Update Yaris Hybrid MPG

[Bernard Foy]

Hi folks, just a quick update my Yaris Hybrid latest mpg is 47.5mpg. Previous fill was 46.5, that’s driving as economically as I possibly can using the traction Battery as much as possible. Journeys are short, winter weather, and the car barely gets time to heat up.

[TonyHSD]

That’s absolutely normal. Still good mpg as all others ice cars suffer as well but owners not much interested. My current mpg is around 50+ mpg which is great imo, a lots of motorway journeys plus some town drive and excessive ready mode every night because of the cold weather. Summer time back to 60’s me think 🧐 ⛽️

[Bernard Foy]

56 minutes ago, TonyHSD said:

That’s absolutely normal. Still good mpg as all others ice cars suffer as well but owners not much interested. My current mpg is around 50+ mpg which is great imo, a lots of motorway journeys plus some town drive and excessive ready mode every night because of the cold weather. Summer time back to 60’s me think 🧐 ⛽️

Agreed Tony, considering the weather, and the general driving conditions I’m content and happy with the car and the mpg. 👏

[Cyker]

I wonder... if you drive like I do would you get better mpg?  

My driving style, rather than accelerate gently, is basically get to speed limit ASAP and then coast at speed limit as long as possible, and also try to brake as little as possible, so if there is a queue of traffic ahead I lift off early and let the car coast down so I hardly need to brake to a stop, or at least judge it so I can brake at 2-3 bars of regen without using the brakepads so I recover as much energy as possible (And also warm up the Battery!).

This means I burn off a lot of fuel every time I move off from a standstill (e.g. from lights) but this heats up the engine faster and lets me coast down using only the Battery. In summer I definitely get better mpg if I limit my acceleration to no more than the top of the 2nd green Eco zone, but in the cold winter I find that stops the engine warming up for ages, whereas dipping 1-2-3 blocks into the PWR zone warms it up much faster. When I hit 4 blocks of heat I tend to limit acceleration back to the Eco zone again.

I have been keeping the heater off tho', only using it if I'm on a fast A-road or motorway, as it sucks heat out of the engine sooooo quickly!

 

[Dala]

I drive 2 to 5 days a week 90 km
highway only 3km
about 50% EV
in winter 66-63 mpg
in summer 74-71 mpg

I fill 100 octane petrol in the tank

[Mikw]

1 hour ago, Cyker said:

I wonder... if you drive like I do would you get better mpg?  

My driving style, rather than accelerate gently, is basically get to speed limit ASAP and then coast at speed limit as long as possible, and also try to brake as little as possible, so if there is a queue of traffic ahead I lift off early and let the car coast down so I hardly need to brake to a stop, or at least judge it so I can brake at 2-3 bars of regen without using the brakepads so I recover as much energy as possible (And also warm up the battery!).

This means I burn off a lot of fuel every time I move off from a standstill (e.g. from lights) but this heats up the engine faster and lets me coast down using only the battery. In summer I definitely get better mpg if I limit my acceleration to no more than the top of the 2nd green Eco zone, but in the cold winter I find that stops the engine warming up for ages, whereas dipping 1-2-3 blocks into the PWR zone warms it up much faster. When I hit 4 blocks of heat I tend to limit acceleration back to the Eco zone again.

I have been keeping the heater off tho', only using it if I'm on a fast A-road or motorway, as it sucks heat out of the engine sooooo quickly!

 

I think i do the opposite to you, i increase speed very steadily so it stays on the electic motor for as long as possible, but i do coast to a halt for a long distance like you do.

I know what you mean about engine heat, around town the engine is never above 3 blocks and often drops to 2 blocks, sometimes even 1. That's another reason i pull of steadily as don't like to overrev on a cooler than optimal engine.

Don't know if i'm doing the right thing ot not though.

[TonyHSD]

1 hour ago, Cyker said:

I wonder... if you drive like I do would you get better mpg?  

My driving style, rather than accelerate gently, is basically get to speed limit ASAP and then coast at speed limit as long as possible, and also try to brake as little as possible, so if there is a queue of traffic ahead I lift off early and let the car coast down so I hardly need to brake to a stop, or at least judge it so I can brake at 2-3 bars of regen without using the brakepads so I recover as much energy as possible (And also warm up the battery!).

This means I burn off a lot of fuel every time I move off from a standstill (e.g. from lights) but this heats up the engine faster and lets me coast down using only the battery. In summer I definitely get better mpg if I limit my acceleration to no more than the top of the 2nd green Eco zone, but in the cold winter I find that stops the engine warming up for ages, whereas dipping 1-2-3 blocks into the PWR zone warms it up much faster. When I hit 4 blocks of heat I tend to limit acceleration back to the Eco zone again.

