MPG issue

[IrnBro]

Got a new Corolla 2.0 a couple months ago 

Have thus far been underwhelmed with the efficiency

I was wondering if the figures it's returning are typical of the car and it is my driving and/or expectations which need adjustment, or if there is something abnormal with my particular vehicle which Toyota may be able to rectify.

I always drive in eco mode and take note of the eco scores presented at the end. Stopping is the only score which sometimes drops low due to sudden red lights and the like.

For example, yesterday , as I sat in my car it showed 34mpg. I decided I would reset the mpg counter for my supermarket run which is probably around 2.5-3 miles round trip.

For this particular trip I did not look at the mpg counter but used the screen that shows the start, cruise and stop scores in order to maintain ideal driving style. I ended with 90+ overall scores for each category which I assume is good.

Ambient conditions were cold (2 degrees C) which I know can affect mpg. All roads were 30mph (I avoid changing speed limits too much as it seems to tank mpg).  Route is a little bit up and down as I live in a hilly area but one would assume that since you're ending up at the same altitude you start at, the inclines and declines would even out. I don't know what other factors are relevant.

Upon returning home and checking the mpg, it was a stunning 30.4.

Is it me or is it the car?

I know that this was a car Toyota already had (perhaps a previous buyer had backed out of a purchase) as opposed to being freshly built with the 3 month waiting period. Could extended idle time cause Battery performance to degrade? A fuel leak was also posited to me as the only vehicle fault that could cause low mpg.

Right now it's putting out numbers only slightly better than my 13 year old 3 litre Audi A6. Which admittedly is a diesel but nonetheless.

I feel a little bit underwhelmed and fooled by this car if this is expected performance.

[TonyHSD]

Hi, you can’t make any assumptions on few short journeys to the shops or while seating in the car and let it idle, this car easily can return over 50 mpg on average real world. However you need to drive it for longer, make calculations on brim to brim , compare with your trip info etc. There are many posts regarding this and you can scroll around and look at. Driving style, tyres pressure, load of the car, cold weather, wind, wet surface all affects the mpg. Very likely you have no trouble with the car, but in lockdown you can really drive it enough or there is any point worrying about efficiency, just keep it on for 30+ min once or twice a week to top up 12v Battery. 

[john p williams]

Just now, TonyHSD said:

Hi, you can’t make any assumptions on few short journeys to the shops or while seating in the car and let it idle, this car easily can return over 50 mpg on average real world. However you need to drive it for longer, make calculations on brim to brim , compare with your trip info etc. There are many posts regarding this and you can scroll around and look at. Driving style, tyres pressure, load of the car, cold weather, wind, wet surface all affects the mpg. Very likely you have no trouble with the car, but in lockdown you can really drive it enough or there is any point worrying about efficiency, just keep it on for 30+ min once or twice a week to top up 12v battery. 

And look at videos on Youtube explaining how to drive a hybrid.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Also see:

https://blog.toyota.co.uk/hybrid-driving-technique-toyotas-top-tips-for-achieving-the-best-fuel-economy-in-your-hybrid

[IrnBro]

1 hour ago, TonyHSD said:

Hi, you can’t make any assumptions on few short journeys to the shops or while seating in the car and let it idle, this car easily can return over 50 mpg on average real world. However you need to drive it for longer, make calculations on brim to brim , compare with your trip info etc. There are many posts regarding this and you can scroll around and look at. Driving style, tyres pressure, load of the car, cold weather, wind, wet surface all affects the mpg. Very likely you have no trouble with the car, but in lockdown you can really drive it enough or there is any point worrying about efficiency, just keep it on for 30+ min once or twice a week to top up 12v battery. 

 

Hi Tony

Thanks for your reply

This was just one instance of the car's mpg being very low. I had a trip to make this morning and the mpg was even lower - 27. It has never returned an mpg of above 50 on a trip for the 2 months I have had it so far. Mpg has only exceeded this on the half of a trip that is overall downhill, and returns to average on the return trip uphill.

I have already browsed through the forums for advice before making an account and this post. Regarding the factors you list, my driving style is consciously sedate and consistently return high numbers on Toyota's "ECO score", the car has nothing in it except myself. Weather is cold and surfaces can be wet, but the figures still seem to be conspicuously lower than those I read of other owners. Tyre pressures are the only thing I have not checked for certain and I will have a look at them today to see if they are low.

Trips are generally short but once or twice will be over 30 minutes.

