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How To Keep It Up...MPGs, That Is!

14K views 43 replies 26 participants last post by  Pianoman 
#1 · (Edited)
As we slide into winter and the MPGs start to drop, I have a month's-worth of November driving experience to help keep the MPGs up. In November, I covered 2,386 miles, and over the 5 fill ups in the month, I was able to average 40.8mpg. Here are some tips I found to minimize your MPG drop in addition to the standard hybrid techniques of pulse and glide, not gunning it at red lights, recognizing early and coasting to a stop, keeping speeds in check on the Interstate (if practical), etc.:

- Use ECO mode. This will help cut down on jack rabbit starts but it will also put your heater in ECO mode so it will (presumably) have less draw on the ICE. If you're worried about lack of power in ECO mode, don't be; you still have plenty of power if you put your foot down.

- Minimize use of the heater fan. This might be the biggest item to save gas. What I found that works well to keep the cabin warm is to turn on the fan to the lowest setting, set the temperature to 70 or 75, and then turn the fan off. Make sure the recirc is NOT turned on so you have air flow into the cabin. You can direct the air how you want (the defrost/floor combo or straight defrost works best for me), but I found, at least at any speed above 40mph, I have enough warm air coming into the cabin to keep things warm. EDIT: Pop your moon roof up and that will allow more warm airflow through the cabin. It will also help prevent your windows fogging up on the inside when it's really cold as your exhaled breath will be whisked out through the moon roof.

- Speaking of warmth, use the heated steering wheel and seat heaters (if equipped) to help keep you warm. That will draw power from the battery and not the ICE.

- Use pure, ethanol-free gas if it's a viable option. Pure gas is only $.05/gallon more than 10% ethanol gas here which is a 1.8% increase in price for an 8.9% increase in MPGs, so it makes sense economically for me.

- Minimize weight in your vehicle. If you don't need it in your vehicle, get rid of it.

- If you don't need snow tires, use your stock tires if you can get away with it. I've been through 5 or 6 snow storms since I purchased my Rav4H, and I found the stock Dunlops that came with the car and the AWD system have been able to handle everything I've encountered.

EDIT:

- Speaking of tires, keep an eye on your tire pressures. Make sure they're at least at the recommended setting if not a bit higher. If you set your pressure in a heated garage, remember to take into account the drop in temperature the moment you leave. In other words, set it higher to account for the drop when you head out into the cold.

These are things that have worked for me. My overall average since purchase is a little over 42mpg, but I've only seen a drop to 40.8mpg since the cold weather has set in...
 
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#2 ·
Though about the premium gas here, but unfortunately, in my area the premium gas with no ethanol is 15% pricier.

I was doing 41mpg during summer, was down to about 27mpg! Just changing how ''warm'' the cabin is, I've been back to 37mpg over the last 2 tanks. I don't use eco mode, but I use the eco heat/cool.

I put the heat at 65 while city driving and turn it up on highway since the ICE is working anyway. It's been working wonders for me so far.
 
#13 · (Edited)
I believe I killed my previous car (2012 Murano) by using cheap fuel - catalytic converter failure

I don’t want to make same mistake with the Rav4.
I drive on average 20 000 km annually

89 Octane - mid grade - in BC is on average $0.1 more expensive than reg 87 Octane.
with my average mpg being 5.4L/100km, that translates to an extra $4 per tank.
3 tanks per month = $12 monthly for better quality fuel !
No brainer if you ask me.
 
#4 ·
All the energy in a non-EV is ultimately derived from the ICE
Sure, I realize we're not in a perpetual energy machine, but using the heated steering wheel and seat heaters will lessen the amount of gas used vs. using the heater over the long term. ;)
 
#6 ·
I've had my XSE for a week. Drove 140 miles home from the dealership; 44 mpg to start, but 36 by the time I got home -- snowing, and AWD kicking in frequently on the stock Michelin Primacy A/S tires. Also, it was a 2-lane highway and I had to pass several semis at one point; LOVELY to have plenty of power for that, but it did hit fuel economy substantially. Since I'm in western Montana and snow tires go on tomorrow, I will sadly not know our fuel-economy potential for months.

* The XSE replaced a 2002 Acura RSX with 220K miles. The Rav is my first car with AWD, with more than 2 doors, and without a stick shift. (I'm averaging 2 new cars per millennium right now, lol). I LOVE MY NEW RAV4H!!! had a choice between this fully-loaded XSE and a Limited, and after test-driving both, the XSE was the clear choice...I've always liked my cars on the sporty side. And HUGE thanks to all the knowledge on this forum; I lurked for weeks before buying.
 
#40 ·
I noticed that winter tires causes more resistance, normal summer driving average
with all season tires the use is 7.8 Ltr. per 100 km,s ,with winter tires . 8.9 ltr with out side temp about the same, this with my hybrid Highlander that I just traded in for RAV 4
Xse hybrid it should arrive mid April
 
#9 ·
When I was familiarizing myself with the car (jack points, removing the spare, operating the jack etc.) everything surprisingly felt 'light'.

