(Originally written May 24/06)
I've been scratching this itch since I realized it was possible, and after supper today I pulled out the stops and headed out to do the city loop:
(101 mpg - click to zoom)
- ambient 70F - ish / 20 C
- 30 min block heater
- removed 55 lbs / 3% of vehicle weight (passenger seat, spare tire/jack, rear parcel shelf, misc.)
- used moderate load/low RPM acceleration technique
- alternator unbelted (I've been running that way since almost the beginning of this tank, except for approx. 30 miles of a 60 mile highway trip)
- made 3 of 6 traffic lights
- traffic was both light & accomodating (not as much of an issue with this acceleration technique)
Details: (click to zoom)
The tank MPG of course will change substantially between now and next fill-up (a highway trip coming up on Friday will pull it down to the mid/high 60's, I predict).
I've been recharging my battery with a combination of grid/solar. (I have a 15W panel that fits nicely on my cargo shelf, and gets 3-4 hours of good sun (when it shines) in my usual parking spot.
I was going to replace the starting battery with one of my deep cycle batts, but the one I have is too tall for the amount of space under the hood. I'm working on an alternative. It's not good for a starting battery to do a lot of discharge/recharge cycles to the depth I'm going without the alternator.