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Hybrid Vehicles Nissan Altima Hybrid Nissan Altima Hybrid
321 messages, Last post on Nov 19, 2009 at 9:31 PM
You are in the Nissan Altima Hybrid Forum. Your Host is pf_flyer
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Replying to: happy_hybrid_1 (Jun 26, 2007 7:34 am) IMHO, i don't love a damaged and repaired car as much as a new one. There are some exceptions, like if it needed a new fender (that is an easy fix), but any major body work that required pulling, hammering, sanding, and/or repainting, no thanks!!!!
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I bought an Altima Hybrid on Tuesday. I love the look and the feel of the car. The dealer filled the tank for me and I drove it off of the lot. It had 31 miles on it. I then did some city stop and go driving for about 4 miles and then 25 on the highway. My computer showed avg of 38 MPG for that trip. Man, was I excited. Wednesday AM I drove the 100 miles home on the highway and my MPG dropped to about 35. I found that with the cruise control on, the EV never kicked in, so I shut the c.c. off. As soon as I got into town I filled the tank again so I could test city driving, and I now have 66.6 city miles on the car (not a lot, I know). My computer reads 30.1 MPG and avg speed of 19.7 MPH. I live in AZ and it's very hot so the A/C is on all of the time. But I bought the car in AZ, and it was very hot for the first 31 miles of the car's life as well. I have been actively trying to drive the car so that the battery will kick on but it seems to only be on when I have no gas applied and am just coasting or am stopped. I just went out to the car, which is parked in my garage, and it's a comfy 80 or so degrees in there, to get the numbers for this post. When I turned the car on it was just battery as expected, but then after just 5 seconds or so, the gas engine kicked on. The A/C was off as I turn it off before I shut the car down. The radio may have been on. Should the gas engine have turned on in that situation? I left the car in Park. I did notice a warning light that is a yellow triangle with a black exclamtion point in it. I didn't take the time to look up what that means yet. Any suggestions on how I can get better MPG out of this car? That was the only reason I switched to a Hybrid. And while 30 is better than the 22 I was getting, it was somehow getting 38 when I bought it, and nothing has changed except the title! Any input would be greatly appreciated. |
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Replying to: auntieshoes (Jun 29, 2007 5:09 am) not sure what the warning light is EV mode will only stay on up to 42 mph and last up to 2 miles. i average about 35 mpg. i try to accelerate and keep it in EV mode up until about 15-20 mph, and then when the gas kicks in, i start to accelerate faster. seems to work well for me. i think more than anything, you need to change your driving habits to maximize fuel economy. at least there are plenty of tools to show you how
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Replying to: langjie (Jun 29, 2007 6:09 am) No matter how slowly and smoothly I accelerate, the gas kicks in after just a few seconds. Are you saying you can keep the car in EV mode all of the way up to 42 mph? Even with the A/C on? Do you think the A/C makes a difference? It is also a very heavy jerk when the gas kicks in. I can only get the car to about 8 mph before the gas kicks in. I feel like I should have talked to the dealership about this more before I left. And it's 135 miles away so I can't just stop in to chat with them. Any suggestions on where to find the tools to show me how to change my habits?
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Replying to: auntieshoes (Jun 29, 2007 6:20 am) It sounds like you are sort of hard on the gas pedal. If you ease up on the throttle, I'm sure you can run on EV a little bit longer. A/C probably play a small part, but I've been running A/C the past few days and it's been pretty close. The tools I am talking about is the Power meter gauge, and the MPG bar. If the Power Meter Gauge goes all the way down to the end of the Blue spectrum, chances are you are braking harder then what's most efficient (slow long braking is the best for regeneration). The MPG bar is good because you can see how much you are using at that time. I try to ease up to 15 mph, and then I accelerate a bit harder when the engine kicks in, and when I am up to speed, I try to ease up and just maintain my speed and the MPG bar usually is around 40 MPG when I am cruising. Don't worry, there is definitely a learning curve, this is just what I observed (btw this is my first hybrid) so there are probably better ways of driving the car as well. Find out what works for you. I also log my miles/fuel purchases on fueleconomy.gov. My mpg range is 31-38. |
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Replying to: auntieshoes (Jun 29, 2007 5:09 am)
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Replying to: townboy325 (Jun 30, 2007 5:57 pm)
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Replying to: auntieshoes (Jun 30, 2007 7:07 pm) |
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| I picked up my 2007 Altima Hybrid exactly 1 week ago. I had to wait almost 2 months for one to be located up here in the Northeast. Finally one was located with full options including moonroof and NAV package with leather. I was able to secure a deal with the dealership for $2000 below MSRP for a total of $30995. Extremely happy so far. Still on first tank of gas after driving 355 miles of both mixed, some city and rural driving (30% city and 70% rural)and averaging 38 mpg. I have been able to drive distances of over 2.5 miles in EV mode only as long as the speed is kept at or below 40 mph. | |
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Replying to: auntieshoes (Jun 29, 2007 5:09 am) This is my 2nd hybrid vehicle as I also have a 2006 Honda Civic which is not quite the same as the Altima hybrid. I have noticed that if you accelerate very slowly you can keep the car in the EV mode for up to 40 mph during city driving. This is not always practical as cars behind you are usually in a hurry. You can pulsate the gas pedal to obtain good mileage and maximize the EV mode. I am not saying stomp on the gas pedal but you can apply normal pressure to obtain speeds of say 25 to 45, then immediately release the pedal and the vehicle should immediately go into EV mode only (usually at 42mph and below, and with a good battery charge). Then you can use slight pressure to maintain the vehicle speed while staying in EV mode. There is really no reason why you cannot maintain 40 mph and be in EV mode for up to 2 miles especially if there is no hill or grade to the road. You should be able to do this with or without the air conditioning on. All of my driving thus far has been with the A/C on. You are basically going to have to train yourself how to drive this vehicle to maximize mileage. I am still on my first tank of gas after driving 355 miles. I am averaging 38 mpg (30% city and 70% highway driving)and still have just over a half a tank of gas left. I expect to get up to and possibly exceed 700 miles per tank of gas. I have been able to drive up to 2.5 miles continuous in EV mode only (mostly on level roads and even very slight inclines). The key to this is being very easy on the gas pedal and if you have to speed up quicker then do apply normal or moderate gas pedal pressure, then consider a light foot with slight pulsating of the gas pedal. You also have to remember that since this is a CVT transmission then pulsating the gas pedal is actually better for gas mileage than that of a vehicle with a normal transmission. |
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