Ok, I've read countless threads about mpg's on this site. It has takes a lot of time to figure out what "ICE" meant and so on...

I still cant get over 27MPG in town...What gives....

I've tried the following:

A) 40 PSI all around

B) Pulse and Glide, getting better at this....not perfect

C) Use CC in town, when possible

D) Coasting all the time

E) Light throttle pressure

F) Moderate throttle pressure

G) Econ A/C

H) No A/C

I have made couple to trips to Vegas and received great mileage (42-43mpg); I just cant crack 30+ in town.

I have taken to local dealership for a check up, no problems found.....Ice kicks in just about every time i press the throttle....

Miles on car about 8900, this should have cleared any break-in period...

I still a "newbie", so any help would be appreciated......

 

It makes no sense at all. 42 HWY and 27 City should be mutually exclusive.

Vegas, to where? Salt Lake City? I could buy it. To LA??? You've got Halloran Summit and the 10 mile climb out of Baker with gusty, variable winds. No way. I get maybe 36 on that run, at night with cool dense air.

As for the 27mpg... do you haul a lot of gear around? Passengers? Are you a, uhhh... large fellow? I'm 210 myself and when I haul my training case full of hydraulic crap plus suitcases, it does make a difference.

How about cheap gas?

I've got nearly the same miles as you and I'm seeing 33 avg and 35-ish if I really try hard with maybe 60/40 fwy vs. surface streets.

 

In town, light throttle runs the ICE (Internal Combustion Engine) too much. Get up to your cruising speed efficiently, then set the cruise control to 35-40 mph whenever possible. By trying to drive like a granny, you are delaying reaching the optimal speed to cruise with as little effort needed as possible by the ICE (Internal Combustion Engine).

 

McGyver:

Traveling from Bakersfield to Vegas 42-43MPG @ 70MPH mid-day heat with A/C on, the return trip 37-38 MPG late evenings with some headwinds.

I guess i've been called "big" at 6'6" 260 lbs, i dont carry much but some emergency supplies (jumper cables, ect.) and few bottles of water.

I buy costco fuel the last few times i have needed to fill up? I dont believe costco uses "cheap fuel", but i have not thought about it.

stevenvillatoro:

I personally feel like i take off like a "granny", so i'm not sure about how throttle is too much. Would you say "moderate" pressure for accelerating from a full stop would be a better approach?

I have noticed regardless of how much pressure on the throttle, it always goes to 10mpg when leaving a stop sign. I can only cruise to about 20MPH before "ice" kicks in.

Thanks for your comments....

 

As Steve said, get up to your desired speed ( + 4-5 mph) rather rapidly. Approximately 5 to 10 mpg should be a good acceleration factor. And then feather (very lightly adjust) the accelerator to keep you at the desired speed.

You say you're using CC in town. Are you sure this is the best? Your Profile doesn't show the town. Only on an extremely flat, wide open town would I recommend CC. With hills, stop and go, I would recommend controlling the speed yourself.

This next paragraph is sure to raise some discussion: (Some people say don't use EV mode, because your ICE needs to run longer to replenish the power used while in EV mode. Others believe that the extra time the ICE needs is negligible.)

Remember that below 42 mph, the car will shift to EV/stealth mode. If the speed limit is around 35-40, get up to around 40, then let up on the accelerator. The car will go into stealth-mode and you will see your fuel-economy numbers go up. This is the way I drive my car, and I'm getting 32-38 mpg in town.

Now, let the flames/roasts/yelling commence about using EV mode!

 

I try to use EV mode all the time and am getting much better at invoking and holding it. I have not sensed any penalties from the ICE, since it seems to adequately recharge without 'extra' running just for that purpose.

 

How long are your "city" trips?

If your trips in the city are less than 10 minutes, you probably aren't getting the best mileage because your ICE is running most of the time (in order to warm up).

