Efficient driving tips unique to THIS vehicle?

What are your tips unique to THIS VEHICLE ONLY? Full disclosure: I don't drive this car slow...at all. I use the torque when it's needed and enjoy it. I've tried driving in low constantly and like someone mentioned here, I get better range when not doing that. Lately I've found that shifting into Low to brake for stoplights seems like the best of both worlds. Mind you, I also moved tire pressures up to 37 PSI (which is a topic that should be off limits in this thread, ahem) but I've noticed much improved efficiency. This is in 100% city driving.

So...what are your tips that aren't the same tips you can get anywhere from the hypermiler crowd?

Pay attention to the gauges on the steering column, I always use the one that shows instantaneous kwh usage and try and keep it below 15-25 when coasting. I use D on the highway and then switch to L during slowdowns. Regen is only good for when you absolutely have to decelerate, in all other cases try and maintain momentum.
I am definitely not a hyper miler, my daily drive is 20 miles from my house (with a L2 charger) to my school (CSUF we have 9 L2 chargers) and so I'm going down the 91 as fast as traffic. I get terrible efficiency because I'm generally going on the carpool lane at 70+ mph just to keep up with traffic. I also like to accelerate quickly from onramps and then get into the carpool asap. That said, when I make the occasional long drive (from Bellfllower to Riverside) I try and slow down, draft behind the big trucks, use cruise control and get regen going down the hills. This can get excellent efficiency like 6.5+ kwh but is annoying to do.

I know some people here get an immense pleasure from going 45 on the highway in the slow lane with no AC behind a big rig and watching how little electrons they use...I am not one of them.

As for tires, my front ones are at 45psi because they're the Yokohama Avid Ascends and I kept the stock ones in back at the recommended 35. I probably am getting a little less range because of the grippier tires, but the handling improvement (especially at high speeds) and disappearance of torque steer is way worth it.

Yeah, I'd echo that of Chaconzies as far as using D mode most of time, but then switching to L if you know you are about to stop/slow.

The biggest killer of range is the speed that you drive. Surprisingly, I found this to be an even larger factor than elevation gain (to some extent). I did a 120 mile round trip on a single charge where I ascended nearly 7000ft the first 60 miles, then descended that elevation the last 60; I kept the average speed at about 25MPH, and still had about 15-20 miles of range left at the end. This taught me that air resistance really plays an enormous factor in regards to energy use. With low speed driving in mind, I would suggest the best "hypermiling" practice would be to pick a route where you can get away with driving the lowest speed possible and not hold up traffic, while also avoiding constant stopping/going. A lot of times if I know I need to do a range busting trip, I try to do it late at night, so I can purposely drive 50MPH on the freeway and not hold up traffic.

The one thing I do once in a while is shift to N (Neutral) when I am on a flat road, and see a red light way down the road. This coasting barely slows the vehicle, compared to coasting in D. In D, the car generates a little current and charges the battery. But knowing that 20% of that energy is lost while charging the battery, I like to shift to N for a while so no energy is lost.

Then as I get closer to the light, I'll shift back to D, then L, then for the last several car lengths, I'll touch the brake pedal lightly and bring the car to it's crawl, then finally press the pedal to actually stop. I really think coasting in N saves the most energy.

Also, shifting to N disengages cruise control, which I use often to maintain my speed on city streets.

Now don't go scolding me that the owners manual advises against it. It says:
"Do not shift to N (Neutral) to coast. The vehicle recovers energy while coasting and braking in D (Drive) or L (Low)."
That energy recovery is what I am preventing when I want to roll down the road and slow the least. And I NEVER press the brake pedal while in Neutral. That would ruin the brake pads' virgin status.

I do about exactly what Steve above me does. Coast (no energy transfer in or out, i.e. Neutral) as much as possible. Try to avoid using regen and especially brakes wherever possible. (Done properly, your speed changes will be extremely gradual, and every time you need to stop (if there's no traffic behind you) you will coast almost to a stop in N only. This obviously requires planning way ahead and knowing the roads well.)

Coasting in neutral is against the law in California.

NomadMac said:

Coasting in neutral is against the law in California.

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everything is illegal in California... really though how exactly is the highway patrol going to know you're in neutral??

Although, I still wouldn't recommend coasting in neutral if you need to quickly accelerate for some reason (car behind you is going to hit you) then you probably won't have time to switch back in gear in an emergency. Probably a rare thing to happen but you never know.

NomadMac said:

Coasting in neutral is against the law in California.

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I wonder just how old that law is and why it was passed.

I'm guessing it is from the 1920s or 30s, with manual transmissions without "syncromesh" features. If a person rolls along in neutral, and that person does not know how to double-clutch or rev an engine to mesh the gears, they might never be able to re-engage the transmission without coming to a complete stop.

If they coast in neutral, and then come to a downhill and really NEED to use compression to slow the vehicle, they'd be toast.

With old transmissions and inexperienced drivers, it could lead to big trouble. It's probably a bad thing to coast in neutral with an automatic transmission too -- at least they used to warn against towing a automatic transmission vehicle faster than 35 mph.

Electric cars are different. ...and we're talking coasting a short distance, like up to a stop light.

The "transmission" is never in neutral. The "N" position merely de-energizes power.

The gears, wheels and motor are all spinning and connected, all the time.

I first tried coasting in my Mitsubishi I-MiEV and now do it regularly in my Chevy Volt. It's quite different from coasting in Neutral in my ICE van. In a BEV, it seems as if there is absolutely zero resistance, allowing the car to travel quite far, even on relatively flat surfaces. On many occasions I have traveled a mile or more(when I am on a slight descent and there is no one close behind me). Of course, on steep descents, I use N and then switch to the B mode for regeneration. Works like a charm. I even use it while traveling uphill, to the extent that I piggy back on the momentum and don't have to use any power until gravity has its effect on my car. Cannot say which of the 2 cars was "better" at it, both did a real nice job.
Lou