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Interesting, I swear there was a study, maybe on an older vehicle that said ac used less fuel than windows up, I thought it was done at like 55mph, but that would have been something tested probably in the 80's maybe 90's, or it's just hearsay of what someone said and it echoed along with no proof.
The other factor is, at speed windows all the way down isn't normally needed, 1/4 to 1/2 down is generally more than enough air.
The bead trick is something I actually saw growing up, my grandpa's motorhome had beads on the bucket seats up front. I don't think it had AC besides the roof top mounted one and they drove it in death valley.
My trip was mainly at 45mph steady speed, and I've drove around a bit with the windows cracked a bit and the mpg basically wasn't effected enough to really notice it. I got 54mpg on the way to the place even though that's not a perfect measurement.
I also tested EV mode a little for taking off, I went to a different post office than normal, but left my driveway and drove the 1/4 mile on gravel road in EV mode then when I got on the main road, I kicked it back to normal mode and it really used the battery a lot and seems like it used as little engine as possible. With the way this thing acts, I wonder if starting the car and letting it warm up some before taking off would be more efficient vs just starting and going like I'm used to doing for the other vehicles. I figured using EV mode would have made the engine run to move the car down the road and recharge once it started to warm up. Instead it took the battery starting off at around 55% and it drew it down to the lowest I've seen it, something like 31%. I really wasn't expecting that.
With my corolla, I could cold start it, pulse and glide the first 1/2 mile from my parent's house and by the corner I'd hit 30mpg+. From then on it would just climb farther I drove it, upper limits were around 45mpg for some trips.
I'd have to look at the hybrid computer wiring, but I suspect either the coolant temp sensor is spliced into that, or it's communicated over canbus. If I could spoof what it sees for the temp but send the correct temp to the engine computer, I should be able to make it run on the engine sooner. Of course the question pops in my head, is that a good thing or bad thing for mpg lol.
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