stevet1

I'm getting about 36 as an average on eco. That's actually really good when most days I drive 2 trips for about 6-10 miles total. Starting a cold engine and driving it for barely enough time to warm up uses a lot more fuel. I love the car! It's now got 1600 miles on it.

may00003

Ive got 7700 miles on my ES 300h Ultra... gotta admit I'm not thrilled with the mpg. I drive in eco mode.. most days a 88 mile round trip.. city/hwy.. some start/stop with periods of sustained 50-60 mpg on normal roads etc. My mpg monitor shows 38-39mpg.. actual mpg (which I check consistently) is 36 at best.. consistently 2 mpg below what the car reads... recently when on a long trip out of town and got 34 mpg!! Im not driving agressively etc.. Tire pressures ok, can is not loaded down... the only way Im gonna see 40 is ev mode driving around town less than 25 mph downhill...

I do like the car and all things considered getting 36 for a car this size isnt bad.. but I traded in a 2013 GS when these came out because of my new longer commute to save some $$ on gas.. The GS was a blast to drive and I loved the features etc..it was the 25 mpg..

Curious about what others think...

ElliotB

Your numbers are about right. Getting good FE with the 300h is easy. Eco mode can help you get better FE, but does not guarantee it. Just drive. The car is designed to get great FE. But, you do have to work at it a bit to get great or really great FE. You may have to change your driving style a bit. - you cannot drive a hybrid like you drive any other car and expect exceptional FE. There are many articles online about hypermiling. You may want to do some research and experimentation.

I have found the best FE on highways to be at slightly higher speeds than 50-60mph. Try the 62-65mph range. Keep in mind tha hybrids typically don't do much better than 'regular' cars on the highway. Although I am finding the 300h to be the exception.


At what speed were you typically driving on your long trip? What is your cold tire pressure? What is the typical temperature right now where you are located?

ShakMan

Getting 44.3 Average in the past 2 weeks. I commute 50 miles daily (N-CAL) and love it. On Fri I was on my way home and traffic rolled to a stop and go. EV kicked in and I was so impressed and realized other cars burning fuel around me.

MY100thcar

Those are Great numbers
At what MPH is most of that driving ?

ShakMan

I try and keep it between 63-68 mph. I have been following this thread for a while (before I even purchased 300h). Most owners have to realize every driving conditions are different. Weather, location, terrain etc. This is my first hybrid and if you want to get these type of numbers, you have to change your style of driving. One of the things I keep an eye on is MPG (between the gauges). This gives me an indication of optimal MPG vs my speed and pressure I am applying to gas pedal.

Once you master this, your MPG will get better. Not to mention my small trips around my town are all made on EV mode. Love it. My wife still drives 04 Gx470 (v8) and she gets 15MPG. Compared to that, this is awesome. Now she leaves that in the garage and wants to take mine out

mrBillFL

33 mpg (actual) on my 1st fillup.

but I'm coming out of a 13 mpg suv, so I'm OK with it...

ep35rja

This is just my second fill up. The initial fill up was 30.6 but I don't think the dealer filled it up all the way. On the second fuel up we averaged 38.3 and most of that was not in the ECO mode. Once we discovered that feature it got better according to the electronic read out. Any way I'm tickled to death because once we learn how to drive this car I believe it will get a little better.

Lexuslou

Average around 43 to 44 mpg. What I've figured out so far.

1- Drive like you don't have brakes. Keep your distance and let the momentum of car slow you down. In the case of going down hill take your foot off the pedals, let the engine shut off and the generator's resistance regulate your speed.

2- Use Eco if you're driving under 50. All Eco does is deaden the gas pedal and keep you locked in around 60. Not really useful on the highway - more helpful in the city.

3- Use the cruise control on the highway. Learn to love the little handle.

4- Use EV mode when you can. Like the slow last mile to work or home after you leave the highway.

