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Hybrid driving tips for best fuel economy

By Toyota Blog
Toyota C-HR driving tips

Want to get the very best out of your ground-breaking Toyota hybrid? We’ve gathered a number of hybrid driving hints and tips that will help you to get the best from the system, improving fuel consumption and getting you further for less.

Whichever Toyota hybrid you’ve set your heart on, the following tips and pointers should maximise the range and fuel economy of your Toyota.

The basics

It’s not just hybrids that benefit from the first seven tips – these will help to improve any car’s fuel efficiency:

  • Clear out the boot! Keeping the boot free of unnecessary weight will give your car and immediate boost in performance and economy.
  • Check your tyre pressures – dig out your owner’s manual, and do a weekly check to ensure that your tyres are correctly inflated in line with Toyota’s recommendation. Or read our handy tyre pressures article here.
  • Think ahead – by planning your journeys, you can avoid traffic jams and minimise the likelihood of getting lost.
  • Shut up! Closing the windows and sun roof at speeds above 45mph will reduce drag, reducing fuel consumption.
  • Remove unused roof racks, boxes and bike racks – they’re a real drag too!
  • Steady as she goes – maintain a steady speed and don’t go over the speed limit.
  • Smoothly does it! Try to avoid sudden braking or acceleration.

Hybrid driving: hybrid-specific tips

Sorry everyone else, but these tips are for hybrids only:

  • Become familiar with the hybrid information display so you can know how much energy is being used.
  • EV does it! Keep the car in EV mode as much as possible by using the accelerator gently, pressing it lightly but consistently.
  • Improve efficiency with ECO mode, which reduces aggressive throttle response.
  • Harvest time – braking gently and early helps the regenerative braking harvest more energy, which means EV mode can operate for longer periods.
  • Keep an eye on the dials and gauges to fully understand the hybrid system and manage the charge levels in the hybrid’s high-voltage battery.
  • If you’re in stop-start traffic, don’t put the car in neutral (‘N’) when stationary, as electricity will not be generated and the hybrid battery will discharge.
  • Consider using cruise control (where fitted) to maintain steady speeds.
  • When using climate control, Re-circulate mode reduces energy usage.
  • Think about the environment! Constant or heavy use of systems like air-con, lights and wipers will increase energy consumption.

Hybrid driving: drive modes

Toyota hybrids have four drive modes: Normal, EV, Eco and Power. When you first start your hybrid, the car defaults to the ‘Normal’ drive mode, which automatically manages the most efficient use of both the engine and the battery.

Drivers can also select one of the car’s on-demand drive modes to achieve better fuel consumption in certain settings.

hybrid driving hints and tips

These drive modes are: EV Mode where the car is powered by the battery only during city driving, running near-silent and with no tailpipe emissions; Eco Mode that reduces A/C output and lessens throttle response to limit harsh acceleration; and Power Mode which boosts acceleration by using the hybrid battery to assist the petrol engine.

The shift lever offers four positions: R (Reverse), N (neutral), B (engine braking) and D (drive). For normal driving, D (drive) is absolutely fine, but should you need it, position B has the effect of engine-braking handy when descending a steep hill, for example. It’s not recommended to leave the car in position B for normal driving, mainly because you’d end up using more fuel than necessary!

hybrid driving

Hybrid driving: read the road ahead

Another great hybrid driving tip is to use the car’s battery whenever possible.

Another great hybrid driving tip is to use the car’s battery whenever possible. You can do this in town and urban driving by accelerating to your required speed, easing off the accelerator and then gently easing the accelerator on again. By doing this, you can activate EV mode – indicated by the dashboard light – which means that the engine has switched off and you are using the electric battery.

hybrid driving

Try to maintain a constant speed and, as always, it’s important to read the road ahead. By doing this, you can reduce the amount of unnecessary braking and accelerating, using less fuel. Braking slowly and gently also maximises the amount of energy recovered by the regenerative braking system on the car.

