Corolla Touring Sport Excel 2.0

[jakeday]

Hi, 

First post... 

I just purchased a 2019 Touring Sport Excel 2.0 - and its my first hybrid - just wondering if you have any tips for driving a hybrid? Only had a couple of trips out so far, but keen to get the car to pick up more from the Battery and less from the engine - but i'm aware that it needs to charge... 

How though do i get the Battery to fully charged? Best i've managed is 3-4 bars (out of around 10) - and obviously using it means its reducing all the time! I just popped out to move the car and the engine kicked in automatically - even though i was only rolling it forward. 

Not a big deal, but hoping with some tips and guides i can become a bit more economical?

 

thanks in advance. 

jake

[Catlover]

Basically, the hybrid Battery will charge when the engine is running. Overall,you should find the car should run approx 50% of the time on Battery, meaning 50% of the time on the engine, depends on the runs you do, hills, weather hot or cold etc. You will do more engine running in the cold winter months and less in the summer. There can be approx 10mpg difference between summer and winter running. The whole hybrid system is controlled by a computer. If the hybrid Battery is low, and the engine water system cold, yes you will find the engine kicking in even if you just moving about on the drive/garage, so no surprise what you say.

There are loads of driving tips of hybrid vehicles on You Tube. I looked specifically for Prius tips, but principles are the same. You will learn about “pulse and glide”.   The best mpg I got was last June, a 50 mile journey on A roads from Telford, Shropshire back home near Chester, Cheshire, 96.5mpg, well pleased with that, from what I read you not going to get near that in a 2.0 Corolla, too sporty, but it’s all in your right foot.

[Wudzi]

I'm on the 2.0 and have only ever got it to full Battery once on a fairly extended downhill run where I basically wasn't touching the throttle.

It is normal for it to be sitting round the middle in my experience so far. I think you have to not compare it to a plug in hybrid that's doing extended distances for very long, it constantly cuts in and out.

How is the overall MPG looking?

[Timmon]

Likewise, I have only seen a full Battery when taking a lengthy down hill piece of road, so the hybrid system stores a lot of energy.

The Hybrid computer ensures the Battery does not normally fully charge (or discharge), because this shortens the life of modern batteries. You will note that manufacturers of Full EV vehicles often advertise "Time to charge to 80%". This is because the vehicle will charge to 80% rapidly, then the car will slow down the charge rate to protect the Battery. What EV manufacturers don't say is that they would prefer you to charge to 80% to lengthen the life of the battery, but to say that is admitting that the range  between charges they advertise, could be a lot less, if you want your battery to live longer.

Even mobile phones, the batteries will last longer if you don't charge it to 100%. The life of batteries is measured in cycles, and 100% to 0 is one cycle, by not fully charging and discharging everytime, you don't complete a full cycle, so the battery lasts longer. And 100% to 0 constantly, actually reduces the charge the battery can retain by a small amount, for every full cycle.

So, your Hybrid battery is looked after by the computer, to ensure you get the most mileage from it.

[jakeday]

Ok thanks. So a) don’t expect massive mpg from a 2.0. First trip home was 51.5 - but I was playing around a bit. Suspect I can get it to 60 with a decent run, but can’t see it getting to 94.5!!

good to hear Battery is often only half full...I can’t get mine up, but will look at tips on YouTube.

 

cheers all.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Could have a look at the following:

https://blog.toyota.co.uk/hybrid-driving-technique-toyotas-top-tips-for-achieving-the-best-fuel-economy-in-your-hybrid

[nielshm]

12 hours ago, jakeday said:

Hi, 

First post... 

I just purchased a 2019 Touring Sport Excel 2.0 - and its my first hybrid - just wondering if you have any tips for driving a hybrid? Only had a couple of trips out so far, but keen to get the car to pick up more from the battery and less from the engine - but i'm aware that it needs to charge... 

How though do i get the battery to fully charged? Best i've managed is 3-4 bars (out of around 10) - and obviously using it means its reducing all the time! I just popped out to move the car and the engine kicked in automatically - even though i was only rolling it forward. 

Not a big deal, but hoping with some tips and guides i can become a bit more economical?

 

thanks in advance. 

jake

If you do a lot of city driving, 3-4 bars in the Battery is the best you can get. The car needs the little extra boost from the electric motor all the time, and chances of doing a proper charge is very limited.

Out on the flat open roads, the engine often charges up to 8 bars, never above that, unless you drive down long hills. The car usually changes into hybrid drivemode, using both engine and Battery. That lasts 5 miles or so, until the Battery is down to 4 bars, and the cycle repeats it self.

I've been doing some experiments using Eco vs. Normal vs. Sport in terms of battery usage. On motorways with higher speeds, Eco can charge the battery up to 6 or 7 bars, Normal and Sport don't go any higher than 4 bars. Priority is more power direct to the engine instead of using it for battery charging. With lower speeds the 3 systems are more similar to each other, throttle respons however, is VERY different.

