mxmx Report post Posted August 1, 2010 I am finding it a challenge to keep the longterm mileage on my 2010 at 36.5. I've even had it checked out and they said everything was up to spec. But a few months back it was more toward the 38/39 range. I diligently follow all the recommendations in the above post (including the AC since we're having a relatively cool summer), but here are some other things I noticed. When starting out, the car always wants to run the ICE for at least the first 5 minutes regardless of what you're doing, even sitting still. That right there sometimes causes me to lose a tenth of a mile on the overall. I've taken to sitting in the driveway until the EV kicks in and then take off. Short trips put-putting around locally (to the store, post office, etc.) are deadly! This is partly due to the above reason. Now the car is supposed to get better mileage in city driving than on highway, but I'm in the L.A. area so there is always traffic and the percentage of drivers who are actually idiots who should never have been given a license is measurably higher than in other areas. So it's a lot of stop and go plus jerks who start tailgating or honking if you're not zooming to a red light at 50 m.p.h. Sometimes having to deal with this causes the ICE to kick on and stay on even when stopped or going down hill, and the general feeling is that the engine is running and p***ing away your gas for no good reason. On the rare occasions when traffic is light or good routes are chosen then the mileage seems to improve. On the highway if a speed between 60-70 mph is maintained then the mileage comes in at 60 mpg or above. Finding a nice truck to get behind works great because then the people in the gas-guzzling SUVs who want to do 90 can pass you and the truck they'd be passing anyway. Even these occasions are rare for me, though, partly because my average driving is probably less than most (I've had the car just over a year and the mileage is about 8500). Does it sound like the reason I feel like I'm struggling with the mileage is because of the area I'm in? Can anyone relate to these comments? One final pointer is to make sure that the intake vent for the electric battery is never blocked with anything. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mirak Report post Posted August 2, 2010 Does it sound like the reason I feel like I'm struggling with the mileage is because of the area I'm in? Can anyone relate to these comments? If you're not using much AC, 36.5 seems low for that climate. My guess is that you are hitting a lot of stop & go traffic (dings mpg because you can't sustain momentum) and/or you are taking a lot of trips that are too short to maximize your use of the hybrid technology. You are correct that super short trips will ding your mpg because the car always runs on ICE for at least the first couple of minutes after powering up. There is no way to bypass this. But, I can tell you from my experience that it really doesn't help your mpg to just let the car idle after powering up. A better way is to cut down on the super short trips. When I'm running errands and I need to just dash in and out of a store (carry out, dry cleaning, daycare, etc.), I leave the car running (without AC). Might be a bad idea in LA, though. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
lolder Report post Posted August 2, 2010 You CAN run in EV after the initial 30-60 second ICE systems check run. If the HVB is charged, when you slow below 14 mph, the ICE will stop. You can accelerate past this speed in EV at a slow rate up to the max 47 mph (not often) or until the HVB SOC requires engine start. Cabin heating demand will prevent this. Normally you don't want to accelerate in EV because there is enough power demand for the ICE to run efficiently but until the EV components reach temperature (green thermometer in "Empower" dash mode), the ICE will run even if HVB is charged. Idling the car for any reason wastes fuel. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
