/charge when slowing and stopping. The battery alone can propel the vehicle when you only need low horsepower and low torque. Under "average" driving and steady-state driving, IE "cruise control" the battery is doing very little work. The battery helps level out the peaks and valleys of power needs.

 

[2seater]

Regarding the backing up; the hybrid can only do so using electric power. There is no actual transmission in the common sense and no reverse gear. The engine does not run backwards, so electric only can propel the vehicle backwards. Whomever scienced out the switching between the various modes is above my pay grade.

 

[GPSMan]

Regarding the backing up; the hybrid can only do so using electric power. There is no actual transmission in the common sense and no reverse gear. The engine does not run backwards, so electric only can propel the vehicle backwards. Whomever scienced out the switching between the various modes is above my pay grade.

The hybrid idea was around since the days of Henry Ford.

We needed powerful computers to make it all practical.

 

[FunctionSpec]

Ford Maverick: Hybrid Explained

 

[classicmet]

The battery is small.

It can be used for low horsepower, low torque, and generally lower speed driving.

The battery is usually maintained at about half charged. This means at any given moment it can give some boost via discharging, or it can accept recharging, helping to slow you down.

If it were fully charged often, it could only boost. If it were fully dis-charged, it could not help boost you along. Keeping it half charged is deemed about optimal.

The gas engine is most efficient under HIGH load conditions. If the hybrid has medium or high battery charge, and at the same time low torque/horsepower demand, it can stop the engine and run off battery power to save fuel, at any speed under 80 mph.

The HV battery is for boost, when you "floor it" to pass, and to recoup (regenerate) power/charge when slowing and stopping. The battery alone can propel the vehicle when you only need low horsepower and low torque. Under "average" driving and steady-state driving, IE "cruise control" the battery is doing very little work. The battery helps level out the peaks and valleys of power needs.

Thank you. It seems pretty "common sense" I have been pretty happy with the amount of pwer on acceleration etc.

 

[classicmet]

Regarding the backing up; the hybrid can only do so using electric power. There is no actual transmission in the common sense and no reverse gear. The engine does not run backwards, so electric only can propel the vehicle backwards. Whomever scienced out the switching between the various modes is above my pay grade.

Ok, So now I am tempted to go out and drive in reverse for a while and see how far I get.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

Ok, So now I am tempted to go out and drive in reverse for a while and see how far I get.

AKA = Beeping Off!

 

[AF Blue]

Ok, So now I am tempted to go out and drive in reverse for a while and see how far I get.

lol... i hope you mean just until the ICE kicks in to recharge the HVB.

 

[GPSMan]

Ok, So now I am tempted to go out and drive in reverse for a while and see how far I get.

THE TORQUE for reverse only comes from the electric traction motor. But since you also have a generator on board you can drive in reverse for as long as you have gasoline on board.

FWIW at 25 mph and under you can drive 3.3 miles on level ground, on a "full" battery. Full = 70%. But that 70% almost never occurs. As stated above, the battery is usually about "half" changed.

Therefore a reasonable expectation is about 1.6 miles of travel at 25 mph from battery power alone. The gas comes on every time the battery hits 30%.

Some things are just good to know. This is one of them. But I needed an external meter to know when my battery was at 70%.

 

[IndyHavoc]

Yeah, this is one of my burning questions about the hybrid. Sounds like there will never be a reason (reasonable reason, anyway) to have an aftermarket "pre-charger" to get the battery up to 70-100% before starting a drive. Just not enough range to be useful...ever really.

 

[Ozarkbeard]

Yeah, this is one of my burning questions about the hybrid. Sounds like there will never be a reason (reasonable reason, anyway) to have an aftermarket "pre-charger" to get the battery up to 70-100% before starting a drive. Just not enough range to be useful...ever really.

Correct. That's why plug in hybrids have much much larger high voltage batteries.

 

[IndyHavoc]

Yeah, from reading the several threads of similar topics to this, best case (72% full battery pack) you've got 72-26% = 46% battery capacity available. Which might be good for 3-3.5 miles. Heh, pitiful_meme.jpg.

 

[GPSMan]

Yeah, this is one of my burning questions about the hybrid. Sounds like there will never be a reason (reasonable reason, anyway) to have an aftermarket "pre-charger" to get the battery up to 70-100% before starting a drive. Just not enough range to be useful...ever really.

The engine likes to recharge during warm up after the first 60 seconds.
(The first 60 seconds it doesn't while waiting for the catalyst to get to active temperature.)

I almost always park for the night with a low battery so the engine has something to do besides twiddling it's thumbs during warm up. It probably warms up faster while slightly loaded while generating vs. pure idle.

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