During the first 1000 miles on my Civic Hybrid CVT, I had to use cruise control at 50 mph on a completely flat highway over 20 miles to achieve a the EPA average of 48.0 mpg (as advertised on the sticker). This was because of the break-in period: my car came straight out of the showroom floor with less than 20 miles on it.

Later, at 15,000 miles on my Civic, cruise control at 65 mph over 20 miles of hilly highway netted a 48.0 MPG average. Now that was more like it. Your car should have already broken in after so many miles on it.

You might wonder why my numbers are below EPA. Well, for the first couple thousand miles, I got around 44 mpg because I didn't use any tips or tricks, and then, I drive up large 2-mile long hills to get home, so my mileage takes hits when that happens.

To answer your concerns:

1) Peak car efficiency for normal cars is around 50 mph. This is because at this speed, the car usually just shifted to the highest gear, using the lowest RPMs in that range possible, and wind resistance/car power is at a fine balancing point.

2) Wind resistance varies (approximately) as the square of the speed. So, as you increase speed linearly, wind resistance increases exponentially (sort of a parabola). That is why ALL cars, not just hybrids, drop greatly in efficiency the faster the speed. Just talk to a Bugatti engineer and ask him why it was so difficult to design the Veyron so that it could attain 300+ mph. Why it needs a cockroach-like shape and 1000 hp under the hood...

3) The CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission) never "shifts" like an automatic transmission: it is constantly, continually shifting, i.e. continually varying the gear ratios so that peak torque is maintained. What kenkobra meant is that he found that the CVT gear ratios at 60 mph gave him better mileage than at 45 mph.

Hope that answers some of your concerns.

 

I ran some HCH2 tests last weekend for speeds from 55-70mph and AC on/off versus FE. These are posted inn the Fuel Economy section of the site.

If you are often driving 65mph+ with heavy use of AC, then your FE will suffer (drop from 65mpg to <40mpg - just on the freeway).

 

According to their data my Hybrid almost always matches the fuel economy for a non-Hybrid Civic.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/2008c...f.jsp?id=20705

Okay, one more test at 50 mph.

 

Steve,

Please understand that I am in no way trying to bash this site -- I am just a little disappointed in the mileage I am getting. While I certainly wouldn't start a law suit over it, I can see why someone might go down this route.

It seems after reading all the posts, that my car is defective. We are moving back to the Boston area so the car will be driven under different (less hilly) conditions. I'll report back later.

If there is anyone in the Boston area that would be willing to trade for a day -- I would be very interested in this -- just so I would know if it is the car or not.

I also try and follow all the guild lines on this site and am somewhat of a gear head -- so I am pretty confident I am driving the car to get optimum mileage.

Regards,

Dobe

 

My commute is about 28 miles round trip basically from Pflugerville, down the Parmer race track & over to I35 & 183. Without working too hard (tires are at around 32, mirrors are still on the doors, I don't shut the engine off on any of the hills, I keep up with the surrounding traffic, climate control set to "auto"; are the hypermilers cringing yet?) I'm getting 41.8 mpg. Last tank I calculated 42.5 mpg while the car said 39.5....
I could get better I suppose but sometimes it's fun to out accelerate the Yuppie in the Grand Cherokee......

 

Since the car is a Hybrid, the misconception is that it has no get-up-and-go! I let everyone know (that asks) that the HCH has all the power needed to accelerate quickly IF needed... it's whether the driver WANTS to use it. The only time I ever go over 2K rpm is to get on the freeway. I can accelerate on the city streets just fine while staying at or under 2K rpm, and keep my iFE sitting between 30-50mpg while still accelerating. I have really learned to coast/glide well, especially when I see the red light 1/2 mile ahead (or the light after that). I almost never have to completely stop. I end up between 10-15mph and flow right into the back of traffic that has started to move after the light turns green. If I don't have to waste the gas to move the car from a complete stop, I won't. If you learn how to do Coasting/Gliding you will see your FE increase. You'll also see people going around you because they have to beat you to the red light and stop completely for 30 seconds (I USED to be one of those a$$holes). I end up coasting in right behind them without skipping a beat and wave to them in their rear view mirror, all the while watching my FE go up by .1 or .2 between lights.

 

AJR,

I wanted to suggest to you that during different tanks I have altered my driving style. The worst tank I got was around 36MPG actual. After that, I thought -- maybe I was trying to drive too nice?

The next tank I accelerated to keep with traffic with no regards to gas mileage (pulse and coast). I ended up with 42.4 (my best to date)

I am just suggesting that etting up to speed quicker may work better. I also believe that most internal combustion engines provide their peak power output / gas input in a much higher RPM range.

Our mileage is the same and crappy....

Regards,

Dobe

 

I think a few people here read your earlier comments as I did - insinuating that the MPG reported for the HCH2 was seriously flawed and misleading. It is neither. Sorry , but we get a little defensive when someone (or some article) tells us what a sham hybrids are (when most of us KNOW better).

Sure, there are a few wild entries in the database (as in any publicly-accessible forum like this), but they are so few as to not make a difference. In fact, it's possible that they are NOT really included with the rest of the entries in computing averages.

As you can see from the graphs, the big cluster of us get between 45 and 51 MPG. That includes me, at 46.4 MPG. There are a significant number at just 3 MPG extremes of that range, i.e. 42 MPG or 54 MPG. Including this group, that's the VAST majority of us. Keep in mind that ANY forum like this one is more likely to attract people that "work-at-it" (their MPG) at least a little more than the average bear. This is natural, to be expected - but it does impact the average MPG upward as we probably have fewer "racers" amongst us than a true cross-section of drivers would. Also, some people getting low MPG may feel too embarrased or lacking motivation to enter their poor MPG. That's unfortunate, but also human nature.

Based on my early-on visits to this forum, I was hoping (expecting) about 47-48 MPG for myself. I am not there (yet), but am reasonably close. Therefore, I believe this forum was helpful in setting my expectations.

Do you live anywhere near Sacramento? AJR has offered to meet you and help you figure out if it's your car, or if it's something else (your terrain, or your driving technique). I know you don't think it's you, so maybe it is the terrain or your car. A side-by-side comparison would be a good way to find out.

If you're ever going to be in the Dallas area, let me know. I'll make the same offer as AJR. I'd really like to ensure "happy hybrid ownership," if possible.

 

I don't live in Austin and am not willing to swap cars for weeks at a time, but I wouldn't mind meeting up somewhere to do a direct test comparison for a day to see if your car has any issues or not. I live in Houston and it would be easier to meet up if you're ever in town. I may go up to College Station in a few weeks for a journal assignment. The S2000 Club of America in Houston just drove up to Austin today. If there's another Hill Country drive in a few weeks, we can meet up and I'll just drive my 06 HCHII instead. I get 48.3mpg on average (I was at 49mpg overall until the July rainfall made driving treacherous). LMK if you're up for a test.

 

This plan sounds good to me. After this you can get out of your head that its your car and get to improving other ways. Or possibly, you will have evidence to take to your dealer!