Yes. Seems to get better after engine heats up.
Only getting 17mpg
- Thread starter imbynee
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In SoCal traffic I’m getting around 25-27 mpg
We just finished our first tank of gas from the dealer lot, got just under 18mpg, but we let it idle quite a bit and I'm sure it would have been much better...
We use Fuelly to track our mileage for accurate results. And we'll be driving 4.5 hour to Nashville on Saturday, curious to see how it will do.
We use Fuelly to track our mileage for accurate results. And we'll be driving 4.5 hour to Nashville on Saturday, curious to see how it will do.
Seems to be a theme with the 1958 version getting consistently better mileage than the LCLC and FE trims. FE Trims seem to get the worst with the roof rack. 1958 makes sense with smaller and thinner tires and less weight without the skid plates, rock rails, roof rack etc...
I have a 1958, now with 3456 kms on it. Totally stock but I will note that the Canadian version unlike noted above, comes with a steel skid plate. total fuel consumption since new gives me an average of 10.1L/100km (23.3mpg). My best has been 7.2L/100 (32.7mpg/ US gallon))where I babied it for maximum efficiency over a 165km drive on rural highways. My worst at 14.6L/100km (16.11mpg) pulling a flat deck trailer with a small farm tractor and implements on a trip of 384 km one way, with with an empty trailer weighing 2780 pounds and then returning the same route with a gross weight of approx 4880 pounds. Speed on this trip varied due to traffic, construction, small towns enroute but running empty the average was 12.1L/100 and the return was 14.6L/100km. I just did a short trip of about 60km with my travel trailer which weighs about 4300 pounds gross with camping gear & food loaded and I run at 455 pounds hitch weight. trip average was 12.1L/100 km (19.44L/100km). I use 91 octane gas. My mixed use daily average has been slowly improving since new and now is 9.1L/100km (25.8 mpg) I normally drive in Eco mode and try to normally drive for gas efficiency.
I tried that a couple time. Manual calculated mileage was very close to the computer calculation.
based on posts, really seems to be haves and have nots. most getting in 20's, then some getting 17.
feels like a bug
I have an extremely heavy foot and moving over to try hybrid has been a learning experience. You really need to practice fighting the mpg bar for a few drives to understand how your acceleration and breaking really effects the mpg. This is my morning driven in SoCal traffic this morning. I’m getting better.
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Usually at around 17.5-19.5
I picked up my LC at the dealer with 4km on it and a full tank. As I drove off the lot to the first intersection ( a distance of about 2km) it read 19.5L/100km - It dropped steadily for the next 60km to 15L/100 and seemed to plateau there for about 300km & then started to very slowly get better mileage for the next almost 1300km to around 10L/100km. Now at just over 3000km on it the fuel consumption seems to be consistently 9.1L/100km on a mix of rural roads and city driving - in mainly ECO mode & trying to adjust to this hygrid as it is completely different from my 2020 Highlander Hybrid & a huge change from driving my Tacoma which required a relatively heavy foot to get it moving. I'm fairly confident that fuel consumption will continue to improve somewhat over the next few 1000 kms as I get better acquainted with it and it continues its breakin.
The areas that I struggle with:
* 5-10 minute drives within city (stop signs, lights, 15-25mph speeds). If i hypermile and basically coast the whole time, I'm lucky to break 15mpg total over the short trip. I imagine the engine needs some time to "warm up", which is unfortunate when my drive is shorter than the warm up.
* 0-35 MPH acceleration. No matter how soft I am on the gas, any acceleration under 35 MPH drops the current MPG bar down to 10 or lower. And I'm keeping RPMs well below 2000. This goes for any acceleration in this range, not just from a full stop.
(and I do have a soft hybrid-aware driving foot from a decade of driving traditional Toyota hybrids, where it was always easy to exceed the EPA ratings)
It just seems like this hybrid system is just not tuned at all for actual city driving (maybe the methodology for determining "city" rating is actually biased toward more 35+mph suburban roadway driving?). I'm getting about what I would expect from the ICE engine alone (for city driving, specifically).
* 5-10 minute drives within city (stop signs, lights, 15-25mph speeds). If i hypermile and basically coast the whole time, I'm lucky to break 15mpg total over the short trip. I imagine the engine needs some time to "warm up", which is unfortunate when my drive is shorter than the warm up.
* 0-35 MPH acceleration. No matter how soft I am on the gas, any acceleration under 35 MPH drops the current MPG bar down to 10 or lower. And I'm keeping RPMs well below 2000. This goes for any acceleration in this range, not just from a full stop.
(and I do have a soft hybrid-aware driving foot from a decade of driving traditional Toyota hybrids, where it was always easy to exceed the EPA ratings)
It just seems like this hybrid system is just not tuned at all for actual city driving (maybe the methodology for determining "city" rating is actually biased toward more 35+mph suburban roadway driving?). I'm getting about what I would expect from the ICE engine alone (for city driving, specifically).
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I have to agree with you that city driving, unless you start from a stop painfully slow the electric motor never kicks in & if you can make it kick in it only just barely moves it and then the engine takes over - which is completely different to the Highlander. Yes - the LC seems to run for about 5 minutes to warm up before it even contemplates being a hybrid. For pulling a trailer I've also noticed that on Tow/Haul mode which I left it in while trailering on the weekend it remains an ICE engine and very rarely did the electric even assist such as on hills. To me it seems it could be better tuned to utilize the hybrid - once again I'm comparing it to my Highlander. When we loaded the tractor on the float it then had a considerable load & it behaved the same as with an empty trailer whereas I thought with a heavy load it would have used the electric motor of the hybrid to help get moving. Like you, I've always managed to get considerably better than the EPA rating but it seems this vehicle could be a different case. Maybe Toyota will revisit the hybrid engine "map" with a better utilization of the system.
I reset mine at about 300 miles to get rid of all the test drives and trial and error from the first week. I was immediately getting 21ish in regular around town driving. I haven't done a highway run since I reset. I reset my other car every few tanks just to get a current indication.
I have a long downhill decent heading into my neighborhood, frequently the engine will shut off and run just electric for the last 0.5 mile of slow neighborhood driving. This is verified by 0 RPMs on the tach, and any small acceleration showing on the Max guage
Mine will fill up to full bars when driving a lot of downhill, but it seems to get there more often after 1000 miles
I’m in Austin Texas using AC all the time and getting 16.3 mpg in my LCLC. Less than 400 mi on the odo, mostly city driving. Hope to see better numbers when temps get below 100!
I'd like to see a software update where the ECO mode is able to leverage the hybrid before the car is fully warmed up and allow the driver a bit more throttle in EV only. The battery is really small though at <1/7th the size of a Prius battery so maybe they've figured out that you'll be using the engine either way. But if the battery is sufficiently charged let me use it.
Getting used to how to use the hybrid system already paying off:
I went from 23 to 26 mpg on my short drive to work (10 miles). Just observing the "max" gauge and the rpm.
impressive how small changes in drive habits can result in a huge mpg difference in this car.
I went from 23 to 26 mpg on my short drive to work (10 miles). Just observing the "max" gauge and the rpm.
impressive how small changes in drive habits can result in a huge mpg difference in this car.
The opposite.
Drive in ECO mode, try to keep the engine off as much as you can, light brake before lights/stops, easy on the gas pedal and so on.
It's very easy to do specially in morning traffic.
I like to use the MAX gauge to know how much throttle I can apply before the ICE kicks in. Generally anything below 1/3. Doing this, I find I can cruise on flat ground up to about 45-50 mph in EV mode until the computer wants to charge the battery.
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