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By an anonymous but very happy Hybrid owner
- The EPA fuel estimates are NOT a good indicator of what kind of mileage you CAN get while driving a hybrid. I routinely get 42mpg in my Hybrid, the EPA insisted that my average would be between 34 and 35. When I took a 2008 SUV Hybrid for an extensive 2 hour test drive last week (having already spent over 6 months learning how to most efficiently drive hybrids) I averaged 39mpg in town and 29mpg on the highway, significantly more than is generally reported. How did I do that? Simple...
- HOW you drive has EVERYTHING to do with the gas mileage you will get.
Obviously this statement is true whether you own a hybrid or not (a recent Harvard Business Review podcast noted that a gentlemen who spent years modifying his driving habits managed to consistently get over 45mpg out of his 1991 Ford Escort, see HBR Ideacast #78, Jan 24, 2008) ... my point is simply that unless the driver changes the way they drive, they won't realize nearly as much of the benefits of owning a hybrid as they should. One of the reasons the Prius, Camry and (to a slightly lesser extent the) Altima hybrids in particular are so amazing is that they've managed to turn getting better gas mileage into a video game the driver plays (we're not just trying to drive more efficiently, we're trying to get the highest score). And by paying attention to when fuel economy is best and worst, over time, you learn to be a more fuel efficient driver not only of your hybrid, but of every car.
Specifically:
- Hybrid engines have "tricks" you can exploit to "force" the car into electric mode more often. I found this info for my Hybrid in a blog about mileage, and it completely changed how I drive (and improved my mileage). It turns out that, once the engine is warm, it is very easy to force the Hybrid into electric only mode. Accelerate to about 38mph and then completely release the gas pedal. The car will drop into E-mode and stay there until either the battery gets too low, you accelerate too much, begin going up an incline too steep, or coast downhill to a speed greater than 45mph.
-When driving on the highway, I have found that unless you travel over 60 mph, the Hybrid's engine has a difficult time getting into and staying in its highway gear and thus fuel economy is not optimized. However, I have also found that when driving at speeds above 65mph, fuel efficiency begins to degrade rapidly. I have achieved maximum highway fuel efficiency with this car when I travel at about 63 mph (at which point I usually average about 42.5mpg).
- Tire pressure. The first time I noticed my fuel economy start to degrade significantly was during the winter months (when fuel economy normally goes down anyway due to lower temperatures) ... but I felt that the difference in temperature was not the only culprit. Examining the car while fueling, I noticed that the tires appeared low ... and they were. By returning my tires to the correct pressure, fuel economy immediately jumped by about 2mpg (if you drive as much as I do, that alone would be more than 800 more miles in a year).
- Premium gas. I had heard that cars get better mileage with premium gas, but figured so many people wouldn't buy regular unleaded if it weren't the most cost effective purchase. Still, I experimented, and what did I learn? I learned that most people are lemmings at best, morons at worst when it comes to their fuel choice. The simple fact is that Premium unleaded usually costs about 8-10% more than the lower octane unleaded gas. So it stands to reason that if your car doesn't get at least 8-10% better mileage with premium gas, then it's not cost effective. What I found was that my Hyrbrid routinely average at least 15% better gas mileage when I used Premium gas. Your experience may vary, but just because premium gas costs more does NOT mean that it's more expensive.
- The most fuel efficient route between two points is NOT necessarily the shortest. Routes where speeds are lower and/or terrains are flatter and/or (perhaps most importantly) when you can maximize the use of E-mode, though farther, often use LESS gas
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