[dkcats3]

I recently bought a new 2022 Tuscon Hybrid Limited. After breaking in with normal, non-aggressive driving for the first 500 miles, I decided to take it for a 500 mile drive to visit family. This is almost entirely highway driving and I did a mix of cruise control and non-cruise, but was consistently between 65-80mph the whole way. My overall mileage for the complete odometer is saying 27mpg, and my mileage for highway driving on that trip was closer to 25. Is there something wrong with the vehicle? I know hybrids dont do as well on the highway and I would understand if I got 33 or 35 instead of the EPA 37, or even the 29 that the non-hybrid model gets, but 25 is really dramatic and a huge difference and worse than the non-hybrid. Im barely getting 300 miles on a tank before the low fuel light comes on. My Mazda CX-5 got 370miles and 27mpg and that was with a 2.5L turbo engine and wasnt even a hybrid. Even in slow city driving, I dont see the average mpg go over 32 at any point in the drive and still settles towards 28mpg with the Tuscon Hybrid. Was this false advertising or am I doing something wrong or is there something wrong with the car?

 

[CanukRon]

I recently bought a new 2022 Tuscon Hybrid Limited. After breaking in with normal, non-aggressive driving for the first 500 miles, I decided to take it for a 500 mile drive to visit family. This is almost entirely highway driving and I did a mix of cruise control and non-cruise, but was consistently between 65-80mph the whole way. My overall mileage for the complete odometer is saying 27mpg, and my mileage for highway driving on that trip was closer to 25. Is there something wrong with the vehicle? I know hybrids dont do as well on the highway and I would understand if I got 33 or 35 instead of the EPA 37, or even the 29 that the non-hybrid model gets, but 25 is really dramatic and a huge difference and worse than the non-hybrid. Im barely getting 300 miles on a tank before the low fuel light comes on. My Mazda CX-5 got 370miles and 27mpg and that was with a 2.5L turbo engine and wasnt even a hybrid. Even in slow city driving, I dont see the average mpg go over 32 at any point in the drive and still settles towards 28mpg with the Tuscon Hybrid. Was this false advertising or am I doing something wrong or is there something wrong with the car?

My guesses are temperature if you are in a cold area, speed, and not yet fully broken in.

 

[Turbofan]

1. Break in is above 3000 miles before mileage improves as your transmission and engine are still tight.
2. Driving faster than 60 mph will eat more gas as well as driving in Sport mode.
3. Colder weather will cause the gas engine to stay on much more to generate heat.
4. Driving with cruise on eats more gas on this hybrid as it doesn’t drop to EV mode easily as you need to take your foot off the gas pedal for it to drop into EV mode more often.
5. Welcome to the forum. I hope you eventually notice better gas mileage.

 

[Am Ham Fam]

The Canucks are right. Cold weather affects hybrids worse than non-hybrids. Additionally, speed will demolish your fuel economy. There are numerous threads on this forum (and others) that point out the EPA highway fuel economy test is done at 48mph. Don't ask me why. I don't work for the EPA. Someone more scientifically minded can inform us of gear ratios, wind resistance, and other such matters, but suffice it to say each vehicle has an economical sweet spot where it is happy to perform. My 2012 Honda Odyssey is perfectly happy being fuel efficient somewhere around 60-70 mph. Go above 75 and the fuel economy will tank. Driving around 25-30mph, the Odyssey will also sip quite a bit of fuel. The Tucson is happiest staying under that 60-65 mph mark.
Getting closer to 1000 miles and with warmer weather, I have noticed my mpgs starting to creep closer and closer to the EPA combined fuel economy. Then again, I take the 55mph backroads.
My suggestion: learn to enjoy the backroads. Go to your local library that gives access to free audiobooks or find some nice podcasts.
These hybrids are a compromise between efficiency and practicality. Speed isn't necessarily in the consideration. Just be thankful it isn't a CVT.

 

[Thepandamancan]

Went on a 370 mile each way road trip last week around the 1000 mile mark and got a paltry 29mpg for the trip. I have a PHEV and the battery was almost fully charged when we left and the only reason why it ran out of electric range was when I stopped for gas and forgot to switch it back to HEV/Auto mode.

This week however, I'm finally averaging better than estimated mileage so things are breaking in a bit better now I guess. My mileage does keep improving every week but still not sure if thats due to me getting used to the car or better break in or both.

 

[dkcats3]

So I definitely am in a colder climate (upstate NY), but unfortunately 80% of the driving I do is my daily commute at 75mph on a major highway. I have over 1000 miles so I thought that would be enough to break things in. Hopefully the highway mileage starts to improve.

