we got our 2006 HCH about 3 weeks ago (our first car ever!). the more i drive it, the better the fuel economy seems to get. we drove from Toronto to Montreal and back last weekend (about 350 miles each way).

on the way there I was getting about 46 MPG and for the trip back, i peaked at about 57 MPG while going about 50 MPH in a contruction zone on the flat. By the time we got halfway back to Toronto that had leveled out to 50 MPG with some 65 MPH highway driving.

Then my lead-footed wife took over for the second half and undid all my good work . She has steadfastly refused to adjust her driving habits, accelerates hard and drives 10 to 20% over the speed limit, despite my pleas for her to drive more gently and reasonably. she simply isn't interested in the game of achieving high fuel economy.

any advice on how to get her to drive in a more hybrid-friendly way would be most appreciated (other than making her pump and pay for the gas when we need it!)

 

Almost sounds like we are married to the same woman. Luckily, mine hardly ever drives the hybrid.

 

Is this similar to the way women like to leave lights on in the home and guys turn them off so there's no waste? I think there's a basic difference in the genetic programing and not much you can do about it. The extra cost in gas probably isn't worth the headaches.

 

Generalizations. I can't get my husband to turn off lights in rooms he's not using. Should I generalize that all men cannot do this? No.

While it would be nice to get everyone who might drive our hybrids to do as good or better than we do fuel economy wise, a happy relationship is worth more than a some lost MPG in my opinion, regardless of whether it's one's wife or husband or friend or parent who's causing said loss.

Getting high fuel economy is your newfound passion/hobby/interest. Spouses don't always share the exact same passions, hobbies and interests or to the same degree as one another. Chalk this up as one of those times. It would be boring if we were clones of our spouses -- few of us could stand a duplicate of ourselves 24/7.

 

I let my other half drive mine once and I prefer that she drive my Scion XB. Especially since I'm actually trying for a full tank above the 50mpg mark. Not doing to bad so far I'm at 53.2mpg not sure how many miles but, I still have over half a tank to go.

 

My wife does most of the driving in the HCH. At first her mileage was at least 5MPG worse than mine. I was careful not to say anything for the first couple of months. I wanted her to get used to the car without any pressure, and not to think I'd become some FE nut. After a while she noticed the MPG difference herself, and we talked a little bit about some FE techniques. She began paying attention to it and now we're getting almost the same MPG - she's improved a lot. No pressure.

 

Rather than argue with my wife about low FE and her driving habits, I bought my own hybrid.

Consider the small extra cost of fuel as an investment in your marriage. If she has no interest in the subject, let it go. It is not worth a fight.

 

Get a second car

 

Trade her in and get a new one... wife that is!

(OK - I know I'm going to catch H#LL for this one - it is just a joke)

Actually I like Elan's approach and it has worked pretty well for me too. I drive the Hybrid 90% of the time, but pretty much let her drive it how she wants. Praise her when she does well (and that gets her thinking a bit about HOW she did it). Either she will come around or not.... in which case there isn't anything you can do about it... (in which case revert to plan A - trade her in!) :-)

Eric

 

ok, well this is probably the best advice. she is a consverationist by nature (she's the one turning the lights off after me and recycling every last scrap of paper), so hopefully she'll figure it out. old habits die hard i guess.