I don't think ECO will do a thing for highway cruising mpg. All it does iirc, is to slow down throttle response, and, make the transmission less likely to downshift, on theory that low revs = less friction = better mileage.

You may remember the coast-to-coast mileage runs from the 50s - 70s sponsored by ? Mobile?

So, drive like there's a raw egg under accelerator pedal; try different cruising speeds, my cars seem to do best at around 75 (33-34 mpg) worse at 60-65.
Much worse mileage at any speed, if I use cruise control. Shrug

Try a full tank of Shell premium, and or some fuel injector cleaner. (Techron?)
Lastly, check tire pressure COLD, as in having driven less than a mile before Checking pressure. Go maybe 2-3 pounds over factory recommended pressure, which is typically too low but gives a comfy ride. (Too much air = excessive wear at tire center)

 

would I be better off to use NORMAL for trans instead of ECO to get better MPG ? My XLE has 15k miles on it.

 

I can only share my experience. We live ~15 minutes east of Honolulu. There's always traffic here and most of the time we're on fairly flat roads going <50 mph.

My "driving style" has modified since moving here from "driving quickly" to trying to keep our '21 LTD in EV mode. Traffic and road conditions usually allow that.

The computer mpg readout total average has finally settled in on 44.6. It will "touch" on 44.7 but always returns to 44.6.

Your driving conditions may not allow that.

I can only suggest to "drive gently" when and where possible.

GOOD LUCK!

 

I agree with the others that say Eco mode will do little or nothing for MPG at highway speeds. I have a 21' Limited that is always in Eco mode. My mpg since April when we got on summer gas stands at 43.7 mpg. However, we live out in the county where the speed limits are mostly between 45 and 55 mph. Running at these speeds in Eco is how I get 43.7 mpg. The last trip we took out of state and ran at 70-75 mph we averaged about 35 mpg. Driving gently at less than 55 mph reaps the benefits. Learn to burp the accelerator to put the car into full battery mode even at speeds of 55 mpg

 

where are you getting those numbers? That is crazy! Sometimes i can hit 50MPG, i think on a bad day i am at 41MPG. I too drive in ECO all the time, today i did do Sport since i wanted to get home fast. One thing i noticed is if i go to work in the morning and im one that gives myself plenty of time so im not racing to work. I put it in cruise control and when i go up a hill it will keep the speed but it will hold it right at ECO. If i didn't have that i would be over in the POWER band and i think gas mileage would suffer. Not a whole lot as i said 41 is a bad day.

 

You aren't running E85 gasoline are you? I know with today's fuel prices that could be temping. I guarantee you'll lose 5-6 mpg running that stuff.

 

You aren't running E85 gasoline are you? I know with today's fuel prices that could be temping. I guarantee you'll lose 5-6 mpg running that stuff.

Thought we cannot use e85 in our hybrids?

 

E85 is all we can get here in the Chicago area and I still get between 39 and 40 mpg. Speed is the biggest enemy and fast (ha ha) acceleration. You do also need to maintain a constant speed rather than pumping and letting off the accelerator.

 

I couldn't be happier, 41.1 for the average since new... I'm getting a lot in the 50's now so it should keep the average going up in my 2022 XLE

 

Chicago does NOT only sell E85. E85 is 85% ethanol and you need a "Flex Fuel" car for that. Actually any car engine can use 85% ethanol, but you need a special tune and larger fuel injectors. Chicago does sell 10% ethanol, and up to 15% is legal, but rare. Every car on the road 2001 and newer can use 15% ethanol without modifications.

Ethanol has 35% lower MPG but 90% lower emissions.

So expect 3.5% lower MPG using 10% ethanol in your gasoline.

43 MPG typical in this car, using 10% ethanol, one can expect 41.5 MPG.

If you are down around 31 MPG, something is broken, or someone is stealing your gas, or you have a gas leak!

 

Every car on the road can use 15% ethanol without modifications.

You really need to do a little research before spreading misinformation. According to the U.S. Dept. of Energy e15 is prohibited for use in 2001 and older cars.

Alternative Fuels Data Center: E15

My 2002 Camry manual says no higher than e10.
2012 Camry manual on pg. 479 says.

Pic of my 2013 Camry gas cap

And there are plenty of cars still on the road that DO require modifications just to run e10.

 

Sorry - my bad! I hate the whole ethanol thing. I have an old '70 corvette and remember the first time pulling the carb apart and finding bits of rubber fuel line that had been damaged by the ethanol. Older lines couldn't handle ethanol like newer ones. The only people I see benefiting from E85 are the farmers and even they have to artificially change their crop mix to keep up with inflated demand.

 

Deleted by author

 

Sorry. That E10 limit is out dated.
It was later updated to E15.
But yes, 2001 and newer are "legal" to use 15%, which is most cars.

It's a case of "we don't have data beyond E10 so we are going to state the limit is E10".

Just like in the beginning: "We don't have data on kids under age 18 taking a covid vaccine, therefore, we are limiting covid vaccines to ages 18 and above until data comes available."

