I find that as long as I shut off the heat at lights, the ICE stays off, even at -30 C. I turn the heat back on again when I start moving, since the ICE comes back on during the initial acceleration anyway.

 

Good FE tip!

 

Thanks. It's made a huge difference for me - especially on those shorter trips where I never really get the engine warm enough to go into full hybrid mode.

 

Sure, that works fine if you actually HAVE stoplights on your route

I live in the sticks, so I don't hit a stoplight until I'm at mile 30 of 35 on my route. Needless to say, my car is pretty warm by then, haha

 

I've also been playing around with the heater settings lately with the lows being around 0 F. Of course with no heater it gets the best mileage, no extra heat loss or electric load. I also noticed if I turned the heater off it would let the engine turn off at lights once it's warm. Lately though, I've been playing with that "eco" button when I'm running the heater. As long as I don't need the defroster (that turns "eco" off) I can run the heater on low settings and the engine still turns off at lights once it's warmed up. Now I'm using that "eco" as much as I can to stay warm. I'm still getting over 40 mpg average this tank, and I'm sure the garage and engine heater is helping (it's warm within a couple miles).

 

Live in the NE. Near the RI, MA border. Average ride is around 5 to 7 miles on errrands. (retired here) During warm months the avg mpg's was between 33 to 37. Terrain is flat, some rollers, stop signs and traffic lights like most towns/cities. In the warmer climes the mpg was a bit over 41 on trips. Now with temps down the daily errands are between 27 and 29 mpg. Had a warm spell a couple of weeks ago and it was up to 32. Always use the eco mode when car is warmed up. CC, never leave the yard without it being on except in rainy or ice/snowy conditions, then the CC is not used. The lower the temps the more the ice runs to keep the engine warm enough to produce heat.

 

During the warmer months I was getting 40-42 MPG overall (calculated). Now with the colder weather here I'm getting about 37-38 calculated. My current tank shows (according to the MFD) about 40 MPG.

I also use the technique of turning the heater off at stoplights to allow the engine to shut off. I can only do this when I'm driving by myself. If my wife is in the car then...well, I'm sure you get the point.

 

We understand completely.

 

BTW for those afraid they'll "freeze to death" with the heat off () I will mention that the car does warm up even then. It might not be as fast and there's no warm air blowing around but with the low temps lately I can assure you heat does still reach the cabin. Eventually.

 

What I find is the following (ScanGauge readings). With ECO "on" and cabin temperature set for 20 degrees C (~68 degrees F), once the ICE water temperature reaches 57 degrees C (~135 degrees F), the ICE will shut off when stopped. It will restart when the water temperature drops below 53 degrees C (~127 degrees F), and shut off again when it reaches 57 degrees C. It will then continue cycling between 57 and 53 degrees C to provide cabin heat while stopped. (If ECO is switched "off," the ICE will stay "off" for prolonged periods when stopped.)

Stan