Quote:
Originally Posted by steve222
There are some hills here, yes, but not real bad, but it does the same just driving flat. It is hard to get the traction motor to come on and it almost never comes on when I first start to drive, the engine is 99.9 % started when I take off.
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Depending on the state of charge when I park the car, the eco meter is always in the sub 10mpg range when I go to work in the AM. The priority here is getting the engine temp up, not FE. This is why people in cooler climates put block heaters in their hybrids. It takes me about .8 miles to get the engine temp to about 150 deg which is where I find that I'm able to get into the EV mode. I use to drain the battery on the last few miles of any commute with the idea that the battery would charge when the car started the next time. I've recently changed my mind. Draining the battery just trashes your mpg for a longer period of time in the morning. If you have a short commute, forget about getting 45-50mpg. I now try to keep the battery charged as much as possible all the time. The car just behaves differently (better) with a full charge.
I can't comment on hilly driving but I'll give you my 2c on flat driving. Once up to speed (any speed greater than 40) back off slightly on the gas pedal. The engine rpm will drop to 1280. This seems to be the magic rpm for this car. If you can hold this, your mpg will improve. Holding 1280 rpm between 40-52 mph under a fairly constant load will give fantastic FE. A ScanGauge helps monitor all of this. Monitoring and maintaining a fairly constant rpm, rather than watching speed, on hills is a great way to improve FE. Hope this helps.