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- Orange County CA
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- 2023 Ford Maverick XL
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- 2.5L Hybrid
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I wrote a guide on hybrid driving efficiency specifically around the Ford Maverick.
Feedback and critical thoughts welcome. I hope you find this useful.
https://dev-dev-dev-dev-dev-dev-dev-dev.github.io/
Maximizing Fuel Efficiency in a 2023 Ford Maverick
Overview
This document details the strategies I have utilized to average ~51 mpg in a 2023 Ford Maverick XL Hybrid over the past ~2400 miles of mixed city and highway driving around Southern California.
Energy
Every full hybrid vehicle utilizes and regularly converts between four main forms of energy, each with their unique characteristics.
Guiding principles
There is no free lunch. Every energy conversion is imperfect. The least efficient conversion is the conversion to heat in the mechanical brakes. You get nothing out of it besides worn brake pads! Therefore, we can attack efficiency from two prongs.
The hybrid drivetrain will happily convert your excess kinetic energy (motion) into electrical energy to store in the battery by way of regenerative braking. That electrical energy can later be used to move the vehicle. This is far superior to what a normal gas-powered vehicle would do, convert that same kinetic energy into waste brake heat. But it’s not free energy!
It’s far better, in terms of efficiency, to simply keep that kinetic energy as kinetic energy and keep moving forward. Don’t brake! But in the real world, red lights, curves, and other road users exist, so that isn’t always possible. So instead, minimize how much kinetic energy needs to be braked away - go slower and coast when possible! Brake less! In the city, this is usually both safer and more efficient while not being significantly slower. Nobody gains time by getting to a red light faster to sit there. Predict how much throttle you need to coast to the next red light with minimal braking.
Equipment
Tires
I’m running the stock tires - nothing special there. I keep them inflated to about 10% over the rated 35 psi. Manufacturer-recommended tire pressures tend to optimize for ride quality, noise, vibration, harshness (NVH) over efficiency. I believe +10% is a safe margin when the vehicle is being driven on normal city roads. This minimizes rolling resistance, as the tire will deforms less while rolling with higher pressure. This can slightly increase NVH in the cabin.
Tonneau/Bed Cover
A tonneau cover will provide some aerodynamic efficiency benefit; this is especially effective at higher speed highway driving. I haven’t installed one yet, but it is in my future plans.
Gasoline
I run standard 87 octane.
Climate Control
Minimize use of climate controls - both air conditioning and heat will increase the car’s use of the gas engine. While this isn’t always possible, an iced drink or a jacket can increase the range of acceptable temps without climate control.
Drive Modes
The 2023 Ford Maverick comes with five available few drive modes. I will detail the relevant modes below.
Normal
In Normal mode, the vehicle provides a slight regen-drag on throttle lift with a 5-10 second lag when at zero-throttle before shutting off the gas engine when driving at highway speeds.
Eco Mode
In Eco mode, the vehicle provides a relatively strong regenerative-drag on full throttle lift. While it sometimes does still lag before shutting off the gas engine while giving it just a little bit of throttle to coast freely, a quick lift to zero-throttle will usually engage the full regen-drag enough to stop the gas engine to glide. This provides an easy way to get in and out of pulse-glide cycles.
Slippery Mode
This is almost the opposite of eco mode - minimal regenerative-drag on throttle lift. This is great, because regenerative-drag is a drag! If you don’t need to slow down or stop, it’s best to utilize zero regen so you can coast freely. It’s more efficient to keep your kinetic energy than it is to convert it to electrical and try to get it back later. But on the highway, it’s useful to have regen-on-lift available in certain scenarios, so I generally avoid this mode. I plan on experimenting with this further in the future.
Tow/Haul / Sport Mode
No.
Driver Behavior/Strategy
Choosing a Drive Mode
At lower speeds, on city streets, with traffic lights, I usually use Normal mode. The properties of eco mode (high regen drag, reduced throttle response) don’t gain me anything at lower speeds and sometimes the regen drag can be too much when I want to coast to a light. Because it’s city driving, I won’t hesitate to engage the brake pedal to increase regen braking when desired.
On the highway, many utilize Slippery mode for its low-drag drive. I prefer Eco mode. The high levels of regen on a momentary throttle lift is sufficient to stop the engine quickly, allowing for easy pulse-glide driving. During the glide, it’s easy to apply just enough throttle pressure to coast freely.
EV Coach
The EV Coach display provides driver information about the current drivetrain energy flow. While raw numbers are not provided, it’s easy to estimate battery state of charge and available electric power from EV Coach display.