In terms of any point worrying about efficiency, due to current circumstances, I disagree with your take - if a product has been purchased that isn't performing to the level advertised then there is a point worrying about efficiency.

Do not mean to sound flippant, I appreciate your time and reply.

 

1 hour ago, john p williams said:

And look at videos on Youtube explaining how to drive a hybrid.

Hi John

 I have seen this video and already drive as recommended within it. Are there any videos in particular you think will be helpful?

 

47 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Also see:

https://blog.toyota.co.uk/hybrid-driving-technique-toyotas-top-tips-for-achieving-the-best-fuel-economy-in-your-hybrid

Hi FROSTYBALLS

Thanks for the link. I have read through it and I believe I already drive as recommended in the article.

 

-Sam

[FROSTYBALLS]

31 minutes ago, IrnBro said:

In terms of any point worrying about efficiency, due to current circumstances, I disagree with your take - if a product has been purchased that isn't performing to the level advertised then there is a point worrying about efficiency.

The official fuel consumption figures are not meant to reflect what an owner will achieve.

The figures are produced from a laboratory testing regime, and provides a system for use as a standard comparison between models. Manufacturers, dealers, etc legally have to use these figures when selling or advertising their vehicles.

Although the current system (WTLP) is more realistic than the previous system (NEDC), it is still not intended to be a representation of the fuel consumption achieved through read world driving.

Some people may get near to the test figures and some won't.

[IrnBro]

6 minutes ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

The official fuel consumption figures are not meant to reflect what an owner will achieve.

The figures are produced from a laboratory testing regime, and provides a system for use as a standard comparison between models. Manufacturer, dealers, etc legally have to use these figures when selling or advertising their vehicles.

Although the current system (WTLP) is more realistic than the previous system (NEDC), it is still not intended to be a representation of the fuel consumption achieved through read world driving.

Some people may get near to the test figures and some won't.

All other things being equal, there seems to be a large disparity between what I get and what others get from what I have read on reviews and also people posting their experiences on forums

That some people might get near to that and some people won't shouldn't be glossed over as 'oh well, guess I lost the hybrid lottery', 60% difference isn't an acceptable variance in efficiency between cars 

[TonyHSD]

Hi, you really need to drive the car longer and in ideal conditions  to be able to achieve manufacturer figures and these conditions are impossible right now, only based on that matter I mentioned it’s not really point going further, lockdown and not able to give a good run unless you are exempt ph drivers or delivery., cold weather, actually freezing cold., you get my point. Very important to check your tyres pressure before you drive off, first thing in the morning or after at least one hour after you finish your trip., do so with digital high quality gauge, set pressure exact amount, no more, no less. Fill up the tank full, drive the car for a week or 100 miles at least in Normal mode, don’t use Eco and don’t try to be efficient driver, just as you are driving normal car, no rush , no slow. After you had done the miles in few days time, more miles you had covered more accurate will be the measure, go back to the same petrol pump and fill up again full, do your calculations and come back for comment, don’t forget to reset daily trip meter and average mpg on the car dash. I believe the numbers you gonna report will be better than these you are reporting now. 

[Parts-King]

I had a 2.0 Corolla over the summer, and do 40 miles a day. I was averaging 54 MPG, my 1.8 Corolla gives me 74 MPG, IN THE SUMMER! I am currently on 58 MPG, so it makes a massive difference, but as others have said, don't get too hung up on the MPG for a short journey, you need to brim the tank and check it out from brim to brim. Good MPG will return with the warmer weather, it makes a massive difference 

[FROSTYBALLS]

7 minutes ago, IrnBro said:

That some people might get near to that and some people won't shouldn't be glossed over as 'oh well, guess I lost the hybrid lottery', 60% difference isn't an acceptable variance in efficiency between cars 

There was no suggestion that is the case. To think that the official fuel consumption figures do represent what owners will achieve is just naive. 

What was stated is a fact - some owners will get near the official figures and some won't.

As Tony said previously judging fuel consumption on short journeys of 2.5-3 miles won't provide a reliable indication of fuel consumption. For example our i20 provides 38-42mpg around town ((Birmingham) and up to 56mpg on a longer run (for example Broadford , Skye to Stirling last October).

The best way of measuring consumption is calculating on a brim to brim basis rather than relying on a car's system, and this applies to any manufacturer and any model.

You said you got the car a couple of months ago, so the car will still be 'tight' and won't provide the best consumption as yet. 

