Good day fellow HCH owners,

I picked up my new fluorite silver 06 HCH a few weeks ago. My wife and I were trying to decide between the hybrid and the EX. We were able to get $1100 off the hybrid and $2000 in government tax rebate. All in all I think we paid $700 more for the hybrid than the EX. It is always more difficult (in this case more expensive) to do the right thing (even though I think I will save about $500-600 in gas per year).

Since then I have travelled two long trips. I now have about 3000 km on the car. I average 5.7 l/100km (41 mpg). My daily commute is 16 km each way through stop and go traffic (10 miles) and I get 5.7 l/100km. I try to not accelerate too fast and to glide as much as I can. My tires are set at 40 psi. I typical set my auto climate control to 26 degC on warm days. On cooler days I turn off the A/C.

During my way home last night, I believe I was able to get the car to use electric only. I was driving about 60 km/h and the real time fuel display showed 0 l/100km and the assist displayed showed that I was using 3-4 bars.

My questions are as follows:
1. How long is the break in period before I notice significant improvement in fuel economy?
2. What do people generally achieve for city stop and go traffic? Is there a way for me to improve my FE with my daily commute?
3. Was I using only electric mode during that timeframe based on my description?
4. During my long trips I got 5.2 l/100 km (45 mpg) from Ottawa to Toronto and Ottawa to Boston (750 km using 36 litres of gas). My average speed was 120 km/hr. How do I achieve better highway fuel economy?
5. Has anything broken on your car yet?
6. I sometimes hear a electrical humming noise when I brake. I'm not sure what it is but I hypothesize that it is the battery charging. Does anyone else hear this noise?
7. Does cold weather greatly effect FE? I live in Ottawa, Canada and it gets awfully cold here.
8. What is the real world FE difference between a regular civic and civic hybrid in stop and go traffic and highway?

Any advice and comments would be greatly appreciated.

 

I've only had my HCH for 2.5 weeks, with 3500 miles on it, so I don't have a whole lot more experience, but I know some of these:

My questions are as follows:
1. How long is the break in period before I notice significant improvement in fuel economy?

From all acounts, between 3000-7000 miles (5000-11000 km)

2. What do people generally achieve for city stop and go traffic? Is there a way for me to improve my FE with my daily commute?

I get about 35 in heavy stop and go traffic with lots of lights (say, a downtown situation.) With lights more spread out, I get about 43-45. My best fuel economy is on suburban roads, with speed limits between 45-50 and limited traffic and few stop signs and lights. In those conditions, I get between 55-60MPG.

3. Was I using only electric mode during that timeframe based on my description?

Yes
5. Has anything broken on your car yet?

Not yet, though my car's pretty new.

6. I sometimes hear a electrical humming noise when I brake. I'm not sure what it is but I hypothesize that it is the battery charging. Does anyone else hear this noise?

Yes, I hear it, though only when the radio is turned down pretty low. My dealer said it's something to do with the switching of electrical potential. Of course, he's probably just stabbing at it, since it didn't make much sense to me, and I'm an electrical engineer. It's normal, though.

8. What is the real world FE difference between a regular civic and civic hybrid in stop and go traffic and highway?

From my limited experience, probably about 10-13MPG combined. Not too shabby.

 

My questions are as follows:
1. How long is the break in period before I notice significant improvement in fuel economy?
3500-5000 miles.

2. What do people generally achieve for city stop and go traffic? Is there a way for me to improve my FE with my daily commute?
In the little bit of city-type driving I do, I'm usually around 45-50mpg. The key is to anticipate the stoplights so you can coast (or even regen slightly) going into them, without ticking off everyone behind you.

3. Was I using only electric mode during that timeframe based on my description?
Very likely. Congrats, getting it to go EV on such low mileage is quite tricky.

4. During my long trips I got 5.2 l/100 km (45 mpg) from Ottawa to Toronto and Ottawa to Boston (750 km using 36 litres of gas). My average speed was 120 km/hr. How do I achieve better highway fuel economy?
Learn the road, and if you feel comfortable, find an amiable trucker willing to let you draft. My best mileage ever on a Columbus > Cleveland (~120 miles) trip so far has been 65mpg@63mph, courtesy of a friendly trucker who knew his stuff, and appreciated having someone behind who could open holes for merging. Mind you, not all truckers like drafters, following at 3-4 car lengths isn't for everyone, nor would I suggest it in heavy traffic. If you don't have someone to clear the air for you, SLOW DOWN. You won't get brownie points for rushing to where-ever it is you're going early, just more time to sit around being bored.

5. Has anything broken on your car yet?
Nope (Delivery in mid-March, just over 7000mi now)

6. I sometimes hear a electrical humming noise when I brake. I'm not sure what it is but I hypothesize that it is the battery charging. Does anyone else hear this noise?
Yes, it's the electric motor going into regen mode. If you're ever in a situation where you need to accellerate quickly (or happen to have a wide open length and feel the urge to utterly trash your mpg), you can hear a very comforting whine as then engine spins up past 3500rpm as well.

