Dealing With Hills
 

Hey everyone,
So I'm trying to keep my MPG up, on my second tank (I filled up half way cause I also just pumped up the tires a bit) I was getting about 45MPG. I'm happy with that, it's an increase from about 40 on my first tank, but of course if I can make it better without driving like a granny, I will.

Now onto the real point of this post, driving to and from work is like a mini San Francisco. I have plenty of hills to get up (The final one dragged my MPG down from 54.8 to 52.9 today:confused: , new tank so it's only about 30 miles in), that don't ever go down as much as up. Of course this really hurts my MPG as this aren't the type of hills I can just coast up, I try to accelerate before to coast up as much as possible and then ride it out. Is there a great way to be able to accelerate uphill and at least conserve some MPG?:embarass:

Re: Dealing With Hills
 

The short answer is to try to find the accellerator position and gear (I have an MT) that rides the battery optimally. You will have to experiement with which speed/gear/throttle position gives you the best average mileage. Your choice of minimum speed (after the KE runs out) I think is the thing you have the most control over.

Pumping your tires up to sidewall max and topping them off with every tankful is pretty standard for this crowd I think. :-)

I have similar problems in my uphill freeway commute to work. The factors that affect my mileage the most are:
o - minimum speed: 45 is better than 55 because wider swings in speed allow for greater use of KE and minimizes wind resistance during the hard climbs.
o - SoC: a low battery provides less assist (the computer does this deliberately I think).

I ride my battery up the hill to work, and charge it on the way back down. On mondays usually my SoC is lower than usual (because of small weekend errands) so I get less FE on the monday morning hill climb than on other days.

Re: Dealing With Hills
 

Kmh3 has good advice, and if you have the CVT I'd do the same with holding the gas pedal fixed on your way up, don't move it. (much)

*Move to the right lane and reduce your speed on the way up.
*If there is a large truck already going about your speed then slip behind at a safe distance into its draft.
*Visit the location(s) of the worst hills you mention on a Sunday or other non-demanding time with the purpose of finding ways around them. Look at road maps of the area.
While it is very easy to discard the idea of alternative routes without actually looking, you may be suprised.

I myself have tackled a paticulary challenging hill for a long time ignoring the exit that is 1/2 way up.
Since this exit has its own seldomly used Right lane (Especially at 2:30AM) I've learned to get off of the Assist 1/3 of the way up, move to the Right turn lane as I approach it and increase to exactly 80MPG.
Sure, I'm slowing way down but traffic is almost non-existant. As soon as I clear the freeway I'm going 43-45MPH and the exit turns level so I do a FAS for another ~3/4 mile.
By the time I get to the stop light that big hill is virtually non-existant.

Instead of brunting the hill all the way up, burning it off @ 36-40MPG as I used to I cut it short and get a FAS and recover what was lost.

My point is that I've fooled myself for a long time about the value of that exit, along with many other routes of my trip....until I actually took the time to look and experiment.

Re: Dealing With Hills
 

Thanks for the suggestions guys. HG, I did look for alternate routes and that was a no go. The other route I tried is a more flat drive, but then I hit traffic, resulting in a 30-40 minute increase in drive time. I don't like getting up as early as I have to now much less adding 30 minutes to it! Also, that longer drive still hits the same major hills:cry: . It avoids maybe 2 minor ones that without traffic, I can normally coast up.


KmH3, I guess I could slow down a little bit, but I don't exactly floor it to or from work so I don't know if that'll help a ton. Certainly worth a try though!

I appreciate the help!