Photios

It was not for a tank, but driving for a day.

mrBillFL

just filled up.

38.7 actual. thought it would be a bit higher...

Arty101

A true measure of your FE would be on a tank of gas, with at least 12 gallons to get a good average, not a partial high mpg.

sigmoid

Just as an update I have about 6k miles on my ES300h and i'm averaging 30mpg. I don't get it - besides the CA gas additive issue. I was downright pissed on my last tank that showed avg 29mpg since fill up. I don't with a heavy foot and I shouldn't have to finesse this thing to get near 38/39mpg. I'm thinking at some point there might be some legal issue coming down the road - i don't know. Happy with the car overall, but I think the MPG is way overstated in CA.

sigmoid

Maybe there is something with the computer reset. I have cleared the history etc, however my MPG has not improved since buying the car in October. Something tells me the fuel calc is not correct from the computer - and i should do my own calcs based on mileage and fuel purchased.

It was telling to me the other week - the computer said I had a 30 mile range left and the gauge was showing about 1/8 tank left. I forgot my wallet that day and only had $5 bucks on me. I put $5 in the car and the fuel gauge did not move, nor did the range estimate.
Then for ***** and giggles i put in $50 (~12 gallons) in the near empty tank and it took the gauge to 100% full and what looked like a full range (~500 miles or so). So there must be some fluff there in the gauge and the estimate calcs.

rjk212

I now have 6500 miles. I know how to drive a hybrid. Had the Lexus HS250h prior to my ES300h. I live in a very urban area. West Los Angeles. Traffic is a major issue. I averaged about 33mpg with the HS250h over a 3 year lease. Very close to what Lexus advertised. I am averaging about 35mpg with the ES300h (again, for about 6500 miles). We have taken one major trip to San Francisco and had about 39mpg on the trip to San Francisco. All highway and not much traffic. Less mpg on the return because it was a holiday weekend with loads of traffic. I will say, this ES can pass slow moving cars (blocking traffic in the left lane) and really fly when you are trying to get ahead of these massive backups. So props to the car for keeping us moving (even mostly without the sport mode). But it killed the mpg. Anyway, while on the highway with reasonable traffic 39mph is very "doable" even in Los Angeles. However driving on city streets can easily cut the mileage back from 39mpg to the 35mph on most full tanks. I do believe that, at least where we live, Lexus is over aggressive in the 39/40mph stated. That is only about 2 mpg better than the HS, which is not quite what is advertised. Overall, we love the car and we do get around 500 miles on a tank of gas. So far I am glad we purchased it rather than leasing.

Arty101

Are you referring to the Console Panel or the Navi Display? They're not always the same, and you need to reset, or clear the Navi Display for the current mpg. Best to reset at the beginning of each fill up to get a better calc of your FE.

The best way to determine your FE is to calc with the mileage driven with a full fill up, not partial fill. For instance, if you driven 500 miles, and you filled up with 13.0 gallons, you're avg. about 38.5 mpg. In my case, the computer is a little conservative in the amount of gas left, miles to empty, and higher on the mpg (it's about 2% higher) on average. I'm getting about 39 mpg in the SF Bay Area, with 50%/50% city/hwy driving. I don't trust the car's computer, but use it as a reference guide. Others have said their computer are spot on. YMMV.

Than there's effective hybrid driving, which is different than driving a gas car: getting it up to speed quickly, letting off on the gas when you get to speed, gassing and releasing, and coasting whenever possible. Anytime you're accelerating, you're using gasoline engine and this eats into the FE. So the quicker you're off the accelerator, the better your FE. You can see this in the instantaneous mpg on your Navi under Fuel Consumption app. Most times, even at slight or easy acceleration, the mpg is below 10 mpg. So, you might as well accelerate quickly up to speed, since the FE isn't much less, and then maintain your speed and keeping the bars above 40 mpg (city or hwy). It's a fine balancing act and you need to keep an eye on the FE bars when you reach your speed. I find optimal speeds around 65 mph to achieve 40+ mpg on a clear hwy. You should see an improvement in the FE.

