ToddRiley

So the other mileage thread appears to be locked....um why?

Summer time in the city of Los Angeles and I am down to an average of 25 MPG - yes that's correct there is a 2 in front of the 5 - not a typo.

I am not an engineer - nor do I play one on TV, but what I see going on with the car is that the Gas engine is now almost always producing electricity for the batteries....

Why? Probably to cool the interior cabin using the AC....which I guess is electric.....

I love my car - 25 mpg - well not great - but I love my car.

mikemareen

u should be getting 34 lowest and 35 max, shouldn't be such a drastic drop when on city driving.

Canesguy

I have my a/c cooling me off from temps. well over 100, yet my mpg's are 37+ on combined highway/city driving. Do you have a lead foot, as I would expect better than what you're getting?

ToddRiley

Someone in my office has one with paper plares and he says he is getting 25 as well. - think it's the heat, air-conditioning having to work harder and the gas engine having to charge the batteries. It is an electric air-conditioner....

KGenaidy

Is your HS parked in the sun? If so (stating the obvious) ... the interior is getting quite hot. I would suspect this issue is not so much running the AC as it is the actual temp of the batteries, the efficiency they may be operating at due to the heat, and the time to cool them down to operate more efficiently. Anything you can do to lower the interior temp will pay dividends.

There are numerous threads in the Prius and Honda Civic Hybrid forums about this subject.

It's kind of counter-intuitive (humor)

CurryPot

I observed something the other day when it go hot which I thought was interesting. I was sitting in the car, power on (we don't say engine running), AC on waiting for my girl friend to come out of the store. The battery went down to two bars. Not unexpected before the engine started again. What was curious is that the gas mileage after this was not great for a while.

Could starting on a less charged battery reduce the MPG for the remainder of that trip?

BTW, I've done the same trip to and from work for the past 5 years. The following numbers are approx based on computer reading (which I think is 2 MPG optimisitic for both cars)

To Work:

Prius II
Winter (40 MPG)
Summer (46 MPG)

HS250h
Winter (32 MPG)
Summer (36 MPG)


From Work:

Prius II
Winter (45 MPG)
Summer (51 MPG)

HS250h
Winter (37MPG)
Summer (46 MPG)

The Prius was at 30k when I traded it. The HS250h was purchased in Oct 2009 and is coming up to 10k.


Just did 555 miles circling the Olympic National Park in WA, lots of hills. The computer said 39.9 MPG for the trip, the gas put into the car worked out to be just over 37 MPG. Girlfriend on board with loaded car full of camping gear. AC on, ECO mode on most of the time and not hypermiling but being careful.

While I am here, have you noticed that the commercials on the TV focus on highway mileage for non hybrids? So when you compare our 34 highway it is not impressive. But if they were forced to compare the combined, then it would be a different case. Having owned many cars over the years, I have concluded that the two numbers for City/Highway mean that the City number is what you should expect to get for a tank. So if they say 18/25 then you can expect 18 for a tank.

The photo is from coming off Hurricane Ridge in the Olympics.

ToddRiley

My car sits in the sun during the day - in a garage at night. I have noticed an incredible incease in the gas engine charging the batteries since the heat here in Los Angeles has increased. Oh and I have a Black HS.

YotaCarFan

Black cars do get much hotter inside than lighter colors, which could explain your A/C running more and reducing fuel economy a bit. Try opening the doors or windows a couple of minutes before getting in and turning on the car if it's been parked in the sun. Still, a 10 mpg drop cannot be attributed to the A/C. Something else is the issue.

I assume you've checked your tire pressure, but if not, it's worth a look as low pressure will ruin fuel economy.

Is the gas you use >10% ethanol? Does it feel like a parking brake shoe may be grabbing when the car is moving? Do you let the car sit and "idle" for long periods of time with the A/C on? Are most of your journeys just a few minutes in duration?

For reference: I've got a white HS, and even with the A/C running and using a mix of Norm/Power mode, I consistently get 36-37 mpg whether open highway (70mph) or stop-and-go highway and city traffic mix (30 mph avg per trip computer).

You might want to have the dealer look at the car and verify everything is in working order, to rule out the possibility of a faulty component.

ToddRiley

My trips are generally 3-4 miles in length - not a lot of freeway at all. It does not feel like the parking break is grabbing. What I have noticed on the Hybrid screens is that the gas engine seems to be providing electricity to charge the batteries much more than in the past.

KGenaidy

With trips that short ... you are actually getting pretty good mileage. The first few minutes/miles are the worst for any hybrid. Add to that the heat .... it's really pretty good.

You're getting hit w/going through "warm-up" stages ... and the heat.

agie95

As a reference my gas mileage drops approx. 4.5 mpg when I run the A/C. You can only go so long in Tx without running the A/C. I pull out of my garage at my house and pull into the garage at work so my car is generally cool when I get in. I usually do not turn the A/C on going to work but half way home I generally turn it on.

ToddRiley

Heat wave broke and I have a new tank of gas. This tank the average so far is 29 MPG. Temps went from over 100 to the low 80's - seems to have made a big difference...

MG512

Since my last fill-up I've only been getting about 32.2, although I haven't done much driving on this tank yet. I do a lot of commuting on I-95 in South FL though which requires some rapid acceleration sometimes so I can't always keep it away from the top portion of the gauge (Power). Also since it is very hot down here I blast the A/C on the highest setting with the lowest temperature for the majority of the commute otherwise the car heats right back up.

hyperme

And from what I hear, a/c kills your mileage. I haven't had to use mine yet in the 2 mos since I've had it. I don't want to find out what it does to my mpg so I just "sweat it out" until I get into the air conditioned office or house.

Canesguy

Don't sweat it (literally ) for 2-3 mpg or less. With a/c cooling me off beautifully in 105-110 degree weather, I'm averaging 36-37 mpg compared to 38-40 mpg.