In general, I try to limit both regen and electric throttle to about half of the available threshold as EV coach displays it. Higher-current electrical activity is less efficient than lower-current, even though both may get you a 100 score from brake coach. No need to wring it out, and your battery will last longer.
City Driving
The key to city driving efficiency, in any vehicle, is to minimize braking. And the way to minimize braking in a world of red lights, cross traffic, parallel parking, and the occasional child-in-the-road is to minimize unneeded acceleration, velocity, throttle.
What does “unneeded” throttle mean? If there’s a red light visible ahead, I am off the throttle! If there is traffic behind me, I may give a little extra throttle to minimize regen-drag, but I am not going to provide any additional energy to the wheels, electric or other, as traffic begins to slow. As I approach the light, I will gradually begin to apply brake, keeping EV coach firmly in the regen-zone. Mechanical brakes are ONLY FOR EMERGENCIES. In my day-to-day driving, I almost never engage mechanical brakes.
In specific scenarios, when I can predict the movement of stopped traffic ahead, I may brake earlier than normal in anticipation of carrying some limited speed through the intersection. Remember, it's good to keep your kinetic energy, even if it's just a few miles an hour. If traffic is stopped and I see the light turn green, I will estimate the start time of the car ahead of me and attempt to arrive at the correct time to carry a bit of speed through and avoid a full stop.
Off the line, I usually accelerate slowly if it's flat or downhill terrain. It's plenty fast for the city! I rarely accelerate with more than half of the available electric power (the blue bar in EV Coach). I use my judgement on terrain - if the road is about to pitch up, I don’t bother with limited-throttle-electric-only and will instead blip the throttle to activate the gas engine and get up the hill without killing my battery.
If electric power is limited or the situation demands it (e.g. anticipated long open sections requiring 40+ mph), I will use the gas engine to accelerate significantly faster than my usual electric-only start. The goal with this approach is to get up to cruising speed quickly, then use to electric-only to maintain that cruising speed.
Highway Driving
The 1.1 kWh battery in the Maverick in insufficient to rely on as a primary energy source when driving on the highway. If you tried to drive on electric at 55+ MPH, your battery would be flat in a mile or two at most. The key to efficient highway driving is to minimize engine-on time, while also minimizing electrical expenditures, as a flat battery will force the engine to turn on. This is possible with pulse-and-glide driving.
Pulse-and-Glide
Pulse-and-Glide is a strategy employed to minimize engine-on time when driving on the highway. It’s relatively simple: the engine is “pulsed” by applying throttle to accelerate up to a high-threshold speed. Then the engine is turned off and the car is allowed to coast down to a low-threshold speed.
While this is possible in any car, it’s optimal in a hybrid because turning the engine off to coast for free is normal and automatic behavior. This is where eco mode shines. The high regen-drag on throttle lift gives the driver an easy button to push that will near-instantly kick the car into electric mode.
The Pulse
Throttle! Don’t be shy, but don’t smash it either. Confidently ramp up the throttle and get the car up to your upper speed threshold. I usually use about 65-68 mph on the highway as my upper threshold. Aerodynamic drag makes higher speeds in the Ford Maverick expensive to reach.
The Glide
Lift your foot from the throttle entirely just for a moment until the gas engine stops. Then apply enough throttle to ride the line between regen and electric power. This is zero-power coasting. Coast until you reach the lower threshold speed; for me, this is usually around 50-55 mph, depending on traffic.
Keep your battery charged! Don’t drain your battery on the highway. I only utilize electric drive on the highway when I see an upcoming downhill section and I estimate that just a little bit of electric boost will get me over the hump, saving me an entire unnecessary pulse cycle. Then I can drag-regen on the downhill and get the battery charged back up. On the highway, the battery is an energy buffer for transient use, not an energy source for steady use.
Hills
In city and highway both, forget about efficiency when trying to climb. Just apply about 20-40% throttle (more if needed - loaded or steep hill) to firmly engage the gas engine to get up the hill. Save electric mode for flat and downhill - you’ll go further on less!
Truck Stuff
To be clear - this is real-world mileage for a normal efficiency-and-safety-minded owner doing normal life stuff with no special equipment. In these 2400 miles I've moved two apartments worth of furniture and belongings, hauled bikes more times than not, drove to my friend's wedding in the mountains, gone camping with three passengers and a full bed, etc.
