Both of you make good points.
It is my opinion that I got a better than average FWD FEH first of all. I've raced friends of mine with the same car (not the FEH) and engine and beat them every time. Some people have better skills than others. Some people maintain their vehicles for top perfomance. Being focused and concentrating help a great deal also. I just think a good combination = better performance = better MPG.
It is also my opinon that driving condition play a big roll but you can only compare one vehicle and driver to the other with the same driving conditions. During the winter here it may take 2-3 miles to warm the FEH for EV mode in the morning. Now during the summer when it is 80 degrees that same time in the morning, sometimes I can drive less than one mile to go into EV mode. This could be the difference in running the ICE during three stop lights and one. This is other reason why I don't pay any attention to the mileage database.
Let me clear up something. I cannot go 40mph in the EV mode let alone set the cruise control at that speed. What I have said is, I went from setting the cruise in EV mode from 31-32
mph to 35mph which had to do with break-in I'm sure. I've got 12,000 mile on my FEH and I've got close to 40 in EV mode but can't maintain it. My ICE starts up at 40mph no matter what. I can get to 38 but I can't stay there long and can't set the cruise there without starting the ICE. One point I need to make is at 35mph the battery drains faster and I end up only going a mile in EV mode verses 1.3 at 31
mph in cruise. There is a point to be made about going faster in EV mode and getting less mpg (distance) because of recharge. Maybe the points being made about EV mode verses ICE have to do with the AWD having more drag and draining the battery faster which will not give much better mpg in EV mode. I haven't drove a AWD and didn't buy one because of MPG. I can tell you my FWD saves me alot of gas in EV mode.
Months back I posted (maybe in hybridcars.com) about me changing my thinking to saving battery charge. I try to coast as much as I can in EV mode. Coming up to a light, a stop or slower traffic I get off the pedal when I can and that includes EV mode. If you have the nav. computer you can see the battery stop draining.
As I have said before, the FEH gives me the ability to get better mpg if I want. If I need to drive fast in a hurry I can, it has the power. If there are long lines at the pumps or I'm low on cash, I know I can get 40mpg if I need to. When your miles to empty gage reads 575 miles to empty, its a good feeling after a fill-up. I've been there but only when I choose to.
I thought for a while because I could get 40mpg when it was new that there was little or no break-in period as others did on hybridcars.com. We were wrong. I think break-in continues at my 12,000 mile mark. I go into EV easier, faster and I can see I can go faster at lower RPM's. There is less drag and it rolls easier now. I think the flat roads here give me a better chance to feel that big improvement.
Thank you all for your opinions. I can agree or disagree but bottom line is where the rubber meets the road for me and you. I did looked over at database site and understand someone's term for hypermiler means better lifetime MPG than EPA's rating. Do I think I'm there? Maybe, didn't keep the records. For me, the EPA was a guide to compare other cars I bought and there rating and what I got compared to those ratings. I'm very happy to report the FEH supprised me for the first time after buying a car. I expected to get at best 29 MPG when I bought the FEH. I would have been disapointed with less than 26 MPG with the A/C on. Right now I can say I get 29 to 41 MPG with my averge between that maybe below that now a little because of a very hot summer. I think the EPA was going to rate the FEH higher around 42 city but backed off if I remember right. I waited a few years for the FEH to hit the market. It was worth the wait for me.
Re: FEH Fuel Economy Issues
