New Auris Hybrid owner questions

[finauris]

I've had an Auris Hybrid 2011 (145000 km on the clock) for a few months now. It is my first hybrid so I'm wondering whether the following issues are normal or should I be worried.

1. The electric motor seems rather inefficient. For example when leaving from the traffic lights trying to use only the electric motor, the car accelerates really slowly (Micras, Fiestas and sometimes even busses passing me from left and right 😀). Of course if press the pedal more, then the ICE kicks in and I can keep up with the traffic but I guess it's not that fuel-efficient then.
    
2. Sometimes when the car switches from electric to ICE, a small "glitch" can be felt. Doesn't happen always, and it's quite hard to explain but it feels a bit similar when changing gears in manual gearbox.
    
3. The fuel consumption is quite far from the advertised figures (4,0 L/100km ≈ 70 MPG (UK)). The average consumption after around 1500 km of mixed driving is 6,1 L/100km (46 MPG) according to the car's computer. Many times when I stop the car, the the reading in the economy meter is outside of its scale (ie over 7 L / 40 MPG). A few times I've gotten a bit less than 5 L (56 MPG) though.

[Nicolai]

1: Don't use the electric motor to pull away unless no one is behind you (or you're going downhill). It'll take forever to get up to 50 km/h. Instead, use the ICE to get up to the desired speed and then ease off the throttle for the "Eco meter" to fall bellow the halfway mark of the ECO scale. Only cruise on EV when it makes sense and you know that recapturing the energy can be done without using too much fuel (brake gently when decending a hill etc).

2: I have never driven a manual as I can't operate a clutch due to impaired mobility of my legs, however, if by "glitch" you mean a small vibration as the ICE kicks in, that's normal, and som eime can be felt a bit "rougher" than others in my experience. Especially in cold weather when the engine is cold.

3: What's your typical trips like in length? Almost no one will be able to avarage the official figures publish by Toyota. My car gets A LOT of short trips (1-3 miles) mixed in with some 70 mile motorway journeys every other weekend or so.

Use ECO tyre pressures to reduce RR and use less fuel.

[FROSTYBALLS]

The fuel consumption figures produced under the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) became increasingly unrealistic as time went on (last updated in 1997) - and this applied to all manufacturers, not just Toyota. Manufacturers legally had to use the figures from these tests in any advertising, etc as they were supposed to provide a standard comparison between models.

NEDC was replaced in September by the Worldwide harmonised Light vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) which is supposed to provide more realistic information.

For your car, the Honest John Real mpg pages for the Auris will probably give a better indication of what one can expect - https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/toyota/auris-2007/18-hybrid

[Nicolai]

3 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

For your car, the Honest John Real mpg pages for the Auris will probably give a better indication of what one can expect - https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/toyota/auris-2007/18-hybrid

Pages like www.fuelly.com or www.spritmonitor.de may also be of interrest to the OP 🙂

[Catlover]

In reply to 1) - EV mode will drop out at about 18-20mph and engine kick in....is that what you are finding?

In reply to 2) - I had a 2010 Auris Hybrid (wife has it now) and I could detect ever so slightly when the engine stopped and when it kicked in. It was ever so slight, and about the same on my Prius Gen3 I had. Now I drive Prius Gen4 and you cannot detect anything at all. I had no concerns about the Airus.

In rely to 3) - the wife is doing about 62mpg in her Auris Hyb.  It all depends on the terrain you travel. There is a route I commonly take that I can get a good return, and another route I take I can get no where near the figure. M-Way driving I get less then on the route I commonly get a good return. And of course, it all depends on driving style, especially if heavy on the accelerator.  You Tube you can find a lot of videos on how best to drive to attain good mpg. 46mpg is terrible.

 

[Phil T]

Getting improved MPG on a hybrid for a new driver is a totally different driving proposition. Accelerate gently but do not worry about the engine kicking  in, when coming up to speed, gently ease off the throttle. The ICE will often drop out and the electric motor will, be sufficient. Try to keep it out of the power band, just easing off will mainly put you in the economy zone with little effect  on progress. Leave a good gap between you and the car in front, anticipate, easy on the brakes will allow power regeneration, too much brake will just create heat!

