P&G still eludes me.....

from what i've read, pulse and glide is as follows- say you want to travel along at 60 MPH.

the pulse is where you smoothly accelerate to 70 MPH.
the glide is where you take your fool off of the accelerator, and glide all the way down to 50 MPH.

net speed traveled= 60 MPH roughly, while your MPG will be better than maintaining a constant 60 MPH.

the veterans can correct me if i'm wrong.

 

99.9 MPG means "I'm moving but not using any gasoline to do so", and it will display that both while gliding and coasting. Coasting sends energy to the battery; gliding does not. Gliding is the no arrows condition achieved by pressing the gas pedal just the right amount. Keep practicing :_>

 

Anytime you are not showing the ICE = efficient driving, whether the MFD shows 99.9 or 60. In order to achieve either no arrows or only battery use you must first attain a good SOC, ie: 4-8 bars. so the first 5 minutes, don't worry about mileage, let the car accelerate briskly and then give a long no go pedal coast. You may even end up with a green SOC which lends itself very well to no energy glides with a tiny touch to the gopedal, now: sustain that! 99.9 only shows because of limited digits, you could be getting infinite mileage.

 

Well I don't consider myself a veteran but I'll correct.
If your foot is off the accelerator you will be in a regen state which sounds good but it will reduce your speed rather quickly. It also wastes energy in conversion from kinetic to electric to chemical and then back the other way.
Pulse and glide if very hard over 63km/h.
Try to do glides down hill, that is assess the terrain ahead.
Accelerate on flat ground before a rise to above you cruise speed, so if you want to do 37mph accelerate on flat ground to 42mph. Edit: I accelerate at 5.5 to 6L/100km and hold that to the top of the hill ulimately aiming to,
Allow your speed to drop by holding your foot steady on the uphill to hit the top of the hill at 35mph.
Accelerate a little to 42mph then lift your foot
Now apply foot slowly to accelerator until the green line to the battery disappears from the MFD, you are now in a no lines glide, hold the foot position steady unless speed goes outside the 35 - 42mph window in which case adjust foot.

This is a very brief explanation of what I do, it is not comprehensive by any means. Drive at all times within local speed limits. Pay attention to traffic around you. Leave big gaps, if someone pushes in, re-open the gap. Big gaps give better mileage.

I found on a recent trip I could follow a van at 2.5 seconds gap at 130km/h and my fuel consumption was the same as at 120km/h with nothing in front. The van was a late model Hiace. You can feel when you move into the turbulent air behind a van, the car wanders a little, stay at that distance but no closer than 2 seconds.

Another tip, pick a route with steeper uphills than down, you pulse up the hill and glide long down. I come home on a different road than I drive to work to avoid a long up short down hill. Also the steep part is 70km/h so glide is very hard, but due to steepness I can't glide without going too fast on the steep part.

Sorry for mixing mph and km/h, I used mph where I could do the conversion metally and there is some flexability.

 

Looks perfect to me Pat.

 

Yes, Pat has provided a good summary. In addition, see this for perhaps the most complete discussion on the subject.

P&G generally is done at <40 MPH, for at least two reasons. First, it is much easier to get into a no-arrows glide at those speeds; it is extremely difficult at highway speeds. Second, the goal during ICE-on conditions is to keep the ICE within an efficient RPM range where, at lower speeds, acceleration (i.e., a pulse) results. At higher speeds, that same RPM range will not accelerate the car due to increased aero drag. I generally just aim to keep the RPM relatively constant at highway speeds on level terrain. On hills, I climb as efficiently as I can, while remaining safe and courteous, and "warp-stealth" (described in the link I provided) downhill.

Splitting hairs here, but with CAN-View I occasionally see fuel consumption with 99.9+ MPG. The CV instantaneous MPG reading might show, for example, 110 MPG. For the benefit of the OP, the factory display is simply designed to show no more than two digits left of the decimal, so in that case iMPG could be anywhere from 99.9 to infinite (i.e., true zero-consumption).