Other factors to consider

Bear in mind that there are many factors that can affect a car’s performance, hybrid included. On cold days, your car will use more fuel as it warms up, but once it’s reached its optimum temperature, the MPG figures will increase.

Also, during the winter, you’re more likely to be using the air-conditioning, lights and wipers, all of which will use some electrical power from the battery. If you regularly travel the same route, don’t be surprised if you get better MPG figures during the summer than in the winter!

Toyota highlander

If you’d like more hybrid driving tips or want to discuss your driving technique with other hybrid owners, it’s worth visiting the Hypermiler website.

As a final note, please remember that these hybrid driving tips are published as general guidance on how to get the best fuel economy from your Toyota hybrid. Toyota encourages and supports safe driving at all times – please adhere to the rules of the road.

Read more: Toyota hybrid – how does it work?

573 comments

  1. Hi E.warriss,
    This was a great information about the resolving of issue permanently in a car during driving easily by using the service of Victoria car removal in Melbourne with in a short period of time a start your journey safe and fast without any trouble shoot ,If your car is still running before you sell it to the junkyard due to any kind of issue then you must use the service of car removal in Melbourne , you might want to use up the gasoline in the tank before you have it towed away. Depending on the size of the tank in your car or truck, the value of the gasoline in the tank can represent a substantial portion of the total value of the price you’re getting from the junkyard. If your car isn’t running, be careful if you attempt to siphon gasoline from the tank. Use only approved containers to carry the gasoline, and never start a siphon using your mouth. Don’t worry about the value of the gas to the junkyard. They’ll have to drain all the fluids out of your car before recycling or scrapping the parts, and gasoline in the tank is a nuisance for them.
    Thanks .

    Reply

    1. I agree the mpg figures can be kislmislea but have found that with most cars I have had. Least exaggerated have been diesels.
      At least if all manufacturers play the same trick we can make some sort of comparisons . . . Until they sort out the whole system,, if they ever do.
      The . advantage of my auris hybrid excel touring sport ( estate) in Orion blue is that I think it looks lovely. . The best looking car I’ve ever had. Practical for my wheelchair as it’s low with large boot. But also love the hybrid for auto matic, easy for traffic jams, and power kicks in immediately with accelerator. On power mode it feels like it has some umph !!
      Great car !

      Reply

      1. Hi Angus,
        Thanks for getting in touch.
        It is great to hear that you love your Hybrid.
        Thanks for the feedback 🙂

      2. Hello I can know the toyota estima petrol hybrid 2014 which consumes 100 km.

        I have the toyota verso diesel the best car I had but I want to go to the hybrid.

        You can answer me by mail

        Vasileavramuk@gmail.com

      1. Hi Angus,
        Thanks for getting in touch.
        Thank you for pointing this out, this blog post was written before the RAV4 Hybrid was announced, therefore it has not been updated.
        We are sorry about this, we are currently updating this article now.
        We hope you enjoy your new RAV4 Hybrid!
        Thanks.

      2. Hi there, I have Toyota Camry hybrid 2011 model. What is the best eco speed drive and motorway speed? Cheers

      3. Hi Aley,

        Thanks for getting in touch. Unfortunately we can only advise on UK vehicles. If you contact Toyota in your region, they will be able to assist you further.

        Thanks.

  4. I understand the hybrid system in my Auris will start the engine for a number of reasons, one of which might be for the climate control. If I remember correctly, using “Eco Mode” makes it less likely that the engine will start purely for that reason, so I tend to keep Eco Mode enabled most of the time during winter, as I hate sitting there in a queue of traffic with the engine running (and MPG figure counting down) just for the sake of the heating. I’m not sure it makes much difference otherwise as I just end up using the throttle more heavily to compensate for the dulled response.

    I did wonder if you could perhaps add a system setting to allow a driver to disable engine start for heating only, but my main question is – could you tell me if there’s any risk that using Eco Mode all the time might be a false economy, for example if it is only designed to be used in specific conditions, might I end up with worse economy than if I just used normal mode and let the hybrid system take care of things?

