My Hat is off to you. The Camry is significantly better than the NAH in FE. I must admit I am jealous.

My only caviats are:

1. I wonder what the "ECO" mode of the AC is? I assume it means economy which in my experience is some kind of reduced compressor activation, in some cases even off. maybe you could add a bit of info.

2. Your living at McDowell Mt. and my living Stonegate, 95% of my driving is in the very rual area bounded by Frank loyd Wright , Scottsdale Road and Via DeVentura. As you can tell I am retired and am essentialy, only shopping, exercising, resturants, etc. I rarely even have a chance to get on the loop 101 and have had only 1 trip to Lake roosevelt.

What kind of driveing do you do, Any regular commutes? Any 101 usage?

Even assuming you have a better usage pattern than I do and trying to guess an accounting for these things it sounds like the Camry gets at least 5 to 8 mpg than I do.

Congrats Again! With that info I would have selected the Camry. I guess I let My, not necessarly everyones, view of the style sway me, Plus I tried to buy the centenial edition Camry from the dealer on FLW and he lied to my face so many times that I completely lost all desire to deal with him.

 

After 2600 miles and 5 tanks of gas we are getting 31.5 measured. We live 22 miles north of downtown San Diego, where we work, and driving involves a lot of hills. Also my wife does not have the same interest in fuel economy and drives it like she did her Acura RL.

 

It was such a great picture I had to show it. Sure wish we had those fog lights!

 

Grip,

Stonegate...we're NEIGHBORS!! My last home was at 114th and Cholla.

I won't go into engineer specifics on ECO mode, but IIRC it runs a/c solely off of electric power, as opposed to using the ICE. If at idle running a/c and battery depletion gets low enough ICE will still be triggered, but under normal driving, ECO is kinder to FE.


My driving does include some time on the 101. Primary runs are from Thompson Peak Pkwy > Raintree > 101 South > Via De Ventura and W on Doubletree Ranch Road and I do a few trips to my brother's via 101 W > 51 S > Shea and back home. Other than that, it's similar to your driving. Quick trips to Sam's Club and to the grocery.


I can get 42 mpg without hypermiling techniques and really don't pulse and glide, but I do have to feather the pedal and have more focus on FE to attain it. I use cruise control anytime possible - even on sub-40mph roads. That seems to really help.


Sorry to hear about your disenchantment with the Altima...it really is a good looking vehicle, and I was going to stall my car purchase until it came out...until my buddy that owns a dealership told me it was only going to be released on a limited basis, and he didn't even think he'd receive any allocations.

 

I had to have this trucked from California. My only disenchantment is the mileage. I would shut up complaining if I could get it up into the middle thirdies say 35-37 some folks like Mariannie say they are getting it on the NAH but I just can't seem to get to 35 unless I am on the freeway and then the hybrid stuff is not really doing anything. They (who ever that is say these things are better in town than the highway. Well it will not stay in EV above 40 so that eliminates Shea Blvd. And it will not stay in EV if you accellerate more quickly than a sick snail so that means you will get lots of horn blowing at the traffic light if you dared to try it there. So I am reduced to ICE from the light and then try and find slow streets than I can drice arounf 30 on in EV mode. and then OH OH the AC is driven by an electric motor and that just eats the HV battery quickly so not too long in EV.

Anyway enough already you get the picture.

Here is my analysis:
NAH weight; 3482lbs ICE 158Hp EM199 lb.-ft. @ 0-1500 rpm (105 kW @ 4500 rpm) Battery 30KW
TCH Weight 3387lbs ICE 147Hp EM199 lb.-ft. @ 0-1500 rpm (105 kW @ 4500 rpm) Battery 30KW

So it seem on the surface that the electric motor and battery and control system are the same . The rest of the systems don't seem much different. So I am at a loss. I guess i just keep trying till the 3000 mile checkup and then start really digging.

 

Hate to break this to you the the TCH has the same 40 mile an hour limit in EV mode as the HAH. That is the Toyota system at work in both.

 

We can do better than the 40 limit only if we drop down in speed to EV. If we are going up in speed we lose EV at about 39-40 mph... but if we are going 60 MPH and drop down in speed I've had things click into EV in the mid and upper 40s. I'm not techy, so I don't know the how or why of this.

 

What kind of milage are you all currently getting? Marianne are you still doing fabulous 36-37?

 

Eskimonio,

When you say ECO mode are you talking about a state your computer puts your AC in, or do you have an ECO button on your Camry?

I only have the base level Altima Hybrid and it has no ECO button per say. However, my AC does cycle up and down depending on the level of charge and all heat/AC comes directly from the battery on the NAH. Is this what ECO does on your car?

If you don't have an ECO button, how do you know you are in ECO mode?

I am able to get 35 to 37 MPG and I love my car, but I can't get to the 40's on an average tank. I might make it on a single trip, but I only calculate at fill-ups. I also seem to get better MPG on highway driving.

Thanks for your help.

 

Also, keep in mind that these are not plug-in electric cars. Any running you do on EV mode comes from power generated by the ICE, so it's not really infinite gas mileage! I wouldn't be surprised if mileage at a steady 45 using the ICE is actually better than at 40 where the ICE will have to come on eventually to recharge the battery.