 

If you are getting 53 MPG under those conditions, be happy: you are already among the elect :_>

 

53mpg (US tiny gallons) in heavy stop start traffic is excellent!
To improve try opening the gap in front some, accelerate then anticipate the next stop and try to glide to a stop without using any more brake than necessary to stop the car.
Better still, try not to have to stop, time your arrival at the lights so they have changed to green and traffic is moving, maintain momentum. If a light well ahead of you is green, you know it will be red when you get there so back off now, glide all the way to that light and it might be green again when you get there.

I always think, I am going to (name a destination) not the next red light. There is no hurry to the next red light.

 

I agree with the others that 53 is quite good, though there likely still is opportunity for improvement, especially in your warm climate. To put Pat's excellent advice another way: Drive as though you have no brakes. Every time you hit the brakes you waste energy.

One of the commute routes to my part time job is a mix of suburban and urban driving and runs right through the middle of Richmond, VA. It has 47 lights and 5 stop signs. I easily hit 80+ MPG in the summer and even 90+ a couple of times last year. This time of year, I still generally manage at least 70. I've done it by learning the timing of the lights, experimenting with alternative route segments, leaving early enough when possible to avoid heaviest traffic, and liberal use of P&G. Though driving technique is the biggie, I'm helped along with some inexpensive modifications: engine block heater, grille blocking, and EV switch.

 

I have been to Bradenton and it is probably the perfect place to get some outstanding fuel economy.

I think that if you:

1) Installed an EBH
2) Installed an EV switch (to use as kill switch only)
3) master P&G and some other techniques.

You could be pulling 80+ MPG on every tank.

The fact that your daily commute is all stop and go and no highway driving is a tremendous plus. Also your flat terrain is a dream.

Hope it works for you.

 

with gas prices the way they are, it just seems too much trouble to worry about this P&G technique.
More power to you all. Love the high mileage myself, but just responsively drive it.
The mileage of the Prius is pretty amazing anyway.

Just my opinion....

 

More power to you too for just driving it, and many conclude it's too much trouble. I respect that. But please don't suggest anyone here is driving irresponsibly. I suggest that hypermilers are driving more responsibly than most -- driving more cautiously and courteously; constantly focused on their driving environment instead of passengers, a cell phone, their job, or Saturday night's date; reducing our dependence on foreign oil (even if only a drop in the proverbial [oil] bucket/barrel at a time); and developing habits that save money regardless of gas prices and will be second nature when gas hits $4/gallon again (you don't think we'll never see that again, do you?).

 

I tried a little bit of P&G last night, and it took quite a bit of practice to get all the arrows to disappear. I got a heavy foot I suppose, and any slight movement from my foot and I lose it. Question though, wouldn't it be easier to put the car in neutral when you are initiating the "glide"? According to the manual, N does not engage the regenerative braking, so you should be coasting freely in that mode.

 

It is easier but you will find your glides are not quite as long and if you do need to accelerate it slows your response. Also you must put the car in drive before you touch the brakes to maximise regen, if you do it after you touch the brakes your friction braking.
In some locations it isn't legal to coast in neutral.
Press your foot against the side to help stop your foot moving on the gas pedal. Wear light thin soled shoes if you can, I commute in steel capped boots. I rock my foot for fine adjustments.
Avoid regeneration if you can
Drive like you have no brakes
If you have to brake, brake long and soft for max regen
Avoid stopping, a red light does not mean stop, it means don't cross the thick white line.
Accelerate without electric assist, use ICE to accelerate.
Keep the engine off as much as you can.
I personally believe you are better off driving at under 42mph using electric only if you can. But better to use no power if you can.
I try to accelerate pretty hard so I can lift off sooner. I hate seeing 10+L/100km for ages while I creep up to speed, I'd rather see 20L/100km for a few seconds then lift off at 63km/h and glide.(speed limit 60km/h) I could be wrong, it my gut feeling.
It should be noted a lot of people on PC run rings around me for hypermiling. I get there quick and with 60+mpg in town. I have 40 sets of traffic lights in my 37km commute.

 

Well, Pat beat me to it again. But of course I have to have the last word, so see this for more. Actually, lots of last words -- it's rather long-winded.