KELVIN SMITH LIBRARY

Entries in "Transportation"

On Approach for 3000

This Saturday marks 10 weeks of driving the new hybrid Escape and I'm still loving it. I'll cross the 3000 mile mark sometime tomorrow morning on my way in to Case. I'm now averaging (combined highway and city) 33.6 MPG. I'd be doing better than that if I didn't do so many highway miles but I'm still doing 33.2 on the highway in a light truck with the pick-up of a V6 that will tow half a ton. With gas prices on the up-swing I'm saving more money every week.

Escape Hybrid Update

Still enjoying the driving of this thing. This morning my in dash display indicates that I'm getting an average of 30.8 MPG. WooHOO! That's a more than 3 MPG better than the best actual MPG achieved by professional driver reviewers. Just goes to show you that you can manage to NOT slam your foot to the floor you can really improve your mileage. Also, sticking to the speed limit (most of the time) has been a huge influence.

The interesting thing about sticking to the speed limit has been that even with my drive down I-71 to 480 and Great Northern Boulevard the speed reduction from between 75 to 80 MPH down to 60 to 65 MPH has not increased my commute time by anything appreciable. I've noticed that when people fly by me I usually catch up to them at the next light. So all of these people are putting effort into getting themselves up to 70 MPH only to sit and wait for me at the next stop. I spend much less time sitting and waiting and the additional travel time is meaningless.