ECO Mode ON/OFF experiment (with data) - Highway driving

[Cherokee]

On my 2024 Lariat AWD Ecoboost,
Eco mode never did anything for economy.
All it did was make my engine run and respond just like it needed a tune up.

On my not yet broken in 2026 Tremor Eco mode does NOT degrade felt engine performance.
I doubt it will do anything for economy but again I’m only at 2100 miles so no way to tell.
I’ll revisit Eco mode after I cross 10,000 miles.

My Tremor’s roll out is different. It’s the off road chops I guess.

So I’m no help on this subject.
I think Eco mode was simply a marketing trick that sounded good on a spec sheet.
I think we, at least the Ecobooster crowd mostly know Eco was bullshit.

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[Tailender]

Yes, slippery all the way for me, for that and two other reasons:

1) even in Normal, the brakes are about as grabby as a billionaire. If I was to snap my neck, I'd rather do it using the go pedal than the brakes. Slippery seems to seize much more gently.

2) on short trips or at other times I want to try my luck at electric-only, slippery is a good mode unlike tow/haul or sport that forces the ICE to run any time you're in drive.

I like driving in slippery because of the not so touchy brakes.

 

[Tbone91]

Yes, slippery all the way for me, for that and two other reasons:

1) even in Normal, the brakes are about as grabby as a billionaire. If I was to snap my neck, I'd rather do it using the go pedal than the brakes. Slippery seems to seize much more gently.

2) on short trips or at other times I want to try my luck at electric-only, slippery is a good mode unlike tow/haul or sport that forces the ICE to run any time you're in drive.

"grabby as a billionaire" haven't heard that one before but love it!

 

[Cherokee]

My 2026 Tremor has perfect brakes.
I suspect those with, ‘Snappy’ brakes drink a bit too much coffee.

 

[Surly Old Bill]

My non-scientific observation is that eco mode in my Mav is only eco in city driving. It seems to kick into electric more often, and stay in it longer than normal mode. I can feel the drag when letting off the accelerator, which I assume is the battery charging. Almost, but not quite, like one-pedal driving a true EV.

Here's a pic I took the other day getting about 200mpg on a drive home after filling up, note that I am not in eco mode:

 

[samspritzer]

Eco on the hybrid (2022) makes the cruise control LESS aggressive accelerating.

Only matters if you need to slow down then hit that "RESume" button.

Eco does not rev the engine to regain setpoint like the other modes do.

In steady speed driving, I would not expect any effects on MPG.

I agree. I have been taking long trips from the same point A to point B and the discernible difference in my MPG is due to weather conditions especially wind direction and speed.

 

[22XLThybrid]

What value does driving in ECO mode actually provide? Sometimes I forget to turn ECO mode on, and I wonder how much MPG I lost during the drive.

Any experiment to compare ECO on/off must maintain minimal variation in all the other driving conditions, which isn't easy to do.

Last week I drove between Detroit and Montreal, along the 401 through Canada. 10 hours. The highway is practically straight and flat the whole way. Point east and drive. Traffic is really bad when I hit Toronto, but very light for hundreds of miles (or kilometers) before and after Toronto.

So I took data for a 150-mile segment that was extremely straight and flat. 50 miles with no ECO, then 50 miles with ECO, then 50 miles with no ECO. I had my adaptive cruise set to 75 mph, and avoided lane changes unless I absolutely had to. A/C was on, fan set at speed 2. With only three 50 mile segments, my data set is limited. I'll make this drive again in a few weeks, and I plan to take data for a much longer segment, and then run a paired t-test to see if ECO makes a statistical difference.

My preliminary data is below. With only (3) 50-mile segments, and attempting to keep all conditions as consistent as I could, the best MPG was with ECO OFF. However, that was also the segment with the least traffic (low adaptive braking) and no rain.

This very small data set says that there is no difference between ECO on and off: On=34.4mpg vs Off=34.4mpg (average) . But the data set is too small to make this claim with confidence! I'll repeat this experiment next week on the same drive for a much longer distance and report back.

