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Ford Fusion/Mercury Milan Hybrid Real World MPG
Lets see what FFH owners are getting in real world MPG compared to EPA. I am in the market for a used one, so very interested in what people are actually seeing in them. Also state your driving type, city, highway, mixed etc.
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The car however is nice, since I traded a Sport for this, I am already familiar with the car, difference being the power from the 3.5 V6, and the firmer ride and cornering with the wider tires and stiffer suspension of the Sport.
I got a 2010 that had 850 miles on it, is still smells like a new car. There was an issue between my selling dealer and the dealer he got the car from, they told him it was fully loaded 502a, but it turned out to be a 501a with Nav. They are making up for it though by installing leather heated seats for me.
It will just take a while for me to get used to this car, I really liked the Sport, but the gas costs were wiping us out. Going to miss that car a lot, but like money in the bank a lot more.
This is our 3rd Ford in the past 5 years (07 4 cyl Fusion, 08 Sable), and while the build quality approximates that of the nicer japanese family cars while new, all of them have performed below the EPA average. If I had it to over again, I'd buy a 4cyl Altima or Camry, save the $6k+ and live with real world fuel economy of 30-33 mpg+.
Well today during a trip on the tollway, coming down a bridge, at idle, when I reach the bottom and had to resume throttle, the car bucked, acted as if the brakes were engaged, and couldn't make up its mind whether to stop or go, then finally got going. After that it seemed to run OK, then after a while I had stopped to get something to eat, got back in the car, turned it on while I ate and then the engine came on after a few minutes, then shut off and the check engine light came on. Car was still running, so I drove to my office, then picked up the wife, called the dealer, made an appointment, light was still on after 1 more ignition cycle, stopped to fill up the tank, started up again and light went off. I still dropped it off, something just doesn't feel right with the car.
One thing that has me wondering is why I never get a full charge on the battery, best so far was maybe 3/4 full, never has it seen the top of the meter. The Camry and Prius would fully charge at over 55 MPH. The Fusion doesn't. I could go several miles on EV in the Camry and Prius, but get maybe 1 mile before I'm on gas in the Fusion.
The car is breaking in, I am starting to see an improvement in economy, and it is running better too.
I need to replace the tires though, HORRIBLE traction in wet, slick, frosty roads. It is supposed to snow tomorrow, which means the car stays home, I am not going to risk trying to drive it in snow. I have to say, the stability control sure does kick in when needed. There is one part in the road where it is an S curve, which we have been able to take in the Sport at 55 MPH no issues, and the Hybrid has slid through it at 45 a couple times with the TC kicking in to correct the slide.
I agree that hills can be a problem since the gas engine is required to get up the hill, and the 2nd law of thermodynamics tells us that the battery can't recover all of the energy used to get up the hill when the car is coasting back down the hill.
My approach with stops is to take my foot off the accelerator as soon as I see a red light or notice traffic slowing down. Then, accelerate moderately (~2,000rpm) back up to cruise speed and back off the accelerator pedal slightly. This allows the electric motor to propel the car on relatively level roads up to about 45mph.
33 Hwy - (actual mileage. The trip computer shows 1.7 to 2.3 mpg better mileage)
35 City
You cannot drive this car easy enough to get the EPA rated mileage. We do the "maximum leaf" game, but it just isn't working out as we hoped. Sure it is larger than most cars that get 35 MPG, but it is also a $30k car. I just don't see how this will ever make economic sense.
On a recent 250 mile round trip, I was surprised to see the trip computer reading as low as 30.8 mpg. We were driving with the cruise set to 65 mph on an uncongested freeway, early on a Saturday morning. After getting home, driving around town brought the actual mileage up to 33 mpg by the time we refilled the tank.
The last several tanks of mostly city driving have averaged between 34.5 and 35.5.
We've got 25k miles on the car, I wonder if the NiMH batteries aren't holding a charge as well as new, because our mileage is getting consistently worse. We use Chevron Premium fuel, and change the oil every 5k with Motorcraft 5w20, and a Ford filter.
This could be part of your problem. The car isn't designed to run on premium gas. Premium burns at a slower rate, and is for higher compression engines, so if the engine isn't designed for it, you will actually get lower fuel efficiency.
IOW you are wasting money by putting premium gas in the car. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise, the car doesn't need it.
Stick with 87 octane for the Hybrid.
I have found the cruise control doesn't give you better MPG, it actually hurts it. I stopped using it and focus mostly on trying to maintain the speed with the lightest of pedal as possible. I can see 45 MPG sometimes when I can maintain a nice 40-45 MPH run.
The car can only give you what you want to get out of it when you drive it properly. Hybrids are not as easy to get good MPG out of as one would think. You have to learn the techniques to do so, or you wind up getting results like you are getting. Do a google on Pulse and Glide, and Forced Engine Off driving techniques. They are simple methods, but a PITA to learn correctly to get what the car can give you.
One other thing to mention, the highway MPG is going to be lower than city MPG, unless you draft, but that is not recommended. For the most part, highway MPG will be about the same as that on the 4cyl version Fusion.
I have about 60k miles on Hybrids, starting with the Prius, which I have seen as high as 65 MPG on the highway with, and the Camry Hybrid which I was getting 35 MPG pretty consistently. Right now winter MPG is 34.4 in it mainly due to it just breaking in, but I am starting to see it going up now that it has passed the 10K mark. Somedays on the same roads I can see 40 MPG, others 34 MPG, depends on the temperature, and other drivers, and just how much of a hurry I am in.
If I drive it like a normal car though, I'm lucky if I see 32 MPG.