Out of all the content in OP's post, the biggest wtf was the pulse and glide. Looked up a few vids on youtube, and I now have a new game to play driving lol. Hybrid really is a different style that reduces aggressive habits.
 
#10 ·
Removing the spare could yield some fuel savings over the course of driving hundreds of thousands of miles. It’s not a trivial amount of weight.

the trade off is being stranded if you suffer a flat tire. Unless you’re sporting run flats, I would leave the spare in.
 
#14 ·
I believe your Murano was killed by Nissan engineering. 87 octane fuel is fine for vehicles designed for it. The cost is negligible, that’s for sure. But the base gasoline is the same in all three tanks just different amounts additives are mixed with higher octane fuels. If you’re really worried about your fuel, eliminate the ethanol all together.
 
#15 ·
US Octane ratings are different to rest of world. E10 fuel here is 94 Octane and is recommended by Toyota. I have been using it for years in multiple cars with nil issues. Australian Ethanol comes from sugar cane, US Ethanol from corn mainly - source should not matter.
 
#16 ·
Came here looking for help before heading to the dealership. I know that cold weather affects fuel efficiency, but this is just crazy...

Previously, I was a Prius owner for 5 years so knowing "how to drive a Hybrid" and all that isn't an issue. That car would see an drop of about 0.8L/100km in efficiency over winter (winter tires on) in Canada. That equates to a drop of about 4mpg in winter compared to summer.

Now, I have an XSE with 1000km on it and brand new winter tires (Toyo from dealer). The last couple of weeks I've noticed the fuel efficiency plummit to absurd levels where I'm averaging about 11L/100km (21mpg). A colleague at work in the same city is still doing about 36mpg in the same conditions. I can't imagine any combination of hacking how I heat the cabin or ultra gradually accelerate will make up the difference of 15mpg.

Even my previous best (31mpg) from when the weather was much warmer was still far below what you'd expect.

Thoughts???
 
#17 ·
Came here looking for help before heading to the dealership. I know that cold weather affects fuel efficiency, but this is just crazy...

Previously, I was a Prius owner for 5 years so knowing "how to drive a Hybrid" and all that isn't an issue. That car would see an drop of about 0.8L/100km in efficiency over winter (winter tires on) in Canada. That equates to a drop of about 4mpg in winter compared to summer.

Now, I have an XSE with 1000km on it and brand new winter tires (Toyo from dealer). The last couple of weeks I've noticed the fuel efficiency plummit to absurd levels where I'm averaging about 11L/100km (21mpg). A colleague at work in the same city is still doing about 36mpg in the same conditions. I can't imagine any combination of hacking how I heat the cabin or ultra gradually accelerate will make up the difference of 15mpg.

Even my previous best (31mpg) from when the weather was much warmer was still far below what you'd expect.

Thoughts???
so, to confirm: you’re not even getting 400km per tank ?
 
#18 ·
US Octane ratings are different to rest of world. E10 fuel here is 94 Octane and is recommended by Toyota. I have been using it for years in multiple cars with nil issues. Australian Ethanol comes from sugar cane, US - source should not matter. I get 6L / 100km - almost 1,000 km per tank.
 
#20 ·
As we slide into winter and the MPGs start to drop, I have a month's-worth of November driving experience to help keep the MPGs up. In November, I covered 2,386 miles, and over the 5 fill ups in the month, I was able to average 40.8mpg. Here are some tips I found to minimize your MPG drop in addition to the standard hybrid techniques of pulse and glide, not gunning it at red lights, recognizing early and coasting to a stop, keeping speeds in check on the Interstate (if practical), etc.:

- Use ECO mode. This will help cut down on jack rabbit starts but it will also put your heater in ECO mode so it will (presumably) have less draw on the ICE. If you're worried about lack of power in ECO mode, don't be; you still have plenty of power if you put your foot down.

- Minimize use of the heater fan. This might be the biggest item to save gas. What I found that works well to keep the cabin warm is to turn on the fan to the lowest setting, set the temperature to 70 or 75, and then turn the fan off. Make sure the recirc is NOT turned on so you have air flow into the cabin. You can direct the air how you want (the defrost/floor combo or straight defrost works best for me), but I found, at least at any speed above 40mph, I have enough warm air coming into the cabin to keep things warm.

- Speaking of warmth, use the heated steering wheel and seat heaters (if equipped) to help keep you warm. That will draw power from the battery and not the ICE.

- Use pure, ethanol-free gas if it's a viable option. Pure gas is only $.05/gallon more than 10% ethanol gas here which is a 1.8% increase in price for an 8.9% increase in MPGs, so it makes sense economically for me.

- Minimize weight in your vehicle. If you don't need it in your vehicle, get rid of it.

- If you don't need snow tires, use your stock tires if you can get away with it. I've been through 5 or 6 snow storms since I purchased my Rav4H, and I found the stock Dunlops that came with the car and the AWD system have been able to handle everything I've encountered.