When I drive across town in the morning on the way to my summer job, my commute is 10 minutes. My car gets roughly 28-30mpg because the engine never gets a chance to fully warm up, and the hybrid system generally won't let the car drive in electric only mode unless the gas engine is completely warmed up.

On the other hand, when I drive to my normal job (during the school year), I have to drive 25 minutes on the freeway, and then about 10 minutes in the city. When I drive in the city (after the freeway driving), The car is usually in electric-only mode, and getting 40+ mpg.

I've noticed that since school let out, and my average driving time has gone from 35-40 minutes to 10 minutes, my milage has fell a lot.

 

As noted short trips are the single most detrimental factor in fuel economy for any vehicle. Trips of 10 min or less will likely cut your FE in half. At 15 min you are just beginning to overcome the very inefficient first 10 min.

When the hybrids first came out it was thought that crawling up to speed using battery/e-motor was the most efficient use since you weren't using any fuel. It was soon found out that doing this draws down the battery quickly and makes the ICE turn on sooner and more often to help replenish the low battery. In my Prius I've found that quick strong acceleration to the speed of traffic works best, then letting off the pedal to induce the ICE to turn off or turn down to idle.

Other factors that may not be readily apparent.
Rain will decrease your FE by 15-25%;
Wind, as you've already seen;
Cold weather will decrease it by 10-20% as well;
City driving from light-stop, to light-stop, to light-stop, to stop sign-stop is very inefficient. The more you can keep rolling even at a very slow speed the better will be your FE.

 

I believe that there is a conspiracy going on where all these people that claim they are regularly getting 41-45 MPG are actually employees of Toyota.

Just kidding...

But, I really do think that some TCHs are "out of wack", and if you take two TCHs, fill them up at the same pump at the same gas station, have the same driver do the same course with both vehicles, you will get two different results for MPG.

I can tell you that based on what I have seen with my TCH, having driven it for 7 months now, and tried everything written here for mileage, I am never going to get 42MPG or better. Period. My best ever computed MPG was 40.4, on a trip, and my lifetime average computed (maybe 90% city) is 37.4.

Therefore, it must be the car, and not me. Of course I am not even going to try to go to the dealer and say, "how come my car gets less mileage than other cars?". They will laugh me out on the street.

 

The driver is the single biggest factor, after that it has more to do with the driving environment that the car. The car is set up electronically at the same dealerships as some of those that perform better, and to identical specifications. But we cannot control the driving environment. If you need proof, look at the questions being asked in the posts here from those with higher posted FE. Anyone with high numbers will be asking about trip length/time, hills, temperature, wind, road conditions and even segment distance/time between full stops at traffic lights or stop signs. Ther may be some car differences (toe in and other alighmemt, released brake frictions, bearings, exhaust resistance, etc), but until you get into the extreme (hypermiler) efficiency ranges they make only small differences unless the car is very badly out of specification.

There are some things we can do in response to this environment. Avoid speed changes to the maximum extend possible; Anticipate stops and slow to avoid them; work to avoid any braking that may be required (this one is hard for some drivers becaue it means keeping a larger following distance, even in town); anticipate grades, both up and down, and adjust your demanded power early for more efficient total energy management (Total Enery = Speed x Mass - sometimes called inertia); plan to avoid short trips by combining errands and etc.; select routes options (freeway or hiway or street) for optimal FE.

Things that can not be controlled for most of us: Origin and Destination of trip; for the most part, time of travel, and except for a few possibilities, the route to be travelled.

Generally, smooth and slow is good in driving technique, but there are exceptions: Accelerating from a stop too slow may be detrimental, especially in a heavier hybrid; Insufficient power for an uphill grade can work against FE by forcing a lower ICE to axel ratio and working the engine in an inefficient power range (lugging).

Nost of these techniques are not limited to Hybrids or even to fuel efficient cars. They will result in inproved FE in amy vehicle. But a hybrid will better reward their use because of the greater potential for FE that in designed to the vehicle. The flip side of that is that crude driving techniques can carry a greater penalty in a most hybrids.