Feedback and critical thoughts welcome. I hope you find this useful.
https://dev-dev-dev-dev-dev-dev-dev-dev.github.io/
Maximizing Fuel Efficiency in a 2023 Ford Maverick
Overview
This document details the strategies I have utilized to average ~51 mpg in a 2023 Ford Maverick XL Hybrid over the past ~2400 miles of mixed city and highway driving around Southern California.
Energy
Every full hybrid vehicle utilizes and regularly converts between four main forms of energy, each with their unique characteristics.
- Chemical energy stored in fuel, usually gasoline
- Electrical energy generated by the generator-motor and regenerative brakes, stored in the battery
- Kinetic energy in the engine and the vehicle itself
- Heat energy created in the mechanical brakes
Guiding principles
There is no free lunch. Every energy conversion is imperfect. The least efficient conversion is the conversion to heat in the mechanical brakes. You get nothing out of it besides worn brake pads! Therefore, we can attack efficiency from two prongs.
- Minimize use of mechanical friction brakes - always!
- For that matter, minimize all frictional losses, including rolling resistance and drag.
- Minimize any conversion of energy - while still moving forward.
The hybrid drivetrain will happily convert your excess kinetic energy (motion) into electrical energy to store in the battery by way of regenerative braking. That electrical energy can later be used to move the vehicle. This is far superior to what a normal gas-powered vehicle would do, convert that same kinetic energy into waste brake heat. But it’s not free energy!
It’s far better, in terms of efficiency, to simply keep that kinetic energy as kinetic energy and keep moving forward. Don’t brake! But in the real world, red lights, curves, and other road users exist, so that isn’t always possible. So instead, minimize how much kinetic energy needs to be braked away - go slower and coast when possible! Brake less! In the city, this is usually both safer and more efficient while not being significantly slower. Nobody gains time by getting to a red light faster to sit there. Predict how much throttle you need to coast to the next red light with minimal braking.
Equipment
Tires
I’m running the stock tires - nothing special there. I keep them inflated to about 10% over the rated 35 psi. Manufacturer-recommended tire pressures tend to optimize for ride quality, noise, vibration, harshness (NVH) over efficiency. I believe +10% is a safe margin when the vehicle is being driven on normal city roads. This minimizes rolling resistance, as the tire will deforms less while rolling with higher pressure. This can slightly increase NVH in the cabin.
Tonneau/Bed Cover
A tonneau cover will provide some aerodynamic efficiency benefit; this is especially effective at higher speed highway driving. I haven’t installed one yet, but it is in my future plans.
Gasoline
I run standard 87 octane.
Climate Control
Minimize use of climate controls - both air conditioning and heat will increase the car’s use of the gas engine. While this isn’t always possible, an iced drink or a jacket can increase the range of acceptable temps without climate control.
Drive Modes
The 2023 Ford Maverick comes with five available few drive modes. I will detail the relevant modes below.
Normal
In Normal mode, the vehicle provides a slight regen-drag on throttle lift with a 5-10 second lag when at zero-throttle before shutting off the gas engine when driving at highway speeds.
Eco Mode
In Eco mode, the vehicle provides a relatively strong regenerative-drag on full throttle lift. While it sometimes does still lag before shutting off the gas engine while giving it just a little bit of throttle to coast freely, a quick lift to zero-throttle will usually engage the full regen-drag enough to stop the gas engine to glide. This provides an easy way to get in and out of pulse-glide cycles.
Slippery Mode
This is almost the opposite of eco mode - minimal regenerative-drag on throttle lift. This is great, because regenerative-drag is a drag! If you don’t need to slow down or stop, it’s best to utilize zero regen so you can coast freely. It’s more efficient to keep your kinetic energy than it is to convert it to electrical and try to get it back later. But on the highway, it’s useful to have regen-on-lift available in certain scenarios, so I generally avoid this mode. I plan on experimenting with this further in the future.
Tow/Haul / Sport Mode
No.
Driver Behavior/Strategy
Choosing a Drive Mode
At lower speeds, on city streets, with traffic lights, I usually use Normal mode. The properties of eco mode (high regen drag, reduced throttle response) don’t gain me anything at lower speeds and sometimes the regen drag can be too much when I want to coast to a light. Because it’s city driving, I won’t hesitate to engage the brake pedal to increase regen braking when desired.
On the highway, many utilize Slippery mode for its low-drag drive. I prefer Eco mode. The high levels of regen on a momentary throttle lift is sufficient to stop the engine quickly, allowing for easy pulse-glide driving. During the glide, it’s easy to apply just enough throttle pressure to coast freely.
