Remote Start + Warmup = better mileage???

[keithsm2]

I saw someone last year stating they got better mileage when letting the car warm up in the morning. Seems like it couldnt be possible as burning fuel and getting Zero miles out of it shouldnt add up... But the last two mornings ive done a remote start and warmup for about 5 minutes before leaving on my 6 mile commute and i have gotten my best mileages on this commute. SO..... Either it really does give better mileage or what i think is happening --- The mileage does not start computing till you actually push the start button and leave .

 

Anyone verify??

 

Thanks.

[acdii]

It's deceiving, the time the ICE is running is not counted on the trip summary. The only way to know for sure is at the pump. So far the only thing I can glean from remote start is the car is nice and warm and uses EV much quicker, but it hasn't improved my MPG. In fact my last tank was scary low, but I did drive it well past 0 DTE this time and did a 3 click fill. I have a thought on the low tank fills that I will post elsewhere.

 

On days I dont do remote start and its cold, like it has been ~20* every morning, when I get to work, the MPG is ~44, and with remote start ~44, yet I used more fuel than normal, so my thinking, remote start does not improve gas mileage, but does make it more comfortable to get in the car when its cold out. To me thats worth the little extra fuel it uses.

[wmpwi]

I too live in a cold part of the US, have remote start, and a passionate aversion to a cold car so I will be using the remote start w/ the heat up and the seats warmed whenever possible. I'll note the mileage gain or loss and advise. I'd like to think it would improve, but I'm so not into cold, I don't much care as long as my ass is warm.

 

acdii, do you have the OEM remote start or aftermarket? I was always curious if the aftermarket version controls the built in features like the OEM version does?

 

It's deceiving, the time the ICE is running is not counted on the trip summary. The only way to know for sure is at the pump. So far the only thing I can glean from remote start is the car is nice and warm and uses EV much quicker, but it hasn't improved my MPG. In fact my last tank was scary low, but I did drive it well past 0 DTE this time and did a 3 click fill. I have a thought on the low tank fills that I will post elsewhere.

 

On days I dont do remote start and its cold, like it has been ~20* every morning, when I get to work, the MPG is ~44, and with remote start ~44, yet I used more fuel than normal, so my thinking, remote start does not improve gas mileage, but does make it more comfortable to get in the car when its cold out. To me thats worth the little extra fuel it uses.

[hybridbear]

The remote start fuel burned should be counted in the trip summary. As long as you don't turn off the car before you drive away that fuel use will be counted in your trip MPG.

 

The reason why you see better fuel economy has to do with the warm up stages as explained here. When you remote start your car goes through Stage 1a while parked. It has long been documented by Prius owners that allowing the ICE to warm up in Stage 1a while sitting is best. Since S1a runs the ICE at a very low power demand with retarded ignition timing the power output is very low and the ICE is not used to drive the car. When you drive and the ICE kicks on in S1a while you're moving you are still depleting the battery even though the ICE is on. This means that when S1a finishes the ICE must work extra hard in S1b to charge the battery to make up for all the electricity you used during S1a to move the car.

 

In the Toyota hybrids you cannot force the car to skip S1a and thus should always start your Toyota hybrid and let it sit idle for a minute or two until it completes S1a. Or at the very least, you want to drive very gently and slowly to minimize the current drawn from the battery. In our Prius I've seen the amps out of the HVB reach as high as 130 amps when flooring it during S1a trying to force the computer to transition to S1b early.

 

In the FFH you can easily manipulate the computer to go to S1b early by shifting to L momentarily and then back to D once the ICE sound changes. This will greatly improve your fuel economy.

 

Otherwise, remote start to make heat should not reduce your fuel economy at all compared to just getting in and driving if you don't force the car to skip S1a. For me, remote start would greatly reduce my fuel economy since I always force the car to skip S1a for maximum efficiency.

 

Edit: after posting an explanation here I thought it would be good to also explain why remote start doesn't hurt fuel economy in the Warm Up Stages thread linked above since the answer has to do with the warm up process. In that thread I took the basic explanation above and expanded on it even further. I encourage you to check it out for more info about how to maximize the benefits of remote start to even have the potential for superior fuel economy using remote start versus just getting into a cold car and driving away.

Edited November 15, 2013 by hybridbear

[acdii]

Well if you think that is true, then, I wont complain about 45 MPG in the morning. :) I also found the car likes an occasional blow out. That damned light got me again this morning, the timing on it varies way too much, some days when you think its going to turn, it doesnt, and others when you are sure it will stay green it turns. got a 35 brake score, and when the light turned green said Screw it and left everyone behind. They started to catch up where it merged and I said, not today bubba's and floored it to 70. The next 6 minutes on the economy graph were near 60 MPG. Go figure, been babying it way too much. LOL

 

30* and 45 MPG, I aint gonna complain, Quite pleased with it, and I did use the remote start this morning, ran for at least 12 or more minutes while I let the horses out, seats were nice and warm, windows were clear, and the battery was fully charged.

 

It has the factory remote, unless it is built with it, you wont get the HVAC or seat heaters to work with an aftermarket.

[wmpwi]

That makes me feel lots better about sticking w/ the OEM remote. I was afraid the aftermarket products (however nice) might not be able to take advantage of the available options as did the OEM version. Thanks. :thumbsup:

 

<snip>

 

It has the factory remote, unless it is built with it, you wont get the HVAC or seat heaters to work with an aftermarket.

[gmarshall]

I installed myself the Ford remote start after I purchased the car, as it did not come from the factory with remote start, but had to have Ford dealer program it after the install and I have all of the factory remote start functions that I can program in my left screen to control all of the HVAC and seats and rear defrost and such.

[acdii]

The Ford specific remote can integrate, but aftermarkets wont be able to. Just want to clarify that, I did mention aftermarket, but didn't specify Non-Ford aftermarket.

[aaronj1159]

Thanks for the clarification, I was going to look into getting one installed during my next maintenance visit.

 

gmarshall, is your receiver for the remote visible? Regardless, where is it?

[wmpwi]

I really didn't want to run the risk of screwing w/ a non-Ford system and any problems wiring or accessing all the functions, but I'm also pretty sure I would have had less cooperation from local service types when it came time to trouble shoot an OEM system than you apparently had. If I had done it myself, I would have also had little patients for the installer (which would be me) so I'm glad it's doable, but more so that I ordered it during the build.

 

I installed myself the Ford remote start after I purchased the car, as it did not come from the factory with remote start, but had to have Ford dealer program it after the install and I have all of the factory remote start functions that I can program in my left screen to control all of the HVAC and seats and rear defrost and such.