About 99% of my mileage is around town. The one short trip I took I only got 27ish. I have only had the HiHy a month, and as foo said it has been warm since I bought the car, but not warm enough to require AC.

 

Curiously, I find that I get better mpg going up and down hills (VA mountains). I suspect it's the downhill runs without ICE that increases the mpg. A round-trip (so equalizing the ups and downs) still gives better mpg than a "flat" trip.

Maybe I'll move to the Rockies....

 

I've found the biggest improvement in FE by changing my route commute to work from 95% freeway/5% expressway to 5% freeway/95% expressway. The speed limit on the expressway is 50mph and traffic on it usually keeps actual speeds to the low 40's. By driving mostly on the expressway, the environment is conducive to keeping aggressive acceleration in check without really consciously "working at it". It's also great for regenerative braking because you can slow down over a much longer distance. I find that on the freeway that my pre-hybrid habits keeps me from "gentle-footing" the accelerator.

One interesting find is that the time it takes me to commute to work using either route is about the same. I guess all the traffic and exchanges on the freeway negates the potential for time-savings at higher speeds, at least for my work commute.

As I mentioned in my original post; I find that if I "hypermile-up" during the weekdays and get my FE numbers up, that lets me let loose with the 268hp on the weekends and still keep my overall FE pretty decent (~26 mpg).

I've also found that keeping my eyes on that energy monitor with the ICE and electric batteries icons just leads to frustration. Trying to minimize the times your ICE is either used or goes to recharging your batteries for me just gets too distracting and counterproductive. I find that you can run pure electric at 35-40 mph using that standard trick (accelerate up to ~35 then gently let off the accelerator until its all electric then hold the accelerator steady - that's where the energy monitor is really useful), but that lasts for only about 2-3 miles before the battery levels start decreasing and you either have to a) let the speed slowly decrease to keep it all electric or b) let the ICE kick in again. I find it more useful to use the time history Consumption chart that displays the MPG estimate for each 5-min of your trip and go by "feel" on the acceleration. You can tell if your ICE is taking too much of a hit by the engine noise and the vibration it translates into on the accelerator which you can feel by your foot.

 

hsolo


good imput. I found out the other day that going on the highway with cruise set at 65mph netted us 32mpg !!!!!!! when we went down to 60mpg on cruise -we started getting 36mpg!!!!! The EV and ICE were designed to work in tandem. I have found the vehicle was NOT designed to drive in EV. I tried driving it as much as i could in EV, but then something has to recharge it -meaning the ICE had to kick on , draining my mpg, until it was recharged. So instead of all or nothing, my wife drove the car and kept the battery charged the whole time with both engines working in tandem.

It got better mpg that way. The only exceptions would be to use nothing at all. AKA gliding downhills and to stopsigns.

 

rod


that is very curious. You would suspect to get the best possible gas mileage on a flat surface, as proven for years in a gas motor. Perhaps its because you still get assisted power up the hill, but use nothing at all down the hill. On a flat you use assisted power the whole time.

 

You've hit on something I found out early on with my FEH. I get my BEST highway results in rural Mtns. where the speed limits are about 45 MPH.

I get about 26 MPG going uphill. But then downhill is "free".
Can you say 52 MPG round trip???

 

You also hit on something I learned with the Ford Escape Hybrid. It was never meant to be an electric car. The battery's #1 job is to keep all your accessories running when the engine shuts off at lights, and to restart the engine. Not drive the car!

-John