- First Name
- John
- Joined
- Feb 8, 2025
- Threads
- 3
- Messages
- 6
- Reaction score
- 21
- Location
- Evansville, IN
- Vehicle(s)
- Maverick XL Hybrid AWD
- Engine
- 2.5L Hybrid
- Thread starter
- #1
Posting screenshots of my 1st drives around town learning hybrid drive for best city-driving mpg (previously owned a Prius).
1st picture is 1st highway driving home, sometimes down to 26mpg yuck! I'm mean amazing for a truck, but...will need some more driving mode & cruise testing, eco worse than normal mode for highway I think?
But look at that city driving, with a little bit of testing for the shift & drivetrain points, I'm getting 47mpg driving flat city roads up to 35mph!
Really amazing, but hypermilling in urban areas takes a bit of mental effort.
The challenge here is the ICE engine will kick in if acceleration-rate demand is too much, so slow steady rate of accelerator movt is needed.
The problem is that requires leg muscle dexterity most of us non-yoga masters don't have.
So the secret to good mpg is start using the cruise control as low speed as it will start, 15mph in Mav Hybrid.
click the + - cruise buttons for accel & decel to stay with traffic flow,
and your foot ready to brake at stops, & during driving only if you can't slow down fast enough with cruise + -
Maverick hybrid cruise control can start amazingly low at 15mph, I've never had that with my previous Prius or Honda CRV where cruise starts at 25mph.
As an aside, 15mph control sounds amazing for low speed hill-descent on a Maverick-level trail even if my base XL does not have the official Hill Climb or "Hill Descent" mode (or is it hidden?)
When start your drive just light touch foot accelerate slow from stop, & when you float to 15mph flip cruise on at 15mph,
& only click the cruise + & - buttons to accelerate & decelerate & just let the Ford drivetrain controller handle the rate of accel & decel for max mpg, the powertrain control unit will always get better mpg for accel & decel than you can with your foot.
on Flat driving that is, practice hypermilling 1st on a flat empty mall parking lot with small cardboard boxes weighed down with a small bag of beans marking pretend roads & practice cruise button slowing to a stop to see how much distance needed from various speeds 35mph & under.
Then when you have a baseline on flat roads with cruise only, you can practice on hilly roads also using cruise buttons, but with light foot accelerating on the last of the downhill, for interia speed to start going uphill.
I know Ford hybrid electric-gas drivetrain select is automatic,
but just watching it's wild that I was able to go at least to 35mph on electric only, if traction battery has enough charge from Regen braking.
Keep "hybrid training" selected it will tell you how much of the braking was captured for battery charge.
My last picture is a reality check if you're stepping hard on the gas, I guess it is what it is while engine is warming up. I wasn't initially thinking of how I was accelerator stepping.
I've noticed sometimes even at slow speeds the ICE engine keeps running, and in that case don't slow down with the cruise - just use the brake pedal, watch all the energy captured in your gauge, and both times car switched to electric & stayed through 25 or 35mph depending on how often I'd Regen foot braked to a stop.
Another tip I think might help with highway driving (no testing yet):
I noticed if you start slow driving from your garage, its electric only & the gas engine doesn't immediately start up.
General rule, ICE engines are most efficient & need to be at operating temperature for max efficiency & minimal engine wear, up to 90% of ICE engine wear supposedly comes from too hard acceleration of a cold engine.
A hybrid electric drive can readily get 500k miles on an unstressed ICE engine like our 2.5L with regular fluid changes & good driving habits,
so I would recommend on cold days startup, if the engine hasn't started up driving low speed, just step a little harder on the gas & the gas engine starts up.
That way even if you're electric driving residentially, by the time you get to the freeway & need the ICE engine, it's warmed to operating temperature.
[/QUOTE]
1st picture is 1st highway driving home, sometimes down to 26mpg yuck! I'm mean amazing for a truck, but...will need some more driving mode & cruise testing, eco worse than normal mode for highway I think?
But look at that city driving, with a little bit of testing for the shift & drivetrain points, I'm getting 47mpg driving flat city roads up to 35mph!
Really amazing, but hypermilling in urban areas takes a bit of mental effort.
The challenge here is the ICE engine will kick in if acceleration-rate demand is too much, so slow steady rate of accelerator movt is needed.
The problem is that requires leg muscle dexterity most of us non-yoga masters don't have.
So the secret to good mpg is start using the cruise control as low speed as it will start, 15mph in Mav Hybrid.
click the + - cruise buttons for accel & decel to stay with traffic flow,
and your foot ready to brake at stops, & during driving only if you can't slow down fast enough with cruise + -
Maverick hybrid cruise control can start amazingly low at 15mph, I've never had that with my previous Prius or Honda CRV where cruise starts at 25mph.
As an aside, 15mph control sounds amazing for low speed hill-descent on a Maverick-level trail even if my base XL does not have the official Hill Climb or "Hill Descent" mode (or is it hidden?)
When start your drive just light touch foot accelerate slow from stop, & when you float to 15mph flip cruise on at 15mph,
& only click the cruise + & - buttons to accelerate & decelerate & just let the Ford drivetrain controller handle the rate of accel & decel for max mpg, the powertrain control unit will always get better mpg for accel & decel than you can with your foot.
on Flat driving that is, practice hypermilling 1st on a flat empty mall parking lot with small cardboard boxes weighed down with a small bag of beans marking pretend roads & practice cruise button slowing to a stop to see how much distance needed from various speeds 35mph & under.
Then when you have a baseline on flat roads with cruise only, you can practice on hilly roads also using cruise buttons, but with light foot accelerating on the last of the downhill, for interia speed to start going uphill.
I know Ford hybrid electric-gas drivetrain select is automatic,
but just watching it's wild that I was able to go at least to 35mph on electric only, if traction battery has enough charge from Regen braking.
Keep "hybrid training" selected it will tell you how much of the braking was captured for battery charge.
My last picture is a reality check if you're stepping hard on the gas, I guess it is what it is while engine is warming up. I wasn't initially thinking of how I was accelerator stepping.
I've noticed sometimes even at slow speeds the ICE engine keeps running, and in that case don't slow down with the cruise - just use the brake pedal, watch all the energy captured in your gauge, and both times car switched to electric & stayed through 25 or 35mph depending on how often I'd Regen foot braked to a stop.
Another tip I think might help with highway driving (no testing yet):
I noticed if you start slow driving from your garage, its electric only & the gas engine doesn't immediately start up.
General rule, ICE engines are most efficient & need to be at operating temperature for max efficiency & minimal engine wear, up to 90% of ICE engine wear supposedly comes from too hard acceleration of a cold engine.
A hybrid electric drive can readily get 500k miles on an unstressed ICE engine like our 2.5L with regular fluid changes & good driving habits,
so I would recommend on cold days startup, if the engine hasn't started up driving low speed, just step a little harder on the gas & the gas engine starts up.
That way even if you're electric driving residentially, by the time you get to the freeway & need the ICE engine, it's warmed to operating temperature.
[/QUOTE]
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