Ford teaches hybrid buyers how to drive

Good for Ford!

I'm actually going to go test drive an Escape Hybrid later today. Lets see how what kind of pulse and glide skills I can bring to the table heh heh.

 

This is a right move. I hope Toyota can do something like this for new buyers. So people won't complain they didn't get the EPA mileage.

 

New buyers should just come on over to Priuschat... they'll learn a few things .

 

Hey that's what I did! Actually, I was reading stuff on PC weeks before I got my Prius.
But then, not everybody knows about PC.

 

Kudos to Ford for the school, and for underestimating the mileage figures for their hybrid! As the article mentions, it's perfectly okay to advertise lower mpg than what the EPA estimates, and it's to Ford's credit that they did so.

Jan

 

IMO a two edged sword. Yes, its good that Ford has decided to provide some guidence to hybrid drivers about how to improve your mileage. On the other hand, this tend to promote the impression that hybrids need to be treated differently and the "accellerate slow" statement in the tips also promotes the idea that performance sucks.

I think Toyota has the right idea... "Just drive it".

Yes, it would be nice if Toyota produced a short DVD that was included in the Owners Manual that gave you tips on how to improve your mileage but it really needs to be recognized that except for the warm-up issue and recoverd energy during braking everything else will give you a mileage improvement in any car.

Other than trying to maximize time under "stealth mode" I have changed my habits very little. I drive well ahead of the one or two car-lengths that most people seem to focus on and begin slowing well in advanceof red lights or stop signs. I accellerate to stay with traffic but will often exceed the limit slightly and then back-off to drop into stealth (usually will engage cruise at that time). It has surprised me how well the computer manages to stay in stealth when going up slight hills. My foot can't manage it.

Anyway, that's the end of my rant.