[Scobea63]

Hi Folks, got a 2020 with 3.5 L twin turbo eco boost and only 17,000 miles I bought new. It’s my daily driver and not driving it hard. Never really checked mpg until recently. Digital display showing avg 13.5 mpg around town. When I do actual calculation after full tank fill-up I am getting 10.6-12mpg. I live in Central NY so gas with additives for winter. Using 87 octane. This is way too low for this engine. Should be at least 17-18.
Any ideas why I am getting such poor gas mileage??

 

[Boatwaco]

Short trips, winter fuel, possibly a lot of warm-up idling, lower octane rated fuel, etc. may and will all contribute to the lower MPG. Keep tracking the MPG by hand to see impacts as you get out of the winter blended fuel.
I would suggest you try a higher octane rated fuel as well. We have anecdotal comments here on the forum that some folks get better MPG with higher octane rated fuel.

Have you taken the truck on any long highway trips and seen an increase in MPG?

 

[mass-hole]

If youre just driving around town and never getting the thing up to temperature then I am not surprised. It takes my truck >30 minutes driving at 55 mph most of the time to get the transmission near operating temperature.

I lose nearly 15% mpg in the winter. Summer I was ~18, winter I would be around 16.

 

[Jäse]

Winter, short trip, 87 octane...all will contribute to the lower mpg. I lose 1 mpg using 87 instead of 93. Anecdotally, using lower octane may also result in greater fuel dilution, so be sure to use a good quality oil and keep your oil change interval short. The biggest improvement is generally use of the right foot. If you can stay under 2,500 RPM, you'll be bored, but your mpg will improve by reducing time spent in boost.

 

[Upshifter]

There are a couple recurring themes to inquiries around here.

"I thought my MPG would be higher" is definitely one, and understandable since many folks are attracted to the "Eco" part of the engine name.

But to me "Eco" refers to what is possible only under ideal conditions - fully warmed up, on the highway, good gas, staying out of the boost & off the hills.

Outside of those conditions, it gets just as bad MPG as any engine does that makes similar power while pulling a similar weighing truck.

Then in winter, lots of idling and winter gas make it terrible.

My own non-towing MPG range has been 11.5 - 19.5.

 

[snakebitten]

I wittingly sacrifice a couple of mpg for the shear joy of being the pacesetter on my daily commute rather than the pace follower.

It's from decades of street riding on motorcycles and avoiding being boxed in at almost all cost. I can't shake the call, if you know what I mean.

It's why I'm the bullseye for the Ecoboost F150 customer. I'm not exactly a Boost launcher or anything like that, but I absolutely will roll into a 17psi maneuver to get some space between me and the perceived threats.

I'm thrilled with how the jekyll/Hyde personality disorder of these trucks provide a nice balance for performance/economy.

 

[Scott91370]

Outside of those conditions, it gets just as bad MPG as any engine does that makes similar power while pulling a similar weighing truck.

My own non-towing MPG range has been 11.5 - 19.5.

Mine has never been a MPG machine. If I have a tailwind I can run 75mph and get 16mpg. If I keep under 70mph I might see 17mpg. The only time I got good mileage is when I was following my daughter's school bus (ok more like drafting) going only 60mph and my distance to empty actually kept getting higher for the 2 hour trip. Final mpg on the digital readout was something like 24.

I do agree with a lot of other here. Short, city (stop/go) trips will just kill the MPG and, dare I say, these engines. They need to be warmed up - as do most modern vehicles.

 

[snakebitten]

Drafting a bus is fun if the kids in the back are hilarious. They are supposed to be, after all.

 

[Scobea63]

Thanks everyone for all your input. All the points made are well taken and understood. I am aware of all that you have said that can detract from good mpg especially during winter. Most of my driving is short commute to and from work about 4 miles each way with a lot of start/stop. Not too much highway driving. I keep RPMs 2000 or less almost at all times except initial take off from stop sometimes. It just seems like despite all the negatives of winter, that I should do a little better than 12MPG at best. I do have a Leer cap on the back of the truck I just added last fall. From reviews I have seen about having a cap, it does not make a huge difference in MPG-maybe 1mpg less. I just have a sense that there may be something off in the tuning of my engine creating such low mpg. I will keep checking and see what happens when I get out of winter months.

 

[Mulyhuntr]

12 doesn't seem out of the norm with winter fuel, short trips, and stop n go.

 

[RuggedGoods]

I mean, 12 mpg stinks, but you just described the absolute worst case mpg scenario - 4 mile trips in winter. Not even close to fully warmed up by the time you are already shutting it off. Even an economy sedan would struggle to stay above 20 in those conditions.

What gas station do you regularly use? Is it top-tier gas?

I don't think your leer cap will hurt mpg much at all, to be honest. As long as its not a high rise cap that increase the effective frontal area of the vehicle.

Do you park inside a garage at night? I think we could all benefit from block heaters, to pre-warm the engine before starting our commutes. I'm not looking forward to draining my coolant to install one myself, but I guess it's a good excuse for a coolant flush.

 

[Scobea63]

Thanks Mulyhuntr and RuggedGoods for the input.

Top-tier gas is an interesting topic. Does anyone know of a reliable resource that reviews and compares gasoline companies with well defined parameters to compare apples to apples with each gasoline product?

My Leer cap is level with top of cab, not extended height.

