chromedome

@PirelliES:
No, man, that was me gliding!

@NickTee:
Nothing wrong with hypermiling as long as you're not a moving roadblock. Maybe I was prickly because your initial post could have been taken differently if you left out the "if". So if normal people don't hypermile, does that make it abnormal?

Anyway, I tried all this because I wanted to know more about hybrid systems engineering. Toyota designed the system to increase mpg under average conditions by average drivers but it's possible to go beyond that with the tips I mentioned above. You could also hypermile on conventional cars but the difference wouldn't be as big as with hybrids.

Arty101

Chrome, so with pulse/glide, if your target speed is 40 mph, is this the actual speed you pulse to, or somewhat higher? Then when you glide, how much below your target speed before you pulse back up? Also when you're gliding, do you try to maintain your target speed with EV as long as it's below the EV threshold of around 35 (rural or light city streets)? What about at freeway speeds of 65mph, pulse and glide technique or cruise control?

Still not able to best anything above 40 mpg and avg about 37 mpg, which isn't too bad either. I just can't achieve your high mpg.

chromedome

Art, I usually do pulse and glide below 40 mph, although it also works up to 50 mph if you have enough charge. If your target is 40, I would accelerate to 45, then glide until you hit 35 before repeating the cycle. Your speed is supposed to drop gently during the glide, just lock your foot once you have enough throttle to stop regen and start gliding. All depending on traffic of course - you can also use cruise control.

As for highway driving, I don't bother with pulse and glide or warp stealth. I just accelerate to 70 mph and set cruise control, let the computer deal with fuel economy

Mind you, I've only hit 50 mpg with little highway traffic on a 50% highway, 50% city commute. The charge gained during the highway leg is used for gliding in the city.

PirelliRC

I went to palm springs for Friday, it was the farthest round trip i have done with ES 300h so far. The speed limit on the 10 East Freeway is 70 mph so i had the cruise control locked in 77-80 mph the whole trip and back. And with a round trip of 277.8 miles the indicator shows 37.8 MPG. Almost 300 miles and the needle is half way between the 3/4 and 1/2 mark. You can get 600+ miles a tank easy.

Arty101

Chrome, I'm not getting the love. It must be my pulse/glide technique although I pretty much use your technique. I try to stay within 10 mph between pulse and glide, and try to maintain speed with EV. I minimize braking and anticipate signals and avoid unnecessary acceleration where possible.

Maybe it's more my pulse technique, but I also try not to accelerate above 2,000 rpm unless going onto freeways. I also accelerate with ICE and not with EV as you suggested. I do get better FE with the cruise control when on the freeway, and can get up to 41.5 mpg, but it drops down with combo city to 37-38 mpg. What else am I missing?

chromedome

It's really hard, I've seen mine drop to 45 mpg even with the techniques I mentioned. You need light traffic, good timing with the lights and less highway miles to get high mileage.

Are you doing a lot of stop and go driving? That kills fuel economy, it's better to accelerate at 2000 rpm as few times as possible and glide as long as possible. If you're in slow traffic, it's OK to gently accelerate in EV mode.

As for highway cruising, 70 mph seems to be the sweet spot for low drag and highest BSFC. Too slow and you're using a lot of fuel at suboptimal rpm, too fast and you're using a lot of fuel to overcome drag. You don't want to be like the stereotypical Prius hypermiler inching along at 55

Arty101

Yeah, I guess it's the stop and go traffic that's killing my FE. Can't avoid it around the Bay Area. It's getting as bad as So Cal with the improved economy and more high tech workers around here.

Mike728

Could it have something to do with the fuel in China vs. the US? I doubt there's much ethanol over there.

jollick

Good point Mike! Ethanol does decrease MPG.

chromedome

Yeah, that could be true, there's no ethanol added to petrol here. I've been using RON93 on this car since new.

How much ethanol is added in California and how much does it affect fuel consumption?

Totally off topic but I'd love to see some shots of an ES up at Tahoe... The Sierras are a magical place.

Arty101

Good point. Calif has its own low emissions gasoline not available in the other 49 states and can't be imported even if there's a refinery shutdown or meltdown that affects supply. RON for regular is 87 with up to 10% enthenol, which has lower energy efficiency. We can thank the corn lobbyists.

bartman44

As of 13,000+ miles, I am averaging (since purchase, using on-board reading) 44.3 mpg with ethanol (E10) flavored gas in Florida on my 2014 ES300h. No special driving techniques, just normal, sensible driving. I notice that using A/C predictably drops mpg as expected by 1- 2 mpg, that's all. This is flat terrain, and I do only a small amount of interstate speeds, mostly sub-60 mph on a daily basis. I have seen many times my FE "after refueling" numbers end close to 46 mpg as I tank back up. This vehicle more than lives up to expectations.

As a side note, if I were using 100% ethanol-free gas, my computed mileage would be recalculated to be around 47 mpg. Take away the loss for running the A/C, I'd be just under 50 mpg too!

chromedome

Good numbers there, it's amazing how such a big and comfy car can return high mpg numbers. I usually have the AC on full time, roads here get dusty as heck in summer and... dusty as heck in winter. I think it's the combo of no-ethanol fuel, pulse-glide and optimal BSFC acceleration that lets this car hit 50 mpg. And running more city than highway miles while avoiding stop and go traffic.

chromedome

Winter's here and that means saying goodbye to 50 mpg fuel economy. With outside temps around 15 C, I've only been able to get 45+ mpg and that's with a lot of babying. Even with the heater off, the engine runs often to keep the catalytic converters and coolant warm. Eco mode also has a nasty habit of blowing cold air into the cabin.

Short trips in winter are really bad for fuel economy - time to get the bicycle out and put on some fleece

FiOSDave

You guys are making me jealous! the best I have gotten was 37 MPG going from NYC to VA. but, I drive a bit aggressively. Do any of you find that the fuel plays any part in this? I've been using 76's regular octane, almost exclusively. My normal driving is meager, at best! Dec. 29th will mark my 1st year anniversary. and I only have 4000 miles on it! Oh, I've been meaning to aks, what is the little, hidden, trapdoor, just under the 4way flasher button? I guess it was either for map upgrades, or dealer/factory maintenance.