Any tips how to maximise hybrid mpg whilst driving?

[Bruce Lea]

Any tips how to maximise hybrid mpg whilst driving and how to get it to ev mode more often

[PCM]

https://www.vehicle-certification-agency.gov.uk/fuel-consumption-co2/fuel-consumption-guide/fuel-efficient-driving-tips/

https://www.drive-safely.net/gas-economy/

 

 

[Bruce Lea]

30 minutes ago, PCM said:

https://www.vehicle-certification-agency.gov.uk/fuel-consumption-co2/fuel-consumption-guide/fuel-efficient-driving-tips/

https://www.drive-safely.net/gas-economy/

 

 

I meant on the hybrid

[Steven83]

Tons of threads on this if you search. 

[TonyHSD]

Everything with the time Bruce. Get to know your car first, how it drives, how   it works the hybrid system.
While searching for tips search for Prius as this is basically the same car in different shape.  
You can research for “pulse and glide technique “, most importantly to understand is that forcing the cat into ev mode it’s not the most efficient way of driving it.  
Good tips are to anticipate the road ahead, avoid heavy braking and heavy acceleration, do not try to “keep up with traffic “ these days that means simply rally driving or BTC at Silverstone. When following leading car leave extra space between and don’t try to maintain his speed and rates of acceleration and deceleration., but do maintain your own smooth drive. When moving off the line don’t push it hard let the car move first two meters slowly and then push more to switch to petrol , doing so helps efficiency and car longevity.

Please note: 
-  Do not try to drive slow and ***** taking, this will not save you fuel and will cause road rage.
 

Just drive as normal with moderate acceleration on both electric and power once you have reached your desired speed within legal limits depress accelerator slightly and the car will flick into ev mode , maintain speed with light accelerator operations and if you need more power just push more and then release again to continue free rolling on ev. 

More tips later as too much information at one go can make the things sounds more complicated and cause you misunderstanding 👍

[Bruce Lea]

9 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

Everything with the time Bruce. Get to know your car first, how it drives, how   it works the hybrid system.
While searching for tips search for Prius as this is basically the same car in different shape.  
You can research for “pulse and glide technique “, most importantly to understand is that forcing the cat into ev mode it’s not the most efficient way of driving it.  
Good tips are to anticipate the road ahead, avoid heavy braking and heavy acceleration, do not try to “keep up with traffic “ these days that means simply rally driving or BTC at Silverstone. When following leading car leave extra space between and don’t try to maintain his speed and rates of acceleration and deceleration., but do maintain your own smooth drive. When moving off the line don’t push it hard let the car move first two meters slowly and then push more to switch to petrol , doing so helps efficiency and car longevity.

Please note: 
-  Do not try to drive slow and ***** taking, this will not save you fuel and will cause road rage.
 

Just drive as normal with moderate acceleration on both electric and power once you have reached your desired speed within legal limits depress accelerator slightly and the car will flick into ev mode , maintain speed with light accelerator operations and if you need more power just push more and then release again to continue free rolling on ev. 

More tips later as too much information at one go can make the things sounds more complicated and cause you misunderstanding 👍

Hi Tony,

Glad you told me this info because I've been trying to keep the car in EV mode as much as I can thinking it will give good mpg as not using petrol.

Driving has been slowish and been horned at few times.

Does the hybrid batt charge up when you start breaking or charge up as your just driving.

[TonyHSD]

57 minutes ago, Bruce Lea said:

Hi Tony,

Glad you told me this info because I've been trying to keep the car in EV mode as much as I can thinking it will give good mpg as not using petrol.

Driving has been slowish and been horned at few times.

Does the hybrid batt charge up when you start breaking or charge up as your just driving.

Hi,the hybrid Battery charges both ways while you are driving and when you are  slowing down, but you don’t need to worry about it, the car does its job. When you stop for example and your engine is still running to recharge the Battery, best is to wait until engine shuts itself off and then you turn the stop/start button to switch the car off. 

[Roy124]

Toyota also advise easing back by 5 mph climbing a hill. 

Personally I ease off the throttle just before cresting a rise then allow the descent to recharge the Battery and gravity to restore my cruising speed. 

Very early on, as I was learning how to drive it, my most relaxing drive was on a twisting, undulating country road using ACC and following a car in front.  It was a well driven Toyota Hybrid! 

[Cyker]

My main tricks are momentum conservation and anticipation.

This is why I can launch off the lights like a gazelle with a cattleprod up its butt and hoon around at 70mph and still get well over 70mpg  

The most fuel-sucking part is always acceleration, so I try to minimize the time I'm accelerating as much as possible - If I know I'll be able to sustain a speed, I just go for it and then stay cruising at that speed. In manual cars this means you can get into the most efficient (i.e. higher) gears ASAP; In the hybrid it means the car can shut down the engine and run on MG2 (Or CVT to the most efficient RPM for that speed) once you get to your target speed and stop accelerating.

