Hybrid News

I′m a proud new owner of a 2008 Ford Escape Hybrid FWD. I have about 2000 miles already and I′m averaging 37 MPG from tank to tank. Having read this forum and others, it appears that I′m getting better MPG than many owners. When I purchased it I was hoping for 32. I′m elated that I′m getting 37, however the pessimist in me is worried that it’s a fluke and will get worse as time goes on. How does FE change as the engine gets broke in? Should I expect worse or better as time goes on or seasons change. Is this the best time of the year for a Hybrid in terms on FE (80s to 90s). I′m just trying to figure out how I′m getting such good FE when all my other cars have done worse than what was published. My daily commute starts with 12 miles of rolling rural roads (35-45 miles per hour) followed by 18 miles of highway (5 of which is 65 MPH) and ends with 3 miles of city streets. I have a total of about 4 stop lights and 3 stop signs. It doesn’t seem like an idea commute for a hybrid given the amount of highway miles and limited start/stops, but it seems to give it plenty of opportunities to charge the batteries.

Also, is it just me or does it get old answering "What do you do when the batteries run down - how do you charge it."

Thanks,
Joe

I drive the speed limit, and when on the freeway I choose the second to the right lane, so speeders can pass on the left, and exiters can pass on the right.

When I see a big rig coming up behind me, I move out of it’s way. If I were driving a semi, I would appreciate that. I try to be a good citizen on the road. I should be out of everyone’s way with the way I drive.

But I am always tailgated by the big SUVs on my way to work. I’m just minding my own business, cruise control at 60MPH, and I get tailgated. Hummers, Expeditions, Tahoes, and Suburbans seem to enjoy drafting me 6" off my bumper. Maybe they don’t realize that with a drag coefficient of 0.27, there isn’t much benefit to drafting my vehicle.

I don’t have any political or controversial stickers on my car.

Maybe I should just remove my hybrid badge, I think the gas hogs are offended by it. What’s the easiest way to remove it, and do you guys think I should remove it? I didn’t buy this car for the image, I bought it to save money and save the environment. I don’t need to show off.

Thanks!

Has anyone here driven an AWD FEH or MMH on the beach or sand? I am wondering whether I need to take certain precautions, or if I should just avoid it. Should I lower the tire pressure? Is it easier to get stuck than it would be with a vehicle with 4WD low?

While changing the oil and rotating the tires on my 2007 TCH yesterday I noticed a pair of unused bolts/studs coming out from the frame (I think it’s called the “Front side member” in the manual) on the driver’s side of the car below the rear door. Since I had not noticed them before, I thought something may have fallen off, but I checked two other TCH’s in the office garage, and they had them too.

Does anyone know what is intended to be attached here?

Over the past several days, I have noticed that the MPG on the ScanGauge is no longer going to 9999 and the Cost Per Mile to $0.000 when in the iFCD is pegged to the right. It has consistently gone to 9999 and $0.000 since I put in the ScanGauge in the late fall but now I am getting MPGs in the 1000 to 1800 range and CPM at $0.002 when I go into a full coast/glide.

The Regen, Glide and EV/Assist modes seem to be working "normally" and I can glide or get EV assist while keeping the ScanGauge MPG at 1000 +. My mileage overall does not appear to have declined and the coolant temp is in its regular 190 to 200 range. One thing that has changed is that it has been very humid and warm the past 4 or 5 days and I did not have the SG installed last summer.

I was under the impression that, for lack of a better term, the valves closed at a certain point while coasting, meaning the ICE was still turning but not using any fuel. I always thought that was what caused the MPG display to read 9999 on the ScanGauge. The &quotfraidy cat&quot part of me is concerned that for some reason all the valves are not closing, meaning some minimal amount of fuel is getting into the cylinders, hence the high, but still recordable, MPG and CPM.

Thoughts from the very knowledgeable GH HCH community greatly appreciated.

Hello - What a wonderful forum. I wish I had come here a year ago when I bought my 04 HCH with 150K miles. Since then, I had to replace the transmission, but otherwise am happy with the car. (Got such a good deal that the new transmission still brings my total cost to less than blue book.) My wife hates it, though, because she’s still mad at me for needing to buy it in the first place, but that’s another story for another time…

There is this little problem with what sounds kind of like a grinding noise, or like a chain rattling. At first, we were really scared by it, but now it’s just annoying.

It only happens at low RPMs, and only while the A/C is on. Problem solved simply by shutting off the A/C, but who wants to drive like that in July?

It started about two months ago, and I know I should just have the dealer look at it, but who has the time. Anyone else experienced this? Should I really be worried? I’ve looked up and down the forum and don’t see anything that rings a bell.

Michael

Chicago Area Clean Cities Coalition Meeting and GM Hybrid Showcase

Thursday, July 26
11:00 AM - 2:00PM
Lombard, Illinois
Please join the Chicago Area Clean Cities Coalition for a coalition meeting featuring GM’s hybrid vehicles on Tuesday, July 15. All are welcome to attend. Lunch will be provided to those that RSVP.
The meeting will be held at the Forest Preserve District’s Churchill facility, located at 881 W Saint Charles Road in Lombard, Illinois. Please RSVP by Friday, July 11th, to Samantha Bingham at sam@chicagocleancities.org or 312.744.8096.

http://www.chicagocleancities.org/index.shtml

Wayne

:lightbulb
Hi again!
I′ve read several articles on Hypermiling, and read Tara’s twice. I have to say there are a lot of advanced concepts in there and those can be hard to translate into driving advice for us newbies.

I was particularly disappointed with the large number of TLAs ( three letter acronyms ) minus the explanation of what they mean at the first citation.

All that aside, it would be nice to figure out what techniques yield the most improvement so that us newbies can get started and feel good about the results!

My contributions:
1) Tire pressure. Especially since my used car dealer put on non-LRR ( Low Rolling Resistance ) tires. I’ve been running at sidewall max pressure 44psi and that gave a fair improvement.

2) Speed. I′ve slowed down, I used to drive five miles per hour over the limit, now I tend to drive five under.

3) Cruise control. I think this may be a dubious contributor for me. I’ve read that it helps, but I have some big hills on my drive and the Cruise control uses a lot of revs and assist to get up them. Works well on the flats and reduces workload.

So, can we come up with a definitive &quottop three&quot or &quottop five&quot techniques that will yield the greatest gains for newbies? Then we can adapt to that before tackling the more advanced techniques.

Peace!
Beez

http://www.technoride.com/2008/06/aa…_hypermili.php

According to Technoride, AAA is sowing fear & confusion about &quothypermiling&quot by casting it as being centered on tailgating trucks, rolling thru stop signs, and turning off ignition… who would do such things? :confused:

I just recently moved from Colorado to Michigan and noticed a steep dropoff in fuel economy. I have gone from averaging 45-47 miles per gallon to about 36-38. I would have thought that coming down in altitude (from 5000 ft. to 600 ft.) would have made my fuel mileage better (more oxygen). Does anyone know why this could be happening?