I drive my Hybrid very similar to how I drove my Accord before it. Both cars were manuals and I actually keep my Hybrid in gear more often than I ever did with my Accord to charge the battery. But the point is, I maybe accerlerate a little less (Or more and it feels like less anyway) and drive like a "normal driver" and I still get 40 MPG (46 EPA), which compared to my Accord at 20-25 is still well worth the car price. Now if I drive it like a hybrid which means accerlerating slower a bit, I'll get 46 or above. Not to mention the fact that if I filled the Accord with anything less than 87 octane, I felt it and hard.

So I pay less per gallon already and then I also use it half as often? That Sirs and Madams is a wonderful feeling.

 

My wife hasn't taken the time to learn all the tricks, so you can get the real life numbers from an "average" driver for the FEH by looking at her milage in my sig. She used to 19MPG in her 03 AWD V6 Escape. Now she gets 27-28. We're happy to get a 50% increase. I'm doing everything I can to get Hypermiler status (only 2 more tanks and I'm there!) so my numbers are not "average" driving. I do try to stay with the flow of traffic most times, I just tend to stay in the right lane more than I used and try to keep the RPMs as low as possible. I'm currently beating the EPA rating by a decent margin even though I travel on the highway so much. Good luck in your research.

 

Quote:

I see altered driving styles (driving well below the speed limit, extra slow starts, increased coasting, etc) as skewing the MPG numbers used by those researching Hybrid ownership.

I see numbers posted by the racing magazinesand other mass media sources who are "in the know" (25MPG for a HCH for example, or a USG fleet posting 36) as skewing results on the other end of the scale.

My tank record no doubt required extrodinary effort.
However it was alot of fun over the tank(s) and I bothered no other drivers.

I think lars-ss made an excellent post.
I don't think I could get near my tank record in an EX.
This is a unique opportunity to excell, if one chooses to take it.

Thanks to my HCH and the training it provided, we increased our Grand Caravan from 16-17MPG to mid 20's. That's with mainly my wife driving and she applies only a fraction of techniques.
I think that's substantial.

People I work with know that I'm getting excellent MPG.
But they also know that I'm not driving like everyone else. (Just gas and go)

 

You are asking absolutely the correct question. And believe it or not, there are many people on this forum who drive 'normally', where 'normally' means basically how you have described yourself. That is, driving conservatively as in "around the speed limit", staying around the flow.

From what I have seen, driving relatively conservatively as you describe, in an HCH, I would expect to get anywhere from around 45-50 MPG, depending on your commute.

It is very true that "your mileage may vary", especially depending on your typical commute. If I drove 20 miles on the freeway into downtown Sacramento, I would be getting 52+ MPG. If I drove my current lousy 6 mile, stop-infested commute without trying a little bit, I would be getting only about 44 MPG.

Driving styles and your commute are HUGE factors in what to expect MPG-wise. It sounds like you have a driving style which is compatible with getting good mileage in whatever hybrid you might choose.

 

There's really a very high number of factors at play. Myself, I try to drive as "normal" as possible, but still use the hybrid to the best potential it can. I tend to drive around 47 in city, 65 highway, with a few exceptions, right at, or even above the speed limits. To me, the goal of the hybrid driver is to drive as "normal" as possible, but still get great milage. I don't do like X-cel does with his FAS, or annoy the hell out of people by driving like a grandma.

As mentioned, there's a good sized crossection of information there, sure, it's tantalizing to look only at the high end, but there's also a low end there for you to look at. Not everyone drives to the best of the vehicles capacities, just as not everyone does every little thing possible to squeeze out increased MPGs.