22 Maverick mileage and mod thread

[Snax]

Originally Posted by ECO-AKJ

A few of the folks over on the mavericktruckclub.com site have used slippery mode to get the highest MPG results!!!

That makes a lot of sense. It should keep the motor from going much beyond ideal BSFC/efficiency.

[JRMichler]

Originally Posted by wax87

Do you think a thermal wrap on the exhaust system would help speed up the warming and then the E-motor might kick in earlier, especially on colder days?

My average mileage for last summer: 50.1 MPG
My average mileage for last winter: 38.5 MPG

The MPG decreases almost exactly 2 MPG per 10 deg F drop in average temperature. A large portion of that decrease is due to the engine running longer on a cold start. On a warm start, it will normally run for about 1/4 mile. On a cold start in below 0 deg F weather, it will run for as long as 4 miles. On a short (for me) trip of five miles from a cold start, I can get over 50 MPG in the summer, and less than 30 MPG in the winter.

Wrapping the exhaust will not speed up the warm up, nor will it slow down the cool down on shut down. The cold weather MPG of this truck would benefit from two, possibly three, things:

1) A block heater.
and
2) Reprogramming the grille shutters to close completely. When I got the truck, the grille shutters stayed closed until the engine warmed up, then opened as needed. Some time after that, they never close completely.
and
3) (Maybe) If the engine running is controlled by high voltage battery temperature, another heater for that battery.

The truck has an underbody pan, where 17 screws need to be removed and replaced in order to change the oil. I added two holes, one for the filter and the other for the drain plug. I did not want the oil change place to "forget" to reinstall the underbody pan.

The normal, eco, and slippery driving modes appear to only affect the amount of regeneration when fully lifting the gas pedal. I tested all three modes, and decided to leave it in normal mode. The best gas mileage uses coasting (zero regeneration) as much as possible. I can do that by either carefully controlling the gas pedal, or by shifting into neutral if I want to rest my right leg.

My butt dyno indicates that best efficiency is between 10% and about 30% to 40% power. When the power requirement is less than 10%, I try to pulse at 10% power, and glide at 0% power. Our steepest hills only need 30% power to maintain speed going up, and 30% power is enough for almost all situations. I have only gone over that a few times - a short uphill on ramp, and when passing.

While I have yet to start building an aero topper, I think I figured out how to seal it to keep rain out. The box integrated with the cab creates water drainage challenges.

[wax87]

Originally Posted by JRMichler

This is the mileage and modification thread for my new 2022 Ford Maverick XL. It was ordered September 2021, and delivered 1-10-2022. It's the base model with only one option - a bed mat.

Since it's a hybrid with automatic grille shutters, there is no opportunity for adding an air dam, grille block, alternator kill switch, or engine kill switch. I plan to drive it as is through summer to get a base line, then add an aero topper Fall 2022.

On a recent cold start at 0 deg F, I backed out of the garage, and checked the trip mileage at 0.25 miles. The trip mileage at that check point was 6.6 MPG, worse than my old Canyon which would have got 9 MPG at the same point and under the same conditions. When everything is warm, that same route can be done electrically. The engine ran continuously, even with foot completely off the gas pedal, for two miles before shutting off. After that, it cycled on and off normally.

The hybrid engine is programmed to keep running until the battery is warm enough to take a charge and until warm enough to get useful heat out of the heater. This suggests an opportunity for significant mileage improvement on cold weather short trips by preheating both the engine and the high voltage battery.

At my normal speed in a 55 limit of 57 MPH and at 10% power on the power meter, the instantaneous mileage varied from 25 to 40 MPG apparently depending on the state of charge in the high voltage battery. This also explains the poor mileage at the start of a trip after a cold start. It suggests an opportunity to improve mileage on shorter trips by charging the high voltage battery to 100% charge when parked. The last three miles of a typical trip home are almost all on the electric motor, so I typically leave home with a low charge in the high voltage battery.

I have no plans to do either the preheating or high voltage battery charging at this time.

Do you wish you added the engine block heater? That would cut your heat time down.

[wax87]

yes, it is called MPG Bias