One thing to note is that the battery isn't capable of releasing as much energy in cold temps. I find that it's easier to accelerate to ~20mph in the summer on EV than in the winter.

I don't think I've ever gotten more than 25mph starting from a stop on EV mode, unless I'm pointed downhill--in that case I've hit 39mph many times. My strategy is to let the car accelerate using whatever means it chooses, and then once up to speed, I will kick it into EV mode (provided I'm on a street when I can drive less than 40mph). I can cruise a lot further that way before my state of charge hits the point where the engine starts again.

There is a pretty big swing between the mileage we get in the summer vs. our winter mileage. If you decide to purchase an FEH, you can do things like blocking your radiator or using an engine block heater to minimize some of the cold weather mpg losses.

Also, there is a pretty big learning curve on how to drive the FEH to its maximum potential. I was already a hypermiler before buying the MMH so I didn't have to learn any of that, but I'm STILL improving how I accelerate, how I maximize EV and how I drive on the highway. I'm a firm believer in resetting the mpg gauge every time I drive somewhere so I have better feedback on how I'm doing for that drive. Spending a little time reading the suggestions here (and even on the Prius boards) will help you a lot.

Good luck with your descision!

 

I have both the '05 and '09 FWD FEH and drive both as an electric vehicle as much as possible. Most of the time I accelerate the '05 from a stop to 30mph with no problem, but accelerating above that is much harder. It is the other way around with my '09 and it's much harder to accelerate from a stop. Once I get moving in my '09, staying in EV accelerating slowly or maintaining EV is no problem till the battery needs charging at 40%. You can accelerate from a stop in the '09, but the battery needs 46% charge or above or the ICE will kick on very easily. My '05 drivetrain took ~15,000 miles to get fully broken in where I could accelerate quickly in EV. With 6,000 miles on my '09, it's getting better accelerating in EV, but no where near as good as my '05.

My '05 will hold 30mph in a 10mph headwind in EV with the CC set till the battery drops to 40%. The '09 will go EV at 40mph in EV with the same headwind. If there is no headwind, the '09 will return to EV with the CC set at 40mph after the battery charges to 42%.

I find it better to accelerate from a stop to 30mph in my '05 FEH for the best fuel efficiency, but not in my '09 right now with just 6,000 miles on it. For this reason, I kick the '09 on at a stop or below 20mph with the "Reverse Fake Shift" (RFS) and accelerate with the ICE running at about 1,800 RPM. When I reach my desired speed under 40mph, I just let off the gas pedal and go EV till the battery reaches 40.8% where I do another RFS to recharge the battery. By using this method of EV to the MAX I went 718 miles on my last tank at 53.438mpg on E10 gas in my '09 FEH.

With a fully charged HV battery (52%) you can only go less than 2 miles at 30mph in EV. You can get the HV battery at 60% with regen braking, but the small generator will stop charging with the ICE at 52%.

GaryG

 

Like Gary, I also own an 05 FEH and an 09 FEH (although the 05 is 4WD and the 09 is FWD). I also own an 06 Prius.

I should say right out that different people will have a different definition of "normal" when it comes to acceleration. I have friends that pretty much think nothing of jack-rabbit starts when the light turns green. If that's your idea of "normal" then you'll have to rethink driving if you plan to own a hybrid and get great fuel economy.

You don't have to drive like a blue-hair little 'ol lady (ok, some of those "little ol ladies" can be a terror behind the wheel, but I think you know what I mean.) but you do have to be gentle on the accelerator if you want to avoid the ICE kicking to life the moment you squeeze down on the pedal.

Under my "normal" acceleration I can easily get my 05 up to 15 mph before the engine starts. Usually I get to 20. If I'm careful I'll get 25 mph. I can only get to 30 if the battery has a good charge state and I milk it.

Interestingly, the FEH seems to have a MUCH easier time starting in EV mode than my Prius. Basically the only time I can accelerate without the engine starting in the Prius is at "parking lot" speeds (e.g. you take your foot off the break and let the car accelerate by itself using almost no accelerator pedal at all.) If I use even mild acceleration in the Prius (the sort that would totally annoy everyone behind me at the traffic light) the engine will STILL start.

I haven't been able to do a respectable job comparing my 05 vs 09 FEH. I got the 09 back in November, the weather was already cold and fowl, so basically I parked the 09 in the garage and only took it out on "nice" days (which have been few & far between). The last day the temps actually got above 20ºF outside I didn't need to take the 09 anywhere. On the days when it was used, the temps were typically around 10º and the trips were too short to make a fair comparison (I'd arrive at my destination long before the car warmed up enough to work "normally").

 

I'm curious, have you figured out whether you are actually burning more or less gas by taking a longer route in order to get higer MPG? For example on a 10 mile commute would be 100 miles. At 25 mpg = 4 gallons. If you changed that to a 12 mile commute and got 30 mpg is would also come out to 4 gallons, this works out ok (other than the increased time of the commute and other wear and tear), but I'm interested in what your real world results are.