Have a look on Youtube, many good driving tips for hybrid drivers, anyone else too!

The last tank mainly driving in the Peak District returned 80 mpg tank to tank full, the car indicated just over 73mpg. Not record breaking but still better than most. I normally average 63 mpg.

[finauris]

Thank you all for your comments. I guess there's no need to be worried, I just need to learn how to drive a hybrid. 😄 I'll check out some videos.

About point #1: Just to clarify, I didn't mean the actual EV mode but just accelerating so lightly that the ICE doesn't kick in. By the way, is there a real use case for the EV mode in normal driving? Or is it just for showing off to your friends: "look at me, I have an electric car!". 😄  IIRC the manual mentions that it should be used if you need to be really quiet. Don't know though that in what areas you need to be that quiet but are still allowed to drive.

About point #3: I understand that the advertised figures are always quite far from the reality. However, I was a bit disappointed since my figures were rather bad even compared to more realistic Spritmonitor figures. But we'll see when I learn the most efficient way to drive. It's worth mentioning also, that my car is equipped with 215/45R17 wheels that are less fuel-efficient compared to the regular 195/65R15 (which I would prefer for other reasons as well, so I'll probably buy new rims and tires at some point).

My trips are typically somewhere between 2-15 kilometres. With really short trips it's probably never possible to get good MPG since the engine doesn't get to warm up properly, especially in the winter.

[Catlover]

EV in quiet areas - I live on an estate specifically for over 55’s, so coming home late/going out early, using EV is being thoughtful to my neighbours.  Don’t get too paranoid about using the engine, after all it’s probably the main way of recharging the big Battery. Simply accelerate steadily (not holding up traffic) to required speed, then take your foot off the throttle briefly and EV will kick in and on a flat road, more so on a decline, you can drive on EV for some distance. You will more then likely lose speed, simply accelerate up again then do the same technique. It’s called pulse and glide. I have a Prius Gen4 which has more computer info then the wife’s 2010 Auris. The computer tells me I am driving 57% of my journeys on EV. Computer also tells me during the summer I regularly do over 80mpg, but now winter is coming and it’s colder I can see some journeys can be high 60’s/mid 70’s. Last winter the wife’s Auris was doing low to mid 60’s. It’s all about trying different things and noting the results. Being heavy right footed will not give good mpg obviously.

 

[chrisgeary]

I find EV mode handy in car parks where you need over the mid point of ECO on the power-o-meter to get up the ramps. Apart from that, it isn't much use. Over 20mph it dis-engages (no idea why, makes no sense to me) whereas if you keep the throttle at or below the mid ECO mark in non-ev mode, it'll stay on Battery all the way up to 48mph. How quickly you get there depends on traffic, gradient, charge in the Battery and so on but it is possible.

So EV mode handy for car parks. ECO/Normal for everywhere else and control EV mode with the throttle.

[Nicolai]

9 minutes ago, chrisgeary said:

I find EV mode handy in car parks where you need over the mid point of ECO on the power-o-meter to get up the ramps. Apart from that, it isn't much use. Over 20mph it dis-engages (no idea why, makes no sense to me) whereas if you keep the throttle at or below the mid ECO mark in non-ev mode, it'll stay on battery all the way up to 48mph.

Just a thought: maybe because with EV mode, the car "knows" it "isn't allowed to" use the ICE and, as a result, quits EV "to early" in order to leave a bigger "buffer of electricity" "Just in case"?

Whereas, in the other modes, it "knows" it's allowed to use / charge with the ICE, hence, allows for longer use and greater speeds????

I have no Idea at all, and not really sure my post makes even the slightest bit of sense LOL. Just a thought. 😄

[qettyz]

5 hours ago, chrisgeary said:

Over 20mph it dis-engages (no idea why, makes no sense to me) .

I found from WeberAuto Youtube series (geat by the way) that EV mode kicks out in that speed because of MG1 rpm is limiting it(if i remember correctly). In EV mode MG1 is doing hard work by revving so that ICE does not need to turn at all.

edit: but yeah, this is not reason why ev mode kicks out, you can still drive ev mode more higher speeds 🤔