I bought my HCH in the summer, or the beginnig of the summer. Anyway, I remember the dealer left it idling for about 20 minutes while we were finishing up the last of the paperwork so my car would be cozy and cool when I got into it. That absolutely KILLED my tank AND lifetime mileage.

I would think that a lot of these "complainers" are some of those people who leave their car idling for long amounts of time with the A/C on. Try that if you are wanting to kill your mileage, it'll do more damage than driving like a maniac.

 

I think part of the problem is many people just don't want to think.

I'm sure you know those that are technophobes.

For instance, I tell people at an MSN Group that the response on a vBulletin forum like this is much faster, but they are more comfortable with what they know, even if it goes at snail's pace. I don't find the use of this forum complicated, but some people are soooo lazy at things like this.

When it comes to cars, many people act the same way. {sigh}

 

I've been playing a "game" this week by seeing how efficiently I can drive my HCH, since I've already done the opposite (getting 27 MPG by driving it badly on purpose). So far, I've gotten the indicator up to 48.4 MPG. That's not bad for a 3 year old car with 81,000 miles.

So... what is this "pulse and glide" technique I've read about Prius drivers using to get really high FE?

 

Accelerate briskly (varies by person), then ease up on accelerator pedal, then ever-so-slighly, depress accelerator pedal. This puts you in a glide (I call it super stealth). The display then shows no arrows coming or going to/from the battery/electric motors or the gas engine.

Basically there is no regen happening (no resistance from the electric motor/generator, like 'coasting'), as well as no gas engine nor electric power moving u.

It's a true free-wheel coasting, with no power components to slow u down. Just tire and bearing frictions, and air resistance.

It's pretty hard to maintain in heavy traffic, but on sparsley populated, semi-level to slightly downhill runs, it is absoulutley cool! Seems to do best at speeds below 45 MPH or so.

YMMV. Mine does. It's the law of chaos theory. Everyone is different.