I have tried the press harder on the brake thing and have never gotten it to work - I weigh 220 and can squat just under 500 lbs so I don't think it from the lack of force......

 

It is definitely lack of force. If you could squat 600 lbs--well that might be a different story.

 

I can Squat 1000lbs and by pressing with both leggs it works!LOL
Just Kidd'n!

I've tried all of the 'below' with out being successful...I guess the 'Thing' has a mind of its own. :-)
Sometimes you got to wait until you get to your next stop!

 

I've mounted my 12 ton shop press on the brake pedal so THAT's why my A/S works . I guess it's just coincidence that when I press a bit harder it shuts down.

 

For a while I was waving between 43 and 51. But I bought a house. I've been driving the past 3 weeks (still in escrow) to that area for my nature walks (since I've discovered my wife and I loves it) and now I really have to concentrate and try my darnest to pull of 37-38 MPG just barely by the skin of my teethe (I'm at ~5,000 miles now). If I don't try hard enough to get good miles, I'll get about 28 MPG. I don't make it up going down hill, either.


For example, at night, when all lights are green and no one else on the road, if I speed up to 55 MPH and for the next 4 miles coast down hill without ever applying the gas, if my trip reads 99.1 miles for example, by the time I'm at the freeway ready to accelerate again I'm still at 99.1 miles but I lose about .8 miles everytime I climb the hill to go to the house.

Maybe I'll learn how to drive this thing up hill. I've found some streets so that its not a steep climb. Over 9 miles I can make the climb so it feels mostly flat but it seems to make no difference mainly because there are so many stop signs and I *always* catch every red light (about every 1/8 mile for 9 miles) that it saves me nothing.


Contrats on your 50.


Thanks,
Shawn

 

I am only a newbie at this (less than a week with my HCHII), but I seem to have better luck getting up the hill quickly (i.e. around 4500 rpm and high boost) rather than going up up gradually/slowly. That goes against what a lot of folks here say, but that is what I am doing. (Part of that might be wishful thinking so I don't have to slow down on the highway.)

I think it depends on each situation (length of climb, angle of climb, speed limit, etc.) Like I said, I've only done my climb a few times, so maybe I could do even better by slowing/coasting going uphill. I don't have the option of finding a longer, less steep route, although I am not sure if that is better. The long gradual climbs are what seem to kill my mpg more than anything.

BTW, on my way to work today (downhill) I actually had a full charge so that while breaking, I got no green regen bars. Is that normal?

 

I found the same thing - trying to hit the hill with as much speed as possible and maintain an extremely slow deceleration rate - but never to the point it is below the speed limit (trying to avoid getting run over).

With respect to no green regen bars in the morning - I've run into that, regardless of the state of charge of the battery - if it's really cold or hot out. The batteries need to get into operating temp or something like that......

 

The lack of regen at full charge happened at the end of my commute (after about 30 minutes), so it was definitely warmed up enough. (Outside temp was only 70 degrees, so pretty moderate.) I'll see if I can duplicate it tomorrow. Maybe the batteries were just "full"?

 

Shawnb, maybe it's the weight from all of your cameras and satellite uplink equipment... and the aero drag from the moonroof? Joking aside, I have a similar steep hill that I climb to my home. Most of it is 6% grade, and I can usually get 25 - 35 mpg on the instant gauge. The last stretch is a short 12% grade. I've tried gentle throttle (at 10 mph) with very poor results. I do much better with a 3/4 throttle burst up to 30 mph and then coast to the crest of the hill. This usually triggers full-electric mode at 15 mph... and I cruise the remaining 100 feet to my home this way.

Like you, I get little benefit going downhill the following morning. The ICE is warming up and mileage is poor.... no A/S at the traffic lights, etc. I barely gain back one third of what I lost going up the hill!

 

I knew there was some rational explanation


Thanks,
Shawn