Horrific Gas Mileage Hemi eTorque

[ExcursionDiesel]

Does the eco light ever come on at 70mph and above?

On mine, at 70mph the wind resistance is greater than the threshold where ECO/MDS mode can stay on. It will come on if there is a slight downhill grade. 63 mph is the fastest I can go on flat ground with a steady ECO light on.

 

[Jtr]

After resetting the trip and driving about 40 miles of normal rural road and town driving I'm showing 19.3 average. Confirmed with dealership this morning that I received the e-tourqe updates before this past Saturday's delivery. I only have about 150 miles on odo

 

[cruz-in]

About 800 miles on mine.

Just completed an 80 mile trip through rolling hill country with about 12 stoplights . Made a stop for drinks and another for an appointment. Average speed limit was about 50. Used Adaptive cruise . Ended up with 20.3 miles per gallon.

 

[upstateram]

About 800 miles on mine.

Just completed an 80 mile trip through rolling hill country with about 12 stoplights . Made a stop for drinks and another for an appointment. Average speed limit was about 50. Used Adaptive cruise . Ended up with 20.3 miles per gallon.

I can tell you right now that my truck, which has 900 miles on it, would get about 15mpg in that scenario.

 

[cruz-in]

About 800 miles on mine.

Just completed an 80 mile trip through rolling hill country with about 12 stoplights . Made a stop for drinks and another for an appointment. Average speed limit was about 50. Used Adaptive cruise . Ended up with 20.3 miles per gallon.

At the stop lights I was doing a fairly gentle start, trying to see what MPGs I could get.

Even with the gentle starts, I was surprised at the mileage. With the hills, the "eco" was not on much.

 

[cruz-in]

What I find most interesting about the gas mileage issue is Motor Trend, in awarding the Ram Truck of the Year had this to say:

"The result is that Ram has the most efficient V-8 in its class; the V-8 eTorque is EPA-rated at 17/23/19 mpg city/highway/combined with rear drive or 17/22/19 with four-wheel drive. Non-eTorque Ram V-8s net 15/22/17 (rear drive) or 15/21/17 (four-wheel drive) mpg. Our Real MPG testing of the V-8 models generally falls in line with the EPA's results, but our eTorque V-8-powered 1500 Limited 4x4 beat the feds' numbers with an 18.7/22.6/20.3 score. "

Link to Motor Trend Truck of the Year Article

 

[upstateram]

Interestingly enough, I drove this morning on the highway with cruise control on at about 50mph and I did seem to be getting 20-22mpg. A few hundred miles ago I took it on a road trip where I also used cruise control but at higher speeds (about 72mph) and I was getting about 16.5mpg. I'm definitely interested to see what happens after I get the RRT's tomorrow but all this is starting to make sense.

 

[ExcursionDiesel]

Peak sustained economy on my truck is at 45mph on flat ground, no cruise....25-26 mpg. It drops as speed increases.

Cruise control does NOT help economy. I doubt it was used in the EPA test.

 

[riccnick]

Cruise control is NOT used in EPA testing. From what I understand, there are actual human operators that follow a "throttle map" for the test, essentially best fitting their throttle pressure to a guideline throughout the test. (Obviously this is for all EPA mileage testing, not just for the Rams)

 

[alow]

Yeah I've tried cruise control for just a bit and it came back pretty bad vs my foot. It wasnt a huge distance in its defense.

 

[ExcursionDiesel]

I just had a thought.

The DRIVER uses gas, not the truck. The truck has a maximum capability but the driver decides how close to follow optimum efficiency. Must just chose to drive as they please.

That's why mpg reports are highly variable.

 

[cmdr bobert]

I just had a thought.

The DRIVER uses gas, not the truck. The truck has a maximum capability but the driver decides how close to follow optimum efficiency. Must just chose to drive as they please.

That's why mpg reports are highly variable.

That is probably part of it, but it's not all of it.

