Highway vs City Driving

[beaver]

Hey everyone,

I am posting this thread to see if anyone else has issues with highway driving vs. city driving with respect to MPG efficiency. I drive a Fully loaded 2012 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid. The car is brand new and I definitely enjoy this beast of a sexy vehicle. However, I been using the Fuel Consumption chart to track my fuel efficiency, and my god, am I loving the city mileage I am getting - averaging 40 mpg/5.5 L per 100km. The chart is always in the green for the most part. However, when driving on the highway I struggle to keep the grid around 25 to 30 mpg. and that's just over 60 mph or around 105 - 110 kmh.

I dont really know why I get WAY better city driving than I do highway. It's supposed to be the other way around. However, in the city the EV mode is used WAY more do to traffic, slower speeds, etc. and with BlueDrive city driving is glorious with EV mode. I haven't driven on the highway for more than 35 minutes yet (brand new car remember) but for the 35 minutes my car rarely uses battery unless I gently tap the gas occasionally to place the car in EV mode, which only lasts for about 40 seconds while the car slows down to the point where I need to use the engine again.

I just want a little more insight on how highway driving is for others with the same vehicle. If you drive longer and at the same speed will the battery kick in for longer periods of time? It just isn't making sense to me right now.

Beaver

[ALS]

Welcome to the board. Wayne the board owner drove a Sonata Hybrid across the country from San Diego to Jekyll Island in Georgia on less than two tanks of gasoline. BTW it dropped to two pips as he crossed the bridge onto the Island.

The 2011 Hyundai Sonata Hybrid Transcontinental Challenge

The car is very capable of getting easily over 50 mpg on the highway.

The Challenge drive confirmed a statement by Hyundai engineers that expect the car to achieve better highway fuel economy than city mileage. The improved highway ratings are due in part to the Blue Drive systems ability to operate efficiently at higher speeds. A few of the features that contributed was the relatively light lithium polymer battery pack, a 6 speed "conventional" step-ratio automatic transmission, and aerodynamic bodywork. Wayne found the car can achieve upwards of 53 MPG in perfect conditions simply by setting the cruise conrol at 65 mph!

CleanMPG 2011 Hyundai Sonata Transcontinental: 2339.5 Miles at 61.42 mpg

[beaver]

This is the exact answer I was looking for! Thanks!

[ve1pjh]

Hello -

I also have better luck "off highway", but not necessarily in city. We recently got the KIA Optima 2012 Hybrid. If I stay on the hilly Nova Scotia highways at 100 KM/H I am guaranteed to get lots of yellow in the MPG graph and a high average on the L/100KM. When I avoid the highway and take the slower 80KM/H back roads, I have amazing results. The best recorded so far was 1100KM until the fuel lamp lit.

Highway would probably be good if I could ever find flat land - but that will never happen in the Maritime Provinces of Canada!

Phil

[ALS]

Here is an incentive for you, Wayne Gerdes and Chris Bernius of CleanMPG were the ones who set the new World Record for fuel mileage traversing the 48 continental United States.

KIA Optima World Record.

[howieb38]

I've had my 2012 Sonata Hybrid for about 8 months now and have found the best way to maximize the MPG.

At first I tried "hyper-mileing", putting it in neutral going down grades, etc. that didn't give me the mileage I expected.

After lots of experimenting, I've found the best way is to use the cruse control as much as possible. I set it for the legal speed and if I need to put on the brakes for any reason, once I accelerate back to 25MPH, I press the resume button on the wheel. The efficiency of getting back up to the set speed is much more then I can do by food pedal. I call it "Thumb Driving" as I can drive for long distance without using my accelerator pedal. This works on highway and country driving (where speeds are between 35 - 50 MPH).

I've been averaging 38MPG overall, and that will improve with time as in the begging I was averaging about 33MPG. Try it.