I need to work really delicately to maintain 40 mph using battery only. Pushing the pedal a little bit harder will start the engine. Using the battery to maintain below 40 mph is the key to improve mpg. HiHy is just short to achieve a good FE. 40 mph is too low -- small battery and not aggressive enough in generating electricity when braking.

I have the hybrid Camry. It also has trouble maintaining EV mode around 40, and I suspect the Prius is the same. However, as an experiment I shut the A/C and played with it a little and found it much easier to enter and maintain electric mode with no A/C. So you may find a big improvement when the whether cools down.

No it's not. Pulse and glide is.

We've done this before.

Let us just agree to disagree

In my somewhat limited experience it appears that 40-50 mph is a sweet spot for mileage with the HH, whether the ICE is running or not. Careful observation on my part has shown that there are times when the ICE is running but just appears to be idling without actually providing mechanical impetus to the drive wheels. I'm sure it's providing electrical power during these times but sure is not using very much fuel, as shown by the instantaneous fuel mileage display which may read a steady 40MPG or better during these times (flat, level road, steady speed around 45 mph with cruise control on, KW meter in the area close to zero with ICE running).

I'm able to get really good mileage with my HH without using P&G techniques and without holding up traffic. I just drive sensibly at or slightly above the speed limit (very similar to how I drove my previous vehicles), and I just keep the KW meter below about 75 when accelerating and use the cruise control whenever possible.

My HH has Michelin OEM tires inflated to 35 psi cold and I run 92 octane premium fuel.

Once and a while I have the occasion to use the power available in the HH. The KW meter has seen 200 at least a few times on each tank.

I assume you have some distance between stops. If it is the case, it should be the best strategy to drive 40 - 50 mph. When accelerate, FE monitor says it is about 5 mpg. If acceleration takes 30 yards, you have to drive 150 yards without using fuel to get 30 mpg. It is not easy to do for HiHy. I have 8 miles one way trip to work. The first 2 miles, hybrid does not work (well). I am happy to get mpg I am getting for the last few tanks. The first few tanks, I did not know what was going on. The mpg is based on manual calculation.

Seeking advice on HiHy driving

Have had a 2006 HiHy Limited for ~ 3 months with 2,500 miles.

Average today is ~ 24mpg - highway is actually ~ 27.

The issue is that recently (ie - last two tanks), I have been getting considerable worse milage for city only driving, ~ 18 mpg. I have been running the AC higher (live on the very hot East Coast) and city driving is usually trips that are less than 1 - 2 miles each way.

Any advice to get back up to the ~25 - 26 that I was getting in the city on the first 2k miles.

Thanks

DC HiHy

DC HiHy,

I find that the A/C can have a significant impact on my FE, especially when I'm trying to keep it up at ~26 mpg.

What I try to do is set it at 75F and auto, then once things have cooled down, manually set it to the lowest fan setting... Even then, it still has an impact on FE but not as much...

However, what "I try to do" and what "I actually do" can end up being quite different depending on which "guest" happens to be sitting in my HiHy. So, gotta live with reality...

-Han-

DC HiHy,
When you were getting 26 mpg, were trips as short as now? Or they were longer? My experience tells me that hybrid car do not work well with short trips.

When getting the ~24 - 24 in town, I was still taking a majority of shorter trips, but in cooler weather and no AC. I was also probably mixing in more medium length trips (~5 - 15 milers), which I agree does make a big difference.


Thanks very much

DC HiHy