Diary of a wimpy pulse and glider

Diary of a wimpy pulse and glider.

I have been practicing the technique of pulse and glide for my daily commute of 18.6 ~ 18.7 miles (one way) of local roads (25 ~ 40 MPH PSL) over a combination of some flats, some rolling hills, and some steep hills.

Yesterday and today the weather was warm and traffic was light and I broke my own record.

Yesterday 2011-07-05: Elevation profile (traveling from right to left):

MPG photos:


Today 2011-07-06: Elevation profile (traveling from left to right):

MPG photos:

very, very nice.
I am happy with my 42 mpg ( without trying ), because it is much better than my 10mpg from before.
But I would love to get 50-60 on my short 7 mile run to work each day...

What is the graphs from?
Looks cool and informative..

The graph at the upper left quadrant? That's my PriiDash(TM) open source software. I thought it pretty cool too. There is also a PriusChat sub-forum dedicated to it.

It gets better at the end of the day:

Awesome!

Those are definitely not wimpy numbers!

Update: just added elevation profile in the original post. Go to
Geocontext-Profiler
to make your own.

89.7 MPG (MFD) over 18.6 miles

and better:

Can you share your pulse technique and speed band?
Great results, btw!

Thanks! I try to give the ICE a more or less smooth start to around 1600 RPM, especially if the car was standing still or at low speed or the engine was cold, but soon after that I push it up to 2000 RPM and hold there until the car reach the target speed. If the car was already moving fast then I go for 2000 RPM directly. The speed band depends on the posted speed limit (PSL) and whether there are cars behind me - I try not to impede traffic. In general I don't go 5 MPH above PSL or 10 MPH below PSL. Some rough estimates of the speed band:
PSL | Pulse up to | Glide down to
25 | 27~30 | 20~24
30 | 30~35 | 26~30
35 | 34~37 | 30~33
40 | 35~40 | 33~36
I also try not go beyond 40 MPH to avoid ICE free spin during glide.
Very occasionally there are aggressive tailgaters that I just move to the side to let them pass and then creep up on them at the next red light.

By the way I found the mysterious dropping out of S4 actually does not cause much "damage" to the fuel economy. When that happens I just keep the car at a steady speed and the ICE RPM is low - kind of like the superhighway mode but at low speed. Eventually it will go back to S4 and I start pulse and glide again.

Most enlightening. Thanks.
I guess those are a bit higher speeds than I would have guessed.
I don't do much warm engine driving except on the freeway, but I will try your regimen in my gen3 when I have an opportunity. I can go up to 45 mph vs your 40, though the wind resistance begins to impact more.
I can also use a wider delta speed as I have light traffic a lot of times.
Here is the south-central kansas elevation profile: _________________________

89.8 MPG over 18.7 miles

Those are impressive numbers. I have to say, however, that I got a ride in a first gen Prius in 2003 or so, and the driver was using pulse and glide, and I thought she was touched in the head, or the car was just a bad car. I didn't get a Prius until the 2010 model, because of this experience. Uncomfortable for the passengers. I did get a 2007 Camry Hybrid, however.

I have never used this technique. I am more of a "float and feather" kind of driver, once I am up to the speed of traffic. This is good for low-50's usually, even with AC on all the time, and never using ECO mode. Of course I am always looking for a 3-ton barn door to get in behind. There are plenty of PU and SUV drivers to do this with in my commute.

I drive for my comfort and the comfort and safety of my passengers, sometimes using PWR to move us with traffic. I NEVER impede traffic, or play "slow down," as even many non-hybrid drivers do (I think more for a power trip than the mileage in their case.) It is speed differential that causes accidents, not speed.

There are the majority of us who think that the posted speed limit is the minimal speed one should drive, and only a small minority of us who think that the speed limit is the maximal speed allowed on the road. And of course in this democratic country the majority rules. Had I defied the rule of the majority I suspect I would get 100 MPG daily.

It is to bad that we are always in a hurry!!! Even when we are going no where. Crazy bunch we are! Hal

I can understand people rushing to get home, but when they are rushing to work in the morning, all I can think is they want to be the first one there so they get to turn on the copier or something.

Gah!! I'm busted!!

Awesome MPG. Was it pre-warmed? What strategy did you use?

I answered the 2nd question a few posts ago (quoted above) and I am experimenting with pulsing at ~1600 ~ 1800 RPM (feels more "natural" than 2000 RPM) since last fill up. I do use EBH for the morning drive and it seems to help a tiny little bit (shorter initial warm up time).