Just courious to see if this has happened to anyone else! I had gotten so obessed with getting good FE in my HCHII (since I have owned it, 55.5 mpg!) that I will drive my pickup sometimes to save the FE in my HCHII. I would get a tank almost to 60 mpg, then when my family was going somewhere (and we were in a bit of a hurry) I would drive my crew cab pickup so I wouldn't mess up the current mileage in my hybrid! Even driving 70, my hybrid still gets twice the milegae of my pickup, but I didn't want to drop my current mileage down!!!! Sometimes, if it is very windy, I'll do the same (drive my pickup instead of the hybrid!) I have to get over that and realize that everytime I'm driving my hybrid instead of my pickup, I'm saving gas!

I live in West Texas and the wind really does effect my mileage. (I know this sounds high, but there are days we get winds of 25 to 40 mph, with gusts even higher! If my hybrid is going into that, my FE really drops....of course, I get about 90 mpg with the wind! (One great thing, I work about 25 miles southwest of my home....early in the morning, the wind is usually light, and then on my way home, it is blowing hard....usually from the southwest, so I get a good push home!)

 

I can't deny I've thought of doing something similar--taking my truck for the short trips to the store and such... but I usually end up just taking the HCH, anyway.

 

The wind is similarly going to affect the gas mileage on your pickup, so all you are doing is wasting gas by choosing the pickup over the hybrid. I can see using the pickup to haul something that you can't in the hybrid, but otherwise, it doesn't make much sense.

 

I used to drive my Outback more in the cold temperatures, and for short trips. However, we sold it and bought a Mariner Hybrid so now I'm screwed--I have to take a hybrid where ever I go, even if it costs me MPG . Of course our "household MPG" is better now than when I was driving the Outback.

 

William,

Yes - I think you are the only one who has ever cheated on his hybrid

I tend to go to the other extreme. I will drive my HCH2 on weekends/short trips besides my daily commute. I will also load it up with family and luggage and take it 4-6 hours to visit Family (instead of the minivan). Yeah, its usually lower FE than my daily commute, but its saving gas and is real driving. I wont sweat the FE drop on the tank - I just try to get good mileage on any trip.

 

I have thought about doing that, but after realizing how much gas I'm going to waste, just take my hch.

 

I've measured closely both my routes to work. One is longer, but get better MPG. The other is shorter, slightly less MPG, but ultimately, the SGII shows less fuel used on the shorter trip that results in less MPG.

So even though you like to see the higher MPG #, the bigger picture, and the only one that really matters, is the amount of fuel used.

Tank MPG on the hybrid vs. total fuel used in multiple vehicles ALWAYS makes sense to use the higher MPG vehicle (the hybrid), every time you can within reason.

Most of us hybrid folks can identify with your feeling, but when you look closely at your total fuel usage, sacrafice a slight loss on the tank to save total fuel consumed.

 

I've never done it, but I remember older threads where just this very thing was done - to keep from lowering their impressive MPG numbers.
While it's nice to be able to tout an impressively large MPG average, it IS somewhat misleading to "cherry-pick" your hybrid excursions. I choose to use the hybrid as I would any other car. I drive my other vehicles even less today than I used to, as they all cost me more in gas and $$$ than my hybrid does. It really should be all about the gas, emissions and money saved.

 

If I have to make a short trip I will first get onto the freeway and drive 50 miles per hour for an hour first just so the overall trip doesn't hurt my MPG.

Sure, I drove 25 miles in one direction and back for no reason at all, but at least my MPG is high.


(Just kidding. )

 

From a cold start to make a really short round trip (2 miles each way), I'm just as likely to take a non-hybrid vehicle that will get the equivalent MPG during this scenario. Once summer arrives, the hybrid will always do better because of the extremely quick warm-up and EV mode capabilities.

Since the fuel useage is basically the same for both cars on this short round trip in the winter, I'm happier to put the cold start wear and tear on the non hybrid vehicle that is much less expensive to replace, and perhaps extend the life of the more expensive hybrid.