Yes indeed, I would actually be quite happy to be getting 44MPG at this point! I'm going to give it some time, and hopefully things improve. In the meantime I'm going to try experimenting with the cruise control and see what kind of results I get with that. One thing I noticed with my car though, which may possibly be the source of the problem, is that I hardly see the Assist meter on the IMA gauge do much. When I brake and release the accelerator, I usually see the Charge meter in action, which usually can get quite a few bars, but I've never seen the assist meter go above maybe 15% (about 3 bars or so), and it's hardly ever active at all. Is this abnormal and a cause for concern?

 

I would say no. Thats normal in my VERY limited one week of experience.

 

Actually I just went out for a drive and I take that back... while it's not very active, the Assist does kick in at over 15% depending on how hard I accelerate

 

Agreed. I live on top of a fairly rough hill in terms of fuel economy, which I have calculated costs me over 10% overall on every tank. However, the good news with that is that with hill driving, there is the most room for improvement of any situation. By paying careful attention to the fuel display, and learning to feather the throttle carefully, and doing things like coasting up to stopsigns on the incline I have impoved my "straight up and down" fuel economy drasically.

Also, the hills should actually negatively impact hybrids less than standard vehicles as they recover some charge on the way down (moreso on gradual hills). On very steep hills though that might not be the case as it may push the small engines out of their efficient "band" on the way up, without offering ample distance to recharge on the way back down.

When I drove initially, not paying any attention to mileage in my '03, I averaged about 39mpg overall. At similar (slightly slower) average speeds, I was able to improve that to 48mpg with practice - a 20% improvement. Driving in the slow lane on the freeways, and taking my accelerations extremely slow, I got into the 50s (without the hill I would have nearly cracked 60).

One thing to remember is that those gauges are not equal. Full charge puts back something like 50amps, while full assist draws about 100 amps. The display makes both the same size though, so it looks as if the car charges much more than it gives back in assist.

The computer may also limit IMA activity due to very cold weather, but usually that will affect charging more than assist. When braking from anything over 25mph, you should see maxiumum regen. If you get full regen, but the car is still reluctant to give full assist even with very hard throttle and a high indicated State of Charge, the battery might be improperly calibrated (though why this would be on a new car is puzzling).

 

Hmmm, everything you are describing here says that you should be getting at least in the 40's, IMO. You can't spend a significant amount of time with the FCD around 100, with gentle accelerations, etc. and get 30 mpg. So, I'm beginning to suspect something is wrong, but I don't have a clue what it is. I'm afraid your dealer, should you take it in, will be unsympathetic and tell you to give it more time.

Are you sure you're not driving with the parking brake on??

As everyone has said, your charge/assist sounds fine. The fact that you are only getting a few bars of assist tells us that you are accelerating gently. Your FCD sounds like it's doing what it should be.

Tell us this; what is your average trip distance? What has a typical temperature been during an average trip? Have you tried resetting Trip B (or Trip A) for single trips? If so, how long are the trips and what is it telling you? Do you see it increase towards the end of the trip (after the engine warms up?) Have you checked your tire pressure? What is it? Does anything else seem out of whack - really odd noises, bumps, grinds, etc.? I'm fishing now....

btw, if you haven't seen this yet, it is a MUST READ:
https://www.greenhybrid.com/learn/ar...fficiency.html

 

Lol, only once tried to back out of my driveway with it on, but I figured it out right away! I actually never used it until recently when I read that it's better for the car to use the parking brakes. I also just recently checked my tire pressure, which I never thought of doing b/c I figured it would come with the right pressure from the factory since it's a new car (got it with 10 miles), and it turns out they were majorly overinflated! They were at 46psi, while the tires max rating is 44, and optimal pressure is stated as 32. I deflated them to 32-33, hopefully I should see some improvement now. While my typical avg trip usually short (< 7 miles), real test will be in a month when I drive 1,300 miles down to New Orleans!

 

Uh oh. The duck just came down, as Groucho used to say.

Please read the threads here about optimal tire inflation. Higher is better, up to your personal comfort level of course, and I have seen 46 as a recommended figure for this car. If anything you're likely to see worse mileage now, not better.

 

Wow really? Is that what people have been experiencing? I wonder why the car would show 32psi as recommended pressure, and 44psi as the max rating?

 

I read through the thread again and I couldn't find any information about how long your average trip is, TheOcean. Can you tell us a little about your daily driving habits (assuming I'm not just being thick and missed that part)? To give you an idea of how important that is, today I drove less than 2 miles on my lunch break (which I hate doing) and logged barely 20mpg in my Accord. The morning 5 mile commute was not even 29mpg and that was a struggle. On my longer (100mi+) highway trips, the same car is capable of 40mpg and above.

 

1) What car did you own previously?

2) What was your average fuel economy with that vehicle?