Hybrid idling in parking lot. lol

[HerCamry]

I live in Minnesota and have noticed many Canadian neighbors on this site as well. It has come to my attention that there is just as much smoke coming out of the Hybrid exhaust pipes this winter as the non-Hybrid exhaust pipes. I walked by one, unoccuppied and idling, in a grocery store parking lot last week. (I plan to watch for windows rolled up next summer on hot days.)

The first thing we are told to check for optimum fuel economy is tire inflation. Getting rid of extra weight is always listed. Those batteries and electric motors must add alot of weight.

We average 28mpg summer and 24mpg winter commuting with my wife's '09 4 cyl. Are you TCH owners saving any fuel?

[98CamryLE]

With my hybrid, my wife and I average about 38/39 in summer and 32-34 during the coldest months of winter.

[cdn_tch]

Originally Posted by HerCamry

... We average 28mpg summer and 24mpg winter commuting with my wife's '09 4 cyl. Are you TCH owners saving any fuel?

In the summer, I'm in the low 40's (MPG), but when the temps drop down to -20 and worse I'm only fractionally better than what I would get in a non hybrid. (ICE runs almost all of the time in my 6mi commute).

I've done the 700mi tank with a 46mpg avg.

So are TCH owners saving fuel? Some of us quite a bit. Some who don't wish to adjust their driving style save some. Those who don't care and still bought a TCH won't save any (leave the car idling in a parking lot etc).

[ekpolk]

Originally Posted by cdn_tch

In the summer, I'm in the low 40's (MPG), but when the temps drop down to -20 and worse I'm only fractionally better than what I would get in a non hybrid. (ICE runs almost all of the time in my 6mi commute).

I've done the 700mi tank with a 46mpg avg.

So are TCH owners saving fuel? Some of us quite a bit. Some who don't wish to adjust their driving style save some. Those who don't care and still bought a TCH won't save any (leave the car idling in a parking lot etc).

Well put. I'd add that some of us willfully slide from group to group. When I drive it to get good FE, I typically find myself in the upper 30s (relatively heavy proportion of interstate driving keeps me from getting even higher). OTOH, sometimes I just enjoy driving it faster, and it actually responds pretty nicely. The net system hp is very close to the previous generation (Gen 5) V-6 cars with the 3.0L engine (I owned a VVT-i version myself, a 2003.5 car). When I drive more like this, I drop into the low 30s generally.