Ford Kuga/Escape Plug-In Hybrid - real-life consumption with empty battery

I show you how efficiently the Ford Kuga/Escape can be driven, even without the battery charged. You'll be surprised to see the result!
I have also done an electric range test, which you can find here: • Ford Kuga/Escape Plug-...
Car was provided by Autopark Innsbruck, Tyrol, Austria www.autopark.at/

[@elliex20]

Thank you for the test. It is very rare to see fuel consumption in PHEVs even though it is very important in my opinion.

[@ecodriver1746]

Thank you, you're welcome.

[@sgt.flippy]

I love my Kuga, went for a first refuel last week. I did 2500 kms, with an average fuel consumption of 1.4 l/100km. The car told me I did 2080 kms full electric. And I filled around 35 liters into the tank, so that works out to around 8 l/100 km, from just the engine kms. Not bad at all, since our 1.5 Ecoboost Kuga uses the same, but for every km, always. I'm very pleased with these results and can't forget the sidenote, the engine was mostly on for motorways and some power testing/accelerations for fun. I'm also off work after 2 weeks of the 2 months of ownership. If I did my commute with it daily, I'd expect a lot more kms from 1 tank, now we did a lot of daytrips, we wouldn't have done otherwise.

[@ecodriver1746]

You seem to use it perfectly!! I first refuelled my Volvo XC90 T8 after 3000 kms, and it's so satisfactory to drive a PHEV :)

[@sgt.flippy]

@@ecodriver1746 I like to believe I do! Oh ps: watched some of your videos before and while waiting for the car to arrive. Got me all excited and believing in the car. And it all came out great. So thank you! Came back here through a link from the Ford Kuga/Escape PHEV owners Facebook page.

[@ecodriver1746]

I'm pleased I could help and I'm happy for you :)

[@cosmonautGR]

@@ecodriver1746 How long can you keep the fuel inside a PHEV without it getting bad? I read three months, so is the best strategy not to fill the car completely unless you plan to do a long trip?

[@ecodriver1746]

That's recommendable, you're right.

[@bobmeister0253]

Hi Helmut thanks so much for this! I ordered my Kuga PHEV based on your excellent review 12 months ago. The car was finally delivered 2 weeks ago. The fuel economy is amazing! The Electric range on the clock says 28 miles after charging (cold weather at moment). When the hybrid mode takes over it does a great job. Often in traffic or on the motorway it slips back into Pure EV and the MPG that I'm seeing is very impressive! At the weekend I will drive the car 250 miles with zero battery.....this should give me the pure Hybrid mileage. You are right, so many "experts" say negative things about some PHEV's but so far I have been really impressed. Many thanks again. I will update mile findings in a few days time

[@ecodriver1746]

Great to hear!

[@TheBlendSE]

Thank you for this video. It is really helpful. I am expecting my kuga phev on May, and I am a trying to learn more on how to best take advantage of the fuel economy features of the car.

[@ecodriver1746]

You're welcome and I hope you enjoy your new car. I really liked the Kuga, it's a very good car.

[@Allwillbealrightinfuture]

Very good result!! Thanks for your job!!

[@ecodriver1746]

Thanks, you`re welcome!

[@burninsound]

Thank you for the video. Just order my Kuga PHEV and expected to arrive next week, with my typical use I expect to refuel mid 2024 😂

Last time I fueled end February 2024. And still a long way to go I expect. All depends on trips.

[@johnsos24]

Hello Helmut, when you’re coasting on the decent would cruise control not be used? Thank you for all the wonderful videos and information!!

[@yuriradomskyi7966]

Correction: 49.7 km is not purely electric drive, but any electric drive: pure electric + hybrid. Overal nice review, but the numbers I get from mixed driving are quite different. in my case of mixed driving (city, highway) without charging the car, I get 5.8-5.9 l/100km. So far from 3.7. I think you get this milage because of the type mostly city driving and the specifics of you route.

