My Hybrid came with the FREE LUNCH Package

[GPSMan]

My hybrid came with the FREE LUNCH package.

I can drive to work in the AM, stay the whole shift, then drive home in the PM.

Or

I can drive to work in the AM, drive to lunch and back about noon, then drive home in the PM.

Driving to lunch is "free".

My commute is 10.5 miles one way. My lunch area with many choices is 3.1 miles one-way.
Flat and +5 from sea-level the whole time.

AM commute: weather is cool, engine is ambient cold, battery is ambient cold. Fluids are ambient cold. It takes extra fuel to warm everything up.

AM 10.5 miles @ 48mpg = .233 g
Everything is cool by 5pm.
PM 10.5 miles @ 48mpg = .233 g
Daily use of fuel = .466 gallons

AM 10.5 miles @ 48mpg = .233 g
Noon hot part of day, engine, battery, fluids still about 100°F. Lunch 3.1 miles at 72mpg = .043g
Return 3.1 miles at 72mpg= .043g
PM engine is still warm about 100°F
PM commute boosted to 65 MPG for 10.5 miles = .161g
Daily use of fuel = .46 gallons.

There really is such a thing as a free lunch (well at least free fuel to get there).

The gains from starting the PM commute with a warm system compensate almost exactly for the fuel used to go to lunch and back.

Night photo from back in February when it was at least 10-20 deg cooler on the PM commute.

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[GPSMan]

Moral of the story:

Short trips on a cold engine absolutely hurt your MPG.

Conversely, short trips on a hot, even just barely warm engine DO NOT hurt your overall MPG. And in rare cases, you can benefit from it.

So do what experts have said for 25 years. Combine several errands back to back to back in a single day.

Go to the cleaners, return those library books, and go to the grocery store all on the same day if you can, and you will save fuel. 3 errands completed, but one one cold start-up.

 

[GPSMan]

Not a Fluke. I've noticed this effect many times this spring while the weather is nice. Also I usually work 5 hours, then take 1 hour lunch, then drive home after the truck has only sat 3 hours. This keeps the truck "warm" enough for great mpg on the trip home.

 

[Bill K]

Free lunch! My Ford dealer, Incappreciation of my 13 month Maverick wait, bought my lunch at a restaurant down the road. He had an account there. $15.53 not much but it will bring me back in the future

 

[JBryant]

Man, I thought Hermissilo had left something under the seat.

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