Guess what, data became available your car can use 15% ethanol after it was manufactured. Didn't you get the updates for your users manual?

Fear not. Moot point. I've yet to find anyone advertise that they are selling E15. But every station is legally able to. And they may from time to time without advertising it; because exact recipe for gasoline is not required to be posted in any state I have been to. You may have used E15 without knowing it. Fear not. It cannot, by law in the USA void your warranty. (2001 +)
P.S. I did see as of 2016 it IS required to label when/where E15 is being dispensed. So unlikely you'd get it "by accident".
I stand corrected on that part.

 

2021 Venza Limited here.

36.7 mpg with a mixture of highway and city. Some hills, some flat terrain. I’m not light on the pedal either (but not a maniac). I’m sure if I put more effort into coasting and accelerating lightly I could easily get into the 40s. 31 seems pretty bad, I’d ditch eco mode and just drive it normally.

Is there a lot of hilly terrain in your area? That could kill your efficiency as well.

 

Or a lot of idle time. But I mean a lot.
Do you sit in Park with engine running perhaps for air conditioning? Do you sit with engine on waiting for draw bridges or sit waiting to pick up someone (at school?) with engine on for air conditioning? The A/C is electric, but the car will have to run the engine 5 min on, 5 min off something like that to maintain battery charge.

Are you towing?
Do you have a roof top luggage carrier?
Are your tires really low in air pressure?
Are you burning (by accident) E85 85% ethanol?

Having high ethanol seems the only case where you may have (or a family member) may have got it by accident and no one would know. Most cars WON'T complain and turn on a check engine light until you get above 50% ethanol in the tank.

 

I have a 21 Limited and I have seen up to 50MPG in my travels(260 miles on 5.183 gallons of Regular). I have just over 11K miles on her now. I drive my car in ECO mode all of the time unless i need more power. ECO give me what I need on a normal drive. I use the DRCC alot on my trips. I have also found that using DRCC and keeping it between 65 and 70 bring the great MPGs. I am also running my AC on auto at 73 degrees. I am also in Texas, but I drive to Arkansas, TN, Florida, and Mississippi on trips. Find ways you can get your car to use the engine less and your MPGs should go up. The less you use your brakes when slowing, the less your engine needs to charge the traction battery, thus less fuel used, which I know may not be much, but every little bit counts. If I am home all month and just go around town, a tank can last me a month. I am sure you will find ways to get your MPGs back to the way they need to be.

 

2022 Venza Limited pkg. we get 37 mpg on highway and 40-42 around town. We typically drive in eco mode with average driving style no hot rodding and not easy on the vehicle either just normal driving. I fell confident Toyota designed the vehicles to be driven by an average person. I would just drive it like you stole it and then the next tank drive average and compare your results. Best of luck.

 

Just something I threw together...

 

Yes... Agree.... and BTU is roughly proportional to MPG. It is almost a linear relationship.

However my personal testing, and research by others shows a positive bump in the linear relationship at about 25% ethanol. While not fully understood, you'll lose less than expected MPG with 25% ethanol in the gas. There is some sort of efficiency boost there.

No blend of ethanol will give greater MPG than pure gasoline. But if cost is what you are looking at, the lowest cost per mile can be at about 25% ethanol.

 

Some hybrids advertise a big difference between city and highway. In our 2021 Venza we get nearly identical in city and highway. In California with expensive gas, it must be a pretty good blend of gas. We always get better than advertised MPG.

Last week I drove Interstate 5 from Bay Area to Disneyland and return at 80 MPH, one steep grade (Grapevine) sea level to 4200 ft back to sea level, in 108 degree central valley heat, air conditioning on medium-high the whole time. Cruise control most of the time. 20 miles out of 400 stop n go. 380 miles at highway speeds. Net 42.5 MPG.

Doing mostly city, we've seen as high as 46-47. We never drive fewer than 500 miles between fill ups. 550 to 580 miles typical. 600 miles a couple of times. When topped off and drove way past 0 MTE got 712 miles on a tank just to prove what is possible.

I wonder if variances in manufacturing could explain a car here and there that only gets 31 MPG? To rule out driving style, you'd need to trade cars with someone for at least a tank or two. I think driving plays a major role.

 

Actually I took my Venza in for seat AC problem and they had it for two weeks for parts.
They gave a Venza limited as a loaner. I set everything up just like in mine and got the same MPG 31. So diappointing...dont know what I am doing wrong

 

Tomorrow I have a roughly 320 mile round trip journey. I do this route weekly and on the last 5 trips have gotten Between 31.9 and 32.5 mpg, (using e10) calculated hand not the dash indicator. This week I will try to use non ethanol fuel, and see what the mpg is. I know it’s not a Venza hybrid (2013 Camry XLE V-6) but will give a good idea of the mpg difference between e10 and non ethanol fuel.

 

Experiment Cancelled no non ethanol fuel within reasonable distance of me. Google lies, the internet lies, every place near me that a search found for non ethanol fuel did not sell non ethanol. Bastards!!

