My first hybrid

[IanLorenc]

So, I picked up my new car today, and it's my first hybrid.
Behold the simple majesty of the 2013 Toyota Yaris Hybrid, in T4 trim:


I'm still getting used to it, but when it moves under electric alone...it's eerie, to say the least.

[ishtmail]

Will follow your progress closely. I'm keen to see what kind of mileage you can do with it.

[frv]

Me too
Keep us posted Ian. I'll be impressed if you beat the manufacturer's figures by a decent percentage

[greenman]

Best of luck with that it looks good, is it automatic?

[IanLorenc]

Personally, I think the official of 80.7 is pie-in-the-sky, skewed testing. I'm personally hoping to average very late sixties, maybe early seventies.
What Car?'s pessimistic 'True MPG' figure is 47.7! Browsing the Yar-Hyb users on Fuelly shows people averaging between 55.4 and 63.9.
Right now I've done just under 70 miles and it's averaging a smidge over 60mpg. I obviously expect this figure to go up as both the car accumulates miles and I get used to driving it.

Is it automatic?

Yup, my first automatic. Very quickly becomes very comfortable, and very easy in traffic. You can get manual hybrids (Civic & CRZ) but these are obviously 'mild' hybrids, and I don't see the point of a hybrid that can't move itself by electric alone.


I was just thinking earlier today...
The 10 y/o Mk5 Fiesta (40k) I had, well, I could batter the official MPG figures, both Combined and Extra-Urban, all year round...but it was a completely different story with the new Fiesta I had, where - under the very best of weather conditions and perfect Sister-Ian-Hail-Mary-driving - I could only top the combined figure by 0.4mpg.
The question is then raised about whether manufacturers now, are getting good at skewing the MPG test.
Or maybe the newer Fiesta would have improved with mileage (I left it with 13k).

[ishtmail]

I really should apply for a Prius+ test drive some day, I want to see what I can pull from it.

I was hoping that hybrids would by default be capable of 100mpg UK or more, especially on a small car like the Yaris. I guess the gasoline engine is really the problem here, a diesel hybrid would obviously be a better hypermiler car.

[IanLorenc]

One thing I'm definitely NOT used to, is that the shorter, the choppier the journey is...the better the car likes it.
I've just done my most hated of weekly drives - two mile, rush hour-timed jaunt to class - and recorded my best mpg so far; 68.1mpg:

[IanLorenc]

I was hoping that hybrids would by default be capable of 100mpg UK or more, especially on a small car like the Yaris. I guess the gasoline engine is really the problem here, a diesel hybrid would obviously be a better hypermiler car.

Well, there are diesel hybrids emerging...

[ishtmail]

Yeah, I know... The prices for those will be pretty outrageous though

[frv]

Thanks for the update Ian - are you driving your hybrid differently to the Fiesta?