brake accumulator pump, building up the brake fluid pressure /
Short tripping a hybrid?
- Thread starter Quattro Pete
- Start date
8 year warranty on the battery. Not something to be concerned about anytime soon.
If you live in an area that gets below 0F you can expect 9mpg a couple months during the winter and your cat won’t live as long.
Driving a similar pattern, The townie across the street from me has 1-3 months of single digit fuel economy in his 2006 Prius and has replaced his cat with an aftermarket at least once.
He gets close to 100mpg in the summer so it averages out a little better but still worth noting that hybrids don’t necessarily give you good fuel economy if you only drive a couple miles at a time and have a winter
I'm on the other side of Lake Michigan. We have plenty of days with temps in the 20s, but 0F or below is very rare.
Sure, but same can be said about ICE.
Hermann
Site Donor 2023
@Quattro Pete
The worst mpg this winter has been 35 hand calc mpg on a full fillup. Lots of driving in 20° temps at interstate speeds. Some trips are better than others. 4-6 mpg difference in mpg between 20° and 40°, under like conditions. On one highway trip at 65mph into a 25mph headwind on a 24° day, saw steady instant mpg readings of 24-26 mpg, on level surfaces. These are my worst observed numbers so far since new. On the way back the mpgs were 43 mpg. It all averages out.
The worst mpg this winter has been 35 hand calc mpg on a full fillup. Lots of driving in 20° temps at interstate speeds. Some trips are better than others. 4-6 mpg difference in mpg between 20° and 40°, under like conditions. On one highway trip at 65mph into a 25mph headwind on a 24° day, saw steady instant mpg readings of 24-26 mpg, on level surfaces. These are my worst observed numbers so far since new. On the way back the mpgs were 43 mpg. It all averages out.
Depends on the ice, my 2010 Cobalt XFE would average 35-40mpg in -20F weather driving my 1.7 mile drive into work.
When I drove a hybrid on that trip the motor was running WOT the whole time like I was in a jet at takeoff, and continued to race wide open as I pulled into my spot. I was very unlikely to break 18mpg even though the car was EPA rated much better than the Cobalt
Fuel economy will stink for short trips, but the hybrid system will do fine. My Prius is currently seeing that type of service, but expect at least a 20% reduction in fuel economy compared to EPA estimates.
Looks about right for a Gen2….battery is probably quite old by now. My Gen3 returns 34-37mpg under the same conditions with 17” wheels.
-20F he gets under half that, I used to have a pic of that situation as well
JHZR2
Staff member
People don’t typically charge their “traditional” hybrids either. The system You showed us a band aid due to an inbalance problem from older tech not being deployed. No, topping off an old NiMH doesn’t make their car a PHEV, and it’s dubious the energy balance really works…
JHZR2
Staff member
If there’s any desire for heat anywhere, it’s going to tank. Apples to apples is how poorly an ICE does at -20.
The grid charging mentioned isn't for topping off an old MiNH but a maintenance item done 2 or 3 times a year to keep the battery pack at peak performance. OP didn't mention he was asking about a new model until later in the thread.
I guess I’ve had the situation having driven a manual and automatic version of the exact same car on the same route alongside a hybrid and a PHEV on the same route.
In all situations if the car burns gas the manual transmission always got far better economy in cold weather than a hybrid or AT.
From what I’m told and could see on my tuner modern AT and hybrid vehicles run pig rich with bad timing at high throttle on a cold start supposedly for pollution controls.
I am uncertain how burning double the fuel makes less pollution but that is the explanation I’ve been given for this hybrid specific behavior.
This makes short trips far more horrible than they need to be with absolutely no gain.
I was going to go as far as to tune the behavior out but got rid of the car instead.
I have a '24 Corolla Cross Hybrid. I drive about 12 minutes to and from work everyday. Ive had it from December to March. This is what it looked like at 1k miles. My electric motor is probably on for 6/12 minutes during the drive.
I foolishly cleaned it up and changed the oil rather than taking it in.
Most say its condensation from the engine not getting hot enough for long enough. Im going to monitor it closely for the next thousand.
The dipstick and oil looked ok other than it being a bit overfilled from the factory.
It doesn't appear that continuous short trips are ideal for these.
Can a vehicle that originally had NiMh or Nicad (prius c) be retrofitted with newer battery pack technology? There's a guy not you far from me that has been rebuilding battery packs for a long time.
