Winter Weather Advisory: MPG and your Powerboost Hybrid in Cold Weather

[Trukbed]

I have noticed quite a few more posts wondering a couple things about their Powerboost hybrid:

1. Why is the MPG suddenly worse?

2. Or, if they recently bought the truck, why their MPG numbers may not be looking like the numbers they've seen in past (summerish) posts in this forum.

I made this article to hopefully help us out as we get through the cold season. Enjoy!

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[F-150 Prius]

Ford should offer an accessory cable to plug the block heater into the onboard power … : )

 

[Oxford_Powerboost]

This is interesting. I’ll have to pay some attention as it gets colder out. I originally thought that it would be more efficient to just get driving as it would warm up the engine faster and I’ll be needing the engine to accelerate many times as I go through stop signs out of my neighborhood. But I see how your warm up method could also help, as when the engine shuts off, the battery should basically be fully charged after idling that long, making for much more effective EV usage in and around the neighborhood…

 

[Trukbed]

This is interesting. I’ll have to pay some attention as it gets colder out. I originally thought that it would be more efficient to just get driving as it would warm up the engine faster and I’ll be needing the engine to accelerate many times as I go through stop signs out of my neighborhood. But I see how your warm up method could also help, as when the engine shuts off, the battery should basically be fully charged after idling that long, making for much more effective EV usage in and around the neighborhood…

I remember in high school my cousin would pick me up and we'd drive to school. He was my neighbor. He had a brand new mustang back in the 80s. I'd get in his freezing car. He'd drive it down the country roads just waiting for it to be able to give up some heat in the car.

I'll never forget those days. It was appalling to me, even at 16. LoL

When a cold engine in cold season starts it idles higher... even a cold engine in summer, just for not as long. The oil psi needs to be near 40psi to get the oil dispersed. Once normalized with proper lubrication, the engine gets back to around 18 to 20psi, and as a result the rpms normalize.

What my cousin was doing was working his crankcase, pistons, valves, with little lubrication, just to get heat through the vents. EEESH!

The heat eventually came, of course, but at the expense of that poor engine.

Cold is going to stress your engine no matter what. But the 3 best ways to minimize the hurts would be a block heater, and if not that, letting it warm up with the least amount of RPM stress as possible. The third is by having a Heated/Conditioned garage.

I'd suggest to anyone to do this test. Since MPG is an indicator of engine load and stress, try this:

Do a cold morning routine without warming at idle, and go your first 5 minutes. Look at your MPGs.

Then on a different identical morning, be fair, do that first 5 minute drive after a good warmup. Drive the same. Check those MPGs. With this scenario you should shut off and restart the F150 to restart the This Trip Meter. The idling at 0MPH will skew the results.

You should see better MPGs with a good warmup. Better MPG means engine worked less.

 

[Trukbed]

 

[Oxford_Powerboost]

I remember in high school my cousin would pick me up and we'd drive to school. He was my neighbor. He had a brand new mustang back in the 80s. I'd get in his freezing car. He'd drive it down the country roads just waiting for it to be able to give up some heat in the car.

I'll never forget those days. It was appalling to me, even at 16. LoL

When a cold engine in cold season starts it idles higher... even a cold engine in summer, just for not as long. The oil psi needs to be near 40psi to get the oil dispersed. Once normalized with proper lubrication, the engine gets back to around 18 to 20psi, and as a result the rpms normalize.

What my cousin was doing was working his crankcase, pistons, valves, with little lubrication, just to get heat through the vents. EEESH!

The heat eventually came, of course, but at the expense of that poor engine.

Cold is going to stress your engine no matter what. But the 3 best ways to minimize the hurts would be a block heater, and if not that, letting it warm up with the least amount of RPM stress as possible.

I'd suggest to anyone to do this test. Since MPG is an indicator of engine load and stress, try this:

Do a cold morning routine without warming at idle, and go your first 5 minutes. Look at your MPGs.

Then on a different identical morning, be fair, do that first 5 minute drive after a good warmup. Drive the same. Check those MPGs. With this scenario you should shut off and restart the d150 to restart the This Trip Meter. The idling at 0MPH will skew the results.

