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I also posted a YouTube video with some normal driving using the methods getting about 27mpg after nearly 2 hours in Normal Mode driving all sorts... even up to 80mph at times.
Very interesting video. However, like a conventional vehicle there can be some very deceptive information here. I've learned over the years the MPG displayed especially on a recently reset trip meter, doesn't really mean much until you're well into the tank. We live in mountainous terrain and it happens the gas station I frequent is on top of a rather larger one. If I fill it up and reset the trip meter, I can coast just about two miles without touching the accelerator. And, of course the MPG meter pegs out a 99.9 MPG. It takes quite some time before the computer catches up with it giving an accurate reading. Like two hundred miles, sometimes more. When I fill at other locations, sometimes the opposite occurs. It will start out at something more like 5 to 10 MPG depending. And again it takes quite a while to catch up. But by the end of the tank, it nearly always ends up at a very close to actual calculated MPG of about 21 MPG. (dividing the gallons from the pump to the actual miles driven) I seldom reset the other trip meter and nearly always the two will match very closely at the end of the tank. Once something like 5000 miles is recorded it is very unusual to see the MPG on that meter change at all. It would be interesting to see the end of the tank on this video or at least a few hundred miles down the road. And, leaving the second trip meter alone for a few thousand miles to accumulate an accurate MPG over a long period and then compare the two. Otherwise, IMHO, the video is somewhat useless.
I am somewhat of a "Forscan" tinkerer and I have taken the time to calibrate the MPG of the so called "LIe-O-Meter", and I'm now confident it is very accurate. I have no idea what the logarithms on a highbred might be or how the electric side would change any of this. But after watching this video I am impressed with its function. But, if I should ever buy one of these trucks, I think it would be insanity to mess with those computers.
‘21 Platty, 5.0, 4x4, long bed, 3:73, eco mode, 5k miles, = 18.4 mpg. I did better with my ‘15 and ‘18, but I’m not complaining. I love my truck. On my others mileage improved with more miles on the engine.
Very interesting video. However, like a conventional vehicle there can be some very deceptive information here. I've learned over the years the MPG displayed especially on a recently reset trip meter, doesn't really mean much until you're well into the tank. We live in mountainous terrain and it happens the gas station I frequent is on top of a rather larger one. If I fill it up and reset the trip meter, I can coast just about two miles without touching the accelerator. And, of course the MPG meter pegs out a 99.9 MPG. It takes quite some time before the computer catches up with it giving an accurate reading. Like two hundred miles, sometimes more. When I fill at other locations, sometimes the opposite occurs. It will start out at something more like 5 to 10 MPG depending. And again it takes quite a while to catch up. But by the end of the tank, it nearly always ends up at a very close to actual calculated MPG of about 21 MPG. (dividing the gallons from the pump to the actual miles driven) I seldom reset the other trip meter and nearly always the two will match very closely at the end of the tank. Once something like 5000 miles is recorded it is very unusual to see the MPG on that meter change at all. It would be interesting to see the end of the tank on this video or at least a few hundred miles down the road. And, leaving the second trip meter alone for a few thousand miles to accumulate an accurate MPG over a long period and then compare the two. Otherwise, IMHO, the video is somewhat useless.
I am somewhat of a "Forscan" tinkerer and I have taken the time to calibrate the MPG of the so called "LIe-O-Meter", and I'm now confident it is very accurate. I have no idea what the logarithms on a highbred might be or how the electric side would change any of this. But after watching this video I am impressed with its function. But, if I should ever buy one of these trucks, I think it would be insanity to mess with those computers.
All good points. So, for the sake of conversation, I will throw in these points...
My Trip 2, which I haven't reset since I bought it 12,000 miles ago, says 21mpg. However that number is deceiving as well..
Because I have had the engine on and idled, stagnant, the average MPG as a whole (12,000 miles) is 21. This idle time, where I was just sitting in the truck with the vehicle "ready" mode On (Hybrids sit in Ready mode using battery mostly, with engine when needed to charge battery or warm the engine).
Around the time this video was filmed I had about 542 hours logged in total On time on the Trip 2 meter. This is the amount of hours simply not being shut off. Quick math, as a life average in an On position, is an average of 22 miles per hour as a result.
But it being a hybrid, and because I was static in idle, but on, the engine only timer calculates 224 ACTUAL engine use hours. On top of that, the vehicle only actually idled with the actual engine ON for 25 of those 224 actual engine running time.
More quick math using actual engine running hours, the average life speed was about 54 mph.
The problem with Trip 2 from the start when I bought it, is that the idle periods bring down the average as long as the engine is running in idle.
All that aside here is my last point: the video isn't trying to indicate what a person will get for a life of a vehicle. that was never the claim.. It's geared toward showing what the vehicle can achieve on any given trip - ignoring other situations from different times.
The video simply shows that on any given trip, even nor.al driving conditions can yield better than EPA numbers. Does that reading equal the lifetime MPG, no. But that's not what was being delivered. It's showing that for nearly 2 hours of driving like a normal person, one can attain the MPG that I attained.
Regarding the MPG counters... it's hotly debated, but for the most part, it's on point. I play the hand calculation game and compare as well. It's usually within .5 to .75 gallons, in the trucks favor of course.
But I am not going to go to the same pump just for the exact same click off scientific analysis every time. The meter is fine..
In fact, Motor Trend, or one of them, did an article YEARS ago... where they delved into the accuracy of those MPG meters. They concluded they are pretty darn accurate. The vehicles computers know exactly how much fuel they are spurting into the chamber, etc. It's the computers that are actually the things DECIDING how much fuel its GOING to shoot for any given reason, based on the needs of the air fuel mixture, octane, etc. They pretty much concluded that if your going to listen to anyone. May as well get the data from the horses mouth - the computer. They concluded those meters are very accurate.
