Quote:
Originally Posted by Volkov
Still, if I'll see mid twenties overall in winter, that still beats 17mpg EPA for the regular Highlander, and I'd expect that 17mpg to drop at least 20% in our winter driving environment. My concern was we might drop to less than 20mpg throughout the winter.
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In the world of 'managing user expectations,' it will always out perform the gas equivalent vehicle. But cold weather and short trips will not achieve even the recent EPA ratings.
In January, I took a 400 mile, 800 miles round trip, to South Carolina. I left at 4:30 AM in 18F weather it warmed to ~39F and then back to 21F when I got home at 10:00 PM. During the trip, my mileage followed the temperatures in direct proportion to the higher air density. The worst was ~47 MPG in the early morning and late evening. My best on that trip was ~52 MPG when the temperatures were between 35-40F.
Cold doesn't make a hybrid work worse than the gas equivalent, just not as good as the EPA numbers, which are done on a "standard day," ~70F.
Bob Wilson