Most of the time I keep my car in the garage and get excellent MPG. Last night, it was parked outside at a friend's and the temperature dipped into the 40's. The mileage heading home was 4 or 5 MPG less for the first ten miles or so.

While this has probably been covered, I didn't find it in the FAQ. It's less obvious that cold batteries are your enemy, even if it's not winter. Keep your car garaged if possible, and if you have more than one vehicle and can't garage them all, put the hybrid in the garage and drive it the most.

 

Yes, that is very true and has been discussed before.

Both the engine and battery pack are less efficient at colder temperatures.



MxD = Max Discharge MxC = Max Charge.

-John

 

I get great mileage when I keep the car in the garage! In fact, our MMH hasn't used a single drop of gas for the last two weeks, and it was ALL garage mileage . My wife needs to drive it today though so there goes that 0gpm average...

 

It has been discussed.... turns out it doesn't really matter what time of year it is.

In cold weather, having been in the garage helps it warm up just a little faster.
In hot weather, it keeps the inside from being as hot which reduces how hard the AC will need to work (actually... anytime you can manage to park it out of the sun, even if it's just the shade of a tree, will help).

 

A/C, what is that? Accelerate Cautiously? Seriously, my wife has even trimmed her us of the A/C on the FEH compared to the old Ford Explorer. But then the price of fuel is also influencing that.

 

There is such a thing as moderation... you can have your AC, but use it a little more efficiently.

I generally don't set my own AC (in home or car) to be "cold" ... I just set it to be "not hot" (I don't want it to be 90+ in the house or in the car... but 78 is just fine.) On short drives I don't use it at all. On longer drives I use it just enough to keep it from getting 'hot' in the car.

I also set the recirculate dial to pull air from where it's likely to be cooler. According to Ford... this saves gas. I had always believed that the AC compressor was either 'on' or 'off'. At the owner's event they tell us it's not that simple... the compressor works harder when you demand colder temps, which ultimately burns more fuel.

When looking for a parking space, I don't look for the space nearest to the doors of the store/building/etc. I just look for a shady spot (don't be afraid of a little walk.) If a shady spot wasn't available and I have to park in the baking sun, then I set the AC to draw in OUTSIDE air when first starting the car (because that air will be cooler and will cool the cabin faster and allows me to reduce the AC settings sooner), then once it's cool inside, flip the recirc. control to draw INSIDE air as soon as the inside air is cooler than the outside air. Now I can back-off the AC setting so it doesn't have to run as hard.

 

why don't you make it a bit better and plug in your block heater when your in a garage! get to hybrid operation quicker!!

 

It makes some sense that cooling 99F air will be harder than cooling 80F air and that would change gas mileage even if the compressor wasn't cycling.

However, I always though that changing the temperature setting in one of these (if they don't have automated climate control) was simply moving a baffle so air from the outside or from the heater/cooler was mixed with the ice cold air coming from the AC.... since the air traveling across the AC is just as cold as without setting the mix door, I wouldn't think that would help any... Parking in the shade yes, recircuculate yes... changing the temp... I didn't think so. Am I wrong on that?

 

My HCH have never been parked in a garage, other than the gated one at work and 4 years with over 122,000 miles average just over 62MPG.

Although the temps are mild here in Ga, it does dip below freezing in the winter so I could use a tank heater though.

-Steve