1,445 Miles On 1 Tank Of Gas

[Lewis]

OK, it was a PR stunt. But it's still impressive that an mpg-obsessed team drove a showroom-stock Ford Fusion gas-electric hybrid around Washington, D.C., the gridlock capital of the Free World, for 1,445 miles on one tank of gas (video here). For those of you keeping score that works out to 81.5 mpg, nearly double the 2010 Fusion hybrid's government rating of 41 mpg in city driving.

The promotion took 68 hours of driving by NASCAR racer Carl Edwards (after his big crash at Talladega, video here), extreme-mpg "hypermiling" enthusiast Wayne Gerdes and several Ford engineers and raised money for charity.

Fusion at capitalpg-horizontal

Why Washington? Open Road assumes it's because D.C.'s the new Detroit, home to the captains of the U.S. auto industry. Why a hypermiling stunt? A 2010 Mustang/Camaro showdown wouldn't win friends on the Hill or in the White House and Ford likes being the only U.S. maker not run by the government. CNN

Conspiracy theories aside, if Ford gets more attention for one of the best gas-electric hybrids on the road, it's a good thing: See James R. Healey's Test Drive of the 2010 Fusion hybrid. And here's a good read by Chris on hypermilers.

Have gas-stretching tips? Want to talk about gas stretchers (safety experts disagree about the more extreme techniques)? Start a Forum thread or add a comment.

Ford's "Eco-Driving" quick tips and online training are here. Below are mpg tips compiled by Ford from Gerdes, an engineer who founded CleanMPG.com and takes credit for coining the term "hypermiling":

 

[stovebolts]

Do they have an estimated price for the 2010 model and what are the costs associated with the battery pack? Right now the Litium-ion technology that GM is working on for the Volt only lasts appox two years and costs $6,000 to replace. I drive almost tripple what the average joe drives so that means every 10 months I'd have to drop $6,000 into a new battery pack.

All of a sudden 30 mpg on E-85 sounds a lot more within my range

 

[Lewis]

Do they have an estimated price for the 2010 model and what are the costs associated with the battery pack? Right now the Litium-ion technology that GM is working on for the Volt only lasts appox two years and costs $6,000 to replace. I drive almost tripple what the average joe drives so that means every 10 months I'd have to drop $6,000 into a new battery pack.

All of a sudden 30 mpg on E-85 sounds a lot more within my range

Wow I have to find out what they are using for batteries. But $6000 for a battery is a a public turn off. They would have to come down on those prices a whole lot, because people could not afford to even put out $1000 bucks every 6 months to a year, times are bad.Even with a decent job that price is to high.

 

[Works4Him]

My father in law works at a Ford Dealership, and apparently, they're using a longer-lasing battery for these things than what's been used before. They should easily last years longer than previous battery packs.

As far as battery life goes, I've been itchin' to build an electric vehicle for several years, so I've been poking my nose into these things. Until just a few years ago, battery technology had pretty much stayed the same since the first lead-acid batteries over a hundred years ago. But in recent years, they've been making leaps and bounds forward. Batteries are getting lighter and cheaper, and lasting longer.

For daily drivers, batteries are still a bit pricey, unless you plan on going to a full-battery setup, where you never buy gas or engine components. But I think in the next decade, batteries will become so affordable that electric vehicles and hybrids will eventually become the best option for automobiles. This car is a great start, but the road is still long.

 

[Free]

I'm still very leery about electric vehicles. Over their lifespan they leave a larger carbon footprint than most gasoline powered vehicles. Also, making batteries can be as harmful or more harmful on the environment than producing oil. It all sounds nice in theory but practically speaking they are not anywhere near what most people make them out to be.

I mean no offense to anyone, just saying. I'm all for alternative fuels, I think they are totally necessary. My concern is that just as there is money in oil and gas, there is money in fear-mongering. The point being that there is going to be misinformation on all sides for the sole purpose of making money. I just think that car companies and environmentalists have been too quick to jump on the electric vehicle bandwagon without fully considering the consequences.

There just needs to be a balance of all alternative fuels. The more variation and choice, the cheaper they all will be since consumers will be free to move between them, leveling out supply and demand and environmental impact.

*Disclaimer: I'm not sure if there is any truth to what I said in the last bit. Just some thoughts.