Do you have the A/C on "Eco"? It makes a BIG difference.
Also...light touch of the gas is not the way to drive it. The best
way is to do a moderate acceleration to cruising speed, then
maintain your speed from there.

 

I've alternated between ECO and not, depending on how uncomfortable we were inside the car. I'll try for more ECO A/C going forwards. And I was unaware that light gassing was not efficient.. I'll adjust my habits accordingly.

 

The problem is that the EPA City test has too few stops, that are too far apart to accurately represent most cities. Also, those tests are flats. Throw in stops on hills (incline or decline) like you see in many cities, you can kiss any chance of conserving your momentum (the key to good mileage IMO) goodbye. While the hybrid pack helps some -- reclaiming some energy that would otherwise be wasted braking, constanty stopping and going is, and always will be less efficient than steady-state driving, from a physics perspective. Also, in many cases on steep hills, braking will be required beyond the capacity of the regenerative braking anyway -- on a highway with hills though, you can drive with load and regain momentum going down -- a more efficient method of storing energy than a chemical battery pack.

As far as acceleration, the key will be to accelerate where possible at the engine's most efficient RPM range -- it will take the same amount of energy to accelerate the vehicle to a certain speed whether it is done slowly or quickly, so the best bet is to accelerate with the engine running at its most efficient RPM until you reach your desired speed, which is around 2000 on my vehicle, I don't know what it is on the Camry however.

Also, going out of your way to use all-elecrtic mode may not be the best bet in all situations -- while no gas is burned at the time, it will need to be paid back later with charging on the engine. If you know there will be a big hill or something where you can regenerate energy, then I'd reccomend using the battery more heavily, but if not, you're liekly better off simply letting the engine run if the car wants it to.

 

The Camry uses an ECVT, so it should generally be running at the same RPMs. Most drivers find it's better to accelerate moderately rather than slowly. It seems to keep the mpg around the same whether it's a slow or moderate acceleration, but with a moderate acceleration you're up to speed sooner and just maintaining your speed that much sooner.

 

After 150 miles of ownership I'm averaging less than 26mpg, and that's with driving with a very light touch on the gas and trying to run electric whenever possible. Hilly local terrain and air conditioner usage (it's been hitting 100F here lately) are my theories as to why my mileage is so disappointing.

Can anyone shed some light?

Part of the "trick" to high FE is to let completely off the gas and then reapply the throttle to engage the battery to the maximum. Driving lightly is not the key. I can get better milage at 55 using this technique than I can at 45. There are a lot of posts (here and on Edmunds.com forums)that you need to look back through to get the "big" picture on raising your FE.

I can't imagine 26mpg under any circumstances as an average over time. I assume you also reset the mpg gage (if it's a NAV system) when you bought the car? If it's a non-nav car I would suggest filling up and letting the tank reset so that you can get a fair evaluation of how you're actually doing.

 

There is more to FE than just your driving technique. You also HAVE to consider the terrain you are driving on and how you are using the A/C. I've put 183 miles on my TCH since picking it up last week. I was not getting the best mileage the first few days. As soon as I turned the A/C down and starting using ECO mode my mileage started to dramatically improve. My daily commute to work takes me thru some very steep canyons and the FE does seem a suffer a bit when going up grades. As I learn the car though and adjust my driving style I am getting better mileage on the hills, but it still suffers a bit.

 

I am also experiencing low city mileage (under 30) but my city trips are VERY short (two or three miles) and infrequent. Does anyone have data on the MPG during the warm up phase?

 

My commute to and from work is only about 5 miles. I've only been averaging about 28-30 mpg on these short trips when the engine is cold. Well that is according to the display.

 

My drive is 6 miles--2 miles @ 35-40 MPH with two stoplights, 3 miles @ 60 MPH, and the last mile @ 30-40 MPH with 2 stoplights. Going to work, my display usually indicates 34-37 MPG. Going home, it usually shows 35-40 MPG. What really affects my mileage is my trip out at lunch, engine cold, going 2.5 miles round trip. But how much gas can one use in 2.5 miles (assuming you aren't in a tank or a hummer)?

 

I don't really do many short trips. However, on my way to work it's about 2 miles to the expressway. When starting with a cold engine it's not able to go into EV mode during those first two miles. At the time I hit the expressway the ECO display may be around 26 or 27 mpg. So I can believe on short, cold engine trips only averaging mid to high 20s.

I honestly think that if someone is purchasing a car for mainly those kinds of trips then a hybrid is not a good choice. You'd be better off with a regular car and saving the hybrid premium.