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

[MikeS1942]

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 will make no difference at highway speeds---zero. ECO will smooth out acceleration at lower speeds, and the CVT doesnt shift so normal driving is the way to go.
I just ran a 120 mile trip on two lane secondary highways, so I traveled through some small towns and villages where the speed limit was 30 mph, and the highway speed was 60 mph in my 24 hybrid, and my mileage for the whole trip came out to 47 mpg in ECO. Again this trip was parallel to the 401 trip through southern Ontario, so it's all very flat countryside.

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[Cherokee]

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.

I seem to remember my 2024 Lariat Ecoboost having grabby brakes for the first 2 or 3,000 miles.

 

[TedTX]

We got our own "boring" hell.... driving thru KS on I70..

Stuck behind a school bus on I70 unloading on a hotter than Texas weekday. The smell of pig poo filled the air. Worst two hours 20mile trip ever!

 

[Ecorydr]

Stuck behind a school bus on I70 unloading on a hotter than Texas weekday. The smell of pig poo filled the air. Worst two hours 20mile trip ever!

Get the same PU pungent smell going HWY 14 N to Marshalltown Iowa from I80. From my memory visiting a friend there back in the late 90's, it was ripe for miles!

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