City MPG higher than highway??

[jrzyguy30]

So I've put 700 miles on my new sonata hybrid and with all the city driving, I've been averaging around 31-32 mpg (not bad I thought).. and I was excited to drive a distance to meet a friend... so drove on the highway non stop for over an hour at like 75mph and when I arrived at the destination, I was averaging 28mpg....???

So what gives.. did I do something wrong? I used the Cruise Control for a while and other times just drove.. yes there were long hills, but long declines with that also..

Any thoughts anyone?

Thanks!

[blazeman]

The sweet spot is more around 65 than 75. That said... I can usually get 38mpg on I4 from my town to Disney (about a 45 minute drive... all highway). Usually I'm at the posted speedlimit. Parts it's 65, parts 50 (on a major interstate!) and parts 70.

The car really does to better with cruise on. They did a good job programming CC for higher MPG in my opinion

[carnold535]

I drive mixed traffic. 1/2 of my driving is 2 lane country roads, then some city roads then finally highway. Highway has about 10 miles at 70 and 15 or so at 55-65. Between all of this I have been averaging around 37 mpg. I use CC almost all the time on the highways and stay around 67-68 on the 70 mph stretch and around 62 for the 55-65 stretch.

You are also having some cold weather up there. We keep fluctuating between 40's and mid 70's in Florida so we tend to warm up more quickly so we can take advantage of the better mileage. Good luck with your car Jrzy!

Chuck

[darrelldb1]

Doesn't the HSH have a 74mph limit for ev mode? I haven't tested it, but that may be what's happening to your mileage at 75mph

[Eric1r]

Speed kills MPG. 75 is too fast.

[Barry Deacon]

Originally Posted by darrelldb1

Doesn't the HSH have a 74mph limit for ev mode? I haven't tested it, but that may be what's happening to your mileage at 75mph

Yeah, I've seen various info about the EV only available up to certain speeds, but that hasn't been the case with mine.

EV seemingly operates at any speed, certainly beyond 74mph and continues as long as the SOC is adequate.

Barry

[reddogva99]

I've seen EV only at higher speeds too. 75 is way too fast. If you drop down to 55 your mpg will likely go from 28 to 35ish. I decided to stop going 60 on my commute and went up to 70mph and my mpg went down from 38 to 33-34. The temperature is not helping either.

[jrzyguy30]

Interesting... Good to know. Well coming from 20-23 mpg, certainly happy with 32-33mpg but the idea of going 65 on the interstate in morning rush hour traffic is like walking down the middle of a busy road...dangerous in NJ! People here are usually going 75-85mph during commuting hours and they aren't friendly. So we shall see.

In regards to the cold, that definitely doesn't help I guess. Sub 30's in the morning and evenings... Just out of curiosity, why does this affect my mpg?

[mondoe]

Have to agree with all related to cold weather affecting mileage, was 20 degrees when I left work and got up to about 25 as I got closer to the lake and my mpg average has been consistently dropping. Supposed to be 12deg in the morning! BRRRR

[hiverli]

Cleveland

30 degree
and 20mpg in city