Fuel consumption

[Anthony B]

I've had my 2013 IS300h for 8 months or so, and am learning to like it.  It is the right car for me and I'll hang on to it for several years - unless the government comes up with any more harebrained schemes to penalise me.  However I'm not getting the kind of fuel consumption figures that I keep hearing quoted.  I run in ECO mode all the time, and use EV when the situation allows me to, but am consistently reaching no better than the upper-40s mpg.  Admittedly we live in a rural area of Wiltshire, so lots of accelerating and braking around the lanes, but even so...      My best figure was during a prolonged motorway stretch last year which delivered 58.4mpg.  Am I missing something?

[wh05apk]

I think that is realistically as good as it gets, remember, you have a 200hp 2.5lt petrol automatic, that consumption is well into diesel territory.

[Jayw13702]

I use mine as a taxi, so most of the day it is trecking around town, I average 43-45mpg.
On fast a roads with little stop start I can get that to early 50’s and today I’ve just done a run into London from Devon and the trip computer is showing 57.9mpg

The change from “normal” to hybrid did require a bit of thinking about things like braking/slowing down and accelerating. If the light are changing I coast into the junction in order to regen as much as possible and also accelerate as gently as the traffic will allow in order to keep the Battery powering the car as much as possible.

Mid to late 40’s during the winter is quite good, I’ve noticed a 5mpg difference between summer and winter as I’m using the lights/wipers/heater a lot more in the winter


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[royoftherovers]

You are missing nothing Anthony.

Take a long trip up to Northumberland or Dumfries and Galloway or Edinburgh and report back please.

[wharfhouse]

1 hour ago, Anthony B said:

I've had my 2013 IS300h for 8 months or so, and am learning to like it.  It is the right car for me and I'll hang on to it for several years - unless the government comes up with any more harebrained schemes to penalise me.  However I'm not getting the kind of fuel consumption figures that I keep hearing quoted.  I run in ECO mode all the time, and use EV when the situation allows me to, but am consistently reaching no better than the upper-40s mpg.  Admittedly we live in a rural area of Wiltshire, so lots of accelerating and braking around the lanes, but even so...      My best figure was during a prolonged motorway stretch last year which delivered 58.4mpg.  Am I missing something?

As other have said sounds about right and in line with what I get in mine. My overall mpg for the last 3 years and about 40K miles (mine is a 2014 car that I bought when it was 2 years old with 40K on it) is very close to the new WLTP figures for the IS 300h of 48mpg (as we all know the old NEDC figures which had the IS 300h at 67mpg were complete nonsense for all cars). When you say "use EV when the situation allows me to" do you mean selecting EV on the switch by the gear lever or just having it come on when lifting off the accelerator? If the former, then for normal driving that doesn't help fuel economy and can in fact hinder it. For moving the car a short distance so the ICE doesn't kick in that's fine, but don't bother selecting it via the switch otherwise. Also in summer you will see a jump in economy by 10% or more. In fact just yesterday I had a decent motorway run and as the weather was warmer than of recent weeks I noticed a marked improvement in fuel consumption. 

[Britprius]

As Phil above says do not use EV to try to improve your MPG. It is fine for swapping cars round on the driveway so that no fuel is used.
It must be remembered that all of the energy from the car comes from petrol. Driving in EV mode reduces the Battery state of charge. The computer them makes engine then not only power the car along, but also has to charge the Battery using more fuel.
The idea is that the Battery should be charged from energy that would normally be wasted such as braking, coasting down a hill, or on overrun. This kinetic energy has already been put into the car from the engine, and reclaiming it uses no fuel.
There are occasions where the computer will make the engine produce more power than is required to keep the car moving, and produce some electricity. On these occasions it is because it is calculated the engine will be running more efficiently at this higher output, and save fuel by putting that little extra energy into the Battery for later use.

John.

[Anthony B]

Many thanks to everyone who posted these useful hints and tips.  I see that my experience is in line with those of others, so I'm content.  I never believed those ridiculous peak consumption figures quoted (and even repeated in a recent road test video of a model identical to mine.)   Without a doubt one has to get used to driving a hybrid, and I'm still learning.  As it happens we're off to Scotland in early May, so I'll keep a note of the data and post it here in due course.

Thanks again

Anthony

[Paul Brooksbank]

I traded a Honda Civic 1.8 iVtec for my Lexus. I didn't drive the Civic any differently to the Lexus in that I don't thrash around like a boy racer. I got about 28 to 32 to the gallon out of the Civic in winter, I'm getting a good 38 out of the Lexus, but in far more luxury. 

[olliesgrandad]

The Lexus YouTube video is a great help. I am on my 4th Lexus having started with a 2014 IS300h f sport. 

As a high mileage driver I find that using eco apart from in traffic or cruising at a steady speed is counter productive to economy. 

If you dig around my old posts you will see my real world consumption figures. I have had more recent IS300h as loan cars and they are definitely better on fuel. Let's face it you are getting diesel mpg from a petrol and that's great (I'm comparing with my last Mercedes a E250 cabriolet which got mid to high 40s generally). 

[Malc]

On 3/9/2020 at 2:18 PM, Anthony B said:

we're off to Scotland in early May,

enjoy your amazing trip, nothing better than a good trip to and around Scotland when there's not too much traffic AND

for heavens sake please don't worry about the fuel consumption, you're on holiday 

Malc

[Anthony B]

Thanks again to all who've shared their wisdom and experience.  That's what forums are for.  In fact I know from my slowly improving technique that I can get excellent consumption figures - yesterday, for example, in a 28-mile round trip around Salisbury Plain, lots of bends and mildish gradients - I logged 49mpg, my best yet for a short trip.  I've taken to driving with the 'Trip Information' screen on the display, having of course updated the Past Record screen at the start - I liike the minute-by-minute view of how I'm doing.

And I can't help but compare my current figures with the corresponding data from my lovely 4.3 litre V-8 LS430, which reached the end of its life a year ago, a wonderful car to own and drive, but you can see where I'm coming from there.

A

[Mincey]

14 hours ago, Paul Brooksbank said:

I'm getting a good 38 out of the Lexus, but in far more luxury. 

Snap - I'm doing lots of short journeys with the occasional 50 mile round trip thrown in at the moment, and am at around 36 mpg based on Excel calculations from the two last complete fill ups. I don't mind - I know I can get more out of her, and I'd usually walk the short journeys instead of driving. However, it's a lot nicer going to Sainsburys in the IS than it is on foot 😉  

[olliesgrandad]

Do make sure that you do tank to tank checks the computer is not very accurate - designed by Walter Mitty perhaps 😅

[Mincey]

3 minutes ago, olliesgrandad said:

Do make sure that you do tank to tank checks the computer is not very accurate - designed by Walter Mitty perhaps 😅

Absolutely - mine read 38.5 and Excel said 36.07