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i am still getting horrible mileage on my 2010 450h awd

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Old 12-19-10, 06:56 PM
  #16  
DunWkg
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Just wanted to post a point of reference from an experiment I tried today.

It was 14-23 degrees F today and I drove two runs of 120 miles each using 91 octane gasoline. Very little to no wind. Used cruise control most of the time. Nearly zero city driving.

Run one - Interstate
Average speed - 72 MPH
Average MPG - 24.4 MPG

Run two - Secondary roads (two lane and four lane)
Average speed - 47 MPH
Average MPG - 27.7 MPG

The 450h has about 23,000 miles on it and is about 14 months old.
Old 12-19-10, 07:48 PM
  #17  
DaRacerz
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20-MPG seems to be on the low end unless you are driving the car pretty hard and not making good use of the battery or just lots of short trips where the ICE is operating.

I'm more on the results side with DunWkg. I can tell you that on a recent road trip, even highway millage numbers can vary significantly. Temperature was a fairly consistent 28 F, and the number were as follows:
Traffic Run averaging between 30-40mph - 36-MPG
Secondary Highway averaging 57mph and light on throttle - 30.6-MPG
Interstate averaging 75 and Uphill (160 mile stretch) - 25.4-MPG
Old 12-19-10, 11:39 PM
  #18  
RXSF
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Im constantly monitoring the eco/power tach, the avg mpg since refueling number, and the energy display on the nav screen when I drive. talk about distractions!

Some pointers on the computer programming that I have noticed.

1) the electric motor will power the car if you stay under and up to half of the green area.
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2) if you are driving and the engine is on, it will only begin using the electric motor (turn off ICE) at half of the half of the green area. after you have reached that point, you can use all of the half of the half of the green area as in number 1
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3) USE YOUR EV MODE!! this is great, I usually turn it on a stop lights so that I can accelerate quick enough without the person behind me tailgating me. It is great for slow and steady traffic too, but disengages when you push it past the green area (though you have a little leeway into the white power range) or if your speed moves above 27mph. Plus this means you can accelerate to 27mph on electric power only rather quickly, which is not something you can do without this.
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If you remember these things, you will learn to make the most out of your hybrid system. I usually use EV mode right before I get home so that I use up all the battery power until there are 3 bars left. When I start up again at a cold start, the engine turns on immediately anyways to warm up but it also charges the battery so it kills two birds with one stone.

hope this helps!

Last edited by RXSF; 12-19-10 at 11:43 PM.
Old 12-20-10, 01:21 AM
  #19  
billy44bo
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Thank you for that wirte up will have to start using the EV mode at lights.
Old 12-20-10, 06:01 AM
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TorontoIS
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Great advice for us newbies RXSF.
Old 12-20-10, 06:52 AM
  #21  
ziggyziggy
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i assume all this is true only when engine has been warmed up to desired temps, right? from a cold start, gas engine will always come into action when gas pedal is stepped on, right?

Originally Posted by RXSF
Im constantly monitoring the eco/power tach, the avg mpg since refueling number, and the energy display on the nav screen when I drive. talk about distractions!

Some pointers on the computer programming that I have noticed.

1) the electric motor will power the car if you stay under and up to half of the green area.
Attachment 194343

2) if you are driving and the engine is on, it will only begin using the electric motor (turn off ICE) at half of the half of the green area. after you have reached that point, you can use all of the half of the half of the green area as in number 1
Attachment 194341

3) USE YOUR EV MODE!! this is great, I usually turn it on a stop lights so that I can accelerate quick enough without the person behind me tailgating me. It is great for slow and steady traffic too, but disengages when you push it past the green area (though you have a little leeway into the white power range) or if your speed moves above 27mph. Plus this means you can accelerate to 27mph on electric power only rather quickly, which is not something you can do without this.
Attachment 194342