I just took it out for a 60 mile drive around some back roads and suburban residential streets just to see what I could get and it was between 35 and 38mpg. Granted I was intentionally trying to drive efficiently but this at least proves to me the car is capable of it. Its just really unfortunate that almost all my driving is 75mph highway, so hopefully I start seeing much better than 25mpg as it breaks in. Even 30 would make me more comfortable with my purchase. I also live in an area where its cold 6 months of the year so just chalking it up to temperature is really not ideal for me.

 

[dkcats3]

4. Driving with cruise on eats more gas on this hybrid as it doesn’t drop to EV mode easily as you need to take your foot off the gas pedal for it to drop into EV mode more often.

I have definitely noticed this and started incorporating it into my driving style. Its just unfortunate I have to be so conscious of it to get the rated efficiency

 

[AdmiralQ]

So I definitely am in a colder climate (upstate NY), but unfortunately 80% of the driving I do is my daily commute at 75mph on a major highway. I have over 1000 miles so I thought that would be enough to break things in. Hopefully the highway mileage starts to improve.

I just took it out for a 60 mile drive around some back roads and suburban residential streets just to see what I could get and it was between 35 and 38mpg. Granted I was intentionally trying to drive efficiently but this at least proves to me the car is capable of it. Its just really unfortunate that almost all my driving is 75mph highway, so hopefully I start seeing much better than 25mpg as it breaks in. Even 30 would make me more comfortable with my purchase. I also live in an area where its cold 6 months of the year so just chalking it up to temperature is really not ideal for me.

I have around 900 miles on my Tucson Hybrid, and it now generally gets around 30-35MPG in my daily driving (both highway and town/city). For the first few hundred miles it was all over the place (one day it would be 20MPG, next it would be 36 with a similar route/speed etc). Most of my trips every few days are around 15-20 miles or so (occasionally 30min-1hr), and I find that mpg is improving as it adapts to my driving habits. I am also in NY and I have not changed my driving habits (I usually drive at around 65-75 highway, around 40-50 in town). Like others have said, the break-in period is usually around 2-3k miles for it to fully adapt and deliver optimal MPG.

 

[dkcats3]

I have around 900 miles on my Tucson Hybrid, and it now generally gets around 30-35MPG in my daily driving (both highway and town/city). For the first few hundred miles it was all over the place (one day it would be 20MPG, next it would be 36 with a similar route/speed etc). Most of my trips every few days are around 15-20 miles or so (occasionally 30min-1hr), and I find that mpg is improving as it adapts to my driving habits. I am also in NY and I have not changed my driving habits (I usually drive at around 65-75 highway, around 40-50 in town). Like others have said, the break-in period is usually around 2-3k miles for it to fully adapt and deliver optimal MPG.

Good to know that someone else with similar driving habits is seeing improvements. 30-35 I would be happy with. Lately it has been 25-29 with all the highway driving so if I can achieve consistently above 30 I will be much more satisfied.

 

[TheDarkLord]

Winter is not a good time to be checking actual fuel mileage against the rated fuel mileages.
See this document on how cold weather affects fuel efficiency: https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/sites/www.n...ient-technologies/autosmart_factsheet_3_e.pdf
In addition, winter tires also decrease efficiency.
I agree with @Turbofan. Cruise Control hurts mileage in any car, so I rarely ever use it.

Come back in the summer.

 

[dkcats3]

Winter is not a good time to be checking actual fuel mileage against the rated fuel mileages.
See this document on how cold weather affects fuel efficiency: https://www.nrcan.gc.ca/sites/www.n...ient-technologies/autosmart_factsheet_3_e.pdf
In addition, winter tires also decrease efficiency.
I agree with @Turbofan. Cruise Control hurts mileage in any car, so I rarely ever use it.

Come back in the summer.

Im aware that winter impacts it, but I wouldnt expect it to be as dramatic as 37 down to 25. maybe 37 down to 30 or something

 

[gopscreative]

So I got my Hybrid Blue last Saturday. I live in Chicago , so winters and weather are very similar to your conditions.
I have put around 200 miles now and overall avg is around 34-36 mpg.
In these 200 miles around 170 were on highways ranging from 60-75 mph and remaining 30 miles were around 3-4 short trips in city stop and Go conditions.

 

[dkcats3]

So I got my Hybrid Blue last Saturday. I live in Chicago , so winters and weather are very similar to your conditions.
I have put around 200 miles now and overall avg is around 34-36 mpg.
In these 200 miles around 170 were on highways ranging from 60-75 mph and remaining 30 miles were around 3-4 short trips in city stop and Go conditions.

Huh. That leads me to believe something weird might be up with mine then...

 

[gopscreative]

Huh. That leads me to believe something weird might be up with mine then...

I am a very conservative driver.. I make sure to take the foot off the pedal once it reaches 75/downhill/approaching lights and let the inertia do its job. Also have driven like 5 miles in sport mode and most of the driving is done in SMART/ECO mode.

