stevskc

We got our 400h on 7/28 and have drive about 910 miles since. The first 240 was around town, 30/70 highway/city. The average as calculated by the Nav system is 23mpg. The next 670 miles or so was from Palo Alto to Santa Barbara, about 90/10 highway/city. Again, the Nav system calculated 23 mpg. My calculation based on actual mileage and fill-up was somewhat less but close to 23 mpg. My AC is always on. But nowhere can I get 31/27 as per EPA. One problem I see is that the engine comes on way too soon, sometimes before the car hits 20 mph. And whenver the engine comes on, if the acceleration is gradual, the instantaneous mpg goes down to 8, 15, and stay generally below 20. I suspect that is the main problem. If Lexus can adjust the timing such that the front motor comes on more frequently, perhaps it can improve the mpg. By the way, we have several cars and on all of them other than the 400h, I am always able to hit the EPA estimate. So I don't think the poor mpg on the 400h is due to my driving habit. Other than that, we do like the car very much. On the other hand, had I known it does not live up to the EPA estimate by this much, I might not have rushed out to get the car as soon as I did.