Hybrid Eco vs Normal vs Slippery modes - short distance

[JimParker256]

True and true. I have no idea but seems like more cycles on the battery in ECO. We're talking years of all ECO mode here too.

One thing I'd say is the Maverick does not coast. I have to babysit the throttle down hills, which gets annoying even in Normal mode. I live in rolling Piedmont terrain, so it's constant up and down. I'm used to coasting down and giving gas only on the way up. In ECO mode, it's worse and more annoying. Shouldn't have to goose it downhill. I know it's a Hybrid, but ECO has too much regen for me.

The Maverick coasts just fine - as long as you put it in "Slippery" mode, which is the best mode for optimizing in-town driving anyway. Lots of threads on this elsewhere, so I won't reiterate all that information. But Slippery mode reduces the severity of regen events, allowing you to coast farther, which is THE most fuel-efficient way to drive. You're neither using gasoline nor battery power - just the momentum you already have. Eco gets me about 2-3 mpg more than standard, but Slippery gets me 5-6 mpg better than standard. I haven't driven enough long-distance trips since discovering Slippery mode to know it it works well for highway or not...

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[AutobahnSHO]

I had to do a bunch of 35-55mph driving yesterday and played with the "ECO" mode.

You have to do a lot more gas pedal management, it's more similar to the "one pedal" driving Tesla (and others) has available- push the gas to go, let off to regen & slow down. I'll have to try the Slippery with L!

Last night wife said she uses normal mode only and "L" quite a lot to slow down- we live in a very hilly area so I'm still surprised that we get an average 41mpg going up and down hills. We've both learned to drive more gentle and brake earlier/softer to get the most out of Mav regen. (Different than driving a manual Miata LOL).

 

[Darnon]

UPDATE: turns out I was a liar. The ECO mode we are referencing is only a cruise control setting that adjusts acceleration to maximize efficiency. There is also an ev+ mode which is supposed to "learn" our common locations to determine when it can switch over to EV mode to maximize battery usage.

Correct, my 2014 Fusion Hybrid was the same way. The Eco mode only affected the hysteresis of the cruise control and didn't really affect throttle input. The key difference may be that there wasn't a 'sport' mode or the like. (Perhaps apocryphally) the EPA mileage takes into consideration drive modes/auto-start stop if it persists across startup. So if the sport mode is more detrimental than the eco mode is beneficial it makes sense to just reset to normal, and simpler than programming the eco mode to behave uniquely persistent in its selection.

 

[GreenLady]

For a year now I thought I was driving in eco mode since I selected that mode in the beginning. I was thrilled with my 42.3 overall mpg! Thanks to this great group I recently learned I was mistaken and need to select eco every time I start my truck (what a pain). I was sure selecting eco mode wouldn’t make any difference so I decided to test my theory.

I drive 6 miles every day to walk at a park so I drove in normal one day and eco another day. Yes, temps were different but I don’t think that would make a big difference. Same speeds and here are what I consider amazing results. I plan on driving in eco mode from now on, if I can remember to set it🫤 Maybe the difference is only this great in town so I plan on testing it out for my 454 mile trip in a couple weeks.

This morning I made the same trip only in Slippery mode after reading other posts using this mode. I drove the speed limits which were 35-55 mph on all 3 trips. From my experiment Eco did the best on these short in town trips.

 

[Eagle11]

The Maverick coasts just fine - as long as you put it in "Slippery" mode, which is the best mode for optimizing in-town driving anyway. Lots of threads on this elsewhere, so I won't reiterate all that information. But Slippery mode reduces the severity of regen events, allowing you to coast farther, which is THE most fuel-efficient way to drive. You're neither using gasoline nor battery power - just the momentum you already have. Eco gets me about 2-3 mpg more than standard, but Slippery gets me 5-6 mpg better than standard. I haven't driven enough long-distance trips since discovering Slippery mode to know it it works well for highway or not...

There are so many theories about this, but I'm averaging currently 61 MPG, not too sure how much more slippery mode will give me.

 

[Mightybeast]

I haven't used ECO mode much but have started to try it and have noticed that when I let off the gas the brakes grab a bit more. But as many has said....it's remembering to push the button each time that will be the biggest change in driving.

One would have thought that with a hybrid, having a "permanent" eco mode would be intuitive since most of us bought the hybrid for the MPG.

But, I'm sure like everything else, it's a cost trade-off and maybe some other feature was given a higher priority based on the cost constraints. Be nice if a software upgrade would fix things so it would stay in ECO mode when set.

Yes, with Eco mode activated it seems that engine brake will be more active.... To regent battery. And it's not necessary a good thing. You can check it by going down the same hill @ 40mph, you will notice your vehicle is slowing down... But your green bar will be @ 3/8. On the other hand in Slippery mode you will maintain the same speed or even increase, but your green regent bar will be @2/8. Taking this in to account it is safe to say that Eco mode is better at the city urban driving... When STOP sign every mile or so... And Slippery mode is better on highway. To say more it is really impractical to glide in Eco mode.

