Interesting observations about hybrid MPG/fuel readings

[garnermike]

Have had my Lariat hybrid for a week and have driven 160 miles, all in ECO mode. Some things of note (from someone who has owned two other hybrid cars in the past):

1. Am averaging 39.5 mpg in mixed driving. Pretty much where the EPA fuel efficiency ratings say it should be.
2. It's hard to get used to the Mav's mpg being better in city driving than in hwy driving. I know this is what Ford/EPA says it should be, but it is somewhat counter-intuitive to how every car I've ever owned has burned fuel. Hard to get used to, but welcomed, given I do more city/mixed driving than hwy driving.
3. The Mav's dash readout is much better than my earlier hybrids in keeping the driver abreast of when the truck is in electric versus gas engine mode.
4. The "XXX miles to E" (miles to empty) readout will not always trend downward. If you are running in electric motor mode a lot more, the "Miles to E" readout will actually increase from time to time. Again, hard to get used to.
5. It took a long time for the traditional gas gauge (E_______F) to lose the first bar under F. I drove 130 miles before it lost a single bar, almost to the point where I thought the gauge was defective.
6. If you're doing a lot of ECO driving and going easy on the accelerator, your drive range per tankful should be well over 550 miles. I know you might have calculated that out by yourself (14 gal. tank x 42 mpg), but I'm just saying that, based on my driving experience so far, it's no lie.

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[bombast]

I'm getting about 510 per tank in eco-mode, but that's because I'm driving primarily up and down mountains. Unfortunately Gassing up hills burns more fuel than I save rolling down it.

 

[Jworth914]

Im getting about 545. Always in eco mode.

 

[garnermike]

Im getting about 545. Always in eco mode.

What's "545"?

 

[garnermike]

What's "545"?

Oh, I get it. 545/tankful. Never mind. I was focusing on MPG...

 

[Johnkn]

Great, that’s impressive...


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[PriusHater]

2. It's hard to get used to the Mav's mpg being better in city driving than in hwy driving. I know this is what Ford/EPA says it should be, but it is somewhat counter-intuitive to how every car I've ever owned has burned fuel.

That is how hybrids work. They get the best gas mileage in stop-and-go traffic, versus continuous highway miles.

4. The "XXX miles to E" (miles to empty) readout will not always trend downward. If you are running in electric motor mode a lot more, the "Miles to E" readout will actually increase from time to time.

As you said, you've only driven 180 miles. The computer is still learning at this point. I'm only on the second tank of gas myself, but I suspect it will take several tanks before the computer starts giving truly accurate estimates.

 

[mswillis5]

That is how hybrids work. They get the best gas mileage in stop-and-go traffic, versus continuous highway miles.

Not necessarily. My wife's Camry Hybrid has better highway mileage than city but only by a small margin. It is the way that they program the electric vs gas engine to run and at what intervals.

 

[garnermike]

No, not all hybrids work that way. We have a 2018 Hyundai Ioniq. It does 55-60mpg in mixed driving. But on our long trips on interstates, it does 65-70mpg. Our earlier hybrid, a 2010 Honda Insight, did 43-45mpg mixed driving, but 47-50 on interstates.

That's why I said the hybrid Mav was hard getting used to, fuels efficiency-wise.[/QUOTE]

 

[cmlars]

My previous car was a ‘17 Malibu hybrid that I put 100k miles on. It definitely got better mileage off the highway. I’m up to about 1000 miles with my Maverick and seeing similar results in terms of city vs highway. The one thing I will say about the Maverick is that it is much more capable of staying in “electric” mode than the Malibu. In eco mode, I can keep in it electric at speeds of 60-65 mph at times (even 70 it going downhill). The Malibu could never do that. My combined mpg is close to 39 mpg so far but I live in NY and we’ve had some cold days plus I use remote start at times. That said, we’ve also had a couple of warmer days (battery is more efficient) and I got 43 mpg on a 66 mile drive that was mostly highway and 50 mpg on a 15 mile drive that was about half highway. I’m excited to see what it can do when the weather is consistently warmer.

 

[TE37Mav]

Pretty sure the mav would get the usual higher mpg on the hwy if it wasn’t a “Truck”.

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