24.Getting Better Mileage From A Hybrid Car – Buy A Hybrid Car

Increasing mileage and taking advantage of fuel economy is a major motivator for many who opt to invest in these vehicles

1. Driving Slower – It is a known fact that the drag on your car will increase the faster you drive. The drive force at 70 mph is double that at 50 mph (How Stuff Works). Slowing down can increase your mileage.

2. Try to maintain a constant speed – remember that each time you speed up your car has to use more energy.

3. Avoid abrupt stops – the electric motor in the hybrid cars take energy out of the car when is has to stop. If you give the motor more time to slow the car then it will be able to recover more of the energy.

How do I get Maximum Fuel Efficiency?
I found this interesting question from HowStuffWorks.com, as it tried to explain how to figure this part of owning a Hybrid out. It forms part of the motivation and value-proposition of hybrid vehicles and might help you make up your mind if it is for you or not.

One of the tips to increase gas mileage is to travel at a constant speed. The question is, what is that magical speed that will give you the most out of your fuel.

To explain this we must know how much power it takes to push a car down the road. The power required is explained by the following equation:
road load power = av + bv2 + cv3

The letter v represents the velocity of the car, and the letters a, b and c represent three different constants:

* The a component comes mostly from the rolling resistance of the tires, and friction in the car's components, like drag from the brake pads, or friction in the wheel bearings.

* The b component also comes from friction in components, and from the rolling resistance in the tires. But it also comes from the power used by the various pumps in the car.

* The c component comes mostly from things that affect aerodynamic drag like the frontal area, drag coefficient and density of the air.

This equation says that if you double your speed, you will increase the power required by much more than double. A hypothetical medium sized SUV that requires 20 at 50 mph might require 100 horsepower at 100 mph.

By plugging some speeds into the equation we can see how a 1 mph increase from 2 to 3 mph compares with a 1 mph increase from 50 to 51 mph. To make things easy we'll assume a, b and c are all equal to 1

Speed     Equation   Result

3 mph     3+32+33   39

2 mph     2+22+23   14

Power Increase 25

51 mph 51+512+513 135,303

50 mph 50+502+503 127,550

Power Increase 7,753
(Source: © http://auto.howstuffworks.com/question477.htm)

If this is a major concern of yours when selecting or opting to buy a Hybrid, bear in mind that purchasing is only half the equation. Using and maintaining the vehicle and on-going responsibility. Driving it as such to get the maximum benefit from the hybrid technology also important.