[AKLZ]

Listen to Tony (in my short experience here, he's usually correct!) - you havent used it anywhere near long enough to get a fair assessment of true economy.

I do some short drives that are 30mpg and others that are 77mpg, depending on terrain. Over the month I've had it, this averages at 48mpg currently, and I have been using the heating on full, heated seats on etc etc. If I just looked at a singe supermarket trip, I'd also likely see 30mpg sometimes. 

Drive sensibly and give it a month, and then report back.  

I think in Spring / Summer when it's warm, I may get 50-55mpg or more average. Although in Summer I may have A/C on which will impact economy.

[john p williams]

7 minutes ago, AKLZ said:

Listen to Tony (in my short experience here, he's usually correct!) - you havent used it anywhere near long enough to get a fair assessment of true economy.

I do some short drives that are 30mpg and others that are 77mpg, depending on terrain. Over the month I've had it, this averages at 48mpg currently, and I have been using the heating on full, heated seats on etc etc. If I just looked at a singe supermarket trip, I'd also likely see 30mpg sometimes. 

Drive sensibly and give it a month, and then report back.  

I think in Spring / Summer when it's warm, I may get 50-55mpg or more average. Although in Summer I may have A/C on which will impact economy.

And read your Handbook and ABSORB this https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/toyota/corolla-2019

[AKLZ]

Just now, john p williams said:

And read your Handbook and ABSORB this https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/toyota/corolla-2019

Wished I'd got the 1.8L now 😛

 

[Catlover]

During the cold months of the year you will be getting around 10mpg LESS then the summer. We are in those colder months. No car like the winter months and that includes pure electric vehicles. Absolutely pointless judging anything on short journeys like you describe ie 2.5-3 mile round trip, even your Audi diesel would give you low mpg in such condition. The you tube video you posted is for a Prius and in the USA by the looks of it. Firstly the Prius is more efficient then you 2.0 Corolla, the hybrid engineering whist similar appears to be different, plus, the Prius has one of the most efficient drag coefficient of friction figures in road cars. I have a 2016 Gen4 Prius and best figure I had was 96 mpg on a 50 mile run during the hot June of 2019. Plus the weather in that video was a lovely summers day.   I still don’t go along with Tony’s theory of not using Eco mode, use Normal mode instead.  I am mostly in Eco mode and it works for me. I also move away from recommended tyre pressures too, I add 3psi more then the recommended figure. That will give less rolling resistance without making the ride too hard. Have you mastered the “pulse and glide” technique you see in the you tube videos?  Again, that will work well once you have a warm engine.                 
You have had the car couple months, that means Octoberish. Yes there were some mild days in October that I was doing over 70mpg in my Prius, but they were 25 mile each way runs.                 
Just relax and wait for better weather, sometime when the outside temperature is above 14 deg C.                 
Personally, from what I read about the 2.0 Corolla is that I would be disappointed in the mpg, it’s as if it’s been designed to appeal to the rep type of driver who wants to dash here and there, get the same mpg as their ex diesel car, yet gain tax advantages. Nothing wrong with that at all, but I in no hurry to change from my Prius.

[john p williams]

6 minutes ago, Catlover said:

During the cold months of the year you will be getting around 10mpg LESS then the summer. We are in those colder months. No car like the winter months and that includes pure electric vehicles. Absolutely pointless judging anything on short journeys like you describe ie 2.5-3 mile round trip, even your Audi diesel would give you low mpg in such condition. The you tube video you posted is for a Prius and in the USA by the looks of it. Firstly the Prius is more efficient then you 2.0 Corolla, the hybrid engineering whist similar appears to be different, plus, the Prius has one of the most efficient drag coefficient of friction figures in road cars. I have a 2016 Gen4 Prius and best figure I had was 96 mpg on a 50 mile run during the hot June of 2019. Plus the weather in that video was a lovely summers day.   I still don’t go along with Tony’s theory of not using Eco mode, use Normal mode instead.  I am mostly in Eco mode and it works for me. I also move away from recommended tyre pressures too, I add 3psi more then the recommended figure. That will give less rolling resistance without making the ride too hard. Have you mastered the “pulse and glide” technique you see in the you tube videos?  Again, that will work well once you have a warm engine.                 
You have had the car couple months, that means Octoberish. Yes there were some mild days in October that I was doing over 70mpg in my Prius, but they were 25 mile each way runs.                 
Just relax and wait for better weather, sometime when the outside temperature is above 14 deg C.                 
Personally, from what I read about the 2.0 Corolla is that I would be disappointed in the mpg, it’s as if it’s been designed to appeal to the rep type of driver who wants to dash here and there, get the same mpg as their ex diesel car, yet gain tax advantages. Nothing wrong with that at all, but I in no hurry to change from my Prius.