    Reply

    1. Hi Chas,

      Thanks for getting in touch. We value our customer feedback and so will pass these comments on to our Product Team. In regards to your question about Eco Mode, in order for us to help you further, could you please provide your registration number or VIN?

      Thanks.

      Reply

      1. Hi, reg number and VIN aren’t the sort of thing I feel I should post on a public forum, but if it helps, the car is a 2015 (pre-facelift) Auris Touring Sport Hybrid Icon Plus. Hope that helps, but if you need further info for some reason then I’d be happy to email you directly if you can provide an address.

        Also, thank you for feeding back to the Product Team – another thing you could perhaps pass on if they’re considering updates to the car’s software is that the climate control graphics are maddening – they pop up for several seconds over the sat nav or whatever other screen is active at the time, and it’s not like the graphics are even particularly useful when it’s clear from the controls below what mode the climate control is in. Several times now I have adjusted the heating, only to find that I’ve missed some essential detail on the navigation as as result!

        Thanks

  5. Hello, I have a Toyota Yaris Hybrid 2013, which has a strange fault: often, when I turn it on, and shift the gear down to D, it does not move, but it flashes about the Shift Lock thing. Usually if I turn it on and off a few times, it will eventually start, but, despite experimenting every which way, I cannot find why this sometimes happen. Might you say? Andrew

    Reply

      1. This sometimes happened to me on our Yaris Hybrid. I suspect it was because I moved the gear selector to the drive position too soon, i.e. before the ready indication came on.

  6. I have a 2014 Yaris Hybrid 1.6 Automatic. On a long trip I get 80 mpg+, the highest being 87. On a short trip with mixed town and urban over 11 miles I get 70+.(All summer time). You have to drive light footed, and be aware of how the technology works e.g. take your foot off the accelerator when going down hill. My wife treats it like a normal petrol car and never gets above 60 mpg (that’s her choice 🙂 )

    Reply

  7. Knowing about your vehicle is incredibly important when it comes to caring for and maintaining it properly. If there’s one part of your car you should understand better, it’s the chassis. Here’s why

    Reply

    1. Hi Mick,

      Thanks for getting in touch. You can choose to drive in eco mode all the time in the C-HR. As you can see from the blog post, Eco Mode just reduces the A/C output and lessens the throttle response to limit harsh acceleration.

      Thanks.

      Reply

  10. What’s the best way to drive on cold mornings? The engine is warming itself up to warm the cabin, so am I better accelerating a bit quicker and making use of it anyway, which would help it to warm up quickly, or just plod along? Also what’s the best thing for town driving? When traffic stops at the lights then starts again, I try to gain 10-15mph just in auto-EV mode before having to put my foot down a bit more as the other cars are getting impatient. What’s the most efficient thing to do in situations like that? Would Power mode help at all? I’ve got a 17 Auris estate

    Thanks!

    Reply

    1. Hi John,

      In terms of cold starts, we’d recommend driving your car normally and it will warm up as fast as it can.

      When pulling away from traffic lights, continue to do as you are doing at the moment. Pulling away from standstill slowly in EV mode is the best way to maximise your fuel economy. Once the petrol engine kicks in, you should try to get up to your desired speed quicker, then lift off the accelerator to try and keep the car in EV mode as much as possible. If the road is flat or slightly downhill this will be much easier to do than if the road is uphill.

      Thanks

      Reply

      1. Thanks, what about when going from 30 to 60/70, better to keep it in the green or use the “power” to speed up quicker? Some people advocate that, and above 50 it doesn’t use EV mode (though I know it’s a lot more complicated under the bonnet than just that!). Ta

      2. Hi John,

        Thanks for getting back in touch. At higher speeds where EV mode in not available, we’d recommend trying to keep the car in the green/ECO area of the hybrid indicator. However, fuel economy shouldn’t be the only thing you consider when increasing to motorway speeds. For example, when joining a motorway or dual carriage, it can be dangerous to ‘crawl’ up to the speed limit, so in these circumstances, we’d recommend using more of the engines power to get to your desired speed sooner.

        Thanks.

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