In response to a few questions I have gotten (and lost the response in the email reply system) I thought I would share this with everyone that is interested.

First I will say that I am an obsessive compulsive person. If this car did not have all the gages and screens for me to watch I would probably be getting 33 mpg. If someone had told me 38 was the limit and that was all I could get then I would not be trying so hard for 40. However I know the limit's higher, so....


Advice #1. Read your owners manual. I know no one likes to do this, but there are a lot of little things many of you are learning that could be discovered in the OM. (How the keys work for one).


This information is considered as basic for new drivers. These are my observations

The AC/Heating unit is electrical. I have not seen any significant disadvantages to the ECO mode so I run it. When the batteries discharge, for what ever reason (running AC, driving up hills, gliding through town), the computer will kick on the ICE to recharge. You may be sitting in the driveway you may be coasting down the interstate at 70 miles per hour. Don't worry about running your battery down, the car won't let you do it. (there is a limit about not having the car in neutral while sitting - read your Owners manual if you feel you do this often)

1) Driving slow is not always the best. When I leave my house to drive into town, if I try to go as slow as practical (40 to 45 miles per hour) I find that my ICE is on most all of the time and I am showing 20 to 25 mpg on my FE gage (dash). If however I get up fairly quickly to speed (50 to 55 miles per hour) and let off the throttle to kill the ICE then I reapply the throttle lightly I can maintain a good speed 45 to 50 for quite a ways witha 40 to 60 mpg reading. I may have to do this several times and as long as there is no traffic I may slow down further.

2) City and short trip driving is easier for me to think about my FE. Around the home area I am always trying to get the "best" I can. However on a recent 1300 mile trip I found that driving effeciently was still not "second nature" to me yet. Some of the "feelings" I get when driving slow are not there at 70 miles per hour and after two or three hours behind the wheel the sensitivity to the sound and feel of this are not there unless you're thinking about it.

For example, it is real easy to start out on a road, accelerate up to speed and forget to let off the throttle. This is natural in our other (non-hybrid) vehicles. However in the TCH if you don't lift your foot you'll find yourself always giving it just a little more lead than necessary. Many times I'll be driving along and see 25 on the reading and think wow, this is a steeper grade than I thought. But when I let off and reapply the throttle I may slow a miles per hour or two but I'll be getting 35 or 40. This may not seem to last long but the little improvements really add up over time.

3) Cruise control. I seldom used to use it in the past. I have found that the cruise system works well with the "maximized FE" driving philosophy. While there are situations I may do a little bit better manually on a long drive it does a good job. If however you're striving for the "best" FE and there is little trffic you can make improvements if you're willing to allow your car to slow down on long grades.

4) Be aware your car rolls quite well on glide mode. Many times on the interstate in West Virginia, I have found my car free rolling at 85 miles per hour (when my cruise was set on 70). I don't think a cop will care if you tell him your engine was not even on.

5) On my recent trip to the Outer Banks I was averaging 36 mpg through the mountains. I don't see how (if I am trying) I will ever get less than this. That was the most extreem (in my area- granted it's not the Rockies) driving I would probably do. I filled up about 100 miles from the shore and was averaging 40 mpg as I came onto the islands. While on the islands I drove an additional 300 miles and had my average up to 45 mpg. There is a lot of long, non stop 35 miles per hour driving there and traffic was extreemly light. When I left the island for home I drove through heavy rain and my average had came down to 43.3 for the tank. I filled up in Richmond and drove home through the mountains, again with another 36+ tank. Overall trip average was over 39 mpg. Had I drove south I would have done better, going east through the mountains is quite a drive.

6) I have noticed when I visited in the Charleston - Huntington area (pretty flat connected by 4 lane) that I could, if I drove the limit, easily get in the 40 mpg range. Wne not on the interstate I drove carefully in town practicing my procedures for max FE.

7) Early mpg indications on fresh tanks; When you have few miles on a tank and a few bad takeoff's the average will suffer. Don't get upset if you're getting 29 mpg at first. Now if you've got 500 miles on your tank and you're getting 33 mpg then you're simply driving this like you would a camry SE and you should be satisfied that you're still getting 33 instead of 22 mpgg.

I realize many of you are in the crowded cities where road rage is a reality and fingers fly often. I live in an area where I now appreciate a farm tractor pulling out in front of me holding up traffic at 20 miles per hour. My wife used to complain about my speeding and now she's looking at her watch to see if we;'re going to make it on time. I've even had blue hairs in Buicks pull up on my tail wondering why I'm going so slow.

Let me say though when I have traffic behind me I drive the limit. I just never realized (as I was one of them) how many people get UPSET when you are driving 55 on a 2 lane rural 55 miles per hour limit road. I understand the anger if I was trying to coast, but you know what, I have the responsibility, not just the right to obey the law. (my wife laughs when she hears me say that)

Let me say that I am a LEAD FOOT by nature. I've always had a sports car or sport sedan and I always drove 10 to 15 miles per hour over the limit. This is a lifestyle change for me. I recently got a survey on cars and on the "fun to drive" question I originally put a 6. I know this question for car buffs is dealing with performance and handling. But I went back and changed this to a 10 because for me (an engineer) this car is fun to drive. It's the ultimate entertainment package and I look forward to driving this as much as I did my 350Z.

I decided I wanted an economy car, and that I wanted to work on getting out of debt so I can retire some day in the future. I didn't need three vehicles so I made the tough decision that the Infiniti FX45 was no longer needed. I was having a tough time though pulling the trigger on a deal for a Corolla or Accord. Then I saw the TCH and wow, a "full" size car with FE economy. The best of both worlds. I was also having difficulty finding an economy car with leather and all the things I wanted in a car I spend a lot of time in (all pleasure, but still about 25 to 30K/year). I am estatic the TCH was available. Had the Lexus ES350 been avaialble with hybrid I probably would have went that route.

Any way, when I found that WV has a $3750 (maximum) tax credit and the Fed's had a $2600 tax credit I decided a loaded TCH for less than $24,000 sounds too good to be true. I was fortunate that from the day I decided I wanted one to the day I picked it up (may 5) I only had to wait about 2 weeks. It came early and I was the only one that had even asked the dealer about them. Note to City folks: Look at rural dealers in areas where they still drive pickup trucks and don't worry about using gas. You may be surprised to find one sitting on the lot.

I may eventually change over my NAV screen to the map and my dash display to the temperature and quit worrying about FE and just drive this thing. I'm not there yet.

For all of you like WillyBill who are getting 36 mpg and wondering how to get 38+, it's just alittle effort that is needed. BUT, unless you're obsessed with the ultimate number, you need to realize on the journey to take your 36mpg to a 38 mile per gallon average you would have to drive 700 miles to save 1 gallon of gas. Now for you truly green people every gallon counts. However for those of you simply wanting a more effecient daily driver, don't sweat it if your driving habits are only costing you 2 gallons per month.

I want to save where I can, but that doesn't stop me from driving my 215hp jet ski on the lake. It took 6 gallons this weekend for a high speed hour on the lake. That would have gotten me to mom's and back in my TCH. Just keep it all in perspective.