Hi all!

I wanted to share that I have been able to save about 15% on fuel vs my typical mileage of 6.4L/100KM and got it down to 5.8L/100KM by using the pulse and glide technique. The fact the new NX has a stronger battery, it does a much better job at holding the glide with the battery in city driving and really helps increase your fuel economy quite a bit. I wanted to share this since I was pretty shocked at the drastic difference I have seen.

This does work for all Lexus or Toyota hybrid vehicles, but specifically, I tested it on my 2023 Lexus NX350H with 5,000km on the odometer.

 

I wonder why this works?

The only thing I can think of is the "Pulse" brings the engine into the most efficient RPM/Torque range and the glide is using the electric motor to maintain the speed.

What is interesting to me with this is trying to understand the HV Charge/ECO/Power meter... These results imply that when the ECO bar is full, and on the edge of ECO/Power, this is when the ICE is most efficient.

 

I notice this same effect with my 450h+ when I'm using just the traction battery (i.e., gas engine not on). I can cruise along at a certain speed, and as soon as I let off the accelerator a little so that the speed drops just one or two mph, the electric efficiency immediately increases, often 50-100%. I'm not sure why this happens, but it does.

 

I learned to do this on our UX250H. The analog tach plus digital speed is best (I saw it in Sport mode on the new NX), because I generally pulse, then try to get the RPM's to drop to zero if possible. Around town it's easy but on the highway a lot harder. I drove the new NX 350H and you are right, the battery is a bit stronger and you can run in EV mode quite a bit.

 

@Sonduren AWESOME. I have has a Hybrid vehicle since 2019 and have always heard about this "Pulse & Glide" but NO ONE has ever explained it as well as you did in you video. THANKS.

I did have a question. I now have a 23 NX 450H+ for what it's worth and was wondering what you have your drive mode/style set at? I keep ours on Eco Mode. Does the Pulse & Glide work regardless of the mode you use or is there a better mode to use it with?

 

Pulse and Glide only works in Hybrid mode since you pulse the ICE and glide on EV. On the 450H+ if you are in pure EV mode, it doesn't apply.

BTW, I am noticing that the traction motor works even on mild uphills - on our UX, that would have triggered the ICE right away.

 

I had a Yaris as a commute car several years ago and hypermiling was a thing on forums. Pulse and glide is a great way to save gas and with our hybrids, even more effective. With traditional pulse and glide, the ICE engine goes into "DFCO" (deceleration fuel cut off). It became a competition to see what kind of MPG we could get on our fuel sipping Yaris'

 

I just did a loop on a visit to my daughter about 15 miles away thru a mix of highway / city, uphills and downhills. We had been doing this for several months with our '20 UX 250H. I was doing pulse and glide as much as possible as has been my habit. To my surprise, the NX returned the same, if not even better fuel consumption at 45 mpg average! Subjectively, the NX has more power, yet seems to want to use EV mode more than the UX. I noticed that even on slight inclines it would go into EV mode and also stays there more around town compared to the UX. Quite pleased with this...