30 November 2005

This is the new vehicle in our family, the Civic Hybrid. So far, it's been doing pretty well, now that I'm getting used to driving the thing. It has a great teaching tool, an instantaneous mileage meter, right above the steering wheel. I'm obsessed with keeping it over 50 mpg as frequently as possible. The best result so far was my trip to Bakersfield this past Monday, when I averaged 52 mpg for the 527-mile trip. The return segment from Bakersfield to San Diego was even better: 57 mpg over a distance of 262 miles! The car does much better on flat surfaces, so the mileage around San Diego, which is quite hilly, isn't quite so impressive. Not yet anyway. I'm working on it, as the car teaches me how to drive more efficiently. Below is an active link to my fuel economy data (current average: 44.4 mpg over 1396 miles) for each gas tank fill-up. It should update automatically each time I get gasoline.

DWL