It's been 8 years since I've posted here, seems the lack of mpg log was a factor. Anyways, we just traded in our 2004 Honda Element, that was my wife's vehicle and our road trip ride. Never was very efficient, geared poorly with 4000 rpm at 80 mph, but it was a 5-speed stick so fun. Just traded it in on a 2025 Hyundai Tucson Hybrid. Only 150 miles so far but averaging 40+mpg already on a 35/35/35 rating. Drove down from Boulder to Denver and back this morning and got 43 down and 46 back. This was achieved with nothing more than maintaining posted speed limits of 55 and 65 and cruise control. Still hypermiling the 2005 Tacoma, and it just turned over 100k after 20 years, I'll own this for the rest of my life. Wife retired 2 years ago and I'm retiring next February, and we are looking forward to lots of road tripping with the new whip.
Thanks Wayne I filled up today with the built in mpg gauge telling me I got 41.0 mpg "since last refueling". However it was 450 miles and 11.725 gallons or 38.4 mpg. More than a little off, I understand I may have topped off a little and the Hyundai dealer may not have, but I doubt I went more than a couple tenths, not .75 gallon. This is my first vehicle with built in mpg calculator, is this typical of manufacturers giving a generous mpg reading? Maybe next tank will be closer if I top off the same. Wayne, do you know how manufacturers are determining fuel use to calculate mpg?, flowmeter? I was hoping for more precision than my old first generation Scangauge, that relied on reconciling fill volume vs scangauge to dial in accuracy.
Hi WW: The Dealership never topped off so you will have to complete a top off to top off measurement after a long tank. You should also consider running a GPS app or a Garmin for a one-hundred miles or so. Great looking vehicle if I do say so myself. Wayne
Check your odometer accuracy, or use a GPS like Wayne suggested. If the odometer is 3% under - and most are for this make - your effective mpg is 38.4x1.03, or 39.55. The tank mpg is a bit optimistic but it shouldn't be that far off. Dealers are notorious for giving you an "almost" full tank of gas. Fill next time at the same pump using the same method, and then correct distance with the odometer offset. It shouldn't be too far off. Your target mpg numbers after the car is broken in, as taken from the EPA dyno tests: (City, Highway, Combined) - Sticker numbers - actual test numbers - 35 / 35 / 35 - 45.7 / 45.9 / 45.8 Depending on traffic, temperature and terrain, look for numbers in the high 40s. Using AC hurts, and in cold weather, using heat really hurts because the engine needs to run much more often. I have gone hardcore with my Hyundai hybrid, using the seat heater in very cold weather, and using a cheap swimming snorkel I picked up off Amazon to route exhaled air inside my coat so the moisture doesn't condense on the windshield and require use of the defroster. An added bonus is that the warm air inside the coat keeps you warm without using any heat.
Thanks for the tips guys. Maxx what Hyundai are you driving? I've assumed odometer needed to be rather accurate by law, apparently not, I'll check sometime soon. I've been watching the flow of electricity to/from the battery and think I'm following how it's working. Looks like it is allowing EV mode only until it gets to 50%, then uses gas to recharge the battery back to 75% or with regeneration. Then it will switch to EV and drop down to 50% or so and repeat. I've played with the regeneration strength, 1-3 and I'm not clear what is best, obviously 3 gives the most braking and regen, but not good for gliding. I can also see I can pus it into EV by getting up to say 5 over speed limit and letting off gas with and watching it go into EV but with regen 3 I need to keep slight throttle, but maybe that isn't bad? vs regen in 1 or auto where it may glide with no throttle? What is the preferred way to pulse/glide?
Yes, why not short the new car buyer a few dollars worth of gas if you can. I would have preferred the N-Line trim over the Limited but my wife wanted the powered passenger seat, and the extra 2 cameras on the side view mirrors for in dash side view. The N-Line has body color wheel well skirts instead of the black. That in a small way differentiates it from all the other vehicles that all look very similar. Crazy how similar all the compact SUVs are, all with black trim.
I have the Elantra Hybrid Limited. It just clicked over 30k miles last week. The odometer cannot be overclocked - meaning more miles displayed than actually driven. It can be under and the law doesn't seem to mind. Mine reads about 3.4% under. The charge indicator is a rough guide to battery charge. It's easy to peg it at full on long downhill grades, and I have run it "dry" climbing the mountains in MD/WV on I-68. When the charge reaches "E", the engine runs continuously and will recharge when it can, depending on throttle position. What goes up must come down, and the battery charge returns after reaching the top of the mountain and rolling down the other side. As the car gains some miles, you will find that you can use more of the battery charge with a light right foot. I have gotten mine down near 1/8 in stop-n-crawl traffic by just nudging the throttle to move the car. The engine will remain off for a very long time as long as the HVAC is off.
That's the Elantra? I took a short drive this afternoon to a local brewpub and got an exciting 57 mpg over 5 miles, but arrived with battery at 50%. On the drive back I struggled getting much EV and only got 35 mpg. 46 overall, but frustrating not able to go more in EV. Guess that would only mean I'd arrive home at 25% battery and be further in the hole on the next drive. $6.5K for the PHEV was too much, but I see the joy factor.
The light foot will not only help you keep the engine off at a lower state of charge, but the Ah capacity of a battery is higher if you draw it down at a lower rate. It isn't a huge difference in lithium ion (~1.02 factor vs 1.2-1.5 for lead-acid) but still something. For more, look up Peukert's law. An example from a random battery discharge chart. Source indicated on the screenshot. See how the blue line for 0.2C shows the greatest capacity.
Hi Bill: Oh wow! I did not know about the increased useable capacity at lower C rates although I have always stated lower current, less heat, longer range. I did not know there was a fundamental battery characteristic that allowed extra range too! Thanks for posting! Wayne
I did a 40 mile drive on I-25 (using mile markers) north of Denver, odometer read 39.1, or 2.3% under. I'll try again on some longer Interstate miles. Spreadsheet now calculating adjusted odometer so tank was 39.3 instead of 38.4, still not matching 41.0, but next tank may look better if the top off is the same. I haven't had much chance to drive her, and I'm not sure about my techniques. I'm trying simply accelerating in the ECO zone up to 5 over speed limit then backing off and hoping to get it to drop into EV. Seems that method will slowly drain the battery, therefore.... I find myself working on trying to get the battery charging with 2-3 level regeneration whenever I'm slowing down. The owners manual talks about a "coasting" alert where it suggest to get off the throttle, but I haven't seen it?
Yes. That tank ended up at 75.5 mpg FCD. I still have not figured out mpg error, but I think I have figured out the odometer error. I am using a multiplier of 1.027 to get actual miles. Fcd error could be as much as 5%.
Trip from Boulder to Denver for a concert (Michael Schenker - My Years with UFO), 46 mpg down and 46 mpg back. Really pleased with how easy it is to crush the 35 mpg EPA score, used more regen 0-1 instead of 2-3. Loving the auto high beam detection also.
Who doesn't like Michael Schenker? Went to a pipe organ concert in Wheaton Tuesday night. Blew my mind !
I saw UFO in 1979 probably only months after Schenker left the band to my great disappointment. Saw him a few times solo and it was always mostly his solo stuff with a few UFO songs, Rock Bottom of course. But this tour was all UFO, pretty awesome.
2nd tank down, similar error between calculated and computer. 466 miles on 12.145 gallons with 2.3% odo error = 39.3 mpg. Computer said 40.7. I'm rarely using 2-3 engine regen, and trying to coast more.