There are other effective hybrid driving techniques but you need to research that, and do a Google search. HTH. Art

sigmoid

So i did a test. Filled up the car - it took about 14 gallons. reset the trip odometer and the reset the navi display. Drove home then drove across town to drop my son off. I was on EV most of the time as usual. Then i went home, and stopped at the stop sign at the bottom of our hill. We have a steep 20% incline .8 mile long hill up to our house.
Checked the console display and for the first time ever, I saw 40.2 mpg. the Trip odometer was at 9.2 .
I started up the hill, in ECO mode, hard to not have to use gas. Got to my house after a couple of minutes and .8 miles.
The console display read: 31.0 mpg. The trip odometer was at 10.0.
the trip information screen displayed the past 15 minutes.
The elapsed time of the trip was 00:19.
The past 11 minutes (15-5) are full bars 60 mpg.
minutes 4,3,2 are descending 30,20,10 mpg respectively. minute 1 is about 15 mpg.

JerryKK

I live on the California Central Coast - I have about 2,600 miles after five months and overall mpg is 38.3. I make a lot of short trips - 75% are less than 5 miles - so I do consider my mpg to be excellent.

Arty101

Hard to say if you were in EV mode during the last 4 minutes, especially if your FE went to 30, 20, 10. I think anytime you're in EV, your FE should be 60+, so that tells me you were using gas to go up hill, which makes sense. Did you hear the engine kick in the last 4 minutes? Like I said, anytime the engine kicks in, the FE drops, at least below 20 mpg. The 4 minute mark probably was a combo of EV and gas economy, which then goes to gas afterwards. I'd just gas it more then trying to take it easy up the hill. You're using the same if not more gas trying to be gentle in this case. Experiment the next time you use this route.

MY100thcar

My 6mo. overall avg. is the same as yours 38.3 MPG for 3,342 miles. ( I never reset the avg mpg )
The last few months in NY with colder temps LOWERED my MPG avg.

BOTTOM LINE.....If you ALWAYS got better than avg.mpg for the car you drove then you WILL get 38 to 40MPG with this ES300h !!!..........
Unless you live in sub freezing temps. for about 6 or more months of the year.
If you are not getting at least 35 MPG OVERALL avg. then you have a HEAVY foot !
YOU may think you don't BUT most do drive with that HEAVY foot.

LEX300h

I agree. Even in cold weather 40 mpg can be exceeded.


Posted from ClubLexus.com App for Android

sigmoid

The engine definitely kicks in, its a steep hill. Thinking more about it, the Avg since refill seems to be calculating off the range estimation, which drops like a rock up that hill. I don't really get a balancing effect going back down it - as I can coast in EV and fully charge all the way down - it takes less time (maybe 2 minutes instead of 3 going up). I'll have to do more experimenting, watching the meters and using gas, maybe try normal mode up that hill. But there is no way around the hill getting to my house - a second option exists but its a longer hill and farther. thanks everyone - this has turned into a project!

Photios

I live in Seattle which has lots and lots of hills. Funny... I never really noticed them before that much until I got my 300h and started trying to manage them to maximize mpg. I'm not trying to be a downer here, but from my experience with hills, you burn a lot more going up them than you save going down them. Also, If your trip is short and you go out and come back home, your mpg will take a big hit because you have to negotiate that hill. When you go down it, also, your car has just started up and your battery is not even really fully functional at that point–at least that is my experience, that it takes a few minutes or so until the car will let me get into EV mode. That being said, you can just coast down the hill, with little or no gas usage, but that is equivalent of .8m of EV mode on a straight road, whereas going up the .8m hill just kills you.

I think your situation is unique in that you are not going to see great mpg unless you drive longer distances to 'equalize' that hill coming home. I get better mpg going to work, and suffer going home, due to hills, though I'm constantly fighting them trying every which way to get my car in EV mode when possible.

Arty101

Photios, you're absolutely right. You take a big hit going up hills, and never really regain the FE coming down, especially when you start off cold and the engine kicks in. I live in SF, and every time I go up hills the combined FE goes down. The FE increases with longer drives, and with an eye on the Fuel Consumption bars keeping above 40 whenever possible. That means even when you're accelerating, ease off the gas just a bit, and you'll see the bar go from under 20 to above 40, and repeat to get up to speed. Again, it's a balancing act. And try to get up to speed quickly (but not flooring it), since your FE is low anyway when the engine is running. The more time you're running in the higher FE bars, the better your total FE will be. The longer you're in engine mode (even gentle accel), the lower the FE.