Only getting 17mpg

[qberg]

The hybrid battery only has 2 ways to get charged. Either the engine does it or the vehicle's momentum does it. The engine charging the hybrid battery isn't particularly efficient. So, you want to maximize the battery charging via coasting / light braking.

If you are the type that is in the throttle until the last second and stabs the brakes at the light, the vehicle will almost never utilize the regenerative braking because the friction brakes are doing all the stopping. That's the key to unlocking good efficiency in a hybrid. Easy in, easy out of the gas. Drive in a way that requires you to touch the brake pedal as little as possible.

 

[mayonayze]

Love seeing the tach at zero rpms when I’m doing 60 mph. Magic! But i’ve almost exclusively driven MTs for 30 years, so maybe that groomed me for hybrid life

 

[Fort7365]

Love seeing the tach at zero rpms when I’m doing 60 mph. Magic! But i’ve almost exclusively driven MTs for 30 years, so maybe that groomed me for hybrid life

I drove a manual for years too. I've been wondering if my habit to let the engine brake over time from driving stick helps with the regenerative braking in the cruiser. I had no problem getting my MPG up to 24 pretty much straight away.

 

[PMP3]

This topic has been posted about a lot on here. Including by myself. I’ve had mine for 4 weeks and first thing I noticed how bad mileage was. I’ve driven 3k+ miles including highway to FL from TX and can’t get above 16.8. Have done everything I can think of

 

[ricochet]

I’m getting around 17mpg right now, but I’m running very heavy e-load 10-ply tires. With the stock tires I was getting about 19mpg.

 

[Markarian421]

The hybrid battery only has 2 ways to get charged. Either the engine does it or the vehicle's momentum does it. The engine charging the hybrid battery isn't particularly efficient. So, you want to maximize the battery charging via coasting / light braking.

If you are the type that is in the throttle until the last second and stabs the brakes at the light, the vehicle will almost never utilize the regenerative braking because the friction brakes are doing all the stopping. That's the key to unlocking good efficiency in a hybrid. Easy in, easy out of the gas. Drive in a way that requires you to touch the brake pedal as little as possible.

I have wondered about this -- for a lot of Land Cruiser drivers this is their first hybrid. Unlike a lot of hybrids I haven't seen that there's any kind of typical hybrid electric/ICE/battery charging diagram? Is that even an option? Our first hybrid had that as the default center display and basically taught you how to drive a hybrid to maximize charging and efficiency. It is a different style of driving. And a lot of it comes down to letting the electric motor do your braking for you as much as possible. I guess I'll find out when I get mine if it's that or something else.

 

[JoT.]

The hybrid battery only has 2 ways to get charged. Either the engine does it or the vehicle's momentum does it. The engine charging the hybrid battery isn't particularly efficient. So, you want to maximize the battery charging via coasting / light braking.

If you are the type that is in the throttle until the last second and stabs the brakes at the light, the vehicle will almost never utilize the regenerative braking because the friction brakes are doing all the stopping. That's the key to unlocking good efficiency in a hybrid. Easy in, easy out of the gas. Drive in a way that requires you to touch the brake pedal as little as possible.

That’s exactly how I’ve been driving and only get 17, maybe it’s not
“ broken in” but the new 4 runner I bought was 19 out of the gates.. so
Mine must be inclines and traffic holding me back.

 

[ultane]

This topic has been posted about a lot on here. Including by myself. I’ve had mine for 4 weeks and first thing I noticed how bad mileage was. I’ve driven 3k+ miles including highway to FL from TX and can’t get above 16.8. Have done everything I can think of

Take a look at this video from The Car Care Nut..

 

[DogStar84]

This topic has been posted about a lot on here. Including by myself. I’ve had mine for 4 weeks and first thing I noticed how bad mileage was. I’ve driven 3k+ miles including highway to FL from TX and can’t get above 16.8. Have done everything I can think of

Me too. It’s not my driving style. I’ve had a very lite foot with mixed driving, no hills at sea level and premium fuel.
Most report 20 plus mpg. Right out of the gate.
Then a few of us are getting 15-17.
Gotta be something wrong with the car. Or it’s California summer gas??
Would love to find out why. Nothing on the web about this.

