Gas mpg on short trips 10 min or less?

[JP5]

I just did a short trip all in town to get lunch and got 52 mpg. It’s snowing and 19 degrees here so before I left I started the truck with the app for about 5-10 minutes. I shut off truck ran inside got my food and came back but the return trip to office I only got 28 mpg…so who knows. I was in slippery mode both ways as we have about 3” of snow.

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[ZABSMAV]

I get that 50 mpg on occasion. But only when the temp is above 70 degrees, I’m not using AC or heat or wipers, and when the car has already been used that day beforehand and has lots of charge built up. Otherwise when it’s cold outside, and the engine has been sitting since prior day, and I’m using heat and wipers, I’ll be lucky if I get 30 mpg on an 8-10 minute trip to work. You must have a truck that was sprinkled with holy water by Jesus himself.

Are you stating that the MPG that are reported by the computer are not accurate? The vehicle gets 37MPG on the highway running on the ICE, and 42MPG running hybrid locally (combined ICE + Electric). If, on short drives the car runs on electric ONLY (similar to a Tesla) for a very large portion of the trip, the actual miles per gallon of gasoline used WILL be very large for THAT trip.

 

[Ozarkbeard]

It is because its cold outside. In cold weather, the engine needs to run... and run enough to get the coolant hot, to provide heat for the interior. If your drive is short, you essentially ran most of your drive under gas power with little to no miles driven under electric power.

In warmer weather, where the cabin isn't calling for heat, but A/C instead... the engine won't run as much, matter of fact on a short drive if your gentle on the accelerator pedal, it might not run the gas engine much at all, and you will see much higher MPG.

This

Starting out in cold weather, both the battery and the cabin occupants are calling for heat. The battery can't even accept any regenerative braking recharge if the battery's below operating temp. All of the heat for the battery & cabin is heat is generated from the gasoline engine & waste heat. This and other factors lower winter MPG. On my 5.5 mile almost daily trip to town in winter, my mileage is all over the place. Just this week, it has varied from 28 to 62 MPG.

OP: Most gasoline and Hybrid vehicles get worse mileage in winter. Be assured that your Hybrid's average mileage over the course of a year will be better than what you're getting right now. And much better once you (and the HV battery) don't need heat.

Also, at least in my case, running the electric A/C in summer has negligible impact on MPG compared to running the heater(or belt-driven A/C compressors in non-Hybrid trucks). So there's that.

 

[Ozarkbeard]

I just did a short trip all in town to get lunch and got 52 mpg. It’s snowing and 19 degrees here so before I left I started the truck with the app for about 5-10 minutes. I shut off truck ran inside got my food and came back but the return trip to office I only got 28 mpg…so who knows. I was in slippery mode both ways as we have about 3" of snow.

Good mode for snow driving! I drive in Slippery mode almost all the time. I get better mileage using it vs Eco mode.

 

[MavMeister25]

This

Starting out in cold weather, both the battery and the cabin occupants are calling for heat. The battery can't even except any regenerative braking recharge if the battery's below operating temp. All of the heat for the battery & cabin is heat is generated from the gasoline engine & waste heat. This and other factors lower winter MPG. On my 5.5 mile almost daily trip to town in winter, my mileage is all over the place. Just this week, it has varied from 28 to 62 MPG.

OP: Most gasoline and Hybrid vehicles get worse mileage in winter. Be assured that your Hybrid's average mileage over the course of a year will be better than what you're getting right now. And much better once you (and the HV battery) don't need heat.

Also, at least in my case, running the electric A/C in summer has negligible impact on MPG compared to running the heater(or belt-driven A/C compressors in non-Hybrid trucks). So there's that.

Great post.

 

[MavMeister25]

On my 5.5 mile almost daily trip to town in winter, my mileage is all over the place. Just this week, it has varied from 28 to 62 MPG.

For real! I just went on lunch break and drove literally 1 mile down the road which took 5 minutes. Mostly level ground. Trip reading was 16 mpg. On the way back after lunch, the identical trip reading was 52 mpg. I swear…you’re better off not even paying attention to your gas mileage with these Mavericks.

 

[dochawk]

I wonder if a dip stick oil heater would help, probably not as effective.

The last time I was foolish enough to live somewhere where one might make sense, I found (but didn't buy) an electric heater that magnetically attached to the oil pan. (but can you even reach that on the Maverick without undoing another cover?)

 

[MetalsGeek]

I see the exact same thing you do. Short trips starting on a cold engine kill your mileage as well as your engine oil. If you run the heater at all, it gets worse. My overall average is running around 47 true MPG but short trips are in the lower 30's. The only exception has been on my way home from the gym, about 1.5 miles I think. It's slightly downhill and when the stars align, I can make it the whole way in all electric mode. A rare win, ha ha.

 

[710-oil-614]

 

[Cherokee]

The Mavbrid would benefit with one more deep cycle or lithium battery or a bigger main battery that could be set to, ‘Pre heat’ the engine, cabin and batteries. An automatic setup to come on say, an hour before you need it.
If charged with Re-gen braking it wouldn’t cut down on economy.

In ten to fifteen minutes my Eco Is toasty warm, cabin, seats and steering wheel.
As advanced as the Mavbrid is cold weather should not be such an issue.
Ford could change all that.

If the main drive battery was twice its current capacity what would hybrid mileage go up to ?
I’d bet that would be interesting to speculate about.

 

[710-oil-614]

The Mavbrid would benefit with one more deep cycle or lithium battery or a bigger main battery that could be set to, ‘Pre heat’ the engine, cabin and batteries. An automatic setup to come on say, an hour before you need it.
If charged with Re-gen braking it wouldn’t cut down on economy.

In ten to fifteen minutes my Eco Is toasty warm, cabin, seats and steering wheel.
As advanced as the Mavbrid is cold weather should not be such an issue.
Ford could change all that.

If the main drive battery was twice its current capacity what would hybrid mileage go up to ?
I’d bet that would be interesting to speculate about.

Cold weather driving is not an issue in hybrids and drivers on here have made way too much about it. For any vehicle, if it is below freezing and you start your vehicle and immediately blast the HVAC and then only drive a short distance you will experience poor fuel economy.

Long before ever owning a hybrid, I learned not to turn on my HVAC until the engine reached operating temps. Takes a bit longer in the hybrid due to ICE cycling on and off but that is the only difference I see.

EDIT: I mean it’s 35 this morning and I was late for meeting so I took the freeway, used HVAC from the start, was doing 78-82mph - and I still got 31mpg over the 16 miles.

 

[Phimosis]

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