Can anyone school me on Hypermiling?

Here we go…

 

I agree with the common sense suggestions that others have given but it seems to me that with every generation Toyota has gotten better at tweaking their algorithms making it harder and less necessary to actually hypermile to get good MPG. We don't know yet what changes Toyota has made other than bigger gas engine and more powerful electric motors.

If I were you, I'd just enjoy driving it for a while to get a baseline, then maybe try stuff like pulse and glide.

 

Definitely. In some ways it's made it harder for hypermilers to improve efficiency, but in the broader sense it's always hypermiling for you.

 

what if you're at the head of the pack on a one lane road?

 

Yes I can…don’t do it thus making drivers behind you happy

 

?? Then you pull over and let them pass. That's driver's ed 101.

This is getting fairly far from the topic, which is hypermiling. I would note that how you hypermile in EV mode is fairly different than how you hypermile with a standard gas engine. For example, pulse/glide actually reduces your range in EV mode, since keeping peak current draw down is important, and you get no benefit (since pumping losses are not a thing in EV mode.)

 

i did not learn that. how do you know if they want to pass? you're doing the speed limit and they are following

 

If notice a line of cars behind you in that situation, the polite thing would be to pull over. I wouldn't say it is driver's ed 101.

 

what other polite things would you recommend to allow others to break the law?

 

Leave your doors unlocked.

It isn't your job to enforce laws, and depending on the jurisdiction and cop's mood you could get cited for obstructing the free flow of traffic if there s a line of cars backed up behind you.

 

I’ll get over and let ‘em by, especially on windy highways. Whenever there’s a pull-out lane, I’m there, going a little slower to get as many as possible of the lemmings on their way.

I’ll often catch up to the herd later, stuck behind the next miscreant law abider. I just pace them with a generous gap.

 

You might even be getting a drafting benefit to economy.

 

Some hypermiling methods are antisocial. But only the ignorant can argue that all hypermiling is antisocial. See Wayne Gerdes's hypermiling menu, linked earlier, and pick what fits and is reasonable for your situation.

That would be a local or regional issue. It is definitely not universal. In many places, the speed limit is still within the normal speed spread or distribution. Or at least was just before the Pandemic caused a lot of crazy misbehavior.

Those are quite rare in the U.S., and are usually fairly short, such as across narrow bridges. I've heard that one lane roads are much more common in very remote portions of Australia, where there normally isn't enough traffic to form a pack, and you are much more concerned about how to negotiate that single lane being shared with the very infrequent oncoming vehicle.

On two-lane roads -- one lane in each direction -- it partly depends on safe passing opportunities. Where I commonly travel, in normal traffic densities, most of the road is safe to pass. Only certain days, such as holidays or college semester boundaries or special games, produce enough traffic that oncoming traffic doesn't leave enough safe passing opportunities.

During a long ago thread, I found that 4 states on my side of the country made very clear that their laws about slow traffic delaying X number of vehicles without safe passing opportunities, were required take turnouts to let following vehicles pass, applied only to vehicles traveling below the posted speed limit. By explicit law in 2 states of those, and police or state agency declaration in the other 2 states, any vehicle traveling at speed limit is not "slow". My state, however, appeared ambiguous, without known litigation to clarify. I noticed that anyone ticketed under a particular clause, could use the prior clause as a defense in court.

On all the multi-lane highways that I use -- 2 or more lanes in each direction -- speed limit is still acceptable and reasonable in at least the slow lane. Though I hear that this in no longer true in certain regions where combat driving has become the norm. No wonder highway bloodshed remains high.

 

that 'may' be true, or just a myth. anyways, never around here.

i think the problem we face is law abiding citizens vs lawlessness. both sides think they're right. and with cops and pols no longer enforcing speed limits, aw breakers feel empowered

 

I’m not sure, but I took @bisco’s question to mean one lane in each direction.

 

Your initial questions weren't about legalities though. They were about what was considered antisocial. Cutting into a store check out line isn't illegal, but it is antisocial.

 

It's a question on the California driver's test. If you get more than five cars behind you on a two-lane road, you have to pull over and let them pass. (When it's safe to do so, when conditions permit etc etc.)

 

Where I come from, that meaning would create confusion:


We have enough narrow bridges and road segments that literally are one lane, shared by both directions, that it would cause confusion to use the same phrase for roads with 2 actual lanes, one for each direction.

Checking around various language and traffic references, it seems nearly universal that a road with one lane in each direction is called a 2-lane road, while 2 lanes in each directions is called multi-lane or 4-lane or more.

"Two-lane Road" — Here's What It Really Means
United States Pavement Markings: Two-Way Traffic Markings Long Descriptions - FHWA MUTCD
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Two-lane_expressway


I also grew up with a lot of gravel roads that could be described as 1.5 lanes. They have 3 tire tracks, the center being shared by both directions. When oncoming vehicles meet, each should slow down and pull over a bit on the shoulders to allow passing.

 

that's only because someone else said it was antisocial.

being antisocial among criminals is a good thing

 

describing roads, one, two, thress, four and etc. is difficult. as is one way and roundtrip.
we don't call a four lane highway an eight lane highway around here