 

[dkcats3]

I called the service department at my dealership. They suggested I bring it in so they can do a "hard reset on the computer" which I assume means resetting the ECU/TCU so it can relearn my driving conditions. He said sometimes that can solve it. Does this seem like a possible solution or probably going to have no effect?

 

[gopscreative]

I called the service department at my dealership. They suggested I bring it in so they can do a "hard reset on the computer" which I assume means resetting the ECU/TCU so it can relearn my driving conditions. He said sometimes that can solve it. Does this seem like a possible solution or probably going to have no effect?

I think that would be an option. Let us know if that helps.

 

[dkcats3]

I think that would be an option. Let us know if that helps.

Is there any potential harm that could be done? Not sure if it might leave me worse off than I am now

 

[gopscreative]

Is there any potential harm that could be done? Not sure if it might leave me worse off than I am now

I think it would be better if other forum who have gone through same process can comment on this

 

[Captain Pete]

I have a HEV Limited Tucson now with 2500 miles on it. My mileage has definitely improved as I have accumulated miles. In the first 1000 miles, the mpg posted by the car was all over the place but often below 30. I tracked each fill up and I was only getting 28 - 29 mpg on a tank of gas. Not very happy. My last two tanks of gas are 32 and 33 mpg. I have had some longer drives where the displayed mpg is in the high 30's for 50 - 100 mile trips (highway but under 70 mph average). So everyone that is saying "it is the cold and break in of the car" appear to be quite correct. I'll have some more interstate driving comparisons in a week or two. Also, short trips in cold weather wreck mileage on all cars. I checked with two friends who have RAV4 hybrids and they both note a significant drop in in mileage in the winter.

I never expected to really hit the full EPA estimates for this car (I don't on any SUV I have owned). If you look at fuelly.com (2022 Hyundai Tucson MPG - Actual MPG from 56 2022 Hyundai Tucson owners) and you can see what a bunch of people are really getting per tank of gas with this (or any other car). I looked at this before I bought the car and decided I was going to accept 5 mpg less than the RAV4 because I liked this car a lot more than the RAV4. Note that you have to ignore PHEVs when looking at fuelly.com because the site does not track electricity usage so it make PHEVs look insanely good.

One last point is that the difference between 20 and 30 mpg is much more significant that the difference between 30 and 40 mpg. So moving from my mini van to my hybrid Tucson is helping a lot more than additional improvements I could have gotten with the RAV4 or Ford Escape.
20 mpg = 5 gal/100 miles.
30 mpg = 3.33 gal/100 miles (saves me 1.67 gal/100 miles)
40 mpg = 2.5 gal/100 miles (saves me an additional 0.83 gal/100 miles)
I wish I could make my car show gal/100 miles instead of mpg because it is a much more representative metric.

 

[TennisTucson]

I have a HEV Limited Tucson now with 2500 miles on it. My mileage has definitely improved as I have accumulated miles. In the first 1000 miles, the mpg posted by the car was all over the place but often below 30. I tracked each fill up and I was only getting 28 - 29 mpg on a tank of gas. Not very happy. My last two tanks of gas are 32 and 33 mpg. I have had some longer drives where the displayed mpg is in the high 30's for 50 - 100 mile trips (highway but under 70 mph average). So everyone that is saying "it is the cold and break in of the car" appear to be quite correct. I'll have some more interstate driving comparisons in a week or two. Also, short trips in cold weather wreck mileage on all cars. I checked with two friends who have RAV4 hybrids and they both note a significant drop in in mileage in the winter.

I never expected to really hit the full EPA estimates for this car (I don't on any SUV I have owned). If you look at fuelly.com (2022 Hyundai Tucson MPG - Actual MPG from 56 2022 Hyundai Tucson owners) and you can see what a bunch of people are really getting per tank of gas with this (or any other car). I looked at this before I bought the car and decided I was going to accept 5 mpg less than the RAV4 because I liked this car a lot more than the RAV4. Note that you have to ignore PHEVs when looking at fuelly.com because the site does not track electricity usage so it make PHEVs look insanely good.

One last point is that the difference between 20 and 30 mpg is much more significant that the difference between 30 and 40 mpg. So moving from my mini van to my hybrid Tucson is helping a lot more than additional improvements I could have gotten with the RAV4 or Ford Escape.
20 mpg = 5 gal/100 miles.
30 mpg = 3.33 gal/100 miles (saves me 1.67 gal/100 miles)
40 mpg = 2.5 gal/100 miles (saves me an additional 0.83 gal/100 miles)
I wish I could make my car show gal/100 miles instead of mpg because it is a much more representative metric.

great info cap.. I am in cold weather area and hovering around 30mpg.. total of 1233 miles so far.. going on a road trip in april so I can't wait to see what mpg I get on that 4 hour drive. I'll let you all know what happens.