EV vs Hybrid Driving

once you go over 65 mph the hit on mileage adds up. I try and cruise control at 68-70 mph in the slower lanes for optimimum mileage for my conditions / traffic. On a long commute in such speedy traffic you have to go with the flow and 50-55 mpg is what your going to get.

 

That is where the loss from air resistance really starts to surge up rapidly, and that is unrecoverable loss. Unless you hang right behind a big-rig. This so-called "drafting" has been shown to be very effective at increasing mileage, but is not particularly safe, since the trucker almost certainly can't see you.

 

Love how people complain about the gas mileage and they drive 75 mph. I always think of it this way. For every mile you drive over 65, plan on losing 1 mpg. With the prius and the HCH2, the baseline was 50mpg with tires pumped to 42/40.

So if you drive 70 mph, you will get 45 mpg. If you drive 75 mph, 40 mpg, 80/35 and so on.

I don't think it's that severe on the PiP, unless our baseline is 70 mpg. Haven't figured it out yet. Seems to me (thus far) that my baseline is around 90 mpg.

 

Cruise control can be less efficient in a hilly situation. when traveling on an interstate, it pays to slow slightly driving into a hill. You can make up the speed by accelerating slightly, and more easily, on the downside.

 

Let them know that with a $20 Kill-A-Watt from P3 through Amazon.com, you can measure the kWh used and pay them the cost.

 

OK, today I forgot, and left the car in EV all the way home from work. Nothing changed in the way I drove since I didn't notice this until I was almost all the way home. Where my usual work to home mileage (HV) is about 55-57 MPG, today it was 67 MPG. So tomorrow, I will replay the situation and see if I get similar results.

Mondays always feature lighter freeway traffic, so that could be one reason I had a higher rate today. We'll see what happens over the course of a week.

 

Generally sounds good. But switch from EV into HV about a minute before getting on the freeway. Accelerating to freeway speeds is a less efficient use of EV, and the ICE would like to warm up before delivering full power.

For lots more details see the thread on HV vs. EV.

 

I have the similar drive to LA every Friday morning at 5:30am..I got about the same 50-55 mpg at 65-75 mph. It's hard to drive 65 in LA freeways..it's either 75-80 or 10-20 mph.

doesnt pumping up the tire pressure make your car more bouncy and less controllable?

But definitely no complaint about the 50+mpg...The best thing is I have not noticed the gas price went up!!!

 

I have a similar issue with the HOV lanes here in the San Francisco area. During high traffic times, either you go 75MPH in the HOV lane, or 10MPH in the other lanes.

 

I had my best tank so far - 64.5 MPG. I wish there was a way I could increase my EV/HV ratio, but the 30 mile daily RT doesn't help much. Especially with no way to recharge at work.

 

I would think with a 30 mile RT you would be able to do much better than 64.5 MPG. I have a regular 2012 Prius and have a 68 mile RT. On the last two tanks I averaged 55.5 MPG (calculated). Keep refining your driving techniques especially the P&G. My best trip from work was 68.7 MPG (displayed) at an avg MPH of 48.

 

I know this is going to sound crazy, but lately I have been avoiding the freeways all together and I'm getting super high MPG. I commute from Long Beach to Pasadena twice a week to teach. 30 miles each way. I can charge at work.

I drive the entire route up on surface streets, and return the same. Elevation of Pasadena is higher than Long Beach. I'm getting about 80 mpg up. Getting about 220 mpg return. If I'm doing this right -- 80+220/2 = 150mpg.

Will see on this next fill up. The car says I have 100 miles of range before I need to gas up. I'm going to try and get 200+. Client meeting up in Pasadena today. There are quite a few EV parking spots in Old Town.

UPDATE
Put 90 miles on today. Car says I have 90 miles of range before next fill up

 

It's actually:
30mi / 80MPG = 0.375G
30mi / 220MPG = 0.136G

0.375G + 0.136G = 0.511G

60mi / 0.511G = 117MPG

 

It all depends on the commute. Here in SE Connecticut, I live ~11 miles from work. I try to drive in EV Eco mode as much as possible, charge via the timer, and occasionally hit the freeway driving elsewhere. So far, I'm at 650 miles on the odometer and still have half of my first tank of gas. I have three Type 2 ChargePoint stations at work to choose from and the only other e-vehicle there is an e-beemer.

 

My last trip: 160.5 miles
M P G : 122

 

Excellent advice, but don't forget that when you are using or storing electricity to power your vehicle, ANYTHING that uses electricity will lower your mpg. I have a 2005 Gen2, and typically I use the radio most of the time, fan when needed but no A/C or heater (both are electric on Gen2) unless a passenger insists, and lights/wipers as conditions require. I wear gloves and warm clothing in the winter (upstate NY), but I am out of the wind so no problems. I don't need A/C here in summer while driving to work, and after work I can shower once I get home if it is too hot. Also keeps my 12V battery charged well; my first one lasted 6 1/2 years! I typically get 52-55 mpg in winter and can get above 60 in summer. I think that the A/C use is what kills mpg for those living in hot climates; it draws a tremendous amount of juice, but at 100+ degrees it is nice to have.

 

The GenII heater is on electric ONLY while the engine is cold. Once it reaches operating temp it will use engine heat. Unfortunately, if you're doing P&G and running the heater, the engine will get cold fast, then it restarts just to warm up again.

 

If you ever accelerate briskly in your PIP, from a stop, it’s a guarantee you'll start the ICE and waste gas. You need to go a bit slow at first, try to keep your power bar as low as possible. There is no point in warming up the ICE when you start out because you have a long run in HV mode as soon as you hit the freeway. In your case manual switching from EV to HV when you reach the highway is the best routine.

 

Basically, the difference between "brisk" and "hard" is whether or not the engine starts.

I've been surprised a number of times when the engine did NOT start, despite accelerating fast enough to where I assumed it would. Also, I've confirmed that running the engine does not waste gas when traveling beyond the EV range available.

Go for a few experimentation drives. The results are often counter-intuitive.