 

[chuckles]

It would be nice to know if ECO mode (my preferred mode) provides adjustments to Variable Valve Timing to (further) increase the efficiency of the Atkinson cycle.

So far, this forum seems to regard ECO and slippery modes as adjustments to regeneration. While this is obviously true, it may not be all that is going on. My longer drives still seem more efficient in ECO. Increased coasting from slippery mode, wouldn't seem to match my results.

 

[FiremarshalBill49]

After 10 months of driving my Lariat hybrid I've found that driving with a soft right foot will consistently give me 46-48 mpg in combined city/highway driving in the ECO mode. Should I try the Slippery Mode to see if I can break that 50 mpg barrier?

My biggest gripe with the Maverick is having to press the Start button, then another 4 presses of the Transmission Select Mode button, EVERY SINGLE TIME I start the truck! Come on Ford. If the C-Max can remain in the last used driving mode, why not the Maverick???

 

[GreenLady]

After 10 months of driving my Lariat hybrid I've found that driving with a soft right foot will consistently give me 46-48 mpg in combined city/highway driving in the ECO mode. Should I try the Slippery Mode to see if I can break that 50 mpg barrier?

My biggest gripe with the Maverick is having to press the Start button, then another 4 presses of the Transmission Select Mode button, EVERY SINGLE TIME I start the truck! Come on Ford. If the C-Max can remain in the last used driving mode, why not the Maverick???

I agree, I got spoiled with my CMax staying in eco. I’m thinking of having a cubby cover made with Eco 4x in orange to remind me to push 4 times for eco mode

 

[FiremarshalBill49]

I've installed a cubby hole piece to mount my cell phone holder and put a ECO sticker on the phone holder itself to remind me to initiate ECO mode. Unfortunately the sticker is behind my (installed) phone so I can't always see the ECO reminder

 

[Jerry F]

Like that one guy said,5 pushed and I'm ready to go. My biggest problem was getting used to turning the dial knob.

 

[MakinDoForNow]

It would be nice to know if ECO mode (my preferred mode) provides adjustments to Variable Valve Timing to (further) increase the efficiency of the Atkinson cycle.

So far, this forum seems to regard ECO and slippery modes as adjustments to regeneration. While this is obviously true, it may not be all that is going on. My longer drives still seem more efficient in ECO. Increased coasting from slippery mode, wouldn't seem to match my results.

On longer trips select slippery set cruise at 66 when speed drops to less than 66 resume cruise when topping hill disconnect cruise leaving it on, feather throttle to 70-75 and on down hill feather Regen brake to maintain 85 max. Resume cruise when speed drops to less than 66 usually on next uphill.. In slippery or any mode you must remember when getting to desired speed to lift foot off throttle and then apply only enough throttle to maintain desired speed. You may also enhance coasting by keeping in electric by slowly letting speed drop to 6-7 mph below desired speed then using 30-40% power to regain speed and repeat feathering. Of course you can most likely feather throttle with short power usage surges and beat mpg you would get in cruise.

 

[garnermike]

On longer trips select slippery set cruise at 66 when speed drops to less than 66 resume cruise when topping hill disconnect cruise leaving it on, feather throttle to 70-75 and on down hill feather Regen brake to maintain 85 max. Resume cruise when speed drops to less than 66 usually on next uphill.. In slippery or any mode you must remember when getting to desired speed to lift foot off throttle and then apply only enough throttle to maintain desired speed. You may also enhance coasting by keeping in electric by slowly letting speed drop to 6-7 mph below desired speed then using 30-40% power to regain speed and repeat feathering. Of course you can most likely feather throttle with short power usage surges and beat mpg you would get in cruise.

^^^^^ THIS ^^^^^ !!
First 5000 miles of driving, always in ECO, 44 MPG average.
Then I switched to SLIPPERY.
Last 1000 miles, 48 MPG.
Doing all the things MakinDoForNow suggests.
FYI: 90% of my driving is of the suburban sort, with 5% on interstate hwy, and 5% in congested city settings.

 

[Timothyd]

Hey Eco mode people. Please update us down to road on how long your HVB lasts running in Eco mode all the time.

It will be Normal mode for me. If cruise control is on (highway) or there is extra heavy traffic, I may try Eco.

If it wasn't such a pita I'd leave it in eco mode all the time. Don't bother for short trips. You can get a lot of the benefits with a easy throttle/ breaks.

 

[Afarfan]

For a year now I thought I was driving in eco mode since I selected that mode in the beginning. I was thrilled with my 42.3 overall mpg! Thanks to this great group I recently learned I was mistaken and need to select eco every time I start my truck (what a pain). I was sure selecting eco mode wouldn’t make any difference so I decided to test my theory.

I drive 6 miles every day to walk at a park so I drove in normal one day and eco another day. Yes, temps were different but I don’t think that would make a big difference. Same speeds and here are what I consider amazing results. I plan on driving in eco mode from now on, if I can remember to set it🫤 Maybe the difference is only this great in town so I plan on testing it out for my 454 mile trip in a couple weeks.

I only use ECO mode. I’m on track to get 850+ miles on this tank.

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