Nice Post Joe.

Was the 96mpg a calculation, or the O.B.C READING or was it the highest figure you saw lit up during the journey?

I`m afraid that I agree with Tony in that Normal should be used and let the O.B.C determine when Eco is being used.

How many miles on your Prius?

I

[Catlover]

Hi John, the 96mpg was the on board computer. I am keen on mpg figures but can’t be bothered with doing brim to brim. For sure I know the figure may be up to 10% optimistic, but even at that I happy with 87mpg minimum.            
We were on holiday in Gloucester, going round the cotswold and Forest of Dean. Every journey we did was well over 70mpg, even going down from Chester on a busy M6/M5 was over 70mpg.  The digital display is such that every time the engine is off it resets the mpg counter. The next day I can see the av mpg for the previous day (and for quite a lot of days).              
The day we came home, a Saturday, rather then use the MWay system we decided to use the A roads through Tewksbury, Worcester, Kidderminster, but we stopped by a roadside petrol station for a comfort break/snack. From Telford to home, near Chester it was 50.? Something miles and it showed just over 96 mpg.  I took a photo of the dash and posted it on here.   When I bought the car, second hand, from a dealer 100 mile away, on the journey home non-stop it did just over 90 mpg, that was summer  June 2018.            
The car has now done just under 34,000 miles.           
Before I bought my first hybrid, a 2010 Auris, I did a lot of you tube viewing and picked up techniques. The wife has that car now, I got a 59 plate Prius with 105,000 on the clock, loved it more then the Auris, and after 6 months I bought the Gen4 Prius.  So within 12 months I had owned 3 Toyota hybrids, I just love them!

[john p williams]

28 minutes ago, Catlover said:

Hi John, the 96mpg was the on board computer. I am keen on mpg figures but can’t be bothered with doing brim to brim. For sure I know the figure may be up to 10% optimistic, but even at that I happy with 87mpg minimum.            
We were on holiday in Gloucester, going round the cotswold and Forest of Dean. Every journey we did was well over 70mpg, even going down from Chester on a busy M6/M5 was over 70mpg.  The digital display is such that every time the engine is off it resets the mpg counter. The next day I can see the av mpg for the previous day (and for quite a lot of days).              
The day we came home, a Saturday, rather then use the MWay system we decided to use the A roads through Tewksbury, Worcester, Kidderminster, but we stopped by a roadside petrol station for a comfort break/snack. From Telford to home, near Chester it was 50.? Something miles and it showed just over 96 mpg.  I took a photo of the dash and posted it on here.   When I bought the car, second hand, from a dealer 100 mile away, on the journey home non-stop it did just over 90 mpg, that was summer  June 2018.            
The car has now done just under 34,000 miles.           
Before I bought my first hybrid, a 2010 Auris, I did a lot of you tube viewing and picked up techniques. The wife has that car now, I got a 59 plate Prius with 105,000 on the clock, loved it more then the Auris, and after 6 months I bought the Gen4 Prius.  So within 12 months I had owned 3 Toyota hybrids, I just love them!

Many thanks Joe for another interesting read. We bought our first Yaris (auto) from Toyota Harlch in 2000,for my wife to use. It was passed to our eldest daughter in Scotland several years ago and has now succumbed to rust with 90k on the clock. It never gave one ounce of problems. We bought another in Feb this year from the same garage. A 2011 one owner, in perfect condition. Also an auto, but with the Multidrive transmission. It is so smooth.

I bought a Lexus GS from Mitchell on the Wirral 7 years ago. A hybrid with an e-cvt transmission and it has been faultless. It averages 37mpg, which is not bad for a 3.5 litre V6.

I 

[Catlover]

For service I use Lindop at Queensferry, they also have a place in Wrexham. You may have seen Parts-King post on here. He works for Lindop as their ...... er....Parts-King.

[RabButler]

Stop driving in Eco mode. Put it in Normal and drive as if you have mug of hot coffee on your lap.

