| Driving for mileage in hilly terrain |
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| Written by Kacey Green | |||||
| Wednesday, 29 August 2007 | |||||
Hills as a hybrid driver explains them
As with driving in flat terrain, the key to good performance (efficiency) is to make all changes smooth, and to maintain momentum. Is you make large quick movements of any of the inputs the car tends to go into high performance mode giving you more power than is needed for cruising. The inputs you need to be careful with are the steering, braking, and accelerator, it doesn't hurt to use moderation with the HVAC (Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning) controls either. Continue reading: Driving for mileage in hilly terrain, after the jump
Try to avoid using the brakes except when you need to come to a stop or avoid an emergency. In a conventional vehicle, the brakes throw energy away as heat (wasted gas) in a hybrid they also throw most of the energy away as heat but can capture a small amount of this energy back as electrical energy to be used immediately (81.5% efficient) or stored in the battery array to be used later (54.3% efficiency). To achieve better results following distance increase your following distance. The Florida DMV recommends a minimum of two second following distance; best results are about 3-4 seconds following distance. To measure following distance watch the vehicle in front of you pass a stationary object like a pole or line perpendicular to the direction of travel, and count how many seconds it takes you to reach the same point. Shifting to neutral on public roads is illegal in many areas, but it is effective in conventional vehicles, on hybrids there is usually a position on the accelerator where you can balance output and input to get zero flow, for the same effect as coasting but without the risk of breaking the law. On automatic transmission conventional vehicles, this point sometimes exists; it is the point where the vehicle cuts fuel injection but does not engage the full engine drag by closing the throttle. This works great on flat and slightly hilly terrain, but requires restraint in hilly and mountainous terrain because speeds can easily exceed the speed limit by large margins. There is a hill in the neighborhood where I accidently went two-and-a-half times the speed limit. Safety is the primary concern when operating a motor vehicle; if you are stopping or need to slow down quickly, use the brakes it's what they're there for. What I have observed thus far: achieving high mileage segments of a trip is easier in the hills, with proper technique high mileage tanks are easier to obtain in hilly terrain, although flat terrain has a lower learning curve all-around. I have attached graphs of my experience the average MPG listed is part of another test I am currently running, the actual graph bars are examples of driving in hilly areas. In the second picture, there is a gap because I stopped for gas. I took these pictures over a seven-day span.
     
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Comments (2)
Alexander
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I have been practicing driving for high gas mileage in hilly terrain since I arrived in South Carolina; it is not as easy as driving on flat terrain but at times, is easier than driving for efficiency in Gainesville. My biggest obstacle is when I start the car cold there is a fair uphill slope in all directions that lead out of the neighborhood from where I live. In Florida, I would regularly achieve a 63 or more miles per gallon (MPG) average per fill-up. This is way up from the first week with the car where the best mileage was 40.5 MPG, in the Civic (2003 Honda Civic LX), the very best tank was 62 MPG (I wish I'd paid attention to technique that series of trips) but average fills were 39-42 MPG. The best fill in the Prius so far was 75MPG.
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That's cool, you also have to remember to let the car gain a bit of speed downhill and to loose a few miles an hour uphill, otherwise great article. So do you still offer training, where you take one to three users out and show them the ropes? I still love that the salesperson's mom you trained gets better mileage than you in the Camry Hybrid. Reminds me how in the karate movies the student always surpasses the teacher. |
Kacey Green
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I taught you that trick  , I left it out because it will be featured in another article I'm writing. Yes, I do offer training up to three people at a time, everyone I've trained so far has achieved better mileage than myself the Camry owner was just by a larger margin than the others. Regarding your question about the giveaways, in the other thread, I think I have an idea. If anyone wants training contact me and we'll work out the details. |
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