I got this tip from one of the FEH owners for a simpler way to pulse and glide. Accelerate up to the desired speed (or a little above it) and the shift your gear to Neutral to glide. That's a whole lot easier than doing that tricky light release then press lightly again until the energy monitor shows no energy flows regenerative or power. I have only been able to do that accelerator trick (intentionally at least) when my HiHy was traveling at speeds <~ 35 miles per hour.

Hi Han

You know what i do? I just drive my car the way they designed it -and not worry about milking the extra mpg. I then have lots of free time to get on with my life. I am certain half the PHDs on the planet are coming up with way better ideas on how to get more fuel efficient cars, and I prefer to wait until they do , instead of trying to milk an extra .045 cents per mile . How bout i drive it a little less and walk more? Ride a bike?

Thats the best suggestion i have ever heard on this site.

cheers

Tom,

I share your sentiment on the weekends when I usually have company. I mean who are we kidding? Keeping 268hp always all locked up is about a sensible as driving a Ford GT at 55 miles per hour. Worrying about feathering the accelerator is probably the last thing I want to think about.

However, on the weekdays, I do put on a different hat. I want to milk that HiHy's FE for all its got. Come on, you can't tell me that 25 mpg isn't a little lower than what you were expecting. I admit that it's an "absolute FE expectation", psychological reaction with no rational basis given the negligable difference it sums up from a dollar perspective. But, nevertheless, it's there. And I don't think I'm the only one that shares that feeling. Spending some of my experience with the HiHy goosing the FE is also a techno-challenge for me and I find it kind of fun as a side-hobby. It takes my mind away from all the traffic around me and their obnoxious driving habits and/or presence. Don't you love it when a Chevy Suburban Special Edition cuts in front of you? Call it therapy!

For me, I'm targeting an overall lifetime FE of 26 mpg. I think I can reach that goal and still maintain an acceptable balance between "having a life" and "hypermiling". Time will tell. Who knows, maybe same time next year I will care less what kind of FE I'm getting. But for now, I'm shooting for 26 mpg and I think I can do it...

As for this "poor man's" pulse and glide, I think it's starting to make a difference even though I'm only shifting to Neutral only once in a while. BTW, this method really is a lot easier than the standard pulse & glide technique with the acclerator only. So far, I'm at about 1/2 tank left (well, at least according to the fuel gauge) and my EM is currently reading 28.4 mpg (I reset it after each fill-up). Even with a 5% dock, that's still 27 mpg. I'm "stocking up" for the weekend when my FE usually drops back down to ~26.5 mpg...

-Han-

Han,

My sentiments match yours pretty closely.

While I also find it difficult to hit the pulse and glide dead zone with the accelerator technique, I don't worry so much knowing that my fuel economy is good even when there is some back and forth of the battery power to and from the motors when I try pulse and glide. The primary point to improving FE is to have the gas engine off for some fraction of the time during your trip. It is true, but secondary, that it is more efficient to not have energy moving back and forth from your battery.

I have to wonder if any of the aggressive FEH techniques work with the HiHy? One would think it's worth a shot given that HSD is so closely related to Ford's system, with the obvious exception of your powerful V6. The reason for bringing this up is that people like GaryG seem to get the best results out of the FEH when they beat the living hell out of the battery, accepting the hit when the vehicle goes into regen. Anybody explored this?

If you are a highlander hybrid owner, read your manual before you try these techniques. For HiHy, shifting your gear to neutral will discharge the battery.

I have a question - maybe it's my terrain or the way I drive or... but I've never seen my HiHy go into "forced regen" as I've seen referenced often here. It seems to me that I most often see this mentioned in the Honda forums. Does anyone know if Toyota handles the battery charge management differently? I'm wondering if 1) I'm just lucky in how/where I drive or 2) I've been oblivious to it occurring or 3) it's less common in Toyotas.

You might simply notice it less. The problem with something like a HCH or Insight going into forced regen is that the ICE only has so much power to begin with, and you really feel the hurt when you are trying to move the car and charge the battery with the engine. When the engine is twice or three times as powerful I can't imagine you would notice it as much.

The only way to know for sure would be looking at the energy display if you have one.

FWIW

I also simply let the car decide what to do. I try to maximize the amount of time I run on the battery by gently accelerating to about 35-40 and easing off on the accelerator and let the car shift to EV mode. When it needs to go to ICE I let it. I do not try to second guess how to make the system work. So far I find my approach works fine around town (suburban setting).

I do find it interesting that I can maintain speed at varying power usage levels (as shown on the gauge). I ease off on the accelerator until I get the lowest power level that allows me to maintain the speed I want. I now wish I had gotten the limited with the additional hybrid monitoring.

IMHO I think the Toyota engineers have a pretty good grasp on how to maximize utilization of the hybrid system. The only complaint I have is on the highway. I find the cruise control lets the car slow on hills and then surges to bring it back to speed. I prefer a more steady speed control.
My 2 cents.....

gang

good post!!! Why let the prius and HCH people have all the posts. Good to see highlander people speaking up!!!!


From all of the many many 'suggestions' , the ones i take to heart are gently accellerating, coasting to stops (in gear) and pushing the tire wall pressure NEAR maximum recommended -NOT at or above.

Other than that , just drive the car, open er up once in a while. I do, and this BABY MOVES!!!!! Remember, we could have bought a honda insight manual, but instead had other needs besides trying to make up the diff in price thru MPG as fast as we can.

I would have bought this car regardless of hybrid. I bought hybrid and paid extra $$$ for the enviroment, NOT mpg.

cheers