Edited January 8, 2021 by FROSTYBALLS
Typing error

[Gray86]

I’ve had my 2.0 a couple of months now and done just over 1,000 miles.  
 

if you do a short journey in cold weather, it’s unlikely that you will get much or any EV time - with the petrol engine running the whole time (plus charging the hybrid Battery, and heating the cabin) you will only get 30+ mpg. On a longer run I’ve seen 60+mpg when I’ve given the powertrain time to warm up, although in low ambient temps, these figures have reduced to just over 50mpg. 
 

Remember the key to good MPG is EV Time - not the driving scores. If you ain’t running on the electric motor, it’s just a 2.0 petrol engine! 
 

EDIT: I NEVER use eco mode. Only normal 

[Mikw]

Had my Yaris hybrid for two and a bit weeks now.

It only does about 40 mpg for the first couple of miles on a cold day, but if my drive is about 30 mins it'll always get above 60 mpg. - so i think that the mpg in your car is consistent with cold days and short journies.

When you're able to, drive it for half an out or so, i'm sure you'll relax more when you see the mpg from a longer trip, at least you'll know there's nothing wrong with your car.

[AndrueC]

2 hours ago, Gray86 said:

I’ve had my 2.0 a couple of months now and done just over 1,000 miles.  
 

if you do a short journey in cold weather, it’s unlikely that you will get much or any EV time - with the petrol engine running the whole time (plus charging the hybrid battery, and heating the cabin) you will only get 30+ mpg. On a longer run I’ve seen 60+mpg when I’ve given the powertrain time to warm up, although in low ambient temps, these figures have reduced to just over 50mpg. 
 

Remember the key to good MPG is EV Time - not the driving scores. If you ain’t running on the electric motor, it’s just a 2.0 petrol engine! 

Although the ICE has been engineered to emulate the Atkinson cycle. This is more efficient but less powerful than the more common Otto cycle. Based on my previous vehicles I think that the 1.8 has the power output of a typical 1.4 and maybe slightly better fuel consumption than that. Up to a point it feels to have a tad more power than my old Jazz but in a drag race up a steep hill the Jazz could beat it. The 1.8 appears to run out of puff whereas the Jazz just ran out of accelerator travel.

As for EV time it's possible that you can have too much of a good thing. If the car chooses to go into EV then great and it's probably a good thing to help it stay in EV for as long as you can. If you happen to know that you're approaching a situation where EV would be a good choice (eg;the brow of a hill) then forcing it into EV mode by lifting off slightly then gently reapplying power might also be good. But I think you should be wary of using every opportunity to run in EV mode. The battery's main purpose is to take over from the ICE when the ICE would otherwise be running at low RPM because that's where the ICE is least efficient. There's not a lot of point shutting the ICE down at 2k rpm or higher in favour of the Battery because at that point the ICE is operating relatively efficiently. Best in that scenario to let the ECU choose to run the ICE a little harder to recharge the Battery I reckon.

All the energy in the Battery came from running the ICE and since there are losses involved in that process there will be situations where ICE->wheels is more efficient than ICE->battery->wheels.

[Gray86]

These simulated-Atkinson cycle engines are very efficient (41% for the new 2.0!) but I think the fact that the ICE is used as a generator (in conjunction with Motor Generator 1) that offsets some of the efficiency - hence on a small journey when you don’t get any EV time, you only get around 30mpg (figures I’d expect from a conventional 2.0). 
 

You do get a nicely charged hybrid Battery for the return journey though! (Providing you can get the ICE warm enough to allow EV time 

[Catlover]

A lot of hybrid owners saying dirch ECO mode driving mode and go for Normal.  All I going to say is when if did 96mpg on a 50 mile A road journey I was in ECO mode. In f\ct the whole week of our holiday my Prius Gen 4 was in ECO mode.  Perhaps I should have use Normal, I might have got more!   ECO mode is fine if you want to do it.

[TonyHSD]

Good points. The common mistakes hybrid owners does often is to try to accelerate the car in ev only more often than necessary, this process kills the Battery immediately and once you have reached the desired speed instead of gliding with ice off you are gliding on electric power but you have your petrol engine running as generator to recharge the drained Battery., if instead the car was accelerated on both electric and petrol with moderate energy consumption (efficiently) then car let into gliding the ice will remain off for the most of the drive., here again driver should anticipate the road ahead and conditions, if it’s a slight downhill let it glide, if it’s slight uphill give more power and ask ice to help this trick gives you normal car behaviour and saves you Battery for the next yards or mile to let the car glide again on electric power alone, this will give you more time in ev and will help with overall efficiency., all these easier maintained with Normal mode and attention from the driver. 👍