Edit: I forgot to say I have the 2.5L Hybrid with AWD

I do notice the eco mode changes. Regenerative braking. Try rolling downhill while it's regenerative braking and turn it on and the braking boost will increase. Pretty much it's 75 mph you just have an Atkinson cycle engine running without any hybrid stuff. I don't think I've ever seen miles per gallon that low on my hybrid, but I generally don't drive 75. In the end it's shaped like a brick and the higher the speed. The more the gas is going to suck out the tailpipe.

 

[rmcadad]

Agree with the highway vs city driving comments. At highway speeds, the vehicle is constantly maintaining speed and needs hybrid mode.

I regularly use the energy coach feature in my Maverick just to see what exactly happens with various road conditions. With the help of the coach, I can boost my trip mpg from upper 30s up to 45 or more just by reacting to the the road via the accelerator to keep the mode in electric.

 

[Tbone91]

What's Eco mode? Just kidding! don't have that option on my FX4 but probably wouldn't use it anyways I got the EcoBOOST for fun

 

[VeeJ]

My non scientific take, in eco mode on a hybrid, acceleration is reduced and regen braking is aggressive. Actual driving is the same.

I agree with this

 

[Zanky]

What value does driving in ECO mode actually provide? Sometimes I forget to turn ECO mode on, and I wonder how much MPG I lost during the drive.

Any experiment to compare ECO on/off must maintain minimal variation in all the other driving conditions, which isn't easy to do.

Last week I drove between Detroit and Montreal, along the 401 through Canada. 10 hours. The highway is practically straight and flat the whole way. Point east and drive. Traffic is really bad when I hit Toronto, but very light for hundreds of miles (or kilometers) before and after Toronto.

So I took data for a 150-mile segment that was extremely straight and flat. 50 miles with no ECO, then 50 miles with ECO, then 50 miles with no ECO. I had my adaptive cruise set to 75 mph, and avoided lane changes unless I absolutely had to. A/C was on, fan set at speed 2. With only three 50 mile segments, my data set is limited. I'll make this drive again in a few weeks, and I plan to take data for a much longer segment, and then run a paired t-test to see if ECO makes a statistical difference.

My preliminary data is below. With only (3) 50-mile segments, and attempting to keep all conditions as consistent as I could, the best MPG was with ECO OFF. However, that was also the segment with the least traffic (low adaptive braking) and no rain.

This very small data set says that there is no difference between ECO on and off: On=34.4mpg vs Off=34.4mpg (average) . But the data set is too small to make this claim with confidence! I'll repeat this experiment next week on the same drive for a much longer distance and report back.

Edit: I forgot to say I have the 2.5L Hybrid with AWD

I,ve noticed no significant difference between ECO & Normal on highway also. In town driving is where I DO notice better in ECO

 

[Raymundo76]

What value does driving in ECO mode actually provide? Sometimes I forget to turn ECO mode on, and I wonder how much MPG I lost during the drive.

Any experiment to compare ECO on/off must maintain minimal variation in all the other driving conditions, which isn't easy to do.

Last week I drove between Detroit and Montreal, along the 401 through Canada. 10 hours. The highway is practically straight and flat the whole way. Point east and drive. Traffic is really bad when I hit Toronto, but very light for hundreds of miles (or kilometers) before and after Toronto.

So I took data for a 150-mile segment that was extremely straight and flat. 50 miles with no ECO, then 50 miles with ECO, then 50 miles with no ECO. I had my adaptive cruise set to 75 mph, and avoided lane changes unless I absolutely had to. A/C was on, fan set at speed 2. With only three 50 mile segments, my data set is limited. I'll make this drive again in a few weeks, and I plan to take data for a much longer segment, and then run a paired t-test to see if ECO makes a statistical difference.

My preliminary data is below. With only (3) 50-mile segments, and attempting to keep all conditions as consistent as I could, the best MPG was with ECO OFF. However, that was also the segment with the least traffic (low adaptive braking) and no rain.

This very small data set says that there is no difference between ECO on and off: On=34.4mpg vs Off=34.4mpg (average) . But the data set is too small to make this claim with confidence! I'll repeat this experiment next week on the same drive for a much longer distance and report back.

Edit: I forgot to say I have the 2.5L Hybrid with AWD

clearly ECO works best in city driving because that is when there are a lot of starts and stops. That is where you should do your study. The other issue is do you have a heavy foot on the gas with jackrabbit starts or not.