[@user-rx8qq8sk9ydv1ce5ib]

Hi. Thx for the video. Why the petrol engine didn’t charge the battery when operating on gas only?! Isn’t it besides being PHEV is a hybrid too?

[@ecodriver1746]

On the beginning it did (on the way up), so that I covered the hills without petrol engine. Normally, once the battery has a socket-SOC (in most cases around 1-2 kWh) it only charges when you set it to do so.

Hi thank you for that data! However always got the same perspective although it's said it's wrong on PHEVs. On combustion it's been 26.5kms being the time that fuel consumption took place... Taking that in consideration that would give us the real consumption of the car being quite different from those 3.7l as they are based on the total kms while electric engine doesn't consume fuel. Do you see my point? Danke schön! BTW i am an owner of Kuga PHEV.

[@user-rx8qq8sk9ydv1ce5ib]

Would you please explain if I am driving the car for long drive, assuming that I will use the full battery for the first 60 Km , after how much km driving on petrol the battery will be fully recharged to be available for another 60 km of electric driving

[@ecodriver1746]

Difficult to say, as the charging rate depends on how much power (load) you need from the engine for driving.

Hello Helmut, thank you very much for all these very interesting tests, I really appreciate it. I have a question: didn't you make a mistake with the consumption on Hills ? You wrote 0.0L/100km. You mean that the Kuga used only the electric mode on hills ???

[@randomdriving344]

That's true, but all that happened because he started in Charge Mode and in my opinion that's the reason why he got that consumption at the end

​@@randomdriving344 Seems odd... That show it's more effective to drive in charge mode during the climb ! Strange !!!

[@randomdriving344]

@ I think that at the end you can get same result, need more testing 🤣

[@JXP93]

Hey Ecodriver, at 2:09 it pops up saying brake coach - is this your braking efficiency? if so does this mean how efficient you're in braking at regening the battery or something around those lines? Interested in my first ever plug-in hybrid so never seen this before - thank you!

[@ecodriver1746]

Hi, yes, this is a Ford-specific feature. 100 % indicates that you managed to brake 100% electrically. The more the friction brakes have to be used (because you brake to hard and exceed the regen ability of the electric motor) the lower this number will be. Next week I will upload a video about the specifics in driving plug-in hybrids efficiently. In the meantime you can have a look at this ;) kzbin.info/www/bejne/oXbZXmaFf8xpqbM

[@JXP93]

@@ecodriver1746 hi , thank you for the very fast reply and your explanation! That's very interesting and a different way of driving. When I was taught to drive a few years ago I was told to let engine braking to do most of the leg work and brake gradually when you need to. I've found on my diseal even with short journeys I can get 50-55mpg however I wonder what I could achieve with a phev. I look forward to your next video coming out. I will subscribe and keep an eye out for your videos! When you drove the Kuga how did you find the transition from electric to engine? Smooth? Janky? Also how did you find the engine when picking up speed quickly? Thank you . Look forward to future videos.

[@ecodriver1746]

You're welcome! Re Kuga: Transition between drive modes is very smooth, what I like in the Fords is the quietness of the engine (compared to a let's say Toyota) as long as you don't floor it. If you require lots of power it is a bit loud, however, the Kuga has a rather big engine (2,5 ltrs), which means you have a lot of torque at lower revs, and as long as you're driving "normally" I'm sure it's no disturbance.

[@toddyboy2k7]

You never drive these in (L) mode. Why? I find regenerating is much more efficient this way as you use the accelerator pedal to feather the regen rather than the brake, making jt more efficient

[@tranquilbeginnings8174]

I'm sure the car didn't recharge the battery while you were using the engine because if you have it in auto it constantly uses the charge to help take load off the engine so everytime it builds some charge it uses it up simultaneously. If you had put it in ev charge mode then the engine would have prioritised recharging the battery at the cost of extra fuel. At least this is whT I have learnt from my kuga phev.

[@ecodriver1746]

That's what I've thought too, thanks.

