Thanks for the welcome. For all that asked, I did reset one of the trip meters, because I was concerned about any test drives that had been done on the car. So I am only looking at my MPG on the driving that I am responsible for. Right now, it is 32 MPG for about 65 miles. My commute is all city driving pretty much downhill the whole way to work and uphill the whole way back. I now have about 3 round trips in as well as some errand driving while at home (flat). I live in SoCal, and it is winter (not too cold), but my drive to work is in the dark (5:30 or 6:00 in the morning), so it may be a little cold on that down hill drive.

I am now finding myself "driving to the gauges" (coasting, etc.) in order to get better MPG. But I really wanted to see if the hybrid technology is an improvement all by itself with normal driving habits. And normally, I am always driving in a hurry (not over speed limit, but will accelerate out of the stoplights for example). I was hoping to see a significant improvement to my minivan with no alteration of driving habits. After that, I would probably turn into a "hypermiling" addict too

And my post was a concern that something might be wrong with the car.

I had already read Tarabell's article, but a lot was over my head. Is there anything for a beginner to the technology that will introduce concepts like Regen and EV Glide? Also, the owner's manual doesn't tell you the meaning of the battery and assist gauge, just what they are showing.

Thanks again, I will keep reading.