Low mpg !
07-01-14, 06:55 PM
#1
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Low mpg !
Greetings everyone....
I recently purchased a 2010 HS 250H with premium package, got 75k miles on it. I'm struggling to get more than 25 mpg in the city no matter how I drive it, I tried multiple driving techniques and I got nothing more than 25 mpg. I know that 25 is too low for a hybrid and I'm wondering what could be the culprit to this problem.
Can anyone tell me what to do and what I might be doing something wrong here ?
I recently purchased a 2010 HS 250H with premium package, got 75k miles on it. I'm struggling to get more than 25 mpg in the city no matter how I drive it, I tried multiple driving techniques and I got nothing more than 25 mpg. I know that 25 is too low for a hybrid and I'm wondering what could be the culprit to this problem.
Can anyone tell me what to do and what I might be doing something wrong here ?
07-02-14, 02:26 PM
#2
Start from the end of this forum and read it backwards. There's tons on threads about driving techniques for the HS and how to hypermile a hybrid.
Its hard to answer your question without actually being there in your car and watching your technique. City is tough on every car. But with the HS, one of the things I do is, one the engine is warm, and I come to a stop, I put it in EV Mode. Then I give it the gas up to about 20 mph, let off the gas, switch off EV Mode, the reapply the gas watching the hybrid needle and keeping it in the first green zone. That way it'll accelerate slowly, and the engine will never start.
Of course, if you have late people hooked to your rear bumper, clenching their teeth, this method will not work. And what I do then is accelerate up to 40, take your foot off the gas, let the engine shut down, reapply the gas keeping the needle in the first green zone, and it'll glide along without running the engine on battery alone.
With your A/C in auto, all bets are off because in this mode, the engine rarely shuts off. Even at stop lights.
In this case you need to go into your Vehicle setup, and deselect "auto air conditioning" Next, set up the fan speed and the vents you want the air to blow from on the "Climate" page, that gets it out of auto mode. Then control your A/C compressor from the "Climate page". You'll find the engine will shut down and you will still have A/C.
Hypermile............ and practice.
Its hard to answer your question without actually being there in your car and watching your technique. City is tough on every car. But with the HS, one of the things I do is, one the engine is warm, and I come to a stop, I put it in EV Mode. Then I give it the gas up to about 20 mph, let off the gas, switch off EV Mode, the reapply the gas watching the hybrid needle and keeping it in the first green zone. That way it'll accelerate slowly, and the engine will never start.
Of course, if you have late people hooked to your rear bumper, clenching their teeth, this method will not work. And what I do then is accelerate up to 40, take your foot off the gas, let the engine shut down, reapply the gas keeping the needle in the first green zone, and it'll glide along without running the engine on battery alone.
With your A/C in auto, all bets are off because in this mode, the engine rarely shuts off. Even at stop lights.
In this case you need to go into your Vehicle setup, and deselect "auto air conditioning" Next, set up the fan speed and the vents you want the air to blow from on the "Climate" page, that gets it out of auto mode. Then control your A/C compressor from the "Climate page". You'll find the engine will shut down and you will still have A/C.
Hypermile............ and practice.
07-02-14, 06:50 PM
#3
Everyone's idea of "city" driving is different; Google the EPA's city driving cycle to get an idea of the profile that will get you 35 mpg. You don't list your location, but if it's in a hot/humid climate, and you literally drive in stop and go traffic the whole time, then yeah that's not the EPA's idea of "city" driving. What kind of mpg were you getting in your previous car, compared to EPA? If your old car was getting 25% worse mpg than it's EPA city, you can't expect a hybrid to be different. It will be higher, but probably roughly the same percentage less than EPA that your old car was getting.
Other things to check are tire pressure, and your own driving habits. My mpg drops precipitously when my wife drives the HS :-( Some people just drive in a way that really wastes momentum. Again if that were the case, you would be getting lousy mpg on your previous car too.
While hypermile techniques will improve mpg, you don't need them to get the EPA rated mpg on the HS, assuming you're driving the same profile the EPA uses. I get 36-37 mpg on my 2010 HS, and drive my car pretty much normally, even driving 10+ mph over the speed limit. That's a mix of highway, back roads, and some light city traffic. About the only thing I do hybrid-ish is slowly apply the brakes up to a stop light, to maximize the regen. Otherwise, I'm in the fast lane :-)
If you really think you're driving it "normally", and that the car is at fault, you can also get it checked out by a mechanic. Could be a clogged air filter or bad plugs.
Other things to check are tire pressure, and your own driving habits. My mpg drops precipitously when my wife drives the HS :-( Some people just drive in a way that really wastes momentum. Again if that were the case, you would be getting lousy mpg on your previous car too.
While hypermile techniques will improve mpg, you don't need them to get the EPA rated mpg on the HS, assuming you're driving the same profile the EPA uses. I get 36-37 mpg on my 2010 HS, and drive my car pretty much normally, even driving 10+ mph over the speed limit. That's a mix of highway, back roads, and some light city traffic. About the only thing I do hybrid-ish is slowly apply the brakes up to a stop light, to maximize the regen. Otherwise, I'm in the fast lane :-)
If you really think you're driving it "normally", and that the car is at fault, you can also get it checked out by a mechanic. Could be a clogged air filter or bad plugs.
07-05-14, 04:12 PM
#4
^^^^ Good post!
25 mpg's seems pretty low. There might be something wrong with the car. Maybe they are in POWER MODE?
You're right. You can get 37 average with out the hypermile games, but you can get 41-43 if you hypermile it.
After coming from 2 M3's as my last cars, I'm learning how to drive all over again. And I like it!! Instead of worrying about the apex of the turn, understeer, oversteer, and burning out tires every 8000 miles, now I worry about extracting every mile from my tank by using new found hypermile tricks.
You'll find me in the "slow" lane !!!!
25 mpg's seems pretty low. There might be something wrong with the car. Maybe they are in POWER MODE?
You're right. You can get 37 average with out the hypermile games, but you can get 41-43 if you hypermile it.
After coming from 2 M3's as my last cars, I'm learning how to drive all over again. And I like it!! Instead of worrying about the apex of the turn, understeer, oversteer, and burning out tires every 8000 miles, now I worry about extracting every mile from my tank by using new found hypermile tricks.
You'll find me in the "slow" lane !!!!
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