You should see better MPGs with a good warmup. Better MPG means engine worked less.

I’ll definitely do this test when a good time comes and post the results. I’ve always given my vehicles a minute or two in the cold before pulling off. I’m lucky enough to have a garage big enough for the truck as well

 

[Trukbed]

I’ll definitely do this test when a good time comes and post the results. I’ve always given my vehicles a minute or two in the cold before pulling off. I’m lucky enough to have a garage big enough for the truck as well

Mine is a foot too short! Time to move to a farm and build a barn.

 

[pkinneb]

I remember in high school my cousin would pick me up and we'd drive to school. He was my neighbor. He had a brand new mustang back in the 80s. I'd get in his freezing car. He'd drive it down the country roads just waiting for it to be able to give up some heat in the car.

I'll never forget those days. It was appalling to me, even at 16. LoL

When a cold engine in cold season starts it idles higher... even a cold engine in summer, just for not as long. The oil psi needs to be near 40psi to get the oil dispersed. Once normalized with proper lubrication, the engine gets back to around 18 to 20psi, and as a result the rpms normalize.

What my cousin was doing was working his crankcase, pistons, valves, with little lubrication, just to get heat through the vents. EEESH!

The heat eventually came, of course, but at the expense of that poor engine.

Cold is going to stress your engine no matter what. But the 3 best ways to minimize the hurts would be a block heater, and if not that, letting it warm up with the least amount of RPM stress as possible.

I'd suggest to anyone to do this test. Since MPG is an indicator of engine load and stress, try this:

Do a cold morning routine without warming at idle, and go your first 5 minutes. Look at your MPGs.

Then on a different identical morning, be fair, do that first 5 minute drive after a good warmup. Drive the same. Check those MPGs. With this scenario you should shut off and restart the d150 to restart the This Trip Meter. The idling at 0MPH will skew the results.

You should see better MPGs with a good warmup. Better MPG means engine worked less.

I remember a Jan funeral, about 30 yrs ago, in ND where we put charcoal under the cars so they would start lol. Now I have a heated garage so at least on one end it shouldn't be an issue

 

[Pibblemobile]

This is my biggest concern. I’ve had 1 hybrid and 1 plug in hybrid both sucked fuel and electricity in the cold

 

[ekaddo]

had a cool night in North Carolina, usually start truck and it’s electric until I leave subdivision, when I put heat on 72 , engine fired up and graphic said reason (“heater setting”):

 

[Tosh]

All good advice, Fer Shure!

Don't forget about your tire pressure as well. Mine lost 5PSI when the overnight temps dropped at the turn of the season.

In my region, 92 octane non-ethanol gasoline is available. this gas has no "winter blend", and without the ethanol, it's less likely to bond with water. I believe (though I have no proof) that this improves MPG's in the cold wet weather

 

[Kliza]

had a cool night in North Carolina, usually start truck and it’s electric until I leave subdivision, when I put heat on 72 , engine fired up and graphic said reason (“heater setting”):

Where did you get this view from? I don't remember seeing it as I was going through the screens.

 

[SteveP150]

Where did you get this view from? I don't remember seeing it as I was going through the screens.

That's the Power Flow screen under the Features tab on the central display.

And yes, where I am in Park City, it's in the 20s in the mornings now, and it definitely takes longer to warm up to where it can use the battery, and MPG seems worse on short trips than in the warmer part of the day.
Probably will try starting the truck 5-10min early.

 

[ekaddo]

Where did you get this view from? I don't remember seeing it as I was going through the screens.

I believe it’s called Powerflow in the vehicle settings menu I set it as a favorite

 

[Slacker]

New to Forum but have been reading for a while now received lots of good info! I plugged in my Block Heater yesterday for the 1st time here in Northern Michigan. Temps at night are about 30 and hi 40s during day. Started it a couple times today for few minutes to see how fast temp gauge starts to climb. After a couple minutes it started to move. Trying to get an idea on how much it’s Actually heating the Engine Block. I know the Radiator would be full of cold water and start circulating when starting. Going to start and time it to full operating temp tomorrow and then do it again another morning without block heater. Anyone else have any info or quick checks to see if it’s heating?

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