[@jesusisoursavior2682]

si what mode when climbing uphill? nothing? on fuel?

[@jeffwest7419]

Do you recommend charging to 100% or to 90 or even 80% to extend battery life?

[@ecodriver1746]

Depends on your needs. If you need the full capacity I'd charge fully up, otherwise I'd go to 80% max.

[@BarryObaminable]

I would go to 80 or 90% that way if you go downhill when starting trip, you can recoup the energy. if you are at 100%, you cant.

Well I always charge full. Just think that the manufacturer already prevents that by the useful kWh. Kuga batt is 14.4 being a net capacity of 10.6 leaving a 3.8 so being this 10.6 net capacity into the percentage margins to keep a good health of the batt. Explained in an Spanish channel called Motor K.

[@miodragzivanovic9922]

Hi Helmut, again me :) I am preparing for a long trip to Greece and over 700Km I will spend on Highway. What wold be the best recommendation for driving on the Highway, PHEV's cars. Which Mode to use for the best useage of the Battery and Fuel? Of course I mean on "normal" driving between 110 km/h to 130 km/h What is your experience with your Volvo x90? (I suppose Driving mode's are similar with Ford Kuga PHEV)

[@ecodriver1746]

If you do long motorway trips it depends on what's coming after the motorway. If I do those trips and the trip ends shortly after the motorway I go in "normal" hybrid mode. If I have to go a longer distance off the motorway at lower speeds I charge the battery on the motorway to a SOC which I presumably will use afterwards.

[@miodragzivanovic9922]

@@ecodriver1746 hi Helmut. Thnx for your message. I have used Eco mode + Save battery for later on 25% of battery and my results of 600km of highway and the rest on the open road are interesting: 1. From Belgrade to North Macedonia border: Average speed 120km/h, 5.9l/100km, 370.8km, Electric 59.8km 2. From Serbian-North Macedonia border to North Macedonia-Greece border: Average speed 110km/h, 5.6l/100km, 541.7km, Electric 118.4km 3. From Greece border to Hotel in Sithonia: Average speed 80km/h, 5.2l/100km, 729.3km, 224km Electric

[@miodragzivanovic9922]

That is with my Ford Kuga PHEV. When I go back, I am planing just to use Normal in Eco mode without Battery savings for later, as I think I could produce and use more battery without saving due to a lot of Hills in the mentioned route

[@telebog]

@@miodragzivanovic9922 thank you for sharing your experience. One question. From the Greece Border to the hotel how many times did you charged it to go 224km Electric?

[@miodragzivanovic9823]

@@telebog Hi! I have charged only once in Belgrade, from my starting point. That 224km Electric I have made upon full trip of 729.3km from Belgrade, Serbia to Hotel in Halkidiki, Greece.

[@jesusisoursavior2682]

what is yor recomended mode when going to uphill?

[@ecodriver1746]

I'd say hybrid, as the electric engine isn't strong enough.

[@jesusisoursavior2682]

i mean what is name of the ev mode there is 4 mode right . thank you my car is new kuga im learning for now your great video it helps a lot. im using plug in hybrid

[@BrianFraser]

Probably Sport mode as it uses both Engine and battery and via a very twisty and changeble elevation charges the battery quickly

[@johnmckinlay9538]

I know this was ages ago, but I have this phev and on a journey of about 100 miles I charge it first and plan when to use electric. Start off in electric, once on the motorway I switch to the engine charging the battery and on hills back to electric. In Scotland basically I use electric going up hill and charge it on the way down.

[@nissetuta]

Is it worth it using charge mode on Downhill?

