Brisk Acceleration And Gentle Braking Required For Best Mileage From Hybrids
The Cascadia Scorecard Weblog has a nice post on how to optimize the gas mileage from hybrid cars.
…hybrid owners need to learn a new style of driving to take advantage of their cars’ technology. Lovins calls it “pulse driving,” and it has two main components:
- Brisk acceleration, then letting up once you reach cruising speed. “The engine is most efficient at high speed and torque,” he writes.
- Gentle braking, anticipating the need to stop. This allows the car to recover as much energy as possible and feed it into the battery. If you try to stop more suddenly, the mechanical brakes kick in, and they dissipate that precious energy as mere heat.
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