Yes, temperature has a lot to do with it. That's probably the most major environmental factor. Another one is average drive time. Too short, and the engine has no time to warm up.

 

Does this web site do any kind of analysis with the data being gathered? It would be nice if hybris car manufacturers could analyse this data to enhace the technology. Also, I am wondering how standard the technology is that's being put in any model - ie. DC motors, regenerative braking, battery packs, the cars computer that runs everything. Again the mileage on the FEH is quite diverse on your website. Oklahoma City is relatively flat, temperatures in the 90-100 now and I am driving sometimes with my A/C off just to see what my optimal mileage could be. I seem to be stuck at arouns 31 (sticker said 34) and this is my 5th tank. I would like to hear from those who actually get the sticker mileage or better and how they are achieving it.

 

Bill,

Welcome to GreenHybrid! First of all, make sure you head over to the FEH forum on this website for information specific to your vehicle. Also make sure you read the excellent FAQ created by our moderator, Pravus Prime. It goes over a lot of the basics and some of the advanced driving techniques too.

You will find that your mileage gets better and better as the vehicle gets broken in and you get used to driving it, so don't despair. The biggest difference maker in mpg for any car is to slow down. Avoid quick acceleration and late braking... smooth is the way. If you primarily drive on highways, see if you can find alternate routes on streets with lower speed limits. If you must use the highway try to go a little slower than you used to. Aerodynamic and frictional drag are exponentially worse at higher speeds.

To answer your specific questions from above, the Real Hybrid Mileage Database is just that- a database. The admins are working hard to prevent many of the erroneous entries, but other than that (as far as I know) there's not any analysis performed. The technology across hybrids isn't standard at all- you'll find the IMA (Honda) and the HSD (Toyota) systems are quite different.

You're right there is a big difference in mileage from registered users... this is more than likely due to driving style than anything else. Some people zip in and out of traffic and are more than happy to get 28mpg while others (like me) are slowpokes who try to always turn out fantastic mpg.

Again, welcome to the site and enjoy your FEH!

 

There is an erroneous entry under the Lexus GS450h database. Someone with a Prius entered their info in the wrong place. Can this be corrected so that the info is not skewed?

Thanks.

 

Odd… I was about to modify the car and make it a Prius, but it already is. It must be a problem with the database's underlying code. We'll check it out.

Thanks.

 

No. I don't think it matters much what the message actually says. I wouldn't have seen that extra zero until I was good and ready.

 

I would suggest that anyone with 3 tanks or less get the data thrown out of the calculation. First, most that have 0, 1, or 2 tanks are not being maintained and who knows about the data that was put in originally. Second, usually the first 2-3 tanks are screwed up by dealers, learning curves of new hybrid drivers, and showing off the car to others as to what it can do (acceleration tests, speed tests, etc). Usually if a person has come back 3 or 4 times to enter tank data will mean they will usually continue to come back and keep it updated and be fairly accurate.

I print out every receipt when I fill-up, and write the current vehicle mileage on it ( I have my wife do it for her Pilot as well). I then put them into my overall car database (Ultimate Car Desktop) which maintains not only fuel costs/mpg, but maintenance schedules, repair costs, and everything else to do with the car. I then come here and add the miles driven, number of gallons, and any odd factors that may have skewed the mpg for that tank (4 people in the car with A/C on going uphill through the mountains [both ways ] ). I'm sure many others do the same every fillup, or at least hold onto the data and come here every so often and add 3 or 4 tanks at a time (a hybrid driver might not see a fuel pump for over a month!).

I also think that a date field for the fillup would be good to have to show how often someone is filling up, or how old/stale the data is. This would also give a good indication if someone drives 5 miles to/from work each day and they only fill up once every 2 months, or if they are a high-mileage driver, or if someone took a long trip that had them fillup in 3 days vs their normal 2-3 weeks their tanks usually last.

 

You mean for the fleet versus the owner's personal mileage?

Funny you should post this. I'd once asked to have my first tank thrown out so I'd get a hypermiler star at 3,000 miles. I was told no and now it doesn't matter. But I remember how unfair it seemed at the time.

Bob Wilson

 

For the fleet calculation. Don't calculate anyone that has 3 tanks or less in the total calculation that is used to generate the main comparison chart between the fleet of hybrid cars. I'm not saying to remove the individual user from the database and delete their 0-3 tanks they've entered because they may come back and continue entering data. When they get their 4th tank entered, then add them to the overall fleet calc.

 

While I see your point about removing cars with 3 or less tanks when calculating the aggregate mileage figure, I think there's also a point on the other side of the isle. We may, very well then, be throwing out legitimate inputs from members who either (1) have accurate tank figures but just stopped inputting after 2 tanks or (2) have accurate tank figures but just began contributing.

All in all, it may be best to remove them during calculations. But, that's something that must be decided by CarsDirect. So, let's see what they say.