I rolled down the windows and the moonroof yesterday and subjected myself to the Texas heat when I was driving by myself in an effort to determine if there is a noticeable difference between having the A/C on and off. I didn't have the time or mileage to compute the difference but I can tell you there is a NOTICEABLE difference between the A/C on and off. One thing is when I was at school to pick up I had to wait close to 15 minutes and it didn't seem to make one bit of difference to my trip consumption average the whole time. After I picked up the kids, I rolled up and turned the A/C back on. Well, let me tell you, just sitting at traffic lights for a minute or two started bringing my average down. It was unbelievable the difference.

One of my other problems is I'm hauling people around. That accounts for a lot of lost consumption. And I wish I had highways that I travelled on each day like some of you do, but mine are up and down, up and down freeways.

When I first got the TCH I thought I was getting better mileage on the freeways but after more driving, I began to see the difference and realized I'm doing better on the stop and go city roads. One difference is I can cruise at 2 or 3 different speeds without the MPG gauge coming off of 60. Hard to do that on the freeway. Oh, by the way, it's also MUCH easier to cruise in stop and go without using gas when the A/C is off. Much more difficult to find a speed where the needle will stay down with it on.

The data base ought to have one more catagory in it showing if the tank of gas was used in conjunction with the AC being on or off. I know, most people use it both ways so that would be hard to do but maybe some of you in Canada and the northern US do drive without the AC most of the time. Maybe the catagory could be for using the AC less than 25% of the time or something like that. I'll bet there's pretty close to, if not more than 4 MPG's difference under same circumstance driving with the exception being the AC.

 

I can't believe you drove without A/C. You are truly dedicated. I live in Austin, so I know whereof I speak.

 

I only did that for a couple of hours. I had all the windows down and the moon roof open and it was warm, to say the least. I'm not sure if I created any wind drag on the car but I sure could tell a difference in the way the car responded as opposed to having the A/C on.

I guess I'll just be happy with my smaller MPG figures because I'm not going to make a habit out of that exercise. After all, I'm still getting twice what I got in my Sequoia and 70% more than even my old Avalon.

 

I feel like I am in the same boat as you. I live in Florida and AC is a must for 9 months of the year. Even in the winter I sometimes keep it on to keep the windows from fogging up.

I find that it is hard to keep the car in EV mode with the AC on. Any slight little hill will kick the ICE on. I do have one section of my going to work trip that I like to run in EV mode. The speed limit is 35 and it is not too crowded of a road. The problem is it is only 1 mile long. The rest of my commute is stop and go 45 mph traffic that basicly kills what I do in EV mode. My average on this tank is not as good as my last one. I still have a half of a tank to try to get it up.

What kind of FE are you getting?

 

I find that it is hard to keep the car in EV mode with the AC on. Any slight little hill will kick the ICE on.

I don't think these two are related. The slight hill would probably kick the ICE on reguardless of A/C operation. If you're in ECO mode the drain is not that geart that you will notice immediate effects like that. Even sitting still in a parking lot with the A/C on it takes a while for the bars to drop.

 

Ah, but consider what your MPG would be if you DIDN'T get that 1 mile in EV mode! Don't think of it as losing the EV gain, think of the EV mile as improving your MPG a little for the entire trip.

It doesn't matter if the EV mile was early on and you drop from a high of 35.3 to 35.0 MPG at the end of the trip or if the last mile boosted it from 34.7 to 35.0 because the last mile WAS the EV mile. Either way, you got a .3 MPG gain from the EV mile.

 

Today I finaly filled up for the first time. !5.0 gals. 492 miles = 32.8 mpg. Display showed the same. When I arrived home 1.7 mi. later mostly in EV mode, average for the trip was 48.9 mpg with a cruising range of 513 mi.. I hope it holds up.

 

I still think it would. I have tried it and the car seams to have more power in EV mode with the ac off. It has to take power away from the the MG1.