7. Does cold weather greatly effect FE? I live in Ottawa, Canada and it gets awfully cold here.
Difficult to say. Cold weather will definitely hurt battery performance, and also makes the engine run rich longer to warm itself and the transmission up.

8. What is the real world FE difference between a regular civic and civic hybrid in stop and go traffic and highway?
Totally depends on your driving style. If you can use basic "hypermiling" techniques like DWL and DWB (Driving With Load, Driving Without Brakes), P&G (Pulse and Glide), and avoid forced regen, you'll do a lot better than a non-hybrid. Get yourself into hard accellerations with no chance for regen, and eventually you'll remove the advantage of the hybrid and be driving an underpowered regular until the batteries can recover.

 

From what I have read and experienced, you will see lower mileage in cold temps as well as really HOT temps. Lower temps, it takes longer for your car to warm up and for autostop to work. The ICE isn't happy till its warm.

In the HOT Texas weather I have seen issues where the battery pack isn't happy until the car/battery cools down. Park in the shade, you won't have the same problem as in the hot sun. But in Canada...I don't think you need to worry about the heat, nor do I worry too much about the cold

Its a great car, learning new things every day.

Regards,

Bob
#001055 (9 months/13k miles)

 

Feel free to check out my Mileage Log.

I live in Alberta and we have wonderfully long and cold winters and as you can see by my log the mileage is definately affected and I would say rather significantly.

In the Winter I was around 36 MPG and in the summer I am between 42 and 45 averaging 40 I beleive over my first year of driving.

I absolutely love the HCH and definately not complaining about 40 MPG in such a great ride.

I always have my air conditioning on Auto and while I try and keep my RPM's low by reading the road and utilizing the glide on occassion I definately do not focus on the mileage like I used to when I originally bought the vehicle. It was a new car obssession at first as you can see in my log... but quite honestly the vehicle performs well on its own and you will be suprised how much you enter the glide without trying when you lighten the foot on the pedal and practise good driving habits.

Hope that helps.

Cheers!

 

Thanks for the comments,

I will see how my FE improves as the car continues to break in. My wife and I love the new car as it provides a comfortable ride. I'm still trying to "show" her how to drive to improve FE. I was very surprise and excited that we were able to drive solely in electric mode..though only for a brief time..

I will try to slow down a bit on the highways, but I don't think we are daring enough to draft trucks. I will see how the winter months effect FE here in Ottawa.

Does anyone also find that the fuel consumption meter is slightly different to hand calculations based on the amount of gas that is filled up? Does anyone know how much gas is actually in the tank when it is full? My gas light came on during my trip to Boston and I had 1 bar left by the time I pulled into the gas station. What puzzles me is that I was only able to fill up 10 gallons. I believe that there are 20 bars in the gas meter. Does each bar represent 5%.

I just noticed that we got a small stone chip on our hood. The first one is always the most painfull... I will go to the dealer to buy the touch-up paint.. Any advice on touching up stone chips?

I'm now contemplating wether or not to get the car rust proofed. I'm leaning more towards getting it done as I'm afraid of the high salt usuage duirng the winter months in Ottawa. Did anyone scotchguard their interior? My car is fluorite silver with a beige interior. This is my first car with light interior so I'm not sure what to expect. But based on the floormats, I can tell it will be difficult to keep clean.

Thanks for the advice and comments and I'm glad to hear that everyone is enjoying their HCH.

 

Hi Chris

Great insights. I live halfway across the world- Singapore- where hybrids are still in their infancy. I would like to know what is meant by electric motor going into regen mode? please enlighten me. thanks, Renga.

 

In non-hybrid cars, when you decelerate or brake, the energy is just wasted. In the hybrid, the energy is used to generate electricity to charge the battery. That stored electricity in the battery can then help to power you up the next hill, meaning the gas engine doesn't have to work as hard (and consume as much fuel).

The "IMA" or "Integrated Motor Assist" as honda calls it, is the helper motor to the engine. It is a complex electric motor which is attached to the back of the engine. When accelerating, it adds boost torque to the transmission to help move you along. When decelerating or braking, the motor turns into a generator... and puts a load on the drivetrain to help slow you down (while generating electric power at the same time).

Quite innovative! Quite thrifty. Very nifty!

 

Tan, Not sure if this helps but our economy went way up on the 3rd and 4th tanks. 43, 44, 48.5, approximately 52 (indicating 51.4 after 450miles). My wife had a big problem driving to work as she hits 26 lights in 22 miles. Most of them are probably 1000 feet apart. She was accelerating too slowly at low rpm and mpg. She now hits the accelerator fairly aggresively and then drops the rpms back down and pops the mpg over 50 asap. This gives her much better mpg overall.

 

You can expect an increase in FE as you drive it more. I am coming up on the big increase, and I think I'm starting to experience that uptick right now. My first tanks (on a good mix of city and highway) went 44.8, 46.2, 45.8, 46.5, 47, 48.5, 48.2, and I'm at around 50 on my latest tank. My one pure highway tank was very early and was at 49.8. The last two days of driving (again, mixed city highway) have been at around 50MPG....I expect once it's fully broken in I'll be averaging around 50-51.