A friend of mine owns a 2006 Prius and he was really bent on achieving the "hypermiling status" on this database. He actually puts in much more milleage in a year than I do - definitely a potential hypermiler candidate. Anyway, with the arrival of temperatures that dip well below 10F he says that he'll never get that hypermiler status rating like our friends with moderately warm winters can.

I for one know that despite beating EPA during summer it is pointless to even dream of touching EPA ratings for our winter months. But then again, I do not put more than 8K miles a year anyway and part of those fall right in the winter months as his do. C'est la vie.

Anyhow, we've been chatting about this particular topic and after a few searches on this forum, we have yet to find a conclusive answer. Perhaps someone can say a few authoritative words on whether the database takes the ambient temperature entry into account? In other words, is there a compensatory algorithm that ensures hypermiling hopes are not dashed for the more northernly hybrid owners?


Cheers;

MSantos

 

Hi,

There isn't much that can be done to mitigate the effects of snow on the roads. But there are several strategies for the cold:

1) block and pan heaters - our Japanese friends report substantial improvements and this winter, I plan to repeat their tests with instrumentation.

2) air grill blocks - this helps preserve heat and in theory, reduce drag through the colder air. I tried it but not with rigorous testing:

It seemed to shorten the morning commute warm-up.

3) Use 0W20 engine oil - I understand our Prius are rated to use this oil which should improve ICE efficiency.

4) Take lunch - I tested this last winter and it was effective in maintaining engine and transmission warmth during the day for the commute home. I got my hypermiler star at the end of January.

5) Route planning - lengthen the morning, 25 mph segment (drive through more of the neighborhood) to get everything up to temperature and EV mode coast in the evening. Hold off on higher speeds as long as possible in the morning commute:


6) park for afternoon sun - the energy is free and reduces the initial heater demand.

Bob Wilson

 

Thanks Bob.

Yes, we both have block heaters - similar (and almost) optimal setups. We also time our block heaters similarly... heck we even drive on similarly branded winter rubber and wheel types. In the end, despite the fact that I have an HCH-II and he has a Prius-II we get hit similarly by the cold weather.

His milleage is on average higher than mine and when we compare notes our FE trends parallel each other. There is definitely a measurable and predictable factor.

Anyway, at least we know for sure that the temp entry is not included in the calculation of the "hypermiling tracking" in the GH database.

Cheers;

MSantos

 

MSantos. Yup us northerners get penalized. But we can push it and try to overcome it. I've been putting in every tank since I found the site and I am working my way up from the bottom of the list. The reason I am doing so poorly is I insist on using my remote start in the winter when it gets really cold.

The trick to beating the epa in the north is to do very good in the summer and try to minimalize the hit in the winter. I recommend going on vacation from October to April myself

Use that block heater and maybe some cardboard in front of the radiator.

 

Tom, you're right.

I never was not too concerned about this hypermiling thing anyway (it is nice for "one's ego" though) - but I kind of feel for my friend Greg because he really works at it, he had great milleage on his Prius . We both do 100% city driving.
And although I could be within striking distance, it just isn't worth battling it with this kind of weather. Unfortunately, the current hypermiler qualifying rules just don't accommodate temperature factors. That's life.

We even thought that there may be different means of resolving this: Such as excluding the recorded tanks that occurred below a certain temperature when assessing one's hypermiling performance. This way, some folks would retain the incentive to submit their "real world" FE performance to the database without eroding their hypermiling goals. Yes, it would take longer to "get there" but... hey, life is not perfect.

Would this make sense? At least the GH's DB temperature field would be used for something more than reporting?

Cheers;

MSantos

 

Well, you know where to send your friend if he needs help and encouragement with hypermiling. (hint see mys sig)

I like your idea of excluding temps say below 40 and above 90 in terms of the hypermiling designation.

 

Tom, do you mean to say that CleanMPG actually takes the temperature factor into account?
I've been entering my mileage there from the start but other than demographics, I did not see/read anything significant about their DB that made it that much different from GH's DB.

MSantos