Driving strategy for short trips (5-6 miles) with cold engine

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Luc Declercq @ Aug 6 2006, 12:42 AM) [snapback]298551[/snapback]</div>

Oh, I didn't know this!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(eagle33199 @ Aug 4 2006, 11:41 AM) [snapback]297681[/snapback]</div>

I go to our "town" frequently ...about 4-5 miles. If I go the front route, I have loads of lights...and they are almost impossible to time...I can sit in traffic for eons. I can take the back route, directly from my house, which runs along the Bay...probably a mile more, if that...I'll have to time it. NO lights. One stop sign and I'm in town...and the route is scenic and has little traffic.

I'm going to check out the difference.

terri

 

What about the increased FE derived from losing weight? Save those lbs for better MPGs!

I sometimes do a short 5 mile commute which involves driving out of my suburban housing development for maybe half a mile, then onto a suburban road for another half a mile then highway. I use EV mode to get out of the development, and it really helps MPG. If the engine runs whilst I am going at 10mph, it charges the battery some and I only get like 15-20mpg.

If I just drive normally, the first yellow bar is usually at like 30mpg. If I wait til I get to the suburban road before letting the ICE come on, my first yellow bar is around 50. If I leave it in EV mode all the way to the highway my first yellow bar can be 60.

By the way, it's downhill all the way to the highway bar a few short ups. I can improve trip mpg by using EV to climb the last hill (300 yards steep) to my house. It sometimes uses one bar of battery, and sometimes not, but if I drive up there on ICE I get like 5-15 mpg for 30 secs which can harm my stats

 

My strategies are:
1) choose a route that avoids idling in the first few minutes (if that's not possible, turn off the car when you come to a red stoplight)
2) choose a route that starts with a good acceleration (like an uphill) to get the engine warmed up quickly
3) leave the heater (and fan) off during the first 5-10 minutes (besides, no air blowing on you is much better than cold air). After that, turn up the heat but keep the fan on low.

Also, I imagine an EV button would be good so that you could run on battery in the first few minutes until you got to a stretch that requried lots of power.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Karkus @ Aug 8 2006, 05:30 PM) [snapback]299806[/snapback]</div>

I have no choice! So, the ICE warms up more quickly climbing...I have to climb up either way to get out of my neighborhood, so my mpg drops on going out and comes up on coming home.

I have the 06. Does it have an EV switch??

terri

 

The '06 does have an EV switch. Just not a button, see Coaste E-Tech or any number of people that have a mod.

Block Heater?

Oh yeah, snow falls in parts of the world...

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bad monkey @ Aug 8 2006, 07:40 PM) [snapback]299875[/snapback]</div>

But it has to be installed? Not factory installed with the car? I'll read the part in the manual about switching modes.

t