 

The farmers are having a tuff time with the cost of fuel and fertilizer and I just fill my home heating oil tank and the the cost was uo over 500.00 for the same amount as last year. no-one is factoring in the extra cost of food..... The corn that was used to feed cattle is now sold for Ethanol. All the major industrial countries are burning coal and fuel and our electric cars are being charged from coal fired power plants.. Plus the wind mills and solar panels are a total joke. We have all these rivers and we don't use them to produce power..... it's all about money and who makes it under the table

 

The corn that was used to feed cattle is now sold for Ethanol.
99% FALSE. Ethanol only takes the sugar out of the corn. All the protein, fat, and fiber leaves the back end of the plant and goes to animal, mostly cattle feed. The partially processed corn is highly nutritious, easily digested (less cow farts), and more calorie dense than raw corn which means farmers get more cattle feed per truckload than raw corn. Plus it is at reduced cost to farmers per ton of feed. Farmers LOVE being close to a corn ethanol plant. If they can take the corn feed wet and use it right away, the cattle feed is almost free but it spoils in 3 days since it is wet feed.

All the major industrial countries are burning coal and fuel and our electric cars are being charged from coal fired power plants..

50-75% FALSE! Very few electric cars in the USA are charged from coal sources of electricity. In California, with the most electric cars of any state, almost zero power comes from coal. On certain summer days, 100% of California's grid power comes from renewable sources such and wind and solar. THERE's THAT MUCH SOLAR GENERATING CAPACITY in California.

Plus the wind mills and solar panels are a total joke. We have all these rivers and we don't use them to produce power.....

98% FALSE! I recently looked into this.
Nearly all the usable rivers and streams in the state of California are already dammed. Already have power generators, and there is only about 2% more room to expand. If you want to complain, complain to mother nature to give us more natural resources. All the easy power is already installed. All the easy water storage is already installed. Until recently I too thought governments were being inactive. Turns out, we've already used what's there.

 

The only non-ethanol fuel around me here in Wisconsin, is premium (91 octane) which I do occasionally splurge on for my 2009 Harley Road Glide.

I get right at 10% better gas mileage with non-ethanol blends than with 10% ethanol blends, and have tested (a couple of times a season) with hand MPG calculations since 2009, when I bought the touring bike. I always put it in storage with non ethanol gas and Sea Foam at a 1oz to 1 gallon rate. Never had any issues, over ~60,000 miles. Most small engine manufacturers warn clearly in their owner's manual not to use more than 10% ethanol blends.

 

QUOTE="johara1, post: 14678075, member: 1300579"
The corn that was used to feed cattle is now sold for Ethanol.
99% FALSE. Ethanol only takes the sugar out of the corn. All the protein, fat, and fiber leaves the back end of the plant and goes to animal, mostly cattle feed. The partially processed corn is highly nutritious, easily digested (less cow farts), and more calorie dense than raw corn which means farmers get more cattle feed per truckload than raw corn. Plus it is at reduced cost to farmers per ton of feed. Farmers LOVE being close to a corn ethanol plant. If they can take the corn feed wet and use it right away, the cattle feed is almost free but it spoils in 3 days since it is wet feed.

All the major industrial countries are burning coal and fuel and our electric cars are being charged from coal fired power plants..

50-75% FALSE! Very few electric cars in the USA are charged from coal sources of electricity. In California, with the most electric cars of any state, almost zero power comes from coal. On certain summer days, 100% of California's grid power comes from renewable sources such and wind and solar. THERE's THAT MUCH SOLAR GENERATING CAPACITY in California.

Plus the wind mills and solar panels are a total joke. We have all these rivers and we don't use them to produce power.....

98% FALSE! I recently looked into this.
Nearly all the usable rivers and streams in the state of California are already dammed. Already have power generators, and there is only about 2% more room to expand. If you want to complain, complain to mother nature to give us more natural resources. All the easy power is already installed. All the easy water storage is already installed. Until recently I too thought governments were being inactive. Turns out, we've already used what's there.

 

And since California is the only place in the world...

 

do C

Actually, it IS the 5th largest economy in the world; if it were a separate nation. California sucks in more ways than I can count; but clean energy and clean(er) transportation isn't one.

 

Boy are you living in a dream world, why does California want electric produced in other states sent to them. I see where you are coming from and I bet you look under the pillow every morning.... BTW they were to shut two coal fired power plant down here but it didn't happen because the Three of them send the power to New York. The Dems had to rethink it

 

BTW, my 2022 XLE is up to 42.2 MPG since I got it new, not bad here in Pa. with a lot of hills......

 

It's contrary to popular belief but with hybrids hills do not hurt MPG, and can actually help. It's been many years since I drove a gas only. But tons of hybrid users report some of their best MPG in hills. The advantage may come from the fact the engine can go off for extended periods of time on the downhills.

It does not break any laws of physics. You don't GAIN any energy on the downhills, but overall, your Losses go down, thermal efficiency goes up, maybe from 40% to 50%.
Still nothing for free. Just less waste in hills.

Counterintuitive, but true.

 

It's funny when I go east I get way lower mileage but if I go west milage is a lot higher getting away from the hills. it isn't a popular belief, it's a fact.......