Hypermile a Ford Fusion hybrid: average 21 mph over 1446 miles = 81.5 mpg (US)
 

http://media.ford.com/images/10031/1000kchallenge.jpg

Ford organized an eco-driving "demonstration" (and charity fund raiser) to promote the Fusion hybrid over the weekend and managed to go 1446 miles on a single tank of fuel.

They succeeded in demonstrating that the pulse and glide driving technique and very low average speeds can return great fuel economy. :)

Their goal was to beat 1000 miles on a tank of gas, which they handily did:

• Passed the 1,000 mile mark after 47 continuous hours, according to Ford (avg. speed of 21.3 mph / 34 km/h - my calc.)

• Finished at 1,445.7 miles after 69 hours, for a total of 81.5 mpg (US) / 2.9 L/100 km, according to Jalopnik (avg. speed of 20.95 mph / 34 km/h - my calc)

Wayne from CleanMPG was on hand as a driver and tutor to the team of drivers who took shifts behind the wheel (including a NASCAR racer who headlined the event).

Congrats Ford, Wayne and NASCAR dude!

(I hope Ford also publicises the average speed of the event. No holds barred fuel economy stunts can be fun and educational and produce spectacular numbers, but I'm a firm believer in providing full disclosure / context. Otherwise they verge on being misleading to Joe Public.)

Don't let that average speed mislead you too much. They were doing this as a loop in downtown Washington DC and Alexandria VA - back and forth from Mount Vernon to DC. 21mph is actually not far off from what you would aggregate in typical driving. I doubt they passed anybody, but I don't think they were unsafely slow, either.

I grew up in the DC area and I can tell you, there are a lot of places where hitting 21mph can be a heady rush of progress, especially at rush hour - which these guys hit at least three times. And on weekends, traffic heading into Mount Vernon can be pretty darned tough, too.

I missed my ride to rowing practice one day. We rowed on the Potomac. My ride left five minutes before I got there, I leapt back onto my bike and pedalled like fury. I rode from Falls Church VA to the boathouse on the Potomac, and I beat them by five minutes.

Traffic in DC is tough. 21mph isn't as slow as you might think.

No, no - I didn't mean to imply anything about safety or whether or not they went with the flow of traffic or not.

I just like the speed figures included with events like this so the general public (at whom the event was aimed) has some context for understanding the results. (In other words, so they don't get mad when they only get 30 mpg in their Fusion hybrid going 80 mph down the interstate. :))

The context you give is just the kind of info we need to get a better picture of what happened.

The blackfly would've wooped on that :p

interesting....

Audi in 1994 was able to put 1750 miles (2800km) on a single tank, with an Audi 100 TDI... at a fuel consumption rate of 2.8L/100KM (83.99 MPG)

Of course this is not the typical drive, but I see two good things out of this.

1. If the average driver tries a few of the techniques
2. It's great publicity for Ford :)

It is good publicity for Ford :p. The Fusion Hybrid is a pretty nice ride.

ya.. but its still a F.O.R.D.

GM and Chrysler need publicity like this. ;)

GM and Chrysler need vehicles capable of doing this.