[andaconda]

Correct, but that is why I used the RAV4 because that shape exists in both variants and both would have the same drag coefficient. Don't know the actual gas version mileage compared to the hybrid know first hand the effect on mine which is actually a little more efficient being FWD which are not sold there.

.
And speaking of drag coefficient --
I have both the Rav4h and a Tesla model Y
After recent 1200 mile trip with the Rav I noticed a drastic difference in speed. On the Interstate driving 80~82 mph - I was getting 32 mpg. Then when I traveled on the secondary roads where the speed was limited to 70 mph my MPG climbed to 38. A big difference indeed. When I first got the Tesla I was also driving 80~82 mph, but I realized that if I dropped my speed to 77 mph I gained another 20 miles of range. So now I drive both cars at 77 mph. It's a good enough compromise for me. So speed is a very important factor.

 

[Mojito]

.
And speaking of drag coefficient --
I have both the Rav4h and a Tesla model Y
After recent 1200 mile trip with the Rav I noticed a drastic difference in speed. On the Interstate driving 80~82 mph - I was getting 32 mpg. Then when I traveled on the secondary roads where the speed was limited to 70 mph my MPG climbed to 38. A big difference indeed. When I first got the Tesla I was also driving 80~82 mph, but I realized that if I dropped my speed to 77 mph I gained another 20 miles of range. So now I drive both cars at 77 mph. It's a good enough compromise for me. So speed is a very important factor.

That coincides with my experience. Actually in a gas or hybrid where refueling is so fast it probably only makes a difference in your wallet and you do save some time by going faster but in an electric I don't know but guess one can calculate a speed/no. stops/total travel time formula to determine what is the fastest from a total travel time basis which also coincide with cost in this case. I have heard that in an electric car speed affects range in a major way I guess similar to a hybrid but as you have one of both you are in a good position to make the calculation.

 

[GMot123]

I live in a hilly area of Southern California and get 40mpg combined city/freeway.

NJ guy, and I was ecstatic the other day for cracking 38mpg on my current tank. Mix of local, suburban, highway miles.

OP showed 56.8. I can’t sniff 40mpg, let alone 50mpg. And trust me, I am very very happy with 38mpg, or even anywhere between 35-38mpg, which is where I seem to generally sit. But there must be something environmentally or geographically unique to give some of these folks mpg’s consistently in the 40’s or 50’s. YMMV.

 

[andaconda]

That coincides with my experience. Actually in a gas or hybrid where refueling is so fast it probably only makes a difference in your wallet and you do save some time by going faster but in an electric I don't know but guess one can calculate a speed/no. stops/total travel time formula to determine what is the fastest from a total travel time basis which also coincide with cost in this case. I have heard that in an electric car speed affects range in a major way I guess similar to a hybrid but as you have one of both you are in a good position to make the calculation.

I'm really in no hurry to get to where I'm going. I won't impede the flow of traffic just to gain extra mileage. I make frequent trips that are a little over 200 miles, so that is a factor with the EV. I will charge to 100% at home just before I leave if I anticipate a long trip - that way I can make it back home without stopping at a charge station. It used to be fairly inexpensive to charge on the road, but in the recent year or so the cost of charging has nearly doubled - so I try to charge strictly at home where my rates are 1/3 to 1/4 of the cost. So those that are complaining about the price of fuel (including ME) it also can include those who charge at commercial chargers. I guess everywhere want's to gouge the consumer.

 

[Freeman]

I envy you seeing that MPG. In 80k miles and 10 years driving Toyota hybrids in my location I've yet to break 39 MPG life of the car despite driving at moderate speeds. My shopping trips are short and up a steep hill. The return is down hill but after a half hour self check out at the store the ICE is on to provide HVAC. Yes ECO and ECO HVAC are used and a moderate foot and my typical interstate speed is -3 to 0 miles below the limit unless traffic demands more. I anticipate stops and slack off on going up grade and use regen when I can. I refuse to obsess over MPG. Not when the pick-up across the pumps from me is paying 4 times what I'm paying for gas.

Picked up my copy on August 19th, 2019.

That September, I had one tank fill that put the "Historic" lifetime mileage at 40 and some tenths. Since then, every September has several tank fills that put the "Historic" mileage breaching the 40 mpg by hundredths or tenths just before the cold weather returns to the Alpine community (Mt Shasta) where I reside.

Interstate 5 driving slaughters the "Historic" mileage while all the country road and local driving (along with summer temperatures) assist in boosting it.

 

[TZX4]

.
And speaking of drag coefficient --
I have both the Rav4h and a Tesla model Y
After recent 1200 mile trip with the Rav I noticed a drastic difference in speed. On the Interstate driving 80~82 mph - I was getting 32 mpg. Then when I traveled on the secondary roads where the speed was limited to 70 mph my MPG climbed to 38. A big difference indeed. When I first got the Tesla I was also driving 80~82 mph, but I realized that if I dropped my speed to 77 mph I gained another 20 miles of range. So now I drive both cars at 77 mph. It's a good enough compromise for me. So speed is a very important factor.

Wind resistance increases with the square of velocity. The faster you go the firmer that brick wall of air becomes.

