Driving a Hybrid Vehicle
The first thing you notice is when you turn on the key is that the car does not start at once. There is a delay as the computer starts the car. Another feature or quirk is that when you unlock the door there are strange sounds as the regenerative braking systems charges up. Idle for a few minutes and the engines dies. This is the strangest part of all about driving a hybrid. The feeling that something is wrong because the engine has died.
As you step on the gas there is almost no delay. Of course you are not really stepping on the gas, you are just telling the computer that you want to move. The electric motor then starts the car in motion.
The hybrid is a fun car to drive, you just have to first get used to the computer driving the car instead of you. If you are going under 40 and apply the brakes the engine will die, over 40 the engine runs all the time. When you accelerate to pass the electric motor will join with gas engine for additional power.
I drive the Ford hybrid Escape with 4 wheel drive and the MPG is a little lower than with the 2 wheel drive, I cannot reach the 33 MPG that it is rated for in the city. It is rated 29 MPG on the highway and I can get about 31 MPG by driving between 65 and 70 and not utilizing the cruse control. The cruse control accelerates to fast on hills. When I first got the Escape I tried very hard to not accelerate to fast in order to conserve fuel, however when I returned to normal driving in city traffic, I did improve the MPG from 26 to 28.
Sometimes, for no apparent reason at all the engine will race up to about 4 thousand RPM for a short period. The speed remains the same, it may be recharging the battery or some other unknown reason. This usually occurs at low speed. I did notice in the owners manual that it said not to be alarmed if the motor continues to run after you turned off the ignition, this could happen if the battery had been disconnected.
Some of the things that I dislike about my Escape is the space inside. There is no space between the front seats and the console. I have dropped my bank card between the driver seat and the console on several occasions and had to fish it out with a coat hanger. The cover that pulls over the cargo department in the rear just gets in the way. I have all but thrown it away.
I do not think that I am getting the most out of the high voltage battery. At traffic lights the car starts on the electric motor, but very slowly and if you ask for more take off speed the gas engine starts at once. It would be nice if the car would stay on the electric motor until you at least reach 40 MPH on a normal take off. The battery hardly ever runs down unless you are creeping in stop and go traffic.
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