If I know I can't, I'll accelerate to a speed a fraction slower than the prevailing traffic and then try to keep rolling as much as possible, using a 2-4 second buffer to try and avoid braking and accelerating again as much as possible, using the buffer to absorb the stop-start of the car in front so I can bleed off speed without having to brake, and then accelerate slightly slower than the car in front to allow the buffer to rebuild. If you can find the average speed of the jam you can roll through it without ever stopping!

Cornering is another thing - So many people brake too much for a corner; Once I have gotten a feel for grip levels of a car, I tend to carry more of the momentum round which wastes less energy, and I also lift off well in advance so I don't have to brake, saving fuel the whole time (In the hybrid I find I can brake a bit as I can slow down for free with regen). I should say that I don't mean trying to corner like you're in an F1 car, just if it's a normal gentlish curve you shouldn't need to brake and bleed off 10-15mph just to go round it like I see so many SUV drivers doing. In fact this is where anticipation helps, as if you learn to spot such drivers you can lift off well in advance and again avoid braking when they slow down for no reason!

With the hybrids you can cheat a bit, as some more accelerating on MG2 alone is essentially free. You can also do more drawn-out acceleration, staying in the first half of the Eco+ band, if you know you can't sustain your desired speed, as although you are accelerating for longer, it's a bit more efficient so not as punishing as accelerating quickly then having to stop again.

I find the hybrids do better on a cruise if you lift occasionally to try and let the electric motors have a go, otherwise it will use the ICE a lot more which costs some mpg; This is why if I'm on an economy run I don't use the cruise control, as it always returns worse mpg than when I'm driving due to its constant speed holding.

All these things will also help reduce the chance of a collision as you can brake more gently and earlier, giving more reaction buffer compared to nose-to-tail following.

[Bruce Lea]

£67 to fill up with BP done 450 miles, will try fill up with Shell tomorrow and see if it makes any difference

[TonyHSD]

8 hours ago, Bruce Lea said:

£67 to fill up with BP done 450 miles, will try fill up with shell tomorrow and see if it makes any difference

Better not. Stay with BP and the car will be happier 👌 You could do 97 E5 if you fancy a change. 👍

[Derek.w]

I just let the car work out the ev mode unless I just moving it in the street and the ev Battery is full then I turn off all electrics and select ev mode but this wont work in the winter months as Battery needs to reach a operating tempriture.

Now outside tempriture its starting to drop my weekly fuel consumption is 62.7 mpg

                                                                              Monthly its 69.5   yearly 69.4

Keep 12 volt Battery charged helps ie less work for the traction battery.

[Derek.w]

I fill up using BP, Sainsburys, Jet and others without problems using E10 but I do use E5 for garden equipment.

[Bruce Lea]

4 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

Better not. Stay with BP and the car will be happier 👌 You could do 97 E5 if you fancy a change. 👍

Just seen your reply Tony!! Filled up with Shell before seen your post. Will go back yo BP next fill up.

Just wanted to see what if any difference it would make 

[Bruce Lea]

3 hours ago, Derek.w said:

I just let the car work out the ev mode unless I just moving it in the street and the ev battery is full then I turn off all electrics and select ev mode but this wont work in the winter months as battery needs to reach a operating tempriture.

Now outside tempriture its starting to drop my weekly fuel consumption is 62.7 mpg

                                                                              Monthly its 69.5   yearly 69.4

Keep 12 volt battery charged helps ie less work for the traction battery.

What do you mean by 'Keep 12 volt Battery charged helps ie less work for the traction Battery!

[TonyHSD]

9 hours ago, Bruce Lea said:

What do you mean by 'Keep 12 volt battery charged helps ie less work for the traction battery!

Don’t worry about that, he means that when you switch off all 12v accessories like heating, lights, radio you are actually unloading the 12v Battery which from its side unloading the hybrid Battery because the hybrid Battery charges the 12v battery. No point really saving on that and no point to try to drive in ev mode the longest, it’s not saving you fuel. 
 

9 hours ago, Bruce Lea said:

Just seen your reply Tony!! Filled up with shell before seen your post. Will go back yo BP next fill up.

Just wanted to see what if any difference it would make 

Not a problem using any petrol from any garage name or location as the fuel comes likely from the same refinery and is the same standard on paper, however in real life no petrol is the same between two different garages even though they belong to the same brand or doesn’t belong to the same brand.
 

Check how your car feels now, engine noise on cold start and acceleration, how responsive is the accelerator, fuel consumption etc.