In the case of the video, I wasn't making a case that at the end of the TANK I'd be at 27mpg. Not at all. After that trip I sat for 6 hours idling more than likely.
So just to be clear, the video is showing the viewer that on similar driving stints, you can expect to get those numbers if driving it the way I do, in my environmental conditions. That it IS attainable.
If I had driven the entire tank that way without using the truck fir different things, yes, I would have gotten 27 for a tank average. I have done it before. A tad over 700 miles and filled up about 27 gallons back to full (still had 3 or so gallons in the 30.6 gallon tank).
That equaled an easy 26 mpg.
Anecdotally, any truck that isn't a hybrid that idles the amount of time I idle in a truck, would never ever see 21mpg lifetime if the truck was on the entire time..
All good points. So, for the sake of conversation, I will throw in these points...
My Trip 2, which I haven't reset since I bought it 12,000 miles ago, says 21mpg. However that number is deceiving as well..
Because I have had the engine on and idled, stagnant, the average MPG as a whole (12,000 miles) is 21. This idle time, where I was just sitting in the truck with the vehicle "ready" mode On (Hybrids sit in Ready mode using battery mostly, with engine when needed to charge battery or warm the engine).
Around the time this video was filmed I had about 542 hours logged in total On time on the Trip 2 meter. This is the amount of hours simply not being shut off. Quick math, as a life average in an On position, is an average of 22 miles per hour as a result.
But it being a hybrid, and because I was static in idle, but on, the engine only timer calculates 224 ACTUAL engine use hours. On top of that, the vehicle only actually idled with the actual engine ON for 25 of those 224 actual engine running time.
More quick math using actual engine running hours, the average life speed was about 54 mph.
The problem with Trip 2 from the start when I bought it, is that the idle periods bring down the average as long as the engine is running in idle.
All that aside here is my last point: the video isn't trying to indicate what a person will get for a life of a vehicle. that was never the claim.. It's geared toward showing what the vehicle can achieve on any given trip - ignoring other situations from different times.
The video simply shows that on any given trip, even nor.al driving conditions can yield better than EPA numbers. Does that reading equal the lifetime MPG, no. But that's not what was being delivered. It's showing that for nearly 2 hours of driving like a normal person, one can attain the MPG that I attained.
Regarding the MPG counters... it's hotly debated, but for the most part, it's on point. I play the hand calculation game and compare as well. It's usually within .5 to .75 gallons, in the trucks favor of course.
But I am not going to go to the same pump just for the exact same click off scientific analysis every time. The meter is fine..
In fact, Motor Trend, or one of them, did an article YEARS ago... where they delved into the accuracy of those MPG meters. They concluded they are pretty darn accurate. The vehicles computers know exactly how much fuel they are spurting into the chamber, etc. It's the computers that are actually the things DECIDING how much fuel its GOING to shoot for any given reason, based on the needs of the air fuel mixture, octane, etc. They pretty much concluded that if your going to listen to anyone. May as well get the data from the horses mouth - the computer. They concluded those meters are very accurate.
In the case of the video, I wasn't making a case that at the end of the TANK I'd be at 27mpg. Not at all. After that trip I sat for 6 hours idling more than likely.
So just to be clear, the video is showing the viewer that on similar driving stints, you can expect to get those numbers if driving it the way I do, in my environmental conditions. That it IS attainable.
If I had driven the entire tank that way without using the truck fir different things, yes, I would have gotten 27 for a tank average. I have done it before. A tad over 700 miles and filled up about 27 gallons back to full (still had 3 or so gallons in the 30.6 gallon tank).
That equaled an easy 26 mpg.
Anecdotally, any truck that isn't a hybrid that idles the amount of time I idle in a truck, would never ever see 21mpg lifetime if the truck was on the entire time..
My 2018 5.0 sits around 20.3 consistently. I believe I'd get higher only for New Jersey being New Jersey and driving absolutely sucking. When I can, I cruise and take it easy.
Long trips in ECO mode she recently got 23.2. 60k miles on the clock.
According to Ford, they spent lots of time in the wind tunnel with the bed open because that's how most trucks are driven. So don't expect any improvement. Cruise speed and tire pressure are most important. I can get about 20 from my 2011 if I stay ~65-70.
Had a different experience. I spent a good while without a cover, when I finally did install one MPG went up. The drag is real.
I typically do a mix of driving, maybe 60/40 in town/highway, no stop and go. I finally have the DTE "calibrated" and it's always within 0.1 mpg of hand calculated mpg's.
[size=13px]To be honest, I'm very impressed with the mpg. This is a 3.5 Ecoboost, Long Bed Super Crew with a cab height Leer topper. Not sure what the topper weighs, but, it's gotta be a couple 100 pounds at least.
Anyway, on a recent ride with the pup, I had the pup take this pick (I was doing the driving ).[/size]
500+ miles on a tank and I don't have the big one.
Last edited by FuzzyWuzHe; Nov 26, 2021 at 08:56 AM.
2021 Lariat 4x4 / 2.7Eb / stock with a K&N air filter. Average 22.xx going to and from work on back roads between 60-65. Did a highway trip from Augusta, Ga to Atlanta and back about 4 hrs round trip and averaged 24.7 at 70mph. Extremely impressed with the 2.7 over the 3.5 XLT 2021 I had earlier in the year it would barely crack 20mpg.
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