swfla

iTrader: (1)

I've done searches with no luck. I picked up a 2014 300h with 40k miles. The avg/lifetime mpg was showing 40mpg from the previous owner so I know that the car did well previously. I've had it a month now and the tank mpg is around 28mpg. I'm in San Diego with warm climate, proper inflation, clean filters, top tier fuel, etc. My driving is mostly surface streets with short highway occasionally mixed in. I've always been a gentle driver. Don't feel I should have to do more than that to achieve promised fuel economy for city driving. I brought it to the dealer, no codes but they said battery was "a bit low". No resolution other than bring it in after another tankful. I'm documenting and following up with more service visits if it doesn't improve. I'll also push for in depth battery testing if that's what it takes to rule it out or have it replaced under warranty. Are any others having similar experiences? Most of what I've read is good mpg. Any possible fixes other than driving techniques? Almost sounds like the battery won't hold a full charge thus affecting the MPG. Thanks for any positive input in advance.

Freds430

We have a 2013 that we bought 12 months ago. We have averaged 37 mpg over that time. That seems to be the average most owners are getting. Don't know what to tell you because you are doing all the right things. Good luck with a solution and keep us posted.

zes

Do you drive in Eco mode? Have you noticed that the car goes into ev mode frequently? Under normal operation 300h should go into ev mode quite frequently especially in mild weather and city driving. Does the hybrid battery maintain between 20% to 80% charge on the center display?
You should be able to monitor the hybrid drive inaction a you drive. Does it seem to actively switch between ICE and electric drive?

chromedome

You could push the dealer to check the voltage on individual cells. If they won't do it, you could use the Torque app for Android with an OBD Bluetooth dongle to run custom OBD commands for the hybrid components.

That said, I'd run a few tankfuls to see if your mileage improves. Make sure the AC isn't set too low, tire pressures are within spec and you're in Eco or Normal mode. Just drive it normally to get a baseline mpg before you start doing hypermiling tricks

swfla

iTrader: (1)

I use eco mode and the car does cycle thru battery only and all the combos. I have Carista app and dongle on an iPhone, I ran diagnostics program and no faults. Don't know that I can do any detailed check. As I mentioned, I will push the dealer to further check the battery next visit. The battery gauge seems to always be somewhere between 20 and 80 percent. I never see the gauge at 100%. I do believe that my issue is uncommon and is a repairable situation. I should be getting 33% more fuel economy from 28 to 38 minimum. I'm leaning towards it being a hybrid battery situation. A friend had a Prius whose battery was having issues but the dealer wasn't replacing it. The only reason that would occur is if corp won't OK the replacement without multiple requests and pressure from the owner. That's exactly what it took.I believe the retail value for replacement battery and labor is close to $5k and being that the oldest Es300h is only 2013, it's probably unlikely that used or rebuilt units are readily available. That's good as I don't want used or rebuilt.

I had an interesting experience with my last CPO Lexus, LS460. I bought it from a Lexus dealer and after driving and reading, I discovered that the well know control arm issue was present. Assuming the dealer knew, they chose not to do the repair until the car had a new CPO owner. So, I was back in a month for a three day repair. Nice that it's covered but a CPO shouldn't be delivered with a known issue needing attention.

danxp

what tires do you have on your car? i had a drop of about 5mpg or so when i went to winter tires... but even then i still got 32mpg so i can't think of anything that might affect your mileage being that you're in a warmer climate...

i'd set the display to show your up-to-the-second mpg for the tank... it'll say 'after refueling' on the display and will show you your doing on the current tank... that should give you some indication of what causes your mpg to go up or down...

good luck

zes

A good check of hybrid battery strength is to start with maximum charge (about 80%) and on a level road drive the car in ev mode. Don't use AC or heat. In a moderate climate it should easily run in ev mode for a couple of miles. You just have to be under 25mph. If you can make a mile and a half to two miles your hybrid battery should be ok.

swfla

iTrader: (1)

This test makes sense as a very rough indicator of battery capacity. The 1 1/2 -2 mile range is a large range in that 2 miles is 33% longer than 1,5 miles. That's where it loses it's value in my opinion. I'm curious about the source of this test? Thanks for your help.

zes

Personal experience. Mine can make it about a mile and a half or two depending on the charge in good weather. Also, I have read that these cars (eg Camry hybrid and Prius) don't lose much in terms of mpg if the hybrid battery gets a little weak, as most of the benefit is energy recovery during braking. I think if you make it 1.5 miles on ev, there is nothing wrong with the hybrid battery. Something else is wrong.

chromedome

I'm not sure about OBD apps for iPhone but most Android OBD apps can monitor hybrid battery pack level. I use AndrOBD for this. A normal battery charge range should be between 40-60%.

You could try driving on the highway for a bit or find a long downhill stretch to get a full charge, it should read close to 60%. Then drive the car between 25-40 mph on battery in Eco mode and the engine should kick in only when the battery level hits 40%.

Mike728

I know this is way off topic, but how do you get Android apps in China? Google Play is not available.

chromedome

VPNs mainly. I mainly use open source apps and I get those from F-Droid.

SLH

Past experience in this forum, and in the Toyota forums for cars that use the same drive train... have shown that drivers who try very hard to maximize their use of battery are actually defeating the system. Trust the system. They put a dozen computers in this car to figure out the most efficient way to operate the engine and battery. When you alter your driving style to try to achieve 100% battery fill, or to maximize the distance before the engine starts, or whatever -- you are working _against_ your goal, not towards it. The smart engineers (hundreds of them, many with graduate degrees) worked for a long time to program those computers. Let them do their jobs.

The battery gauge is supposed to always be somewhere between 20 and 80 percent. You should never see the gauge at 100%. That really is normal. Fuel economy in the mid 30's is normal, and lower figures are normal in areas with heavy traffic. If you really want to see high-30's mileage, go visit somewhere rural and sea-level, with 45 mph speed limits on every road.

Drive moderately. Keep it in "eco" mode. Avoid mashing the throttle, and the brake. (But do not hit the car in front of you, of course.) Let the computer make the decisions that it was designed to make. And don't obsess about fuel economy. Just compare your fuel bill to the one your old SUV used to get.

litesoarer

Put egg between pedal and foot.

Expensive at first, but works wonders.

Maikerusan

Agreed. Have seen it at 100% a few times but that was on a 5 mile descent in the mountains. The engine braking finally got it up to 100%.

As for driving style, when we bought a Prius V the salesman gave some good advice (his wife had owned a Prius for years). His suggestion for most urban driving was bring the car to about 3 to 5mph over your intended speed, and once there just take your foot off the accelerator for an instant.-sort of give it a light tap. The car then will usually go into EV mode right at that point.

(Obviously does not work at highway speeds, only up to the top speed where the EV will be functional, somewhere around 45mph/70km/hr