Why is my fuel consumption so much less than others???

[Simply_Someone]

Looking at the vehicles in my garage--they are not modified--I feel like an outlier and I have a hard time understanding why. I don't do any extreme hypermiling. Drive near the speed limit or above. I regularly check tire pressure and run the maintenance schedule set my the manufacturer. I accelerate moderately to lightly most of the time, but I am also frequently froggy(revving all the way through power band).

I have found several other Fuelly users with Mk7 EA288 Manual Golf TDI's that are near what I have been recording; but, move on a few years and with the purchase of a 2019 1.4T Jetta I am on the far upper end of the distribution with others that appear to be in warmer climates than me as they don't seem to have winter MPG drop-- except, shout out to booth44 who is somewhere in Canada with 6 times the mileage ran as me and sticking strong at 43MPG.

I keep going back and forth on the value a PHEV like the Hyundai Ioniq might have, with some massive hesitations. Can I expect to land on the upper end of the MPG distribution curve there as well. If I can reasonably expect 55-60 mpg after the battery charge has depleted, the math make sense.

Most of my driving is rural, through smaller towns and on freeway (usually flat, sometimes large hills) to destinations in urban areas close to freeway exits. I tend to not idle a lot (get in and go, park and walk-in vs sitting in drivethroughs), but I don't turn off the engine at lights or anything extreme.

The Jetta has been most impressive when I have had highway trips, cruising between 70-80MPH round trip I usually exceed 50 MPG on the trip efficiency. I even considered ditching the TDI because the fuel efficiency of the Jetta has been so stellar, but I definitely prefer the flat torque curve on freeways.

I would definitely be within in battery range for 50% of my daily round trip commute (56mi) and have the engine for extra errands. I figured run the engine in the cooler mornings for heating and such, then when up to operating temperature PHEV the rest of my day.

So, the big question is, for those long trips can I expect to be on the right side of the distribution curve with the Ioniq and see 10-20% better fuel efficiency than the Jetta or is the hybrid system something that will take me from top 25th percentile to the middle of the pack?

[JockoT]

The answer is probably "anticipation". If you look well ahead, anticipate the traffic, lift-off instead of brake, you can get far better mpg. Some drivers have it. Some don't. My figures are for a PETROL jazz,

[Simply_Someone]

That could make sense. I witness a lot of people run up on the car ahead of them but not overtake--it has always seemed nonsensical to me.

[Kimchi]

Hiya SS...

I agree with Jocko. I look ahead, and take in the traffic and terrain that's coming. Not does it also help with economy, it's prevented a number of accidents. Looks like we figured it out.

I also do a mix of rural and highway driving. I'm sure that's a factor. Either way, I'm getting 32mpg on my Kia Seltos. Not bad for new car with AWD running winter fuel :-)

Last tank I did a bit of 75-80mph driving and got my best mileage yet.

[Simply_Someone]

Originally Posted by Kimchi

Hiya SS...

I agree with Jocko. I look ahead, and take in the traffic and terrain that's coming. Not does it also help with economy, it's prevented a number of accidents. Looks like we figured it out.

I also do a mix of rural and highway driving. I'm sure that's a factor. Either way, I'm getting 32mpg on my Kia Seltos. Not bad for new car with AWD running winter fuel :-)

Last tank I did a bit of 75-80mph driving and got my best mileage yet.

My mother just purchased a Seltos. I was very impressed by the interior fit and finish, the last generation Kia stuff was well done, but this just feels way more premium than what I've been in by them before

[JockoT]

Kia Seltos is not available in Europe or the UK.

[Draigflag]

We don't need yet another SUV here, says the guy that just bought a 2 ton 7 seat 3.0 dirty diesel haha. Fact: for every electric vehicle bought in the UK, 37 SUVs are bought. I should imagine in places like the US, that figure is at least double or triple, but with trucks.

[Simply_Someone]

Originally Posted by Draigflag

We don't need yet another SUV here, says the guy that just bought a 2 ton 7 seat 3.0 dirty diesel haha. Fact: for every electric vehicle bought in the UK, 37 SUVs are bought. I should imagine in places like the US, that figure is at least double or triple, but with trucks.

I see statistics of new car sales here being in the 4-5million range annually with trucks close to 12million. I however don't notice that many trucks. I live in an area with average salaries just above median, so it is likely people would if they could here too

[trollbait]

The light acceleration could be what is not letting the fuel economy be better. The efficient zone in rpm and load for an engine is usually in the middle of the curve. Being below isn't as wasteful as going above it, but you are getting less work per unit of fuel than you could from the engine.

As for the Ioniq PHEV, you are beating the combined MPG rating for the VW's. It is likely you will beat the 52mpg of the Ioniq too. Accurately figuring just the gasoline consumption of a PHEV will be tricky, and require math outside of the program though.

[Simply_Someone]

Originally Posted by trollbait

The light acceleration could be what is not letting the fuel economy be better. The efficient zone in rpm and load for an engine is usually in the middle of the curve. Being below isn't as wasteful as going above it, but you are getting less work per unit of fuel than you could from the engine.

As for the Ioniq PHEV, you are beating the combined MPG rating for the VW's. It is likely you will beat the 52mpg of the Ioniq too. Accurately figuring just the gasoline consumption of a PHEV will be tricky, and require math outside of the program though.

I try to upshift right before the turbo kicks in on the Jetta. I will try to push it to this limit a little quicker and see if it decreases my consumption--there is a lot of rev hang though, and I don't know if this uses fuel or just tries to burn up what lingers.

By design the ioniq should perform better with my commute than a prius, however I'm worried the high MPG Fuelly contributors are those that have weird suburban 45mph highway commutes and my open road driving would set me up pretty low. The Kia Niro has the same drive train and the distribution sits close to but below EPA estimates.

I had assumed a phev would separate engine on miles from battery, but I guess that would be messy to separate hybrid recharge miles and engine miles.