. . . and why I need to find a new route for my evening commute. Let me explain the picture. The first (oldest) bar is normal driving. You can see that it's about 60-65mpg. Then came the first segment of creep. Most of the five minutes spent running on battery alone. Then in the 15-20 segment, it's entirely running on battery. Then the ICE kicks in during the 10-15 segment and my mileage tanks at 25mpg. At around the 12 minute mark, the creeping was over and I was on the highway accelerating up to 55 mph on a depleted battery. Then about five miles of 45-50 mph during which the only good thing I could say is that at least the battery charged so that the last segment was back to normal. The entire ordeal took roughly a half hour and was 8 miles. Last year my commute was not as congested and this creeping did not happen. I was routinely turning in full screen in the 50-70 and higher. This is so frustrating.
T Gotta admit, I clicked on your thread expecting something *entirely* different Hmmmm .... baaaaa? J
Eight miles in half an hour? Ride yer bike! Plus, with more regular exercise, you'll be happier, in better shape, and won't need to be such a creep.
Those eight miles were part of my 24 mile commute. And though there are people who do ride their bikes on the streets around here during rush hour, I've rarely seen the same person twice.
That's pretty much my daily commute, except without the first three or last two bars. A little over one mile, seven stop signs/traffic lights (which are usually red when I get to them), and/or left-hand turns. And that doesn't even include the usual two+ minute wait just getting out of my driveway or stopping for random pedestrian crossings.
The Prius, where the difference between 59.9 and 60.0 is a gaping gulf of despair ... sometimes ya just need a little comfort on the road to offset things. Baaaa. . I actually do just fine in stop-n-crawl commutes; I just let a nice big gap open up in front [helping other traffic maneuver, thus making things sort out faster] and wait until the time is right to "do a burn". SOC does get fairly low during such runs but I can still manage engine-on vs. engine-off pretty optimally through it, and run at optimal load once things clear out while accelerating gently back up and charging the battery. . _H*
"You are not in a traffic jam: you are the traffic jam." Ask your congressanimals for more mass transit.
Some folks feel sorry for those of us who hit the road at 3:55am. But I get a choice: 7:30am & 25mpg creep or 60mpg+ & no cars on the horizon driving. It has its trade offs.
Hit the road at 3:55? Rather than hit the ground running, at that time of the morning I'd hit the ground sleeping. I'm a night person. If I had my druthers I'd sleep until 8:00, be on the road at 9:00 and at work at 10:00. I'd gladly work until 7:00. This would not only better cater to my sleep patterns which would make me a better employee but would also improve my commute. But alas, 10:00am CST is 5:00 in Europe. I need that 2-hour overlap for returning emails and having conference calls.
