Fuel efficiency winter driving

[GarryB]

Hey MTC Gang,

Does anyone in the north have any rough stats on fuel mileage in cold temperatures? I'm talking -15c (-5f) and colder. Just trying to get an idea of what I'm up against. I was getting 900 km (559mi) to the tank which was amazing!

Any ballpark numbers would be really appreciate and where you're from would be great too!

Thanks!
Ottawa Canada here

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[710-oil-614]

I'm not that cold but my MPGs drop into the mid to upper 20s and that was before the new 235 ATs. This winter is going to be rough.

 

[GarryB]

I'm not that cold but my MPGs drop into the mid to upper 20s and that was before the new 235 ATs. This winter is going to be rough.

So what's that roughly per tank of gas?
What area are you from?

 

[710-oil-614]

So what's that roughly per tank of gas?
What area are you from?

I'm in Ohio, if I'm not on the freeway its roughly 400+ miles. If I am freeway driving its about 325-340 miles.

Sorry that is in freedom units!

 

[GarryB]

I'm in Ohio, if I'm not on the freeway its roughly 400+ miles. If I am freeway driving its about 325-340 miles.

Sorry that is in freedom units!

Ouch that's a significant difference!
I imagine mine's going to be worse since it's colder here .

Thanks!

 

[Master Blaster]

Figure on 10% loss on an upper-level trim and maybe 13% on a lower trim. The winter fuel blend has about 3% less energy, ice-rated tires are stickier and use another (say) 5% more fuel, the engine has to run a lot longer to heat up the battery pack, and unless you got the seat and steering wheel heaters, you have to heat up the whole cab.

 

[GarryB]

Figure on 10% loss on an upper-level trim and maybe 13% on a lower trim. The winter fuel blend has about 3% less energy, ice-rated tires are stickier and use another (say) 5% more fuel, the engine has to run a lot longer to heat up the battery pack, and unless you got the seat and steering wheel heaters, you have to heat up the whole cab.

I do have heated seats and steering wheel.
So about 20% loss total. Good number to use as a base line.
Thanks!

 

[HeyBales]

1st complete year of fill-ups.
Besides 1 highway trip anomaly - I think you can tell when winter fill-ups were.
Also can see even during summer - my driving scenarios don't lend to really great mileage.
34% reduction abouts?

 

[Triangle6887]

I've actually been curious about this. The temps have recently dipped in my area to at, or just below, freezing. I've noticed about a 3-5 mpg drop since the cold weather rolled in. Some of my research has attributed this to a combination of winter blend fuels and using the heater more often. My Subaru, which I had for many years before my Maverick, averaged about 28 mpg with about a 1 mpg fluctuation depending on time of year. I wasn't expecting a 15 - 20% reduction in MPG just because of cold weather.

 

[GarryB]

1st complete year of fill-ups.
Besides 1 highway trip anomaly - I think you can tell when winter fill-ups were.
Also can see even during summer - my driving scenarios don't lend to really great mileage.
34% reduction abouts?

Damn that's pretty accurate. Thanks for sharing.
Where are you from?

 

[Cherokee]

I've actually been curious about this. The temps have recently dipped in my area to at, or just below, freezing. I've noticed about a 3-5 mpg drop since the cold weather rolled in. Some of my research has attributed this to a combination of winter blend fuels and using the heater more often. My Subaru, which I had for many years before my Maverick, averaged about 28 mpg with about a 1 mpg fluctuation depending on time of year. I wasn't expecting a 15 - 20% reduction in MPG just because of cold weather.

My Ecoboost:

Summer, 425 miles on a tank in my local mixed mountain driving
On the Superslab or down in the flat lands 500 a tank in the summer on non ethanol fuel because ‘Pepper’ likes real gas.

My summers are hot and muggy, my winters are not too bad, four months of cold rain ice and light snow. Say single digits to high 30’s.

Winter 380 local and 450 highway,
My mileage drops mostly because I start it from inside my comfy house with the key fob and do a 10-15 minute warm up four days a week.

 

[GarryB]

Those are really good numbers!
Where are you from? How cold are we talking about?

 

[Bob zimmerman]

My Hybrid XLT (I live in nothern MN)

37mpg in the summer
30mpg in the winter. At least that’s what I got yesterday driving in a combination of city and hwy and temp was 14f’

I don’t even try to worry about milage in the winter. It goes out the window. Nothing you can do about it with an ICE engine regardless of manufacturer.

That said, my milage is still great when compared to what else is on the roads these days.

 

[GarryB]

My Hybrid XLT (I live in nothern MN)

37mpg in the summer
30mpg in the winter. At least that’s what I got yesterday driving in a combination of city and hwy and temp was 14f’

I don’t even try to worry about milage in the winter. It goes out the window. Nothing you can do about it with an ICE engine regardless of manufacturer.

That said, my milage is still great when compared to what else is on the roads these days.

You're absolutely right! Every vehicle looses mileage in winter conditions but your numbers are great regardless!
Thanks for sharing!

 

[LongLost]

Very new to the Maverick game, but a ~15-20% drop is about what I'm seeing so far here in WI. Not unexpected; been used to the hit on our 2018 Camry Hybrid (part of that is the snow tires). Still doing better than I would be with the 2.5 Outback, so not complaining one bit.

I didn't think I would even use the heated steering wheel when I got this thing; LOL. Love it. Seems to help keeping the hvac off and use the seat/steering wheel heat until the motor warms up.

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