That is awesome FE, most people struggle to get the EPA FE which
for a TCH is only 40/38. 46.5 is stellar. That is in the Prius range.
I would like to get some tips from you and have some questions.

How many miles on your TCH now? Did FE improve after engine break in?

What is the tire pressure you maintain? How frequently do you check?

What was your driving mix for this tank? i.e. city - highway

What gas did you use? i.e. brand and octane

Any special conditions for this tank like tail wind, long downgrade etc?

Do you accelerate slowly and stay below speed limit often?

Are you OK with glaring drivers behind you?

Any other special tips?

Thanks in advance.

There is quite a range of FE among TCH drivers. There are others who have done a bit better. A good number are able to match EPA numbers. I'm sure the NAH should be capable of similar FE.

I am right around 21k miles. I know some Prius owners have noticed it, but I never really noticed a marked improvement.

I have the Bridgestone tires on my car (others have Michelins). My tires are rated to 51 PSI. About half the tank was at 45 PSI. The last half was up at 50 PSI. I leave them at 50 PSI now. I check the tires after any marked temperature change. I'd check once a week until you can "trust" the tires don't have any gradual leaks.

My drive is about 3 miles on surface streets to the expressway. About 20 miles of expressway. Then about 17 more miles of a major artery to work. 40 miles each way.

The TCH doesn't specify premium or "tier one" gas. I am using Chavez's best - Citgo 87 Octane.

My tank was mostly commutes. A few errands here or there. Chicago is pretty flat. Most tailwinds will get canceled out on the return trip. Tailwinds can give impressive segments. My best commute was 55 MPG on a trip home one evening.

I accelerate about average. If the road ahead is slow I will accelerate slowly to stay in EV mode unless I would really irk people. I usually drove right at the limit. 55 miles per hour freeway and 40-50 MPH arteries. I do get passed a lot.
Fortunately most of my drive is multilane. If they are impatient they can usually pass. The place where I probably irk people the most is coasting to a light. I'm not trying to tick people off, but some people need to learn that a red light is what is slowing them down, not me.

By the questions you are asking, one can tell that you have done your homework. Look up posts by Wayne Gerdes on cleanmpg.com. He is an accomplished "hypermiler".

Wayne has gotten better tanks than me in a non-hybrid 4 cylinder Accord. He knows about every conceivable way of getting the most out of a gallon of gas. While many people aren't willing to do every "trick" that he does, you can learn a lot from reading up on them.

Good luck!

Hello,

My wife and I have a "base" Altima Hybrid. Although she is the primary driver, I get to use it on the weekends. We have averaged 35+ MPG over the last few fills. No problems to report. Sometimes the engine seems to run a little ruff during that 10-minute warm-up period, but we are getting used to it. We are new to Hybrids and Nissan. Thanks for this informative site. I will try to answer any questions about our car, but I admit I’m not as car savvy as others on this site.

I got a 07 Dark Slate with the Connection package a week ago. I'm happy with my purchase but I'm not getting anything near what they claim on mpg. I'm averaging 33mpg right now with 60% city driving with A/C on 90% of the time. I got it a bit lower than msrp. But the dealer tried to be sneaky, tried to make me pay for all these extended warranty and maintenance packages I didnt ask for. It's not until I was in the finacing room and looking at the computer and saw extra fees I was not aware of. I was piss, but I had them took it off and gave me the maintenace package for much less. They even tried to have me pay a higher interest rate too when I know that I am able to get it much less. **** snakes, so the place I got it from was Universal Nissan in southern California. Be warned. I went ahead and purchased it because I spent a lot of time negotiating already and I looked around within 50 miles from where I live, this was the only place that had the Connection Package in the color I wanted. Now I understand why Car sales man have a bad rep.

I am a So Cal native and bought an Altima w conv pkg 2 weeks ago. Our company pays 10% of the cost, the tax credit and using 500 gallons less of fuel a year is the economical and environmental thing to do!

When asked how I like it? My standard answer is:

1) Imagine every traffic signal in the world.

2) Imagine everyone being able to turn off their ICE while waiting for the light to turn GREEN.............

You know us Humans, we just don't handle CHANGE well at all!

Todd

I bought one with every option they have. Dark Slate and Charcol Leather. Bought it in San Diego Calf it is being shipped to Arizona as they are not for sale here. Don't have it yet. First mod will be Fog Lights, Second a Nav2Go accessory package, Third a plug and Forth an additional battery.

How do you plan to add the plug-in capability?
As far as I know unless you do it yourself, there
is no company right now that is doing it for
consumers - only for fleet buyers.

There is a company called Hymotion which will
do it for consumers from 2008 but initially they
will only offer for the Prius and the Escape Hybrid.

Not sure if they will do the Altima Hybrid ever as
the numbers are so few.

It will offcourse void the warranty.

Plug-in is still atleast 3 years away.

Gripper Don,

Did you order from a California dealer or go through a local Arizona dealer? I'd be interested to know how much trouble it is to get one from out-of-state.

Doing the plug and everything myself. I am a retired engineer.
I know about the warranty, thanks.

I bought by going to the internet, going to the build you r Altima section, inputing a Calf Zip code. Search each dealer inventory for what I wanted. Then contacting that dealears internet sales Manager and maging the deal. Did it all in one day about three phone calls total.

Forgot to Add Hymotion want WAY TOO MUCH MONEY for everything. I can't afford their overhead and reaserch cost. It is Too easy to do diy. When I add the extra Batteries I will have choices.

1. Just add an additional battery stack same as supplied with the car. This is a snap an so easy you could do it in a weekend.

2. Adding significant capacity going to lead acid ( poor performance but much cheaper)

3. Switching the entire battery ti Li-Po if it has become availavle. It would likely cost an arm and a leg, plus requiring modification of the charging cpu parameters. However if the Altima has moved on to the Li-Po by this time I may just trade the car for one of them.

My battery addition may also be done in steps. Going first to #1 as it has the advantages of being so easy and the battery is availavle.

I would expect to get to the battery addition before the end of the year. A lot depends upon where the Altima Hybrids are going to be sold in 2008.