USA Today: EPA investigating gas mileage in advanced hybrid vehicles

I wonder if the Energi versions are also coming in less than official mpg ratings? And will anyone even notice, given the astronomically high mpg of a plug-in?

 

Its consumer reports they get 44 mpg in the gen III prius, they are going to do worse than you do.

 

I only wish I could get what CR got in their test drives. I cant even get near that!

 

It will be interesting to see if the 62 mph cut-off for the ICE engine is indeed the root cause of the large discrepancy between the EPA result and e.g. Wayne Gerdes. If true it suggests not only that the EPA test has a lot of deceleration time, but also that spinning the Ford ICE has an unusually high power requirement.

People with this car might also gain closer to EPA results if they learn to brake (therefore regen) like the EPA drivers. I'll guess a slower slow-down.

 

I'll bet the MPGs are even bigger junk once the EV party is over in the Energi models. How much does C-Max Energi weigh? 3,900 lbs? pfft, that won't beat 36 MPG in hybrid mode. Seen the cargo space in a C-Max Energi? Didn't think so, I didn't see any either.

 

If you use the brake coach, that is exactly how you slow the car. You dont coast it, you brake it. I am finding you just cant drive the car like you would any other hybrid. It does not have a sweet spot where you can maintain a steady speed and have the ICE hover around the 40 MPG mark like the 2010 does. You HAVE to P&G this car to get anything over 35. Once off EV though, its a gas guzzler. Mid 30's is about the best it can do @ 65 or higher.

 

Keep in mind that the manufactures are on the hook to meet fleet economy goals and the calculation of thier fleet's economy is based on the EPA test results, not real world results.

 

we'll see.....

 

See get the government involved and it all goes Wacked!

 

As I recall, my rental Camry hybrid avg fuel meter was around 36 or 37 from previous rental drivers. Didn't know how to reset it at first, but after the car was warmed up and gage reset, it went into 43+ mpg range and stayed there the whole day. I figured the gage was optimistic, went to gas station and found 46.7 mpg after 160 miles sample run. It was cold that day also, 40s in morning and high of 55 F plus wind chill.

 

The nature of the plug-in will make the results much more variable. I feel sorry for the folks who drive well beyond the EV range of the Energi. Mileage will tank hard. Even driving a PIP beyond its EV range is a sad experience. Although 50+mpg is still good.

 

lol. YMMV

Hopefully people concerned about mileage will read the ecomoder site.

If you are more worried about gallons per year, than just mpg after the battery runs out, I don't think an informed energi driver will be disappointed. Say you are driving 15K miles per year, if you get 6000 electric miles, and don't have a faulty car like acdii, you should be getting at least 37 mpg in cs in the energy. That would be less than 245 gallons per year, and I don't know of a non-plug-in that could pull that off. Going with a volt would use fewer gallons per year, but the energi gives you more passenger room and a lower purchase price. This is significantly less gallanage than the prius v. The plug-in prius does a little better than the c-max in this type of scenario, but gives you worse acceleration and handling, not as nice interior materials at a similar price. Drive that energi at 65 mph and lower at a higher ev utilization and you use even fewer gallons per year.

Ford really does need to get rid of that better mileage than the prius v commercials though.

 

True. It's the gallonage that count right?

 

maybe you end up with some cash back like what Hyundai did .

It is sad thats how they do business because it will bite them at the back.... It seems that recently Ford has been skewing various numbers as much as they can - and they are making billions on it. People use these measurements to decide which car to buy.

I remember on TTAC review, they questioned leg room listed under Ford Escape, since it wasnt anywhere as rated compared to competition. They found out that Ford measured front seat space with seats all the way to the back, and then measured back seat space with seats pulled forward quite a bit.

Sounds familiar eh?

 

Isn't that what the EPA wanted?

 

It seems this wouldn't be an issue most of the time. I believe the Energi cars have more than enough battery power to get through a typical daily commute entirely in blended mode.

 

It is my understanding that both the Cmax and Fusion Energis are midway between the Volt and PiP.....so, they can't give you all electric over most daily driving like the Volt, but they don't switch to regular hybrid mode as often as PiP....so it seems poor mpg would only be experienced on highway trips or unusually long daily commutes.
Agreed that that extra battery in Energi models will affect already questionable mpg for the worse.