maximizing MPG - My experience with manual Tacoma

[fdcg27]

Drive 10 over the speed limit in my Nissan leaf.

Why not?
It's not as though the battery pack is going to last very long anyway

 

[Pablo]

Why not?
It's not as though the battery pack is going to last very long anyway

And slow charging with 120V

Good night

 

[I<3oil]

Not doubting your experience. You are credible. However-some claims about mpg across multiple vehicle forums are at times outlandish. It's like guys measure their manhood based on how many mpg's they can get out of gallon of gas. MPG figures are like the Twilight zone across the Internet...at least in my experience.

No different than things like bragging about how many miles someone gets on stock brakes, etc.

 

[oil pan 4]

Why not?
It's not as though the battery pack is going to last very long anyway

The battery is already 12 years old and still working perfectly fine. So whats that about the battery not lasting? Jokes on you.

 

[oil pan 4]

And slow charging with 120V

Good night

It charges with 240v power. All Nissan leaf cars sold in the US can be charged with 240v.

 

[ripcord]

Lots of chat about MPG and for good reason. My experience with a given vehicle..........

Are we talking about some kind of BITOG AI?... ChatMPG?

 

[fdcg27]

The battery is already 12 years old and still working perfectly fine. So whats that about the battery not lasting? Jokes on you.

The joke might just be how much range this Leaf still has.

 

[Pablo]

It charges with 240v power. All Nissan leaf cars sold in the US can be charged with 240v.

Since you are being serious (I was kidding and have nothing against the Leaf) we did rent one and only could charge it 120V where we were. The car was plugged in over 24hours and was barely charging sloooooooooooow - I suspect any e-car worth it's weight is the same. The longer story is it was supposed to be picked up fully charged so we figured we wouldn't even need to charge it for our short drive. Well it was around 40%! The Turo owner had all kinds of language about how everyone should return the car fully charged, yada yada.....

 

[oil pan 4]

The joke might just be how much range this Leaf still has.

It got enough range for me.
Seems like you're saying I should have spent a whole lot more money on a bunch of range I don't need or use.

 

[fdcg27]

It got enough range for me.
Seems like you're saying I should have spent a whole lot more money on a bunch of range I don't need or use.

Not at all.
I'm just wondering how much range it's retained.

 

[oil pan 4]

Since you are being serious (I was kidding and have nothing against the Leaf) we did rent one and only could charge it 120V where we were. The car was plugged in over 24hours and was barely charging sloooooooooooow - I suspect any e-car worth it's weight is the same. The longer story is it was supposed to be picked up fully charged so we figured we wouldn't even need to charge it for our short drive. Well it was around 40%! The Turo owner had all kinds of language about how everyone should return the car fully charged, yada yada.....

Yeah they all charge super slow on 120v power, it's not just the leaf. I saw a thing about someone crashing out because their electric Silverado needed over 100 hours to change after long trip.
If you rent an electric car from anywhere they want them returned with greater than 80% charge or you get charged out the wazoo.
The electric rental car push failed more spectacularly and faster than even i though it was going to.

 

[oil pan 4]

Not at all.
I'm just wondering how much range it's retained.

When i run out of power I'll let you know.

 

[fdcg27]

When i run out of power I'll let you know.

What does that translate into in miles on a charge?

 

[burbguy82]

Let's say you have a car/truck. You/I can't just change to a new vehicle (in this case just for the hypothetical discussion below)

There are quite a list of variables that impact MPG - many in maybe three categories, let's just say those you can control, can't control and maybe some control. I mean oil, drive lubes, tires, pressure, wax job, load, RH, weather (AP, temperature), engine tune, fuel, driving style, roads, traffic, and a whole of other variables. I can't control the weather, but I can choose my oil. Fuel is a huge one and somewhat controllable. I can choose where I live, but I'm not moving for MPG impact, because I love hills, for example.

What I will say though for most every road situation, I can control my driving style. No secret sauce there, not sciency or mystery based.. Now breaking that down to the next level, let's say no lead footing it. Duh obvious. I mean in most ATs just drive with a raw egg under the go juice pedal. Again - DUH.

SOOO?