[@ecodriver1746]

Hi. I wouldn't recommend that. The engine can only produce a certain amount of energy with rather restricted power output. So if you are braking downhill you are already getting very close to the maximum of that and if you then have another source of energy already charging the battery (who itself can only be charged at a certain intensity) you are quite surely exceeding that and the energy produced from braking is wasted. Also, normally, on a downhill the engine is off as not much (or no at all) power is needed and then it would be running just to charge the battery, that's at a rather low load (as there is nothing other to drive than the alternator) and that's very inefficient (it's different when, at the same time, the car is moved by the ICE). So in short: no

[@jesusisoursavior2682]

so what is your suggestion what ev mode is good when climbing uphill and going downhill? thanks i see your video no ev mode only gasoline eat to much gasoline

[@miodragzivanovic9922]

Hi @ecodriver, Do you maybe know whether This Ford Kuga and Toyota RAV4 Plug in versions are using the same engine? And what is your personal opinion between Ford Kuga and Totoya RAV4 Plug-in's?

[@ecodriver1746]

Hi, machines are from Ford and Toyota, but they are very similar, both Atkinson, similar displacement and power. Also the hybrid-components are very similar, as the Fords is based on Toyotas. I only get the RAV4 PHEV to drive in the next two weeks, but I think I'll get over 100 kms out of it, Kuga was just below 80 kms, so I'd probably go witht the RAV4.

[@miodragzivanovic9922]

@@ecodriver1746 thank you for your quick response. Toyota dealers and they told me that they don't have RAV4 PHEV available before October (even If I order it now)....I was so sad when I heard that....but from the other side, I have asked Ford delears for Kuga ST line PHEV and they told me that Only One is available at the moment :) So, It seems it will be mine after Car Show :) I will let you know if that will happened & I will try to use all of your advice which you mentioned for the Efficient driving PHEV's.

[@ecodriver1746]

If you have to wait from now until only October you are a lucky man! I ordered a new Volvo 2 weeks ago, will be delivered not before February, fortunately I don't need it until March. Other manufacturers stopped taking orders at all or have waiting times until 2025 (for specific models).

[@miodragzivanovic9922]

@@ecodriver1746 uhhh...that is a lot. Yeah for Volvo they told me that delivery is in 1 year or Maybe less it depends of the Package

[@fofo1999tcs]

interesting comparig kuga phev empity with fhev....impressive 3.7 avaradge vs 4.4....dispite the weight of a 14.4kw battery versus 1.1. Do you think it is due to the greater sponge effect of the larger battery? i know that phev uses 3 kwh for hybrid use.

[@TWARDOWSKY.]

You recommend using L or not?

[@ecodriver1746]

Personally I don't, as it leads to digital driving (either accelerating or braking) and that's not efficient.

[@donnie7977]

Ford explained L stands for „low gear“ and it’s especially useful when going downhill with a fully loaded car or a trailer.

Downhill depending on the descent rate but city driving yes.

[@alexa795]

This number are absolutely not real life consumption figures. In the winter time this SUV don’t have heat pump as its have Toyota Raw 4 plug in model. As it’s so, Ford engine it’s almost all the time on because engine uses to heat inside of the SUV. Fuel consumption in winter month it’s between 7,4 - 8,5L/100km.

[@sologog8129]

But you can preheat car when its plugged in before you start your drive. And Kuga can preheat or precool when its not plugged in, bc it has electric heating and dont need engine heat.

[@stuartpittard3153]

My brother was given a Kuga PHEV for a week while his BEV was off the road he does a lot of motorway miles and his average consumption was 32 mpg with a low battery, the answer is PHEV great for short journeys if you charge the battery.

[@Spiritualwarfare587]

Whats the point buying this car . More electric more problems and not economical. Diesel is best option. And i dont drive 80kmh i will do 120-130h on highways

[@simotaivalkoski1537]

That's bull crap, to be honest. With PHEV you can drive around town with electricity and overall consumption is low. My previous car was Opel Ampera and 12 months consumption in mixed driving was 1,5 l/100 km. Try to beat that with ordinary diesel. On longer journeys consumption was 6 l/100 km of E85.

[@jirioliva]

What is the point to buying diesel when you mostly do short journeys around the town?

[@sologog8129]

Well, bc diesel have egr and dpf filter and in city they are death trap.