I have been keeping the heater off tho', only using it if I'm on a fast A-road or motorway, as it sucks heat out of the engine sooooo quickly!

 

Yes that’s the technique called “pull and glide” driving Toyota hybrid but try to accelerate within the the eco zone up to the power border or slightly past that zone but not too far into the power, no need to worry about heating up engine and don’t be afraid to use heating inside the cabin, actually is better always to have some sort of room temperature. For braking when you have no option but to come to a complete stop you can use slightly more progressive braking to add extra charge to the Battery and keep brake discs clean😉👌 Toyota Hybrids even latest ones still prefer town driving along with some a and B roads more than a fast motorway speeds and they are most efficient in these particular use. Actually all cars no matter the drive train including full ev will be most efficient if you drive them in similar manner. My best achieved mpg been with Priuses driving night time through out London suburbans areas within speed limits and no traffic, easily get up to the brochure mpg back then when those numbers seemed impossible 🥳⛽️👍 here is a picture from my Prius plus and outside temperature -5C°, that was somewhere in Surrey winter 2015. Colder air better fuel burning once the engine reaches its operating temp. 👍

[Cyker]

I have tried that and it works well in summer, but now in winter I was getting worse mpgs; I'm currently at a fairly consistent 73mpg with my more initially-aggressive style, vs 67 and dropping driving more gently.

I feel it's a lot like my old diesel in this way - The car is significantly more efficient when the engine is hot, at least 4 blocks, than it is when it's colder in the 1-2 block range...

I find if I only accelerate in the Eco zone from the get-go, the engine never gets past 3 blocks of heat until I'm basically at my destination, and if I use the heater it never gets to even that, plus the engine runs basically all the time (Doesn't even charge the Battery when it runs too, which my OCD just can't handle!  )

If I accelerate in the Eco zone *after* I've gotten it to 4 blocks of heat, that seems enough to keep it in that zone tho' as long as I don't use the heater!

[Bernard Foy]

2 hours ago, Cyker said:

I wonder... if you drive like I do would you get better mpg?  

My driving style, rather than accelerate gently, is basically get to speed limit ASAP and then coast at speed limit as long as possible, and also try to brake as little as possible, so if there is a queue of traffic ahead I lift off early and let the car coast down so I hardly need to brake to a stop, or at least judge it so I can brake at 2-3 bars of regen without using the brakepads so I recover as much energy as possible (And also warm up the battery!).

This means I burn off a lot of fuel every time I move off from a standstill (e.g. from lights) but this heats up the engine faster and lets me coast down using only the battery. In summer I definitely get better mpg if I limit my acceleration to no more than the top of the 2nd green Eco zone, but in the cold winter I find that stops the engine warming up for ages, whereas dipping 1-2-3 blocks into the PWR zone warms it up much faster. When I hit 4 blocks of heat I tend to limit acceleration back to the Eco zone again.

I have been keeping the heater off tho', only using it if I'm on a fast A-road or motorway, as it sucks heat out of the engine sooooo quickly!

 

Cyker, I will try out your method when opportunities arise, but I don’t like my feet to be cold 🥶. Apart from accelerating quickly and not using the heating I have the AC on and temp set at 22 I employ all the other tricks to try to get the best mpg.

[Cyker]

I'd be interested to hear back if it makes it worse or better for you!

I suspect worse tho' as with the heating on it sucks the heat out of the engine too quickly to put it back when it's very cold...

To be fair tho', I suspect part of the reason I get higher mpgs is I'm on the road longer (Albeit not up to TonyHSD's level; I swear he does more miles in a few months than some people do in a year!  )

 

[TonyHSD]

6 minutes ago, Cyker said:

I'd be interested to hear back if it makes it worse or better for you!

I suspect worse tho' as with the heating on it sucks the heat out of the engine too quickly to put it back when it's very cold...

To be fair tho', I suspect part of the reason I get higher mpgs is I'm on the road longer (Albeit not up to TonyHSD's level; I swear he does more miles in a few months than some people do in a year!  )

 

That’s the one yes 🙌, longer on the road better mpg, short trips never been ok for the ice cars, evs perhaps like it and dislike longer ones. 🔌🔋

[Graham47]

Sorry for being ‘slow’ but I’m really struggling with “blocks of heat” !
Here is the (mk. 3) water temp gauge …

Are those the ‘blocks’ you are referring to ?
 

If so, surely “4 blocks” is practically overheating !!

[Guest]

I would be personally disappointed with 47.5mpg for a Hybrid, colder weather or not.

My 1.33l Multidrive achieved 48.8mpg at the last fill up, checked brim to brim, a week ago (Essar E10). Mostly local driving with a maximum journey distance of 5 miles.

