MPG in 6 degrees....

[MN123]

I just drove north from Minneapolis today in 6-degree weather, 75-80mph, and got about 28 miles to the gallon there and back. Hybrid. I've had the Lariat and Xlt in the past two years; the ride is about the same, but there may be less wind noise with the Lariat. I'm not sure if I want to get a lighting or wait for price drops on the cyber truck... I would need more range than the 230 miles on the lighting low trim, though. the cold just kills these trucks really, that and the winter mix they use.

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[Scott Asheville]

I see you're interested in the Lightning and Cyber. I'm curious if you've considered the Rivian? We have a few around here and I love them. The new redesign really improved the R1T, including a heat pump for better cold performance. Sandy Munro just posted a video this week where he visited the Rivian design center and examined the new product.

I was disappointed that Rivian didn't announce an R2T. But at least they hinted that it might come eventually. They said they wanted to keep the R2 product introduction simple with just the SUV. I'd be driving an R1T today if were only smaller. For me it will be an R2T or maybe an R3X as my next vehicle.

 

[Jeff D.]

I just drove north from Minneapolis today in 6-degree weather, 75-80mph, and got about 28 miles to the gallon there and back. Hybrid. I've had the Lariat and Xlt in the past two years; the ride is about the same, but there may be less wind noise with the Lariat. I'm not sure if I want to get a lighting or wait for price drops on the cyber truck... I would need more range than the 230 miles on the lighting low trim, though. the cold just kills these trucks really, that and the winter mix they use.

Hello fellow Duluthian! I've made a couple trips to MSP and got high 20's on the round trip running I-35. It definately drops in the winter, though, as you said. I see Menards in West Duluth put in six charging stations and I've seen people using them, so that's promising.

 

[oysterville]

Your fuel efficiency is best when the truck is warmed up. Obviously 6F ambient is going to make your truck take a while to warm up.

Do look into how cold affects EV range before you make a change.

 

[JMJB]

.....not to mention driving at EIGHTY mph....

 

[MN123]

Your fuel efficiency is best when the truck is warmed up. Obviously 6F ambient is going to make your truck take a while to warm up.

Do look into how cold affects EV range before you make a change.

duluth to Minneapolis and back is 300 some miles.... I think it had time to warm up.. even if I was going 70mph the hybrid wouldn't of helped at all.. it barely helps even going 50mph when it gets that cold.

 

[MN123]

.....not to mention driving at EIGHTY mph....

wouldn't of mattered. still get bad mpg in the winter regardless. very little gain in the winter vs non hybrid. maybe if I lived in a place with a soft winter of 30 degrees.

 

[Snowbird]

wouldn't of mattered. still get bad mpg in the winter regardless. very little gain in the winter vs non hybrid. maybe if I lived in a place with a soft winter of 30 degrees.

But then there is a huge gain in the spring, summer, and fall.

 

[gn400]

My neighbor has an F150 Lightning. His range in winter drops dramatically. Below 15 degrees, he gets about 200 miles per charge, below zero, much less. Towing his boat in summer cuts his range as well

 

[carcrasher89]

At those speeds you are doing well above the speed limit for 1. 2 any vehicle doing 80 damn mph isn’t going to get great mpg. Any car in 6deg is going to take a while to heat up and if you had the heater on (those temps I bet you did) will keep the ice running now to heat up the heater core. For a truck shape body getting almost 30 while also doing 75-80. I would be happy. At those speeds the battery isn’t large enough to push you far before it’s drained. And for that area it’s not got a lot of hills until you get close to Black bear so not much for regen unless you brake. And scary mode were you on at those speeds I’m thinking sport not eco. I will say I don’t know much about area north of the twins traveled it a few times when I drove semi. Slow down to the speed limit and set cruise and listen to your music or audiobook.

 

[bluesteel]

Controlling (informally) for other factors, when ambient temp drops below the freezing point or so, I start to lose a couple mpg at highway speeds (that is, 60-70). (Eco)

 

[brielee3]

wouldn't of mattered. still get bad mpg in the winter regardless. very little gain in the winter vs non hybrid. maybe if I lived in a place with a soft winter of 30 degrees.

It definitely takes a hit, but still dominates gas. I Can count on one hand how many times mpg's have dipped to low 30s but routinely get 40+.

 

[Ozarkbeard]

I just drove north from Minneapolis today in 6-degree weather, 75-80mph, and got about 28 miles to the gallon there and back. Hybrid. I've had the Lariat and Xlt in the past two years; the ride is about the same, but there may be less wind noise with the Lariat. I'm not sure if I want to get a lighting or wait for price drops on the cyber truck... I would need more range than the 230 miles on the lighting low trim, though. the cold just kills these trucks really, that and the winter mix they use.

Lightning.

 

[Ozarkbeard]

I just drove north from Minneapolis today in 6-degree weather, 75-80mph, and got about 28 miles to the gallon there and back. Hybrid. I've had the Lariat and Xlt in the past two years; the ride is about the same, but there may be less wind noise with the Lariat. I'm not sure if I want to get a lighting or wait for price drops on the cyber truck... I would need more range than the 230 miles on the lighting low trim, though. the cold just kills these trucks really, that and the winter mix they use.

Unless you're driving highway miles all the time, you'll still come out way ahead with the Hybrid, in terms of annual average MPG. The Hybrid also saves a lot of money in less frequent oil changes & brake jobs, etc.

 

[Master Blaster]

The battery system is heated by your exhaust heat exchanger and conversion losses, so after about 5 minutes the outside temperature has very little to do with mileage. Winter fuel is more volatile for cold weather operation, but has about 5% less BTUs of energy per gallon. Using 10% ethyl alcohol in the fuel also reduces the volumetric efficiency of the engine by another 3%. Having low tire pressure will also cut your mileage. The real problem is that you need to learn how to drive a vehicle with the aerodynamics of a truck, not a Ferrari. The Cd of a Mav is 0.56, or only slightly better than a brick. Most other trucks are about the same, but with much larger frontal area. The drag goes up roughly as the frontal area x Cd x the square of the speed, so doing 80mph in a truck is just poor understanding of basic fluid flow physics. Slow it down to match the speed of the big trucks and notice the huge increase in mileage. I would expect you to get at least 50% better mileage at 60 instead of 80.

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