Thanks for starting our thread, Gord. It was close to 40 deg F all day, and the wind that was NE 15 in the morning was NE 18 on the way home. I'll just show the numbers for the tank : 219.9 miles, fcd = 69.8 mpg. I go to Michigan at 4:20 AM tomorrow (Amtrak), so just a few 4.3 mile trips until I get home again on the 7th. ( Italics accidental)
Gas finally hit 3.999 for regular in my area. Last weekend, I drove home a new 2026 Chevy Trax to use as a cold weather car. This past winter was bitter and not having a heated steering wheel is a literal pain when you have arthritis. They had a deal on these cars - almost $4k off, and 2.9% for 48 months. My investments are earning 5%+ so it'd be dumb to take the money out to drop on a car. The day I drove it home was cold and damp, and the heated wheel is exactly what I needed. The Trax is the lowest priced car you can buy with a heated steering wheel. Nothing else even comes close, and the cash on the hood made it a no-brainer. I have been driving it this week to give the Elantra a rest as it reached its 32k odometer milestone. The Trax is rated 28/32 and in my daily commute out-&-back-home, it's bouncing around between 40.5 and 45.5 averages. It does have an instant mpg gauge I have been using for guidance, but I think I am going to treat it to an ultragauge soon. The car has a tiny turbo engine and it seems to need a very trained right foot to keep the boost down. A visible display of throttle position and engine load should make it possible to hit 50mpg averages. To get the heated wheel, I was considering trading out of the Elantra for a Maverick hybrid. But the prices on them have gotten plain stupid, and the gap between the Elantra trade value and the Lariat-trim hybrid was the same as what the Chevy cost me. And so far, I have been getting numbers with the Chevy that are right around what the Maverick hybrid can deliver. And no way Ford would have financed the Maverick at 2.9% for any length of time, so it made more sense to get the Trax. We have a lot of cars in my extended family, so now I have a spare if someone needs a loaner while their daily driver is in for repairs. And I still have the Elantra to get the big numbers on my daily commute on weeks when I am driving it. Had I traded out of it, I would have one car that would be a hybrid but would not be anywhere near as capable as the Hyundai I already own.
Interesting, a Tesla Model Y owner in Canada parks his EV for the winter and drives an older Trax as long as there's salt on the roads.
Hope the Trax works well for you, Chris. I kinda miss not having a second car, but I know my Fit is in good hands now with my old friend Kelly. I think it's a good thing to keep your Elantra. My Elantra at 26 months is just a smidge under 20K miles and works beautifully. I would love a heated steering wheel but I'll wear gloves. 50 MPG from the Trax may be tough, but I'm sure you can do it.
After a lovely pub lunch with eldest daughter and her partner, we popped to a local supermarket: 2 Drives Total Miles Driven 11.50 Rated Miles Used 11.20 Efficiency 102.68 % Time Driven 22 Minutes kWh Used 2.88 kWh Wh/Mile 250 Wh
62.6 mile bike ride on Sunday with the club. Went for a walk at a nearby nature reserve this morning, lovely, sunny and warm. Cafe was very busy when we went in (Easter Bank Holiday Monday) so didn’t bother and went home and had lunch in our garden: 2 Drives Total Miles Driven 8.90 Rated Miles Used 7.91 Efficiency 112.52 % Time Driven 18 Minutes kWh Used 2.03 kWh Wh/Mile 228 Wh I love my heated steering wheel and also the heated and cooled seats
Home from Michigan. Used very little gasoline. Of course, I don't know how much diesel fuel the train drank. Elantra sits at 229.4 miles, 413 remaining, fcd = 68.7 mpg. Now I will drive to work three days, then to Hanover Park Saturday. Still a bit under 20K miles.
Thanks Bill, another great run today, longer journey to Oxford for a 6 mile wander round the parks and museums, only a couple of holdups, 58F: 2 Drives Total Miles Driven 139.55 Rated Miles Used 122.16 Efficiency 114.24 % Time Driven 2 Hours 54 Minutes kWh Used 31.6 kWh Wh/Mile 226 Wh - even better Did a 3.14 mile run before evening meal - 26’32”, not too bad for a 59 year old! Off to Blenheim Palace tomorrow for afternoon tea for our 32nd wedding anniversary. Blenheim Palace is world-renowned as the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the only non-royal country house in England titled as a "Palace"
Fantastic visit to Blenheim Palace, then back home with 1 stop then a final stop to collect our dog from daughter’s house. The nav saved us from a few holdups, re-routing us “on-the-fly”, pretty good run again: 4 Drives Total Miles Driven 152.06 Rated Miles Used 135.32 Efficiency 112.37 % Time Driven 3 Hours 40 Minutes kWh Used 35.01 kWh Wh/Mile 230 Wh The Tesla M3P has performed brilliantly, we covered 292 miles on one charge and got back home with 36 miles left. The car advised me we’d done the whole trip at 216 Wh/mi or 4.63 miles per Kwh
Thanks Bill, there was a good chunk of highway in that but I was slower than the 70psl maybe 50 to 55 with a max of 62. Went to dentist today followed by a visit to see mom: 3 Drives Total Miles Driven 17.97 Rated Miles Used 18.32 Efficiency 98.09 % Time Driven 38 Minutes kWh Used 4.74 kWh Wh/Mile 264 Wh
Between new speed cameras going up in many areas and higher gas prices than Americans are used to, I'm hoping to find more tolerance for lower speed spectrum, closer to psl. Hey Wayne, doing ok? Add: Oh, the Ioniq 5 is our trip car because it is more comfortable for Joyce. It seems pretty efficient, but not Model Y level, at least on a gut level. I've never really compared under identical conditions. During resort areas' off-season, we've been heading to Ocean City MD about once a month. I have stuck with the Tesla superchargers for reliability. I subscribe when I need it. The Ioniq's 800V system accommodates 400V chargers just fine. I have no need for the shortest pit stops. The flat charging rate at 125kW up through 70% suits me. 20-30 minute stops are ideal for us.
