While I do acknowledge that Hybrid car are not economical, I strongly believe in hybrids and their impact on the environment. With that notion in mind, I went to my dealership 3 weeks ago and traded my ’08 Accord for a brand new sparkling ’09 Civic Hybrid. Although my ultimate dream machine is the plug-in hybrid such as upcoming Prius PI-HV, it is still 2 or more years away from being readily and reasonably available. So for now, Civic Hybrid is the car of choice.

Being in construction business, I must drive a lot for my work, and it is not unusual to put 30,000+ miles on a car per year. To minimize my impact on the environment and my wallet, I try to drive my Toyota truck only when I need to haul ladders, tools and material – usually the first and the last trip to the job site. The rest of the time I take my car, put the tools in the trunk, and my MPG doubles instantly. Even when I go to estimate the job I try to use the car. Another measure we use to minimize driving is to perform an “over-the-email” estimate, which reduced the number of appointments that I have to drive to by 3 times. Since I usually need a ladder to climb onto the roof, I’ve purchased a telescopic aluminum ladder which easily fits in the trunk or the back seat. To rehabilitate myself for driving so much and using a lot of gas, I believe that our Cool Roofs make a bigger impact of reducing CO2 and other green-house gas emissions than that produced by my driving.

I am obsessed with hyper mileage, and although I do not get my average MPG much over the car’s highway rating, I still get more than average driver on the road. With my Accord a managed to 32.5 MPG in mixed city/highway driving while the EPA rating is 22 city / 31 highway. The goal for my Civic Hybrid is to be over 50 MPG in mixed driving.

My main concern beside the price of a Hybrid, was its payback. After sitting down and doing the math, I realized that for me it will take 7 years to see an ROI, assuming the gas prices are $4 per gallon and that I drive 30,000 mile per year. Well, today reality is such that gas prices are in $2 per gallon range and will probably stay there for at least next six months, which would take 14 years just to break even on the price difference between my Accord and the Civic Hybrid.

The true mileage of a hybrid car.

Many of hybrid owners would complain that their car does not get the “stated fuel economy” from the sticker. Here is a quote from Edmunds.com about 2007 Toyota Prius: “real-world fuel economy doesn’t live up to EPA estimates” At that time, before EPA adjusted its ratings, Prius was estimated at 55 MPG in mixed city/highway, and Civic was at 50 MPG.

Today, with the new EPA ratings in effect, Civic is rated at 40/45 MPG city/highway and 42 in mixed driving. On average, owners of 2nd generation Civic Hybrid get 46 MPG. For a full database of hybrid cars, MPG, etc. visit Green Hybrid website.

My first experience with my Civic Hybrid was quiet disappointing – I averaged 39.4 MPG over 640 miles. While better than most cars, for a hybrid this was a very low mileage. The first “failure” inspired me to figure out a new driving style to maximize my mileage.

Achieving the best MPG possible.

While not planning to break any world records for hyper mileage, my initial goal was to break 45 mpg, which i did on my 3rd tank of gas. Here is the list of adjustments I had to make to my driving style:

I reduced my highway speed to 59 mph.

In the city I try to go between 30 and 35, although it is not as important since city mpg is more defendant on the traffic conditions.

Remove the foot from gas pedal 200-300 feet before the red light / stop sign. Not only you reduce the fuel consumption over that 300 feet, but also the regenerative breaking kicks in and charges your batteries, which helps your engine accelerate the car when it is needed.

Using cruise control was the biggest improvement for me. I now use it both in the city and on the highway.

As soon as I get to 25 mph, cruse goes on. I found out that I get more efficiency when I don’t step on the gas pedal. The only time I turn cruise control off is when I go up the hill, which under cruise control, makes your engine increase its RPM from 1800 to over 3000, all-the-while your mpg meter goes from 50 to 25. Unfortunately here in New England we have way to many hills, which really limits my effective MPG. I believe that if I was to drive on a level surface, I could easily achieve over 55 mpg.

When the car approaches the hill, I turn off the cruise control and let it roll until speed drops too much (below 45 mph on highway). At that point I go into manual operation, which helps me use less gas. As soon as I get to the top of the hill, I resume the cruise control.

Over the last trip to NJ, I managed to get to 50.7 mpg, but this is only the beginning in my journey to get extreme mileage. Next goal is 55 mpg, and from there, sky is the limit.

Simple things I will, and you can do, to increase the gas mileage.

These tips will work for any car, not just hybrid. The most important thing you can do, would be to lower the speed. Besides the obvious increase in mpg, the most important benefit is the increase road safety. You greatly reduce your chances of getting a speed ticket or making an accident. Don’t go to slow though, since that can make alot of drivers on the road VERY unhappy.

1) I will increase the tire pressure to the maximum allowed by manufacturer. This reduces drag, make rolling easier and increases your mpg.

2) I will get a K&N air filter, which not only last much longer, it also let’s more air through.

3) You should also use the “lightest” motor oil grade allowed by your car manufacturer. The lighter is the oil the thinner it is, therefore it flows through the engine much easier, which makes it work less, and increases mpg.

For more fuel-saving tips, and to learn advanced hyper-mileage tricks and techniques, go to CleanMPG.com. I will post updates and new techniques I learn or “develop” to increase my gas mileage.

Life after Hybrids

I am now researching the Plug-In hybrids as well as electric vehicles that use Lithium-Ion and Super Capacitor energy storage technologies, and which would meet my criteria. I plan to get one as soon as they become available at reasonable prices and quantities. My estimation is mid to end of 2010.

So far the choices are Prius plug-in and Chevy Volt. Both use Lithium Ion batteries. I’m leaning toward the Volt, but in my mind there are 3 factors that say “no-way”.

One reason is more ideological – is is the fact that GM was on of those who “killed the electric car”. Although Toyota also had an all-electric model and also “killed” it, GM actually owned the NiMH battery technology, which was used in the EV-1, Rav4 EV and others, as well as both Civic Hybrid and Prius. Later, GM sold that technology to Texaco – the oil company – which made it a proprietary technology and limited its commercial availability. Long story short, GM is directly involved in disappearance of electric cars which were available 10 years ago and lack of any viable alternatives today.

Second reason is more practical. Due to current state of world economy in general and US auto industry and GM in particular, there might not be a Chevy Volt in 2010 …

Third reason – even if GM gets the federal bailout money and the Chevy Volt comes out, I am more convinced of Toyota’s quality than that of GM.

Despite the above 3 reasons, Volt looks better IMHO and specs-wise it has 40 mile battery range vs. Prius’ 15 miles. Past that, I’m not sure of Volts fuel efficiency, so lets wait and see. Maybe Honda will also make a Plug-In car, and we will actually have some real competition in that segment. I will post updates about my Civic’s fuel economy and Plug-In Hybrids.