Canesguy

For no real reason, at just over 4000 mi. on the car, my last tankful yielded slightly under 44 mpg. This is actual calculated mpg using mostly the "sport" setting. Although I'm happy with it, I think it was just a fluke.

jonmanch

What was the temperature like during your last tankfull?

jakepdx

I'm not sure if you're asking me, but I'm in Portland, OR and the last tank was over the last month. That tank averaged the same as all my tanks: 30mpg. But so far the new tank is getting 37mpg.

jakepdx

Just finished the first leg of a roadtrip, and averaged nearly 40mpg over 500 miles. I'm so relieved and happy to be getting good mileage both in the city and on the highway - I was really worried for a while there!

mcomer

Now have 2500 miles on our 2014 ES300h and took the first high speed trip.
We have been getting 33 - 35 MPG in this Chicago cold doing 90% city driving.

I am posting this to describe a rather large drop off in mileage when driving fast...
When at a steady cruise control of 80 MPH it returned 32 MPG over 150 miles
When I dropped it down to 68 MPH it jumped up to 39 MPG (as rated) for 125 miles.

This was during a fairly warm 50 degree period.

This might reflect the wind pushing us along from all the Semi's that were blowing past!!

tinkertom

The posts to the MPG of the ES300h are very helpful. I think it is important to validate whether you are using the internal computer for mpg or the old fashioned actual math method, which I will call accurate. My experience has been that the computer output for mpg in the Lexus 300h is off by 3 to 4 mpg. I live in north Texas and have been experiencing 30 to 31 mpg from Oct 1 through March 25(math method). I am extremely troubled and upset that the car does not perform as stated by the window sticker for mpg, and the salesman's validation that I should expect that mpg or better.

Approximately 6 years ago, there were so many consumer complaints about inflated mpgs, that the EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Admin. did a major review (overhaul) with the objective of bringing the posted (window) mpg down to a realistic number. After minimal research, I found that the manufacturer tests each car for mpg in a laboratory on a dynamometer. the wheels never touch the pavement to reflect reality of how mpg should be determined. These dynamometer mpg calculations are then arbitrarily reduced by 10% for city driving and 22% for highway driving. These numbers are calculated by the automobile's manufacturer and given to the EPA. What a joke! This mpg analysis even gets worse for hybrids. Throughout the test, a hose is connected to the vehicle's tailpipe and collects the engine's exhaust. The amount of carbon present in what's spewed from the exhaust system is measured to calculate the amount of fuel burned. The inaccuracy of this carbon emissions test on hybrid vehicles is much greater as the test is conducted when the battery is supporting the gas engine and the battery produces zero carbon emissions, thus generating a much higher mpg. What a joke!

If you are reading this post prior to purchasing a Lexus 300h (or probably any gas/electric technology car) you should probably use the information from this forum as much more accurate than what the EPA (your government at work) tells you on the window sticker. I personally feel extremely stupid for purchasing a hybrid and thinking that this EPA and National Highway Traffic Safety Admin. were accurate in any form or fashion. These new regulations went into effect on the window stickers of 2013 cars and I assumed that these new numbers were much more accurate. I am glad that many of the posts in this forum are satisfied with their reduced mpg because "it was better than what I had." But as a college educated engineer, I can only conclude that we have all been duped.

jollick

I am pleased with the mileage I get from my ES300h based on my driving conditions.

The web site Fuelly is a good place to see what others are getting in the real word. I track my mileage there.

http://www.fuelly.com/car/lexus/es300h

gfr1

I'm sorry, but I can't buy into your conclusions, as far as applies to the Lexus 300h. Of course, I can only relate to mine. I have a 2013 with the standard Michelins. It is my first hybrid and I don't baby it, but don't hot dog, either. In traffic, I keep up with the normal flow. On trips, I use the cruise control at the posted limits when 60, or above and "posted", or traffic flow, below 60, as a practice. My first tank refuel from new, was at 668.4 odometer miles. However, I have calibrated my odometer/speedometer with a "RaceLogic" "PerformanceBox" precision GPS, as used by performance test programs ($550.00). It shows that my odometer actually reads 0.965 of the actual mileage, so the odometer should be adjusted by 1.025%. With this adjustment, my actual mileage would be 685.1. Consider that with a 17.2 gallon tank, as spec. by Lexus pubs. I, also am from the DFW area. Last Sat., I returned from a 4115 mile (4218 calibrated) trip through AZ & CA. Some 200+ miles each way in west TX at 80 mph. Went through the mountains of central AZ, the Grapevine north of LA, three trips across L.A. traffic, Downtown San Francisco twice, the mountains east of Sacramento, back down through L.A., San Diego and back through West TX. I keep a spreadsheet of my fuel data, factoring computer indicated mpg with the miles traveled, with each refuel. Every refuel was at the neck of the tank filler. My indicated mileage (in one decimal place) for the trip divided by the fuel purchased (in three decimal places was 39.153 mpg. My computer read 40.633, or 1.0378% high. With calibrated mileage it comes to 1.025% high. Now, if you want to pick some nits, GPS mileage only reflects distance across the earth, while the odometer has to deal with vertical distances. If you were to attach a GPS to a survey wheel, run it up a 10 foot wall and back down again, the device would measure 20' of travel, but the GPS went nowhere. Or, with a theoretical equilateral hill,10 miles up, 10 miles down and 10 miles distance through a tunnel, the odometer would record 20 miles, while the GPS would display the 10 miles through the tunnel. So, I submit that with my trip profile, the computer might be very close to spot-on!