 

[SteveM]

What value does driving in ECO mode actually provide? Sometimes I forget to turn ECO mode on, and I wonder how much MPG I lost during the drive.

Any experiment to compare ECO on/off must maintain minimal variation in all the other driving conditions, which isn't easy to do.

Last week I drove between Detroit and Montreal, along the 401 through Canada. 10 hours. The highway is practically straight and flat the whole way. Point east and drive. Traffic is really bad when I hit Toronto, but very light for hundreds of miles (or kilometers) before and after Toronto.

So I took data for a 150-mile segment that was extremely straight and flat. 50 miles with no ECO, then 50 miles with ECO, then 50 miles with no ECO. I had my adaptive cruise set to 75 mph, and avoided lane changes unless I absolutely had to. A/C was on, fan set at speed 2. With only three 50 mile segments, my data set is limited. I'll make this drive again in a few weeks, and I plan to take data for a much longer segment, and then run a paired t-test to see if ECO makes a statistical difference.

My preliminary data is below. With only (3) 50-mile segments, and attempting to keep all conditions as consistent as I could, the best MPG was with ECO OFF. However, that was also the segment with the least traffic (low adaptive braking) and no rain.

This very small data set says that there is no difference between ECO on and off: On=34.4mpg vs Off=34.4mpg (average) . But the data set is too small to make this claim with confidence! I'll repeat this experiment next week on the same drive for a much longer distance and report back.

Edit: I forgot to say I have the 2.5L Hybrid with AWD

Eco works best when you can coast, and have to apply the throttle. Cruise control does not net the best mpg either, also, in my experience, rain causes me to lose about 4 to 5 mpg on the highway, (it adds significant rolling resistance). Thanks for putting this out though. My commute is about 50 miles each way, 80% highway. Maybe I will do something similar to see what info I can share.

 

[MattTX]

My 2026 Tremor has perfect brakes.
I suspect those with, ‘Snappy’ brakes drink a bit too much coffee.

You have an Ecoboost which might be the difference (and maybe also just being newer), from what I recall most the people I've seen commenting about grabby brakes have a hybrid. I have a 2024 hybrid and my brakes are pretty smooth right up until I'm about to completely stop, at which time they tend to get grabby / snappy. I've always thought that was because of the transition from regenerative braking to the actual brake pads getting engaged, but I have no idea if that's true.

Also, I don't drink coffee and might have two glasses of soda a week, so definitely not an overly caffeinated issue for me.

 

[DCSmith]

What value does driving in ECO mode actually provide? Sometimes I forget to turn ECO mode on, and I wonder how much MPG I lost during the drive.

Any experiment to compare ECO on/off must maintain minimal variation in all the other driving conditions, which isn't easy to do.

Last week I drove between Detroit and Montreal, along the 401 through Canada. 10 hours. The highway is practically straight and flat the whole way. Point east and drive. Traffic is really bad when I hit Toronto, but very light for hundreds of miles (or kilometers) before and after Toronto.

So I took data for a 150-mile segment that was extremely straight and flat. 50 miles with no ECO, then 50 miles with ECO, then 50 miles with no ECO. I had my adaptive cruise set to 75 mph, and avoided lane changes unless I absolutely had to. A/C was on, fan set at speed 2. With only three 50 mile segments, my data set is limited. I'll make this drive again in a few weeks, and I plan to take data for a much longer segment, and then run a paired t-test to see if ECO makes a statistical difference.

My preliminary data is below. With only (3) 50-mile segments, and attempting to keep all conditions as consistent as I could, the best MPG was with ECO OFF. However, that was also the segment with the least traffic (low adaptive braking) and no rain.

This very small data set says that there is no difference between ECO on and off: On=34.4mpg vs Off=34.4mpg (average) . But the data set is too small to make this claim with confidence! I'll repeat this experiment next week on the same drive for a much longer distance and report back.

Edit: I forgot to say I have the 2.5L Hybrid with AWD

I just bought a 2026 Lariat EcoBoost and was wondering if the Eco mode would do anything. Looks like I'll have to test it out myself.

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