With my MT Tacoma the one main thing the gets me up to 21 MPG (normal 18-19-20 mpg maybe) is getting into 6th gear as soon as reasonably possible without lugging it. Sometimes skipping a gear. No dawdling in 3-4 for sure. Yes I have seen a delta seasonal fuel. I've been doing this many tanks now, quite repeatable, for a few years. I don't see it with oil, that's for sure!! Hahaha

If one can find the right groove, I have no doubt one can get great economy. Learn the vehicle, its power band, etc.

Manual transmissions, IMO can achieve best economy due to what you said about "skipping gears without lugging". Keeping the engine in the power enough to move as needed, is the best way to get the best mpg. With a manual and a bit of driver skill, you can feel and hear it.

Gear ratios today, IMO are to high. Speeds are to high. Transmitting the power to the ground easier, means more efficiency.

As I understand it, ATs multiply torque at the cost of power=less efficient.

 

[oil pan 4]

What does that translate into in miles on a charge?

Probably some where around 100 miles of range.

 

[Pablo]

Yeah they all charge super slow on 120v power, it's not just the leaf. I saw a thing about someone crashing out because their electric Silverado needed over 100 hours to change after long trip.
If you rent an electric car from anywhere they want them returned with greater than 80% charge or you get charged out the wazoo.
The electric rental car push failed more spectacularly and faster than even i though it was going to.

I was pretty pissed because the previous renter clown (and the owner) put me in this position. I told her NO WAY am I responsible at that point to fully charge it. She backed down. What that cost her was only less than 12 hours of non-rentable time, because I left it on the airport charger.

If one can find the right groove, I have no doubt one can get great economy. Learn the vehicle, its power band, etc.

Manual transmissions, IMO can achieve best economy due to what you said about "skipping gears without lugging". Keeping the engine in the power enough to move as needed, is the best way to get the best mpg. With a manual and a bit of driver skill, you can feel and hear it.

Gear ratios today, IMO are to high. Speeds are to high. Transmitting the power to the ground easier, means more efficiency.

As I understand it, ATs multiply torque at the cost of power=less efficient.

Agree. It's interesting since I run AM 4.88 (3.90 stock) gears. Maybe ultimately if the truck was run freeway (I almost never see a freeway in this truck) I could much better MPG, but on the county 35-55 mph roads 5-6 with 4.88 is perfect.

 

[Cujet]

I find the opposite valuable. Saving 10 minutes per hour may not be much on trips that last an hour or two, but add up pretty quickly when the trip is 4 hours or more.
I used to drive for mpg, but with kids, all of our trips lasted forever because of frequent stops and me sticking close to the speed limit. So I started to prioritize time over mpg and our trips became more manageable from time perspective. Well worth a bit of extra fuel costs when your trip is 15-20 hours long.

Let's take a 1000 mile trip as an example.
- at an average of 65mph, it would take 15.3 hours
- at an average of 72mph, it would take 13.8 hours
- at an average of 80mph, it would take 12.5 hours.
- at an average of 85mph, it would take 11.7 hours.

The time savings are significant when they add up over long trips.

Do a year of that and you save 2 work weeks worth of time. If you drive a high mpg car, you might save $65 in fuel. Two work weeks, $65. Yikes. The tickets are worth it.

 

[fdcg27]

Probably some where around 100 miles of range.

Okay, so something I could have used on my commute when I was still a part of the pre-retirement productive workforce.
I would have had to plug it in every night, but operating costs would have been very low.
Better yet, you can also buy a really nice 2014 Leaf for well under five grand, money that wouldn't buy you any ICE you'd want to drive much beyond your own driveway without a lot of work.
So, good for you in getting so much value out of this niche machine.

 

[2005jettatdi]

Since you are being serious (I was kidding and have nothing against the Leaf) we did rent one and only could charge it 120V where we were. The car was plugged in over 24hours and was barely charging sloooooooooooow - I suspect any e-car worth it's weight is the same. The longer story is it was supposed to be picked up fully charged so we figured we wouldn't even need to charge it for our short drive. Well it was around 40%! The Turo owner had all kinds of language about how everyone should return the car fully charged, yada yada.....

I rented a car in Baker City, OR last March. The car owner was fine, but I will not use Turo again.

 

[SC Maintenance]

This is extremely vehicle dependent.

Driver style on Rav4 can have a huge affect on MPG driving, Like 5 to 7mpg.

My Frontier and Xterra, same drive train - drive like grandma vs drive it like you stole it is 1 or 2mpg max. Not kidding. I have tested this on many trips over many years.