5- Every passenger costs you around 1.5 mpg give or take.

mkhart

We got our 2013 ES 300h in Sept. and started out with an average of 36 to 37 MPG with combined highway and city driving. This was in warmer weather. We knew that the ethanol content in our gas (up to 10%) was contributing to the lower-than-expected overall average, but then came the colder weather, though not real cold, and our mileage dropped to 34 and 35 MPG. With research I learned that the "Winter blend" of fuel decreases mileage even more.

Once we had 5000 miles on the car we took it in for the 5000 mile check. On the way, I did an odometer check--you know, the official mileage marker checks that the State DOT has along the highways (not the mile posts). I learned that our odometer is off about one mile for every 50 miles on the odometer. It is basically clicking off fewer miles than actually traveled. My understanding is that on a 200 mile trip, the odometer is clicking off only 196 miles. (I hope I got that correct) So, it's a slight difference for our actual mileage, but nothing earthshaking. (I was told that the condition of the tires will change the odometer readings)

I looked through my check register and realized that I was still buying gas as often as I used to, so I did the old fashioned mileage test. I had 206.6 miles on the trip meter and put in 6.58 gallons of gas. Then I factored that the actual miles were closer to 210 (due to the above explanation). My TANK average indicator (not the AVERAGE MPG indicator) showed that I was getting 35.8 MPG for that tank. The 210 miles divided by the 6.58 gallons is only 31.9 MPG!! That's not much better than I got with my 2007 Lexus ES. Did I figure it correctly?

I am a conservative driver and drive in ECO mode most of the time. I even hypermile when I can. Knowing that the odometer is off just a bit, I'm going to keep tracking my mileage the old fashioned way for awhile. I hope Lexus hasn't overstated the actual MPG. I really love my car, though I am worried about the mileage not being even close to what it should, especially for the extra $2500 I paid for the hybrid model!

mkhart

What's the ethanol content of your state's gas? Did your mileage change with the "winter" fuel blend? I'll try switching to your driving "guidelines" to see if it helps.
Thanks!

UTAS

In the cool / cold climate of IL in winter, we experienced a drop from 38+mpg in Nov to about 34mpg in Jan / Feb on our ES300h around town. I do not believe this is all due to the gas blend - it is probably more to do with periodic warming the engine to operating temperature and quite likely the difference in viscosity of the bearing grease and increased rolling resistence at colder temperature. Things simply do not move as well in colder temperature, therefore more energy is required and hence less mpg. I think 34mpg is acceptable for winter and am looking forward to summer and warmer weather (for more reasons than gas mileage). BTW, Michelin tires with their "Green X" technology for low rolling resistence helps.

Arty101

Price is going up here in Calif to about $4.00 and they're saying its due to changing to the summer formula, Summer formula in Feb? I have to say in No Cal, we're in the 60’s but they don't change formulation just because of a warm spell.

Because its warmer, I'm getting around 39 mpg mixed hwy and city. I'm sure it would be a lot less if it were colder.

JerryKK

We're right below you on the Central Coast - our gas - which a few weeks ago was about $3.60 - is now back over $4. I have about 2,000 miles on the car and overall average is 38 and my current tankful is 36. Most of my trips are short - so I consider that pretty good.

Arty101

I'm with you Jerry. I haven't filled up with gas for around 3 weeks and that was around a few weeks ago and was a bit of a shocked (although I've been hearing this on the news) when I filled up this weekend.

I'm getting a little better on the mpg by reading up on driving techniques of hydrides, although I'm not getting mpgs like ShakMan. I've also noticed that going around 65 vs 55 mph freeway is actually better on the mpg, that another CL member said previously. But keeping an eye on the fuel bars (I use the main Nav screen) and trying to keep it above 40 mpg by getting up to speed fast and then cruising/coasting w/o hitting the brakes (anticipating traffic ahead) helps with higher mpgs.

It's nice not having to stop and get robbed by those one pump bandits every week .