EDIT:

- Speaking of tires, keep an eye on your tire pressures. Make sure they're at least at the recommended setting if not a bit higher. If you set your pressure in a heated garage, remember to take into account the drop in temperature the moment you leave. In other words, set it higher to account for the drop when you head out into the cold.

These are things that have worked for me. My overall average since purchase is a little over 42mpg, but I've only seen a drop to 40.8mpg since the cold weather has set in...
Try some alcohol free fuel. It has more energy
 
#26 ·
- Minimize use of the heater fan. This might be the biggest item to save gas. What I found that works well to keep the cabin warm is to turn on the fan to the lowest setting, set the temperature to 70 or 75, and then turn the fan off. Make sure the recirc is NOT turned on so you have air flow into the cabin. You can direct the air how you want (the defrost/floor combo or straight defrost works best for me), but I found, at least at any speed above 40mph, I have enough warm air coming into the cabin to keep things warm.
Even if I don´t have 2019+ RAV4 Hybrid, I had to try this with my RAV4 Hybrid -17
After a month trying, I'm convinced. It saves gas!
 
#27 ·
That would be nice. I kinda need my winter tires, my rav has a ski box on it, and I value my comfort (and safety) too much to not run the heat in addition to the heated wheel and seats (with AC to defog quite a lot of the time). Fuel consumption has neatly doubled in the winter. Still half of what I burned in my old truck.
 
#29 ·
How many of you people who are discussing miles per gallon (or liters/100 km) are going by what the car computer tells you, and how many are going by your own calculations based on gas-fill-up quantities vs. odometer readings? There are big differences. Car computers almost always give readings that are too high, often by 10-25 percent.
 
#31 ·
Own calculation. I reset my computer each time, and I find it's usually within 1mpg of reality...
 
#33 ·
Since most of my trips are fairly short I leave the heat turned off until I see the ICE is up to normal operating temp before turning it on, so far it seems to help. I haven't done any scientific testing yet but the ICE doesnt come on as soon when I do this and a quick check it seems to help.

I need some cold weather to do further testing, was 70 degrees today though.
 
#34 ·
- Minimize use of the heater fan. This might be the biggest item to save gas. What I found that works well to keep the cabin warm is to turn on the fan to the lowest setting, set the temperature to 70 or 75, and then turn the fan off. Make sure the recirc is NOT turned on so you have air flow into the cabin. You can direct the air how you want (the defrost/floor combo or straight defrost works best for me), but I found, at least at any speed above 40mph, I have enough warm air coming into the cabin to keep
When I set to these temps, and then at some point turn the fan off, it seems that the HVAC is then completely off... even when everything is off, is there still heating occurring?
 
#35 ·
The heat from the engine will still heat the air that comes into the cabin as long as the re-circ is NOT turned on! You will have passive heating in the cabin as long as the car is moving forward.

Speaking of which, another thing I found that helps in this scenario is to lift up your moon roof. That will provide low pressure which will force more warm air through the vent system, past the front seat occupants, and out the moon roof making it feel warmer in the cabin. This also helps to draw the water vapor from your exhaled breath out and prevent the windows from fogging up on the inside.
 
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#37 ·
So I'm becoming convinced that Eco mode has a little more to it than just throttle response. I've been leaving my heat in Eco mode regardless of drive mode, but I seem to get better gas mileage in Eco than normal. The main game I've been working on the last few days is trying to get a feel for where the car shifts from EV to ICE when cruising on level or slightly downhill grades. Get the car into EV mode, push the gas pedal down until the ICE starts, release the gas pedal to get back into EV, and push down to just before it switched. Doing this, I've been averaging 38 mpg the last week in ~35-50 degree F days (so 2-10 C).
 
#38 ·
Ditto on all of this! Efficiency for this car is like a little entertaining game.

Not sure if you noticed, when the battery meter is 75% full or more, the car will stay in EV up to roughly 75% of the first marker in the ECO segment before the ICE kicks in. Versus when the meter has the usual 50% full or less, it will kick out of EV when the needle is even 1mm past the last marker in the CHG segment before going into the ECO segment.

I've now added a small reroute coming home with a downhill grade enough to charge the batteries to near full so I can have little more "give" to keep the car almost fully in EV when I get off the highway to my garage.
 
#39 ·
My wife drives a 2017 RAV4h Limited. It is rated 34 City / 30 Highway. She knows nothing about how to drive a hybrid correctly. She gets about 34 MPG this time of year, and about 36 in the summer. We usually get about 38 on trips.

We do get better MPGs now (25k miles), then when we first got it. It think it took at least 10k miles before it settled down with good MPGs. So new owners, give it some time.

Its very warm here today, 64F, and I borrowed her car tonight for a 28 mile errand (60% city / 40% highway). Moderately hilly. I got 43.5 MPGs for that trip (trying to drive as best as reasonable).

It will be interesting to see how, if any, better the 2020 RAV4h does, when I get one. On paper, I should get nearly 7 MPG better. I think there are a handful of users here that have had both the 4th and 5th generation RAV4hs, so they will know.
 
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