Parking in garage not an option for me at this time. Engine block heater interesting consideration now that you mention it and so many comments about the importance of a warm engine. I have always thought of the necessity of a block heater for diesel engines in the winter but not so much a gas engine.

I am also beginning to wonder if being a turbo contributes to winter MPG loss too. Would a naturally aspirated engine perform better in winter like the 5.0 Coyote or 5.3 /6.2 GM engines or Ram V6 or V8? The Ram Hemi seems to always be top of the pack for guzzling gas but probably would still beat my 12mpg 3.5L ecoboost turbo in the winter.

I appreciate all the feedback from everyone.

 

[snakebitten]

If you were to cruise the forum and come across the mpg posts regarding the Powerboost F150, it might create fuel economy envy.
But if you were to ask those same fellas posting 24-27mpg screenshots to post a screenshot at only 4 miles into a winter (<40F) coldstart commute?

I've seen mine in the 11-15mpg range at that point.
It's just a big fat heavy coldstart Twin Turbo 3.5 Ecoboost at 3 or 4 miles.

 

[RuggedGoods]

I'm still learning the fuel economy patterns of my '19 3.5 ecoboost. But it seems like the first 3-4 miles in winter cold I am in the 10-12 mpg range, but then it quickly moves up to the ~18 mpg range after that once warmed up. All suburb/country cruising for me.

 

[snakebitten]

I'm still learning the fuel economy patterns of my '19 3.5 ecoboost. But it seems like the first 3-4 miles in winter cold I am in the 10-12 mpg range, but then it quickly moves up to the ~18 mpg range after that once warmed up. All suburb/country cruising for me.

See?
You are just as fuel efficient as a Powerboost for the first 3-4 miles.
You don't need no stinkin "most unreliable truck in America" when you already have the second most unreliable truck in America. 🤣

Sorry, just couldn't resist.

The Ecoboost gets some crazy negative press. It's really the King of the 1/2 ton world, much to the chagrin of so many. 😁

 

[RuggedGoods]

hahaha. Whats your PB lifetime avg? I know you drive fast sometimes. But I'll use your avg as my summer time full-tank mpg goal.

 

[snakebitten]

Trip 1 is lifetime.
12,xxx miles currently
It's at 21.0
It's been as high as 21.3 but dropped during the winter.

Of course it includes my towing miles (utility trailer, NOT RV) and my Interstate 10 trips to San Antonio and back to see my dad. A Powerboost is just an Ecoboost on Interstate 10. Lol

 

[Mulyhuntr]

You're driving a $50K truck and complaining about $2.20 per day in fuel. Not something I'd lose sleep over or even consider trading trucks over. Even a jump to 16mpg saves you only $.58/day....not something someone in a $50K truck should be fussing about.

 

[Upshifter]

I keep RPMs 2000 or less almost at all times except initial take off from stop sometimes.

Indeed, scenarios you described are about worst case unfortunately, and to me, corroborate your reported mileage.

Anymore, my wife basically only does runs to the school drop off and grocery store, both less than 2 miles away, and is lucky to get 20 mpg from her compact economy car in the winter.

Anyway, one of the only differences between your ecoboost and similar NA engines is that at lower rpms the engine can use more boost and therefore fuel than it might at higher rpms, and vs a comprable NA motor at the same RPM.

No exact science or guarantees, but you might see slightly better mileage if you use the transmission gear selector to limit gears to keep RPMS actually above 2k. Driving in Sport mode is similar. May also help with warming up?

But even if so, it may not be enough difference to warrant the hassle.

 

[snakebitten]

Took a few pics this morning to illustrate the variation that folks can experience between identical trucks, but different driving circumstances.

There's a percentage of folks that purchase a truck based on the fuel mileage that others report, only to be disappointed when they get completely different results. So let's say that you see multiple fellas getting 22, or 23, or more with their truck. I do consistently.

You purchase the same truck and you are getting 16 or 17?

This is what I was at 3 miles into the drive this morning:

Note the 12 minutes. If it wasn't for the ~6 minutes that I spent talking to my daughter as I passed by her heading out, the mileage actually would have been worse at 3 miles. Those 6 minutes gave the truck time to both charge up the battery, which afforded the 1.1 mile of EV, and to get the coolant up to temp much earlier in the trip.
Also it was 75F. In winter temps and no 5 minute warmup, the 14mpg would have been 10-12mpg.

You should hear the gnashing of teeth by the guy getting 12-14mpg out of his Powerboost. You can't convince him that he doesn't have a lemon.

Because the coolant is warm, the next mile is 50% EV. What a difference 1 more mile in your commute can be if we are talking 3 VS 4 miles.

So would if your daily commute was 10 miles instead of 3?
I suspect that the difference would be phenomenal regardless of whether it's a 3.5 Ecoboost or a Powerboost. 10 miles is a world of difference from 3.

Here is the end of my daily commute TO the office on a typical mild weather day.

Same commute home tonight, except I worked late, so it appears that the much lighter traffic coming out of Houston resulted in a better overall flow, if you will.
(I do take a little shorter route home than I usually do going because of habit)
Shear coincidence that the total trip time was almost identical. The conversation with my daughter was matched by a choochoo train on the second leg today.

Point is, short trippers are often underestimating the impact on fuel economy. And I also believe they could be affected by fuel dilution at a much higher rate too.

It takes more fuel and more oil changes and more maintenance overall to have the convenience of that really short ride to the office.