 

[GCD]

I had the dealer put on BFG KO2's before I picked up my Land Cruiser FE. They are the same size as the stock (265 70 R18) but I am only getting 17mpg. I have around 2500 miles now and it has not changed. Any one else having the same issue?

Yes. I have around 1800 miles logged with mpg varying from 16.4-16.7, Not happy with this one bit and while I know mpg testing can be exaggerated based upon manuf. testing possibly being ideal, I certainly expect real world conditions to not differ to this degree. I have the FE with roof rack and Nitto Ridge Grappler 265/70/R18 upgrade which all the dealers in this region were offering.
I've read in this forum we may not see better economy until 3-4000 miles which I don't understand but hope to witness. I do know from owning 4 hybrid sedans in the past that there is a sort of break in period for the hybrid which at that time occurred around a thousand miles.

 

[mayonayze]

Strange stuff. Hope you guys with the bad economy get it worked out!

 

[mayonayze]

Not sure what’s going on.
After almost 700 miles on my stock 1958 with the roof rack, I’m getting 24.1-24.4 (50/50 highway city)

same

 

[Pierac]

Yes. I have around 1800 miles logged with mpg varying from 16.4-16.7, Not happy with this one bit and while I know mpg testing can be exaggerated based upon manuf. testing possibly being ideal, I certainly expect real world conditions to not differ to this degree. I have the FE with roof rack and Nitto Ridge Grappler 265/70/R18 upgrade which all the dealers in this region were offering.
I've read in this forum we may not see better economy until 3-4000 miles which I don't understand but hope to witness. I do know from owning 4 hybrid sedans in the past that there is a sort of break in period for the hybrid which at that time occurred around a thousand miles.

Man.... your getting what the old 6 cylinder got.... I wanted the hybrid so I could get better!

So... think about the 4 runner that gets 16 with a 6 cylinder... Is it going to get the same in 2025 with the new engine... If so... Why change from a old faithful 6???

 

[Fort7365]

I'm at 900 miles and averaging 23-24. The variance us really wild and seems to make no sense.

For reference here is my "drive pulse". Even with fairly cautious driving I've got plenty of stats there, but still rated as "excellent" for whatever that means.

 

[REB27]

First Edition with 4,000 miles, getting around MPG now.

 

[dwover]

I’m only getting 17 as well. I reset mileage as soon as I got it, initially I was 22-23. But around my home with slower speed zones and some hills ect mine has settled into 17 at best

Are you determining that based upon the “miles to empty” number on your dash? Because that number is incorrect. There is a thread about how Toyota holds reserve gallons in the tank that don’t register on that figure and can throw off your mpg calculation

 

[REB27]

First Edition with 4,000 miles, getting around MPG now.

Meant to type “22MPG now.”
Mileage aside, really enjoying the truck. Perfect Vermont rig!

 

[TrailWhale]

I find the LC does very poorly for the first 10 minutes of your drive. So if you do a lot of 5-10 minute drives, like I do, your average is going to be very poor.

I think they tuned the hybrid way too conservatively.

 

[bennettlo]

I haven't tried the pulse and glide method, but I've been using old school hypermiling techniques to get 20+ per tank. I live in a hilly area and installed large A/T tires, both of which destroy the mileage. The folks getting 24 smartly kept their stock tires.

If you're starting on a flat surface and have no one behind you (and have massive patience ) you can accelerate using just the EV motor. You can easily get up to 7-10mph on EV, which I assume saves a lot of gas along with coasting in EV. For fun I've accelerated up to almost 25mph using just the EV motor. I wish ECO mode would allow slightly more aggressive acceleration in EV before switching to the engine.

Oh, and I have noticed a slight improvement in gas mileage after 2000 miles.

 

[gregj992]

I was getting around 17 MPG under 1k miles. I now have 1600 miles and the MPG is 20.4. Averaging about 21 MPG on trips around town. Hopefully it continues to get better.