 

[John Gibson]

I live about 7 miles out of town, so I have a mixture of city and country driving. I get a firm 39.6 in the winter, and the mileage goes up to 42 mpg in the summer. I travel several times a year back and forward between Portland and Seattle which is about a 3 hour trip. Of course with freeway driving, my trip mileage decreases slightly but the average stays about the same. I reset the fuel economy numbers once, after the first year of ownership but now, I just leave it as is. We did do a trip to Yellowstone and back last summer and we averaged about 38 mpg on that trip.

All in all I'm very happy with the gas mileage, and I did notice that this winter, my mileage increased over the previous year's winter driving season. I t think the previous year it was about 38.7 or so. 2020 RAV4 hybrid limited. Best gas mileage I have ever seen is something like 52 pmg.

 

[averyblessedguy]

During the coldest part of the past winter, it seemed as if, every few days, there was a new thread here with someone posting about poor fuel economy with his/her RAV4 Hybrid and thinking that something was wrong with the car.

In each of those threads, others posted and explained that hybrids do not do well with fuel economy when there is extreme cold because the ICE needs to run more to warm up the engine and to keep it warm. During the coldest part of winter here (in the Upper Midwest) the fuel economy with my RAV4 Hybrid often dropped into the 30 mpg range when the temperatures fell to 0 or below 0 F, and that was especially true for short trips.

I'm confident in guessing that those who had poor fuel economy this past winter and who thought that their cars were broken have seen a return to good fuel economy now that winter has ended.

I only re-set the fuel economy gauge on my RAV4 Hybrid once a year, and I do that when winter ends. This year, winter seemed to want to drag on, but, finally, about a week ago, I was confident that spring had arrived and that it was going to stick around. So, I re-set the fuel economy gauge. In the time since then, I've driven about 250 miles. Most of that driving has been 15-20 mile trips at speeds between about 35 and 55 mph, which is ideal for a hybrid. On the other hand, we've had several days when temperatures have been in the 90+ degrees F range. That isn't ideal for a hybrid, but the negative impact on fuel economy with very high temperatures is very small compared to the impact on fuel economy with extreme low temperatures. Also, most of my driving is in very hilly areas, but I find that the better fuel economy when driving downhill pretty much offsets the worse fuel economy when driving uphill.

Below is a picture showing my fuel economy from the 250 miles or so that I've driven since re-setting the fuel economy gauge. During that time, I've had multiple individual trips where the fuel economy was over 60 mpg.

View attachment 182019

I live in GA where we only get about a dozen days below freeze. IV had my hybrid for 2 years and have never seen mileage below 36 or above 42. I love the mileage but I'd buy this car just for the way it performs.

The moreI read the less I'm convinced the ecology value is substantial once you task all the variables into account. But it's a great car aside.

 

[PasqualeX]

During the coldest part of the past winter, it seemed as if, every few days, there was a new thread here with someone posting about poor fuel economy with his/her RAV4 Hybrid and thinking that something was wrong with the car.

In each of those threads, others posted and explained that hybrids do not do well with fuel economy when there is extreme cold because the ICE needs to run more to warm up the engine and to keep it warm. During the coldest part of winter here (in the Upper Midwest) the fuel economy with my RAV4 Hybrid often dropped into the 30 mpg range when the temperatures fell to 0 or below 0 F, and that was especially true for short trips.

I'm confident in guessing that those who had poor fuel economy this past winter and who thought that their cars were broken have seen a return to good fuel economy now that winter has ended.

I only re-set the fuel economy gauge on my RAV4 Hybrid once a year, and I do that when winter ends. This year, winter seemed to want to drag on, but, finally, about a week ago, I was confident that spring had arrived and that it was going to stick around. So, I re-set the fuel economy gauge. In the time since then, I've driven about 250 miles. Most of that driving has been 15-20 mile trips at speeds between about 35 and 55 mph, which is ideal for a hybrid. On the other hand, we've had several days when temperatures have been in the 90+ degrees F range. That isn't ideal for a hybrid, but the negative impact on fuel economy with very high temperatures is very small compared to the impact on fuel economy with extreme low temperatures. Also, most of my driving is in very hilly areas, but I find that the better fuel economy when driving downhill pretty much offsets the worse fuel economy when driving uphill.

Below is a picture showing my fuel economy from the 250 miles or so that I've driven since re-setting the fuel economy gauge. During that time, I've had multiple individual trips where the fuel economy was over 60 mpg.

View attachment 182019

2021 RAV4 Hybrid Limited. I've calculated via fill-ups and have concluded that regardless of temperature my actual MPG is 90% of what dashboard read-out is (i.e., 10% less).

 

[lesz]

2021 RAV4 Hybrid Limited. I've calculated via fill-ups and have concluded that regardless of temperature my actual MPG is 90% of what dashboard read-out is (i.e., 10% less).

I always manually calculate my mpg, and I find that the actual calculated mpg and what the car's computer shows are generally pretty close. They are usually only about +/- 1 mpg apart.

I find that, if I have been driving conservatively, the actual mpg will be a bit higher than what the car's computer shows, but, if I have not been driving conservatively, the actual mpg will be a bit lower than what the computer shows.

 

[skier6]

I live in GA where we only get about a dozen days below freeze. IV had my hybrid for 2 years and have never seen mileage below 36 or above 42. I love the mileage but I'd buy this car just for the way it performs.

The moreI read the less I'm convinced the ecology value is substantial once you task all the variables into account. But it's a great car aside.

I love the mileage too. With gas prices at $4.79 a gallon here in Vermont, I like the 46.4 Miles per Gallon I'm getting now.