tinkertom

Your analysis was very impressive, but was skewed by the extreme highway mpg only. Anyone who has done any analysis at all realizes that the major problems with hybrids is their inability to meet the EPA suggested mpg in urban driving. If you read through 6 months of threads on this forum, you certainly will realize you are the exception to what most people are experiencing. My analysis was simple math and dash board computer read 34.6 mpg when in truth I was getting barely 30 mpg in urban driving. My dashboard mpg was off by over 4 mpg. I hope you will agree with me that the method used by the EPA to determine the stated miles per gallon for all types of hybrid cars is not based on reality. In reality, the EPA did informally check some of the test vehicles by driving them on the road and doing the simple math. They reported that all test vehicles had a significant decrease in miles per gallon relative to what they approved as suggested mpg on the window sticker. I recall that one Prius that was rated at 66 mpg perfomed at 44 mpg in actual driving. I continue to believe that the method used by EPA to determine mpg is hilarious and a really big joke.

jollick

I drive 15 miles each way back and forth to work in stop and go driving and average 36 calculated mpg in the cold weather, not bad IMHO. It is better in warmer weather. My car, ES3000h, is usually off by 1.5 to 2 mpg, not too bad. I still love the car and I am happy to get the mileage I am getting with the way I drive.

LexBob2

Consumer Reports recently published a recap from their Road Tests and 55% of the hybrids they tested missed their EPA estimates. Toyota/Lexus models did better than most, although they still missed their estimates by varying amounts.

20% of small turbos and 10% of conventional gas engine cars missed their estimates.

wasjr

I tracked the mileage on my wife's 2013 300h on Fuelly.com for the first year of ownership (just under 14,000 miles) and averaged 36.4. We took it on one 1,000 mile trip and, as expected, there was a significant difference in mpg on rural 2 lane hwys going 55-65 mph, vs interstates going 75-80 mph.

joebruin

I live in SoCal and my mpgs have been going up. Maybe combination of learning how to drive hybrid and warmer weather. Bought my 300h in October and after 7 tanks, had calculated mpg to from 30.0, 35.0, 35.0, 37.2, 37.6, 37.3, 38.6. Computer mpg is usually 1-2 mpg higher. I drive really slow to achieve this though, 60-65 on fwy. I'm sure I can get close to if not over 40mpg if I drove the car by myself. My wife's less than 4 mile commute to work hurts this mpg as well. To me, it seems very difficult to reach the 40mpg in city due to stop and go and the mpg hit it takes when accelerating, even slow acceleration. EV mode helps, w/o EV mode city driving probably 20-25 mpg.

gfr1

Perhaps I didn't make it clear, but I opened my original response, where my initial tank refuel was at 668.4 miles (685.1 odometer corrected). That was all local driving. I don't pay all that much attention to hybrid driving, anymore, but I do record with the data that I end up with. My local DFW driving, where I don't get on many Freeways or Blvd., I record between 34 & 36 mpg. But, I'd guess that I'd average about one cold start for every four miles and one warm start for the return four miles. I'd consider that as being rather admirable. I made a similar AZ & CA trip 11 mos. earlier. I find that the biggest hindrance to interstate driving mileage is wind. Last year, I drove the 200+ west TX 80 mph speed limit into 30 to 45 mph headwinds (dust storm). Mileage appeared to get down towards 30 mpg. With local driving, the worst effect is cold starts. I've driven across the L.A. basin a number of times in stop-&-go commuter traffic, where the hybrid seems to be in its element and gets around 40 mpg, which likely correlates to the EPA profile more. I don't disagree with your view of EPA profile "reality", necessarily, but they have to assume some reality profile. If that profile fits yours, I feel that it works, but if not, it probably won't. Some manufacturers have not done well with their figures. I see that Hyundai just did another hybrid adjustment. I, myself, don't place Toyota/Lexus into that category, however. That is why I responded with my input.

Caydoc

I have 1900 mi on car, and the MPG average for the entire time is 43-44 ...My current tank is averaging 46..this is during cool weather, short urban commutes and tire pressures of 33. This is my fifth hybrid, and I think the high mpg is due in large part to experience with this kind of machine.