All those things aside, I believe I get in tune with my vehicles way too much and I don't know if that is a good thing or bad thing. Because this vehicle has been the first fuel efficient car we have ever had, I have been watching the MPG rather closely. Hoping to come close to what EPA says. I have always driven my vehicles like you are told to drive this hybrid. Try to coast and light on the gas pedal and stop slowly and never jack rabbit. Those things help save gas on normal cars that are not hybrid. So I am more than accustomed to that type of driving.
Now, I live in Lakeway Texas and the hills out here are pretty good. Climbing up and around them everyday. I would understand the MPG's would suffer a bit. I have been driving this car for three months now. Got it used. My MPG's were very stable at about 35.4. Even on long trips straight highway driving. Maybe it would finally creep up to just over 36 MPG. So for us, I would expect we would get better MPG's on long road trips than where we live because of the hills.
This weekend we went to San Antonio and spent the night there. In the morning when I went to start it and drive all was fine, but on our way to our destination, the MPG's dropped. It ended up at 27 mpg at the lowest and would climb back up slowly (to about 29) to recover then as soon as I hit the gas to get into highway traffic, it falls back down to 27. It is not acting stable in anyway any longer. On the way back home, a one and a half hour drive, it climbed to 37mpg's at one point, which in the past it had never done. Driving along the hills again, I am back down to 34mpg's. I suspect there is a regulator/relay issue, but I called Ford to ask them if there was something I was doing wrong. He told me that indeed there seems to be a relay issue, but to not worry about it. The gas meter is also showing the effect of the MPG's. Has anyone seen anything like this, and should I not worry about it? I don't want to trust Ford. Maybe they just want me to run out of warranty. What are your thoughts?
I just bought a '10 FFH. My measured consumption for the first tankful was 22.5mpg :mad: This is crazy, yes? Granted, most of my driving over the 420km / 260m was on freeways with the cruise control set at 130kph/80mph or a little more, although some of it was careful in-town driving. I know hybrid efficiencies aren't really operating at those speeds, but I would still have expected better from a reasonably aerodynamic vehicle with an allegedly super-efficient engine. Most people seem to get low 30s under similar conditions. One thing that worries me and might be relevant is the frequent appearance of the little yellow wrench symbol during high-speed cruising. Obviously, I'm going to get it checked out ASAP, but I still wonder if anyone has any thoughts about this fuel consumption.
We're averaging overall 38 mpg's coming out of winter and one month into Spring. I expect to average 41 mpg in a couple of months...just like last year.
I also have a 2013 FFH, and sadly the old 2010 gets better MPG than the new one, by at least 2 MPG. Not too thrilled with the new one right now.
I am not a hypermiler or slow driver but I am a realtively slow accelerater. From a light it may take me 8-10 secs to get up to 50-55 mph residential traffic which does not seem to bother the traffic patterns at all (people are not tailgating me and swearing at me). The car cost $18.8 new and I have put only 29,000 miles on it.
It is a great handling, tight, quiet car. The only maintenance has been oil filter and oil change and tire rotation every 5000 miles ( a package at local ford dealer for $30 per service). I changed the air filter at 15,000.
If economy is the principal reason that you are considering a hybrid, consider how many years or miles it would take to "pay off" the difference between a new hybrid and an outgoing 2012 fusion 4 cylinder ICE model without the (mainly unnecesary even stupid gismoes) say in the trim level just above base trim. Yes the 2013 looks different (better to most; meh to others) but how much is a pretty face worth? Going hybrid requires many many city miles to get pay back on the purchase price difference.
My conclusion is that city driver who see lots of stop and go are the major beneficiaries of hybrids. Other drivers are unlikey to see a cost benefit for many many years if ever. There is no ICE that does well in stop and go traffic even with the newer stop/start technology which is obtrusive in its early execution.
Fortunately the lower trim Fusions have all engineering excellence of the gussied up models and handle as well. In fact, I would not even consider buying a car with screens that need to be read and that would take my eyes off the road. Never. Ever. I expect that in time the NHTSB will ban such screens after they are proven to cause accidents. If economy is your aim consider the lower trim Fusion 2012s which are nicely incentivized and getting better all the time as they are fewer left on the lots.
I have tested both 87 and 93 octane in the tank, and 93 does give very slightly better mileage, but almost imperceptible. We have a gas station in town that has gasoline with no ethanol, and that does provide a noticeable, but small, improvement in mileage (but it is not always convenient to go there to fill up). I would use that gas all the time if I was close to the station.
All on all this is one of the best vehicles I have ever had, so far.
Now the interesting part. I asked about the Battery... they said it was the original still and hadn't been replaced. That's remarkable to know... and VERY reassuring that our FFH batteries will do at least 350k miles without replacing.
2018 VW Passat SE w/tech, 2016 Audi Q5 Premium Plus w/tech, 2006 Acura TL w/nav
I always use my mileage calculations as a barometer of the general health of my vehicle. Any sudden notable change gets my attention. If the next tank is still low (assuming I didn't short fill TWICE) then I get into "what's going on?" mode
I think the fuel mileage computer gives too much credit for being off the gas, when the fuel is shut off while coasting. Just my opinion.
The computers are nice as a gauge of how things are going, and are generally pretty accurate, but when you want to calculate your mileage, you need to start with actual numbers
Anyway i have decided to give up worrying about that so much and just calculating at fill up only. My Wife and I are in Pittsburgh visiting our families this weekend and I enjoyed the superior ride and how quiet the cabin is on the 3 hour drive over here compared to most of the competitions mid size sedans.
The on-board computers, at least the one on my 2015 Versa Note, seem to be fairly accurate. We don't really look at the instantaneous mileage number. While that's interesting, it really isn't that useful to me. The average mileage seems to be right on the number. If it's more than a tenth off, that would be a lot.