[Timmon]

12 hours ago, jakeday said:

Ok thanks. So a) don’t expect massive mpg from a 2.0. First trip home was 51.5 - but I was playing around a bit. Suspect I can get it to 60 with a decent run, but can’t see it getting to 94.5!!

good to hear battery is often only half full...I can’t get mine up, but will look at tips on YouTube.

 

cheers all.

Yes, the thing here is not to compare Hybrid with hybrid, but Hybrid with standard ICE. This is how it is for me.

I bought a 2.0 ltr for the bit of extra performance I can have, when I want it, not for comparison against the 1.8 ltr hybrid, which is an excellent powertrain for economy.

My last 2.0ltr car returned 32 to 35 mpg, being careful. My 2.0 ltr Hybrid returns nearer 48mpg in winter and up to 60 or a bit above when the temperature gauge is 26 degrees upwards. But I am happy with 52 to 55 in the summer, as I don't do much town driving. 

I am sure you can get 60 mpg regularly, but then, why buy a 2.0ltr? Quite difficult unless you mainly drive in the city. You will find the balance between economy and driving enjoyment. I found that obsessing about economy and studying the hybrid meter to excess, reduced my enjoyment, and I achieved very good mpg, by ignoring all that, and just driving smoothly. Also safer than taking your eye off the road constantly to see if you are being "bad" and drifting into the "PWR" zone.

Each to his own, you will find what gives you the most driving enjoyment. But you will get better MPG with a Hybrid, however you drive.

[AndrueC]

There is a school of thought that says maximising EV at all times is not ideal. To clarify what I'm referring to here is lifting off the power to cause the car to drop into EV mode and then reapplying power to keep the car going in EV mode without waking the ICE up. This is best done with the eco gauge visible. This is the gauge with four sections 'charge', 'ev', 'normal' and 'pwr'. As long as you keep the car in the first two the ICE will not start until the Battery is exhausted. If you want to minimise fuel consumption this gauge is your friend. Avoid ever pushing it into 'PWR'.

Anyway back to my main point: All the energy in the Battery has come from burning petrol. Getting the energy from the ICE to the Battery and back to the wheels has losses (not a great deal, ~2% I think). Anyway what this means is that in some circumstances it is better to let the ICE drive the wheels than to go via the battery therefore you shouldn't force the car to use EV mode when it wouldn't otherwise. There is a long, long discussion on a forum elsewhere about this but the conclusions were not clear.

I seem to get pretty good figures so my recommendation is that you force the car into EV when you know that you are approaching a stretch of road that doesn't require much power especially if it might be a recharge situation. Also when you know that you're approaching a low speed area since low speeds is when EV mode gains you the most.

Another suggestion (I don't know if this is good or not) is to use the battery because you're approaching a stretch of road where the ICE is going to be working fairly hard. My logic here is that it's better to work the ICE <hard>+<charge> than <light>+<charge>. In effect you might as well tack charging the battery on top because it has to do a fair amount of work anyway.

But don't force the car into EV just because you think it will run that way for a short distance. Keep the battery for when it will do most good. And never, ever (hah) use 'PWR'. Oh and although the cruise control is pretty good a competent driver can do better - use it only when it makes most sense such as on a motorway.

For the record: Measured pump to pump over winter with a daily commute of 9 miles open road, 2 miles urban I got around 58mpg. Summer was more like 65.

[Rambler56]

I've stopped displaying the main info graphics for Battery and engine and just let the system get on with it.  I get around 55-57 mpg pottering around and that drops down to 50ish when on long motorway runs. 

[Parts-King]

On 10/1/2020 at 11:09 PM, jakeday said:

Ok thanks. So a) don’t expect massive mpg from a 2.0. First trip home was 51.5 - but I was playing around a bit. Suspect I can get it to 60 with a decent run, but can’t see it getting to 94.5!!

good to hear battery is often only half full...I can’t get mine up, but will look at tips on YouTube.

I currently run a 2.0, it is averaging 56 MPG, I do 40 miles a day, half is on a dual carriageway, I don't hang around but I am easy on the acceleration. My 1.8 Corolla averaged 70 MPG. I am switching back to a 1.8 next week (Company leased cars-6 month changes) Don't faff about switching to EV, let the computer do the work, easy acceleration and road anticipation will get you good MPG (Not braking- anticipate ahead-let the car roll) You might get to 60 if you are on A roads, but doubt you will get to 60 if you do much motorway driving and get to 70 MPH

 

[Gerg]

On 10/1/2020 at 4:37 PM, jakeday said:

How though do i get the battery to fully charged?

As well as all the above, in a counter-intuitive way, when the Battery is completely fully charged, the car is missing one of its fuel economising 'tools' when it next needs it - the car no longer has anywhere to store further energy gleaned from regenerative braking.  So in that situation, the (potentially useful) energy has to be discarded until the Battery has capacity to store some more.  Or did someone else mention that and I missed it?

So routinely running the battery a significant amount below full charge (by the ECU) could be seen as a good strategy!  Well, until GPS- based journey gradient anticipation (already exists on some cars, no?) comes along, and adaptive learning of traffic conditions on an often repeated route?

Perhaps I need to get out more!