I do that every time I fill up and I found best petrol comes from local bp, most consistent quality. The car performance is the best, the engine works the sweetest, quietest and with greatest fuel efficiency. If you can’t find any difference between different petrols , just use the garage that is most convenient for you like location or price wise. 👍

[Bruce Lea]

On 10/5/2022 at 8:31 AM, TonyHSD said:

Don’t worry about that, he means that when you switch off all 12v accessories like heating, lights, radio you are actually unloading the 12v battery which from its side unloading the hybrid battery because the hybrid battery charges the 12v battery. No point really saving on that and no point to try to drive in ev mode the longest, it’s not saving you fuel. 
 

Not a problem using any petrol from any garage name or location as the fuel comes likely from the same refinery and is the same standard on paper, however in real life no petrol is the same between two different garages even though they belong to the same brand or doesn’t belong to the same brand.
 

Check how your car feels now, engine noise on cold start and acceleration, how responsive is the accelerator, fuel consumption etc.

I do that every time I fill up and I found best petrol comes from local bp, most consistent quality. The car performance is the best, the engine works the sweetest, quietest and with greatest fuel efficiency. If you can’t find any difference between different petrols , just use the garage that is most convenient for you like location or price wise. 👍

Ok will do!!

What do you get on full tank?

[TonyHSD]

1 hour ago, Bruce Lea said:

Ok will do!!

What do you get on full tank?

Currently down to 500., but will go down   every week. Soon will be 490-480-470 and like that until gets around 440miles and in April will start climbing up again up to around 530miles. This is happening every year. 

[Bruce Lea]

3 hours ago, TonyHSD said:

Currently down to 500., but will go down   every week. Soon will be 490-480-470 and like that until gets around 440miles and in April will start climbing up again up to around 530miles. This is happening every year. 

530 miles range is your max so far on a full tank. That's incredible!!

Is the full tank mpg range dropping because of the cold weather or using heating?

BP E5 Petrol have you used it? If so what difference did it make over BP E10 petrol?

[TonyHSD]

3 hours ago, Bruce Lea said:

530 miles range is your max so far on a full tank. That's incredible!!

Is the full tank mpg range dropping because of the cold weather or using heating?

BP E5 Petrol have you used it? If so what difference did it make over BP E10 petrol?

Hi,

using of the heating may impact but not as much. It is a combination of colder temperatures, all season ( winter tyres fitted), driving style and places etc. Set the heating to your preferred temperature and drive the car as you have always drive any previous cars. This hybrids in general promote very relaxing and fuel saving drive. You learn tips from here, the car is pushing you to drive relaxed and with the time you will master the technique and even you try and drive a manual car afterwards again you will be getting better mpg for sure. 👍

This morning range dropped to 498miles and 52mpg where two days ago was 503 and 55mpg. Nothing unexpected. I drive at night only and temps are lower than during daytime. I already seen ice on top of my shed the week before and it was 4C° . Btw wind, rain, and under inflated tyres kill hybrid efficiency more than any other type of cars. 👍

[Derek.w]

TonyHSD

My range improved when I started topping up the 12 volt Battery from a external power sorce.

[Roy124]

2 hours ago, Derek.w said:

TonyHSD

My range improved when I started topping up the 12 volt battery from a external power sorce.

Now that is interesting.  I can appreciate that a 12v Battery suffering a voltage drop over a few days will have a draw on the hybrid when you go to Ready mode.  That will cause the ICE to start earlier to recharge the hybrid Battery. 

If I run the car every day then there should be no additional load on the hybrid Battery etc. 

How often do you put it on charge?  How often do you drive? 

[Derek.w]

Well I only do about 3500 miles a year so I have a solar panel fitted its 20 watts.

Now at this time of the year I have experianced days without sunlight just cloud so I may have to give it a mains  charge or two before lets say March/23.

[TonyHSD]

3 hours ago, Derek.w said:

TonyHSD

My range improved when I started topping up the 12 volt battery from a external power sorce.

That’s most likely been a coincidence. The 12v Battery charging power demand is so negligible in comparison with what the car uses to drive itself. 12v Battery soc or load can not affect efficiency in Toyota hybrids. Air conditioning can, because uses direct higher voltage from the hybrid Battery,  the hv  battery drains quickly., engine in running more often to recharge the hv battery or to preserve it. 
What kills the Toyota hybrids efficiency the most are: 

1. Cold weather 

2. Strong winds and heavy rain, deep water on the ground 

3.Constant  Fast motorway drive or long uphill climbing 

4. Extra loaded car

5. Under inflated tyres or use of winter or all season tyres or uhp tyres. 
6. Poor quality fuel 

7. Unnecessary use of ac especially in town driving in hot weather 

8. Heating set at very high temperature in cold weather 

That’s pretty much the most common reasons why Toyota hybrids may suffer some mpg drop. 👍

[Derek.w]

It may be a small diffrance but multiply that by lets say a year.

Last year I was below Toyota 65.6 MPG for Dynamic on new euro test this year I am above at 69.5 going off MyT.

Car computer says 72mpg.

Yes its possible other factors have played a part like running in engine as well as some items in TonyHSD list.