EV Coach
The EV Coach display provides driver information about the current drivetrain energy flow. While raw numbers are not provided, it’s easy to estimate battery state of charge and available electric power from EV Coach display.
In general, I try to limit both regen and electric throttle to about half of the available threshold as EV coach displays it. Higher-current electrical activity is less efficient than lower-current, even though both may get you a 100 score from brake coach. No need to wring it out, and your battery will last longer.
City Driving
The key to city driving efficiency, in any vehicle, is to minimize braking. And the way to minimize braking in a world of red lights, cross traffic, parallel parking, and the occasional child-in-the-road is to minimize unneeded acceleration, velocity, throttle.
What does “unneeded” throttle mean? If there’s a red light visible ahead, I am off the throttle! If there is traffic behind me, I may give a little extra throttle to minimize regen-drag, but I am not going to provide any additional energy to the wheels, electric or other, as traffic begins to slow. As I approach the light, I will gradually begin to apply brake, keeping EV coach firmly in the regen-zone. Mechanical brakes are ONLY FOR EMERGENCIES. In my day-to-day driving, I almost never engage mechanical brakes.
In specific scenarios, when I can predict the movement of stopped traffic ahead, I may brake earlier than normal in anticipation of carrying some limited speed through the intersection. Remember, it's good to keep your kinetic energy, even if it's just a few miles an hour. If traffic is stopped and I see the light turn green, I will estimate the start time of the car ahead of me and attempt to arrive at the correct time to carry a bit of speed through and avoid a full stop.
Off the line, I usually accelerate slowly if it's flat or downhill terrain. It's plenty fast for the city! I rarely accelerate with more than half of the available electric power (the blue bar in EV Coach). I use my judgement on terrain - if the road is about to pitch up, I don’t bother with limited-throttle-electric-only and will instead blip the throttle to activate the gas engine and get up the hill without killing my battery.
If electric power is limited or the situation demands it (e.g. anticipated long open sections requiring 40+ mph), I will use the gas engine to accelerate significantly faster than my usual electric-only start. The goal with this approach is to get up to cruising speed quickly, then use to electric-only to maintain that cruising speed.
Highway Driving
The 1.1 kWh battery in the Maverick in insufficient to rely on as a primary energy source when driving on the highway. If you tried to drive on electric at 55+ MPH, your battery would be flat in a mile or two at most. The key to efficient highway driving is to minimize engine-on time, while also minimizing electrical expenditures, as a flat battery will force the engine to turn on. This is possible with pulse-and-glide driving.
Pulse-and-Glide
Pulse-and-Glide is a strategy employed to minimize engine-on time when driving on the highway. It’s relatively simple: the engine is “pulsed” by applying throttle to accelerate up to a high-threshold speed. Then the engine is turned off and the car is allowed to coast down to a low-threshold speed.
While this is possible in any car, it’s optimal in a hybrid because turning the engine off to coast for free is normal and automatic behavior. This is where eco mode shines. The high regen-drag on throttle lift gives the driver an easy button to push that will near-instantly kick the car into electric mode.
The Pulse
Throttle! Don’t be shy, but don’t smash it either. Confidently ramp up the throttle and get the car up to your upper speed threshold. I usually use about 65-68 mph on the highway as my upper threshold. Aerodynamic drag makes higher speeds in the Ford Maverick expensive to reach.
The Glide
Lift your foot from the throttle entirely just for a moment until the gas engine stops. Then apply enough throttle to ride the line between regen and electric power. This is zero-power coasting. Coast until you reach the lower threshold speed; for me, this is usually around 50-55 mph, depending on traffic.
Keep your battery charged! Don’t drain your battery on the highway. I only utilize electric drive on the highway when I see an upcoming downhill section and I estimate that just a little bit of electric boost will get me over the hump, saving me an entire unnecessary pulse cycle. Then I can drag-regen on the downhill and get the battery charged back up. On the highway, the battery is an energy buffer for transient use, not an energy source for steady use.
Hills
In city and highway both, forget about efficiency when trying to climb. Just apply about 20-40% throttle (more if needed - loaded or steep hill) to firmly engage the gas engine to get up the hill. Save electric mode for flat and downhill - you’ll go further on less!
Truck Stuff
To be clear - this is real-world mileage for a normal efficiency-and-safety-minded owner doing normal life stuff with no special equipment. In these 2400 miles I've moved two apartments worth of furniture and belongings, hauled bikes more times than not, drove to my friend's wedding in the mountains, gone camping with three passengers and a full bed, etc.
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