Best Driving Mode for Long Trips

SpaceEVDriver

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Except not using the cruise when climbing steep hills. It'll punch it to keep that speed. Unless you really want to keep that time and can afford the KW loss on investment.
That’s the sort of bad practice that creates traffic jams, slowing down for no other reason than there is a hill in front you. I’d argue there are other things to take into account than just efficiency when driving.

The 405 in LA going from the valley into the west side is a prime example of this.
Yeah, if you're in traffic, keep the speed of traffic even if it's not the most efficient. In my many long road trips with the Mustang, I've been in traffic and been on a freeway with nobody around.

When I'm in traffic, I find a lane that's going a consistently moderate speed and stick with it.

When I'm going at freeway speeds without traffic, I set a speed but will slow down going up a hill if I need to conserve energy.
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azerik

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That’s the sort of bad practice that creates traffic jams, slowing down for no other reason than there is a hill in front you. I’d argue there are other things to take into account than just efficiency when driving.

The 405 in LA going from the valley into the west side is a prime example of this.
Phoenix to Flag 5300 ish foot of elevation change in 180 miles, plus up and down again in the middle another 3rd of the elevation change. Someone might think the cruise is going to just keep it the same ‘mileage’ because, well cruise control. It’s another EV learning curve as you don’t have a power meter anywhere on this car (non gtpe) that can tell you how much your quiet cruise control is actually doing. The GOM surely will be 15 minutes to late.

I didn’t say slow to 35. I meant be aware that 75+ up a big ass hill is gonna coat some KW. It’s very easy to not realize. The average ICE speed I see is 85+. There’s no way around ‘not slowing down traffic’ in a state where there are hardly any cops to give a ticket.
 

ChuckA

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Has there been any research done to determine which driving mode is best for freeway miles? I’m planning a trip and would love to know what’s most efficient.
BlueCruise or Intelligent Cruise Control. Driving mode doesn’t matter.
 

ToddH

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Others have answered the question but here's a bit of real world data. I have a 2021 MME Premium X RWD with a rated range when purchased of 300 miles. I have made several long trips in California where I drove in excess of 320 miles without charging and still had about 15 miles of range left when I charged. Trips were made at the posted speed limits of 65 MPH or less. I can't get that kind of range when driving at 70 MPH.
 

SpaceEVDriver

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Phoenix to Flag 5300 ish foot of elevation change in 180 miles, plus up and down again in the middle another 3rd of the elevation change. Someone might think the cruise is going to just keep it the same ‘mileage’ because, well cruise control. It’s another EV learning curve as you don’t have a power meter anywhere on this car (non gtpe) that can tell you how much your quiet cruise control is actually doing. The GOM surely will be 15 minutes to late.

I didn’t say slow to 35. I meant be aware that 75+ up a big ass hill is gonna coat some KW. It’s very easy to not realize. The average ICE speed I see is 85+. There’s no way around ‘not slowing down traffic’ in a state where there are hardly any cops to give a ticket.
Yeah, there are several bad sections on 17, and I agree that in places like those one shouldn't be on cruise control, but that's as much because of the dangers from other drivers as the drop in efficiency...
 


CAL465

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Whisper mode paired with BlueCruise works best for me.
 

intensifi

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On my ‘23 GT the computer disabled the mode that should be called sport when my charge level dropped under a certain threshold.

I think that indicates which mode NOT to be in to maximize range.
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