jollick

I am not sure about that, but, what is fact is the temperature. I live in GA and during the warm months I average 38 mpg. In the colder months I get about 35 mpg. It has been colder than normal here and the last 2 tanks I got 32 and 34 mpg. This is due to the ICE needing to run longer to get to operating temperature and hybrid batteries and not as efficient in the colder temperature.

jim256

It may well get a little better, but I expect you'd see better results exploring some of the tips in this forum about hybrid driving. I have had mine since March, 42 average to date, but it's my third hybrid. Use the economy gauge, ease off on the accelerator after attaining speed to stop the ICE, drive in ECO mode, etc. Winter brings on the ICE more, both for your heater and to keep the catalytic converter hot, so it will be 1 or 2 lower than moderate temperatures.

jonmanch

Winter's cold temperatures (this morning it was 8 degrees when I left my house to drive to work) can have even an even greater affect on MPG than 1 or 2 mpg. I usually get between 38 and 40 mpg into NYC until I get off the expressway. This morning with the extremely low temp, I got 29 mpg. No other changes to my driving habits. Wait until the weather gets warmer to be really concerned with mileage.

jakepdx

Did anyone see a significant improvement in mileage after their first 3k miles?

ElliotB

The car does not suddenly give better fuel efficiency after a certain amount of miles on it. I believe fuel economy increases in time simply because the driver's skills with regard to driving in a manner that delivers better fuel economy improves.

jakepdx

Thanks, that makes sense, but it also makes me feel like I'm getting the run-around from the dealership. It seems like there might be something wrong with my car - I've heard of ES 350 cars getting over 30mpg, and mine is getting a little under 30mpg on average.

mrBillFL

1+

I've been trying the techniques ElliotB describes, and have improved some. (last tank was 39.2 on the computer, and 38.6 actual). -It would have been higher but needed to get to a movie last week, and killed the mpg's driving too fast. (computer was showing 40's for over a week till that run)

Since a tank lasts 2 weeks its hard for me to stay out of the throttle that whole time...


feathering the throttle is the key.

ElliotB

When my wife has driven any hybrid we have owned, the FE has always dropped by about 30%. Your car is probably functioning as it is supposed to.

Arty101

For me, getting up to speed quickly and then feathering is key. Slowly getting up to speed means the engine is running longer, and based on the FE readout, it's usually between 10-20. You might as well get up to speed faster and then coast so the engine isn't running and the FE is at or above 40 mpg. That's based on my experience, but YMMV

ElliotB

Arty, that was my thought originally. And you do, but I have found that best fuel overall fuel economy is achieved when the traction battery is not used in accelerating. I have just completed my 5th tanks using the technique I described and for the 5th time, have averaged right around 50mpg. Prior to implementing this technique, the best 'tank' FE I was able to achieve was around 42-44mpg.

For any of you hypermilers, I have noticed that while accelerating at speeds under around 20-25mph, only about 1700rpm or 1800rpm is achievable without the the traction battery coming on. But beyond that, if I gently and carefully apply additional throttle, I can accelerate at about 2500rpm or more without traction battery assist. The additional throttle need to be done gradually - you cannot go from 1700rpm to 2500rpm too quickly or the electric motors kick in.

Arty101

Elliot- I've followed your recommendation to try to keep off the traction motor, but it's difficult to do with the amount of local traffic and on the freeway. Going slow up to 25 mph without going over 1700 rpm is tough but going up to 65 and keeping the traction motor from kicking in is almost impossible. So I just get up to cruising speed quickly and try to reduce the amount ICE gets below 40mpg and feather it so it's above 40mpg. This gets me to around 38 mpg, but not nearly as high as yours. I do notice that the ICE kicks in coming off the freeway to charge up the batteries so your idea makes sense, but difficult to do with my lead foot .

Art

ElliotB

Arty, I never drive in a manner that would create a dangerous situation or annoy other drivers, especially when entering a freeway. The main areas I drive around are mainly low traffic and speed limits are ideal hybrid speeds (from what I can determine is around 30mph - 45mph). I believe that 35-38mph is the most fuel efficient speed for the ES300h, which for many areas would be a difficult speed to drive at regularly. It gets about 60mpg at this speed (averaged between when the engine is on and when the car is running on full battery power). Obviously this speed not much fun for most drivers either and most don't have the patience to drive at that speed anyway.

Being a hypermiler is fun for some and not for others.

Arty101

Elliot- I never thought you'd be a hazard . However, I suspected that you had more areas to drive with low traffic. Up to 60 mpg? Wow. I guess I better learn to be more patient which my wife says I'm missing that chip.