jollick

Your mileage is the same as mine. I believe, in my case, it is due to the hilly area I live in. I also believe the owners who are getting 40 are mostly in flat areas. I get around 35 in the cold months due to the engine having to warm up. I am very happy with the mileage for a car this size and with the get-up-and-go the ES300h has.

Arty101

I am getting similar mpg on my 300h. If I really try to conserve and do the pulse/glide thing, I can get up to 40 mpg but my average day to day is around 37 mpg. Your mpg is right in the mix.

bartman44

Just under 3,000 miles, flat terrain in FL, showing computer ave of 44.1 mpg. Mostly local driving. ECO mode 85%; Normal mode 15%. I use Normal mode from complete stops at traffic lights most times if in traffic, otherwise in ECO mode.

Max707

I avg. 30mpg on a 2000 mile trip.

mspearl95

I have always used plus, which averages around 26 mpg. Since the thread started about which gas to use, I switched to regular, just to see if there was a difference, and am now averaging 23 mpg. Same gas stations, same driving habits. Just switched back to plus with the last fill up.

lesz

If you are getting 44 mpg, you are, obviously, doing very well, but I find it curious that you say that you you shift out of ECO mode when you are accelerating out of a complete stop at traffic lights because that is the situation in which ECO mode should have its greatest benefit. Once you have reached a steady cruising speed, the mode that you are in should have virtually no effect on mpg. At a steady cruising speed, the climate control system might still operate in a slightly more efficient manner in ECO mode, but, otherwise, the mode should be irrelevant.

Arty101

lesz- so what you're saying is that bartman may get better mileage than 44.1 mpg?

lesz

Could be. Or it could be that the vehicle's computer is not giving him accurate results.

Arty101

But if he were to do what you suggest, then his computer should higher than the 44.1mpg, based on the same accuracy.

lesz

That is very true, and that is why I have to wonder whether the car's computer is giving him accurate readings of mpg.

One of the main things that the ECO mode is supposed to do is essentially to trade off a bit of acceleration capability for fuel economy. While I know that there are aspects of hybrid technology that make it such that what works with a traditional internal combustion engine may not work with a hybrid and I know that there are at least a couple of people who post here who claim that they get better mpg with the ES 300h when they accelerate more aggressively, I'm skeptical, and, whether it is with the ES 350 or the ES 300h, the main fuel economy benefits of the ECO mode should be happening during acceleration.

Mike728

The only possible explanation for that, would be if your "plus" gas has less ethanol in it.

lesz

Even with ethanol vs. non-ethanol gas, a difference of 3 mpg and over 10% seems quite high.

Also, my experience has been that, even on vehicles/engines that might benefit from a higher grade of gas, any performance or mpg differences are likely to show up only after multiple fill-ups with the different grade/quality of gas. Further, even when I consistently use the same grade of gas, I can see differences in mpg of as much as 3-4 mpg from one fill-up to the next because of subtle differences in where I was driving, how much traffic I encountered, how long I was sitting at red lights, ambient temperature, etc. The mpg from one tankful of gas is far too small of a sample size on which to base any judgments about fuel and mpg. I wouldn't make such judgments based on anything less than about 5 consecutive full tank fill-ups with a different grade of gas.

mspearl95

That observation was made after 6 fill ups. Getting better mileage with plus has been my experience on all cars that I have driven, and I wanted to see if it held true on the ES, which it did.

bartman44

Here's my theory and why I think I'm getting better mileage than expected.

If there is enough stored battery energy, when you select Normal mode the traction motors are engaged to assist the ICE to efficiently overcome the inertia from a standing stop. Once I reach 45 mph or so, I switch back to ECO to recharge the batteries. If you stay in Normal mode, it will take longer to recharge the batteries and the EV light (traction motors only) will be on for a shorter time when slower driving conditions allow for EV operation.

This also holds for Sport mode except the traction motors deplete the batteries much faster. Notice that standing stop acceleration is more accentuated and smoother in Normal mode? Those batteries make the difference. It's all about efficiency in the use of the ICE, and the ICE is the most efficient at steady-state speeds.

Amphibulus

I was getting 36mpg without too much effort, but now that I get used to drive an Hybrid (yeah, it's my first one), I have switched in eco mode and now I average around 45mpg. Still on regular gaz with 10% ethanol. I drive slower then before, I'm slowly becoming an old man that stay in the right lane most of the time. I don't know, that car is so relax, that I don't feel like I want to get out and do something else, I prefer to drive slowy and quietly. Haaa, I'm getting old, I feel that my 30 yrs old are not too far away.