yogi1068

I found something very useful with my 2012 Lexus RX450H. Once your up to a constant speed of about 35 mph or less and traffic is steady, let up on the accelerator and gently press back down on it and the car stays in electric. I discovered this in a large parking lot when cruising for a parking place as I strolled around for several minutes at 10 to 15 mph without the engine kicking on in ECO mode. If you slow down too much or stop, then the engine will kick in. But being careful, I have stayed in electric for over a mile at 35 mph. Incredible..............

InRBigness

I use this tecnique all the time. It is great for when you are doing a steady rate down a long residential road. It makes a huge difference in the milage.

Cruiter

Using it works, but you're limited to about 25mph. I find that once the engine and batteries are warm enough I can maintain a gentle pressure on the accelerator at speeds up to about 41 or 42mph (much faster) than the stated method. I've gone about 3 miles before reaching home and having to shut it down. I estimate it would probably go between 4 & 5 miles if on level ground and steady speed. But yea, it's fun to move nearly 5000 lbs around w/o using gas .

Alpy64

You are all right gent! what you can also discover with this amazing 450his when you are on a motorway or speedway, depending on how you call this, (autoroute in France where speed limit is 80,77mph), if the slope is quite long, if you use the same technique as you do, you can reach 86mph with no emission, no consumption, 100% on Electric mode (disconnect the cruise for this!) and you save petrol as well.

RXSF

^^ In my experience, no matter how little you press on the pedal, the engine will automatically kick in at around 48mph.

Also to the OP, that is how you are supposed to drive hybrids. Get up to speed using the engine, and then let go and stay in the bottom half of the green tach meter. Then it will stay in electric mode

Alpy64

Agree... exactly the same thing (you watch the green zone while others take care about the pressure on the pedal... pressure on pedal = position of the arrow on the green zone

wyau01

Agreed on the 48mph thing. I can never go higher than that, without the engine kicking in.

Alpy64

If you pulse and glide by slowly put pressure on the pedal while in electic motion you can increase your 48mph a ittle bit more and if the road goes down, you can reach 56mph and recently I've tested on a long slope (quite steep slope) and I've reached 80,77mph (really amazing!)

Traveler1

Hi, which did you observe the stopping ICE, or the stopping fuel feeding? What I have observed over 45-50mph is the state of fuel cut on the long slope by keeping neutral on the power meter (between blue and green), while ICE rotates about 850rpm, and instant MPG shows maximum value. I do it well on the long downhill, easy way to get better efficiency on the highway.

Alpy64

Hi
I looked at the instant fuel consumption (which was "0") and switched also on the "hybrid" monitor displayed (oil engine and batteries) in front of the driver / dashboard.

The direction of the arrow was from the batterie towards the wheel in motion, while real car speed was displayed on the HUD (very precise figure as it is displayed in numbers (i.e. 100km/h ... for european metric system).

Of course on flat road, the max speed reached on E mode is between 37mph to 49mph depending on road conditions, trafic conditions, température outside, etc.

In fact, I never look at the power meter when I test like this but I will try.

I am wondering whether there shouldn't be any fine adjustement (electronic adjustement) to increase the speed in electric mode or to make late/delay the oil engine operating.
I say that because on motorway/highway, when we drive over a speed around 71/77 mph and you slightly decrease the pressure on the pedal; we can observe the current indication of the consumption floating close to the middle of the segment , right side (around 7,5l/100km or 31,4mpg (US) and when you drive around 90km/h or 56mph (the authorised speed limit on our roads in France), the indicator is approx. right in the middle (i.e. around 5,5.6l/100km or nearly 43mpg (US). When I reach this, the droning or whirring of the oil engine is particular, "muffled" or perhaps "deep". If you are able to maintain your feet like on the pedal you can drive long distances with a very consumption (not with the cruise !)

RX_330

By design, any speeds higher than 48mph will turn on the ICE. Even if ICE power isn't needed (coasting downhill). It's just the way the CVT works, since it really is just the motor generators.