If you remember these things, you will learn to make the most out of your hybrid system. I usually use EV mode right before I get home so that I use up all the battery power until there are 3 bars left. When I start up again at a cold start, the engine turns on immediately anyways to warm up but it also charges the battery so it kills two birds with one stone.

hope this helps!
Old 12-20-10, 10:40 AM
  #22  
RXSF
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oh yeah all this is after the engine temp has reached half of the meter. In fact, EV mode will not even work unless everything is warmed up
Old 12-20-10, 12:28 PM
  #23  
wyau01
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For me, EV mode was cool the first few days, over the year, haven't touch it since.
Old 12-22-10, 03:42 PM
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currybob
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I like the EV mode for city and bumper to bumper traffic, I just wished they had made it a separate button or something because its not something you can easily turn on. I'm still getting over 30 mpg on every fill-up but I'm in the South rural area and most gas I buy is 100% gas no ethanol.

Bob
Old 12-24-10, 08:11 PM
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ziggy,

Cold weather, short trips -- your mileage is doomed. If you have half a lead foot forget high mileage.

I drop from 28-29 MPG to 25 consistently in cold weather. My wife who drives like she is in the Grand Prix hits 20 in cold weather, 23-24 in summer.

Hybrids are not perfect, and cold weather is an issue.

But Global Warming will fix that -- right?
Old 12-24-10, 09:42 PM
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billy44bo
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We started the tricks that RXSF has put in and it works so well lest tank was at 27.9 was at 26 when we started to do this. Right now the tank is at 30.0mpg with 1000 miles on the car.

Last edited by billy44bo; 12-28-10 at 12:33 AM.
Old 12-24-10, 10:12 PM
  #27  
ziggyziggy
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I also notice that since its very cold out, I have the heat temp at max all the time. Maybe this is causing the has engine to kick in more than usual too?
Old 12-25-10, 04:05 AM
  #28  
DunWkg
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Originally Posted by ziggyziggy
I also notice that since its very cold out, I have the heat temp at max all the time. Maybe this is causing the has engine to kick in more than usual too?
Most definitely. When I park the car and shut down for the night, I put the heating at full blast. So when I remote start the engine will run. Taking it out of ECO mode will also make engine run more.
Old 01-23-11, 06:53 PM
  #29  
herbvdh
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Originally Posted by ziggyziggy
I also notice that since its very cold out, I have the heat temp at max all the time. Maybe this is causing the has engine to kick in more than usual too?
Please turn your heat down to something like you have it in your house. I find that keeping the temperature up you decrease your Miles Per Gallon I keep my heat/AC at about 72. On my RX400h I dropped from 25+ MPG to 22 to 23 with this cold and sometimes lower.
Old 01-23-11, 07:25 PM
  #30  
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Originally Posted by sleepysurf
I'm beginning to think we'll see a TSB down the road for this issue. It appears that at least some of our RX 450h ICE's are kicking in immediately even when they theoretically shouldn't (e.g. in warm FL weather), whether in ECO mode or not. I'm beginning to think there's a software or hardware glitch in mine (?? similar to the recent overheating Prius' recall), causing a drop in mpg efficiency. My dealer insists mine is running fine, but it never stays in elec mode, no matter how slowly I accelerate. After 6000 mi, I'm ranging from 24.5 - 28 mpg (mainly city driving).
Just an update. After reading the above thread, I did some experimenting, and it's true that the engine needs to be adequately warmed up and broken in, in order to get maximum fuel efficiency. Now, after 7,500 mi, I'm finally getting 29+ MPG in mixed City/Hwy driving. I also discovered that with a cold engine, I can't even back out of my driveway in pure electric mode, but when the engine is warm, I can. Must be something in their algorithm! A lot of short trips (especially in colder weather with the heat on) will significantly cut your MPG. Extended highway driving, even with cruise control, will likewise cut your MPG's. I would hold off until you have 7,000+ miles driven, before passing final judgment on your vehicles fuel efficiency. I have been pleasantly surprised since I passed that threshold!


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