1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Did some math on Cold losses

Discussion in 'Ford/Lincoln Hybrids and EVs' started by acdii, Jan 23, 2013.

  1. acdii

    acdii Active Member

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2007
    1,124
    131
    0
    Took me a while but finally came up with a pretty consistent numbers from all 3 of the Hybrids I had since 2007. Subtracting the difference between summer average and winter average on the Prius, Camry and 10 FFH, it came out to a rough 13% drop in cold weather.

    So far the 10 is holding right to that mark of just a hair over 5 MPG drop from the summer months.

    My 13 however is WAY FAR above that percentage! I should expect to be at a 6-8 MPG drop, but its more like 13-16 MPG below. To confirm I had asked a few other owners who live in the northern states for what they are seeing and they are falling right in the 13% range, getting between 38 and 43 MPG down in the 20* range. Mine gets 32. So at a minimum my car is 6 MPG below average, or roughly 32%.
     
  2. lennyp

    lennyp New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 16, 2012
    13
    10
    0
    Location:
    New England
    Vehicle:
    Other Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    I bet the number is lower for the 2013 due to the batteries, which I believe are more sensitive to cold. I can say I started getting around 46-47 mpg on work trips when the mercury climbed into the 40-50 range. Today ouch 9 degrees and 39 mpg.
     
  3. acdii

    acdii Active Member

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2007
    1,124
    131
    0
    10* and got 32. The hybrid part is working fine in my car, the ICE is just burning too much fuel. I had driven it to Florida, and it was in the 70's and never saw 40 on the highway whether it was 55 or 65, but did see 51 in city traffic where I could use EV and regen.
     
  4. acdii

    acdii Active Member

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2007
    1,124
    131
    0
    Just did my 3rd fillup on the scan gauge, and it came out pretty close. I put in 9.37 gallons, and the SG showed 9.3. When calculated out, came to 31 and change, and reviewing the scan gauge trip results, it is right in that ball park, which is 2 MPG lower than what the dash reports. It dropped my lifetime down by .2 this fill.
     
  5. bisco

    bisco cookie crumbler

    Joined:
    May 11, 2005
    107,809
    49,002
    0
    Location:
    boston
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius Plug-in
    Model:
    Plug-in Base
    what different about the battery, lion?
     
  6. acdii

    acdii Active Member

    Joined:
    Apr 5, 2007
    1,124
    131
    0
    I doubt very much if the cold will affect the batteries too much. I know for a fact that the hybrid portion of my car is Fine! The engine is using too much fuel. There will be cold losses, and I never said there weren't, but based on past experiences, and feed back from other owners, the loss is between 13 and 17%. I believe there is even a statement from Ford regarding the 17% loss. I can accept that, and is what I expected to see, but when I didnt see even 40 on the highway in Florida with temps in the 70's, and doing 60 MPH with Ecocruise, well, something is wrong, and fouled spark plugs seals it for me.

    I sent in a request for review on the Lemon Law to see what my options are. The law here states, 4 visits, or 30 days out of service before filing, but since the issue takes 4500 miles or so to come up, the car will be beyond 12,000 miles. Maybe if an attorney knocks on the door, someone at Ford will snap to it and actually do something to find the problem instead of saying nothing is wrong, especially with all the documenting I have done.