[HughA]

When did the hybrids start having an engine temperature guage? My 2016 Icon doesn't have one.

I'm currently getting 46 mpg with nearly all short trips when the engine rarely has a chance to get warm.

[Stopeter44]

11 hours ago, Bernard Foy said:

Journeys are short, winter weather, and the car barely gets time to heat up.

Yes, some of the trips I do are done because of time and/or weight constraints, such as going to the village for the market, they are only 1km or so. The fuel consumption is atrocious for those trips. OTOH a 25km +/- run at about 10°C average temperature gives me 4.2l/100 (68mpg). 

11 hours ago, Cyker said:

My driving style, rather than accelerate gently, is basically get to speed limit ASAP and then coast at speed limit as long as possible,

I've been trying, as much as possible, to apply this technique, but it's not very easy the way things are around here, with narrow lanes, speed bumps, roundabouts and no traffic lights.

 

11 hours ago, Mikw said:

I think i do the opposite to you, i increase speed very steadily so it stays on the electic motor for as long as possible, but i do coast to a halt for a long distance like you do.

I try to do this, but when going downhill towards a roundabout where I do a hard 270° turn, I find this difficult. I'm always being scolded by the hybrid coach on the My T app!

[Dexter290]

Off to collect the wife from the nearby (42km) bus station later. When I dropped her off on Thursday I got 80.78 mpg on the way there and 57.9 mpg on the way back. Will see what it reports today. The difference is we live at 875 metres and the bus station is at 290 metres. Frequently get a red mark for braking for roundabouts even though I think I approach them very gently. Overall average for 1600Km in the month we've had it is 57.5 mpg or 4.9l/100km in Euros.

[Cyker]

 

2 hours ago, HughA said:

When did the hybrids start having an engine temperature guage? My 2016 Icon doesn't have one.

2 hours ago, Graham47 said:

Sorry for being ‘slow’ but I’m really struggling with “blocks of heat” !

I have a 2021 Mk4 and the right-hand 'pod' shows engine temperature - It is the first Toyota I have owned that had an actual engine temp gauge, rather than the traditional Too Hot/Too Cold lights  

 

2 hours ago, mrpj1 said:

I would be personally disappointed with 47.5mpg for a Hybrid, colder weather or not.

My 1.33l Multidrive achieved 48.8mpg at the last fill up, checked brim to brim, a week ago (Essar E10). Mostly local driving with a maximum journey distance of 5 miles.

Yeah, that is the thing with petrols - They are far less affected by cold temps as they generate enough 'waste' heat to get themselves up to operating temperature quickly, even in winter, so they experience far less seasonal variation than diesels or hybrids. This does mean they waste a lot more energy in summer tho' so they never see the high summer mpgs that diesels and hybrids can see.

I find if I drive my Mk4 with the heater on, the engine runs pretty much all the time so it makes sense that the mpg drops to that of a fairly efficient NA petrol engine, since it can't leverage the Battery part so much. At least the weight penalty in the Mk4 is a lot lower than other hybrids with its tiny 0.7kW Battery!

 

[Stopeter44]

3 hours ago, Graham47 said:

If so, surely “4 blocks” is practically overheating !!

On the Yaris IV, all but the most basic spec have a dashboard that looks like this:-

 

I think the blocks go up to 8 on this one, 4 is "normal" operating temperature and anything below is warming up.

 

 

[Catlover]

45 minutes ago, Cyker said:

 

I have a 2021 Mk4 and the right-hand 'pod' shows engine temperature - It is the first Toyota I have owned that had an actual engine temp gauge, rather than the traditional Too Hot/Too Cold lights

I reckon TonyHSD’s 2010 Auris hybrid has a temp gauge, my wife’s does.

[Cyker]

I have never owned an Auris

[Graham47]

Can we clear something up ?
fan off YES

TEMP at lowest setting YES

But surely there is NO WAY on a modern car to turn the HEATER  off ?

 

 

[Catlover]

1 hour ago, Cyker said:

I have never owned an Auris

Well there you are, now you know what you were missing. 😁

[Cyker]

39 minutes ago, Graham47 said:

Can we clear something up ?
fan off YES

TEMP at lowest setting YES

But surely there is NO WAY on a modern car to turn the HEATER  off ?

What do you mean? What heater? Do you mean... the engine??

 

[Graham47]

Well, you tell me …..

You said, earlier…..

Quote

I find if I drive my Mk4 with the heater on

what do you mean by “heater” ?  Fan ?  Temp setting ? Or both ?

[Dala]

1 hour ago, Graham47 said:

Can we clear something up ?
fan off YES

TEMP at lowest setting YES

But surely there is NO WAY on a modern car to turn the HEATER  off ?