Shiloh,

Does your battery reach full before you reach the bottom of your descent to Denver ?

 

Eric - I think it's "almost" at max but not quite... I'll have to check the next time I go down the hill.

 

Wanted to add a few tips since I seem to be getting a better mileage -

Background -- I have an RX 400h with close to 1k miles at this time.
The vehicle apears to be most efficient at the following speeds -

30 mph -- Most of the time you should see the vehicle drive on Electric ( provided the battries are close to fully charged ).

45 - 55 mph -- If your batteries are charged it will use gas with motors assisting the engine. You should see anywhere from 37mph to 58mph real time readings.

I use the RX when the drive is atleast 30 minutes and has a mix of city and hwy ( 60 - 40 % ) mix.

I was getting 34 - until I drove it like a sports car for 2 days which brought it down to 28. Hopefully I will be able to keep 34 the next time.

Hope this helps.

 

In reply to some of the opinions expressed on this thread..
My 6th fillup produced an mpg of 25.87...
My mileage at this fillup was 2387..
While all engines 'perform' better after 'breakin' it is barely improving with greater mileage. Lets face it, even after appropriate DD reasearch the HH is just a 'green SUV,'
admitedly well made and quick , but not a terribly 'fuel efficient' vehicle, witness CA not allowing either the HH nor the 400h in the 'fast' lane.
Perspective is also 'tempered' by what one drove prior to their purchase of a hybrid...
If you transitioned from a Tahoe (10-12 mpg) then your happy...if you transitioned from a prior more fuel efficient vehicle i.e. Tundra @ 16.8 mpg then one is somewhat disappointed...

 

Just filled up last night - 2900 total miles on the vehicle - calculated MPG came in at exactly 30 mpg ... that's what I expected when I purchased it so I'm happy.

You *do* need to look at the types of roads you typically drive *and* your driving style - both affect the mpg. I wasn't doing much of anything drastically different from my own "typical" style of driving, but then again I've almost always accelerated gently, anticipated traffic changes and slowed down before the guy in front of me woke up and hit the brakes, etc.

For those of us without the "fancy smancy screeen" to tell us the average mpg - it seems to me that each 1/4 tank shown on the fuel guage equates to roughly 4 gallons so if you're at 120 miles at 3/4 tank, 240 miles at 1/2 tank etc then you're approaching the 30mpg mark.

 

The Honda Accord Hybrid, Ford Escape Hybrid, Mercury Mariner Hybrid, next year's Camry, etc., won't be allowed in the Carpool lane either.... CA's rule is 45mpg or above will be allowed. So any SUV would have a long way to go to reach 45mpg.

Having said that, it would be nothing more than a "green SUV" if it got 16.8 like the Tundra, and had to work super hard just to get 20mpg. But if my prior auto only got 16.8 mpg and I regularly got 26mpg with my new one, that's a significant savings! +9mpg?? That's a 55% increase in fuel efficiency. The only way you'd approach 30mpg in a Tundra would be if your commute was downhill both ways, yet the HH and RX400 can get 30+ routinely if you do a little adjusting of your driving style. I'm much more of a "green driver" than my fiancee is, yet she was disappointed that one tank on her HH only got 28mpg.

Like you said, keep it relative. Any SUV getting 28mpg is pretty amazing. It's still an SUV.... size, weight and drag will always be its downfall. Yet with new habits forming, she's starting to make the 30mpg tank a habit as well. I doubt that's possible in a Tundra, Tahoe, Explorer, Expedition, et al.

 

Shiloh,
I'd luv to get to the 30 mpg mark but here in the flatlands it seems more 'distant'
perhaps in the foothills of CO you've got the opportunity we 'flatlanders' dont have...
looooooooooooog downhills.
I am averaging 'bout what is posted here 26 mpg not great (I had hoped for the 30 mpg and 500 miles tank distance) but alas! we take what we can get...

 

Ender21,

While I do not dispute much of what you have posted, it boils down to a matter of perspective....In comparing my Tundra, Big, Lumbering, Heavy Handling there is no argument the Lighter more Agile and Spritly HH has the advantage. However, here is where the 'perspective' kicks in...I routinely received 400 miles per tankful with my Tundra...I receive 400 miles per tankful with the HH...I had hoped, thru all the 'hype' I might add that at the very least I would be making LESS STOPS

 

Sorry, got cutoff...
If the 19+ gal tank of the standard Highlander would have been utilized, perhaps I'd be a 'happier camper.'
Please dont misunderstand, the HH is my fourth Toyota product, and I have great respect for the company, BUT they could have thought out the purchasers mentality a little bit better, witness the cigarette ashtray which could have been a coin dispensor (like the one in my Tundra) The lack of the vaunted 'tire pressure sensor,' which in this vehicle is 'crucial' to achieving higher mpg. Green? well maybe, but the 'cat's meow it's not...just my 2 cents worth..or I should say MSRP worth.....

 

ULEV - What mpg were you getting in your "Big, Lumbering, Heavy Handling" Tundra? I think that the mpg you receive in the HH should be compared to that. Prior to my HH, I drove a Hyundai Elantra when the weather was good and a Jeep Grand Cherokee when it wasn't. Switching cars constantly was a drag especially since Colorado has trouble making up it's mind as to what season it is My goal when I first started hearing rumblinigs of a hybrid SUV was to get at least the mileage of the Elantra and I've done that. The Elantra was usually in the 28-30 mpg range, the Jeep a pitiful 17-19

Now, when I carry all my Scout "stuff" around I won't have to say "sorry that is in the other car"...