I ran a test on a nearby stretch of highway where it is flat or gradually declines over a period of 10 miles in no traffic at 55 mph. I drove in the right lane, generally foot off gas or light gas except when I initially merged onto traffic, and over that stretch in the trip gauge I achieved 17.1 mpg.

There is definitely something amiss with some of the eTorque V8 Hemis.

 

[ExcursionDiesel]

That is probably part of it, but it's not all of it.

I ran a test on a nearby stretch of highway where it is flat or gradually declines over a period of 10 miles in no traffic at 55 mph. I drove in the right lane, generally foot off gas or light gas except when I initially merged onto traffic, and over that stretch in the trip gauge I achieved 17.1 mpg.

There is definitely something amiss with some of the eTorque V8 Hemis.

Resetting the mpg meter while driving 55 on perfectly flat ground should display avg 20-21 mpg. It does on my 3.92 Off Road Group truck. I run 42 front 40 rear psi in the Falcon AT tires.

If your tires are aired up and not showing signs of misallignment, I'd be seeing the dealer for the updates if your getting 17 mpg in the above test.

 

[muzack]

I don't have e-torque(regretting that now, and trading in is a 10K loss), but have been consistently getting 11.5-12mpg. Brought it back to the dealer twice now and the first time they applied some updates that briefly helped but then it slowly but surely dragged back down to < 12. Though I'm not really sure what normal "city" driving characteristics should be. I live in a fairly dense city(Portland OR), and driving for me is lots of 25-35 mph, with plenty of stop signs/lights along the way. Though still from my perspective, that's "city" driving, and I'm getting much lower than what was advertised. And often when I'm driving on the highway the mileage just stays pinned to where it was, or even sometimes degrades more. I do like to punch it on occasion but I've been driving it with a pretty light foot as well, and the eco light comes on about 50% of the time.

I just hit 1K mileage, but this seems really bad even for the break in period. Wondering if anyone else is getting this level of bad mileage with "city" driving? Really tempted to push hard for a return at this point.

 

[alow]

One thing I've found helps me granny drive is put the mpg screen front and center. Build speed and then just maintain it and plan your lights ie dont speed up to a red. Heavy traffic's a killer though no matter what. Maybe try a nice highway drive somewhere just to see what you get?

 

[Gman]

...and put some more miles on it.

 

[ExcursionDiesel]

One thing I've found helps me granny drive is put the mpg screen front and center. Build speed and then just maintain it and plan your lights ie dont speed up to a red. Heavy traffic's a killer though no matter what. Maybe try a nice highway drive somewhere just to see what you get?

Good point. I went to the Setup Screen on my dash and changed my "Lower Right" to "Current MPG" so I'm seeing the instantanious MPG at all times. I set the Left area that looks like a vertical bar to display the "Average MPG" that is shown on the Economy Screen.

 

[k1kelley]

2019 Limited, 3.92 rear, eTorque, 20" Rims, just hit 650 miles on the odometer. Did a 300 mile round trip drive the other day. Got 18.5 Mpg on the way there. It was gas the dealership filled the tank with as I've only had the truck 9 days, so I'm guessing 87 octane. Filled the truck back up with 91 octane before starting home and got 22 Mpg on the way back. It was a mix of highway and stop and go traffic. So far loving the truck. Although I miss my Charger R/T I traded in for the truck.

 

[Zeronet]

One thing I've found helps me granny drive is put the mpg screen front and center. Build speed and then just maintain it and plan your lights ie dont speed up to a red. Heavy traffic's a killer though no matter what. Maybe try a nice highway drive somewhere just to see what you get?

Alow, your fuelly link shows you got 30+ mpg on two tanks and 40+ on one tank!
Tell us your secret!

 

[ExcursionDiesel]

Alow, your fuelly link shows you got 30+ mpg on two tanks and 40+ on one tank!
Tell us your secret!

Simple. His commute is downhill....both ways.