Total novice here, but I'll throw my Prius hat in (since I'm on the list for a FEH).

Wind... The wind that day was listed at spotty with gusts up to 14 mph originating from East-South-East. So on the way back you had a tail cross-wind helping you out. I've seen a 5 MPG delta in seemingly moderate winds in the Prius and the FEH has a bigger footprint.

I don't get as much of a wind effect in the city because of more ground cover on the smaller roads and the slower speeds.

11011011

 

Good to see a Prius hypermiler get his hands on a FEH! The FEH is a different ball game Dan. I use the weight and momentum to pump that battery up with regen. The wind is a big factor, so if I have a headwind, I recommend traveling slower roads. A tailwind really helps the FEH MPG.

Jerry, your right about keeping the FEH moving and avoid stopping. The sweet spot is between 25-35mph where you can control 70% constant EV use. Battery management and control at its lower SoC limits is how I drive my FEH.

GaryG

 

This is probably the key. In the city, you tend to change your engine RPM a lot, and over the highyway, keep it much more constant.

However, with the eCVT you have the very distinct advantge of NO SHIFT POINTS and the fact that engine speed is NOT connected to wheel speed. Thus YOU CAN keep engine RPM constant in the city.

I reccommend that owners always try to keep RPM's between 1800 and 2400 when in the city. If you do this all the time, your city MPG should be higher than your highway MPG.

Also, in a 2005 at least CRUISE CONTROL REALLY SUCKS! ( gas )
I just drove 2500 miles in Kansas and Nebraska.
I was driving the Interstates at 66-70 MPH.
For these long trips, I gave in and used CC.
My MPG was about 30 MPG for a whole tank of highway.
Disappointed with the result, the next tank I drove without CC.
At 70 MPH over the same interstates, in same weather ( mostly cross-winds ) I got a more typical ( for me ) 34 MPG highway.
Even CC varries the RPM a huge amount on the gentle rolling hills of Kansas and Nebraska prarrie. I have NOT YET FOUND a road flat enough for Cruise Contol. -John

 

I don't use the CC at higher speeds either, mainly because of RPM increases to maintain a speed. However, at 30mph in EV, I find I get very good battery management with the CC on flat roads. If you watch the Charge/Assist, you can see the PCM/CC controls the torque and speed much better than your foot in EV. Those spikes in assist are reduced with CC and I find this has increased my distance before an engine start to recharge the battery. This all adds to increase my average MPG. If I have a tailwind, I find I can increase my speed (up to 36-37mph) in EV and get the same results with CC. With a headwind, I still set the CC in EV at 30mph and get better FE when traffic permits.

This has been my best summer for FE, and its been hot. The heater core bypass and the increase use of CC I think played a big part. I've stopped using FAS because I got a "Stop Safely Now" two times and couldn't restart the ICE until I got stopped and shifted to "Park". Everything reset fine, but I don't feel safe using FAS anymore. My mileage has not gone down, so I'll stick with what I'm doing.

GaryG

GaryG

 

This is it. I have rolling small hills on my trip. I have been using CC, this morning I did not use CC and tried to keep RPMs constant. Return round trip average of 34 mpg. Thanks

 

Something else fun to watch on the eCVT cars is ignition timing (IGN on SGII).

I get MUCH better numbers in *another* hybrid holding IGN constant. It's about 10% better than holding RPM constant. Don't really know why, but there you go.

11011011