Post your commute MPG with elevation change.

[slowbro]

I think it makes more sense when you look at speed.
If I drove 30 mph for the first half of a 30 mile trip, and 15 mph for the second half, my average speed is NOT (30+15)/2= 22.5 mph.
Instead, it took half an hour for the first half and an hour for the second half, so you're average speed is actually:
(30 miles)/(1.5 hours)= 20 mph.

The key is in the denominator you cannot add 30 mph to 15 mph, because even though the miles driven is consistent, the time taken is not. You have to find the least common denominator to add them together.

However,
If I drove 30 mph for 2 hours and 15 mph for another 2 hours.
(30 mph+15 mph)/2= 22.5 mph does work because the denominators (time) are the same.

You can check that:
(60 miles driven + 30 miles driven)/4 total hours= 22.5 mph, which is the same.

So yes it would make sense to switch to (fuel used/mile) since our commute distances generally stay the same. A one mile road tends to not change in size from day to day. What a strange world that would be.

[slowbro]

About the hybrid scenario,

Yeah. The idea is to use as little fuel as possible up the hill, because that is where your losing the vast majority of your fuel economy. That is just one of the advantages of having a hybrid.

[ps2fixer]

Amazing site! I foresee a tool to calculate the best MPG routes with this info + speed limits (user entered), stop signs etc.

Orignal Route to work..



I always get a tiny bit better on the trip to work, I can see why now... I'm going down hill the last 40% of the trip ^.^, need to cut that dang hill out of the middle... lets see the 2nd route I found lately..



Yea.... MUCH better looking.. too bad it is right though town....

I need to learn how they pull that info from google maps so I can figure in where stopsigns, traffic lights, etc are at.


Must.... find.... better.... route....

EDIT:

I'm a computer nut... you should download the images instead of linking direct to the site, I can view the routes etc with a small url edit.

[stimpsonjcat]

And no real alternate routes.

15 red lights in 20 miles, 25 possible stops including stop signs.

[sheepdog 44]

only 200ft elevation between top and bottom isn't terrible. I've learned that the biggest factor is the grade, which you can view on the website. The maximum negative average grade. Hills that aren't too steep, followed by long shallow negative grade just enough to keep momentum are ideal.

Everyones graph has a different scale with regard to elevation. Even if it looks terrible, they don't scale distance in miles to "look" equal in regard to feet of elevation.

[2000neon]

Here is mine, if it will work. This is my main commute, I also have a much shorter, 9 mile trip to school. Which makes up usually a little more than half my tank, and this is my other half of the tank.
Distance: 54.1 mi
Elevation Change: +1902 / -2517 ft
Max Grade: 4.6%

<iframe src="http://ridewithgps.com/routes/1870161/embed" height="500px" width="100%" frameborder="0"></iframe>

Hmmm.. I can't get the imagine to show up

[MisterInnovation]

~6 miles to work with about equal hilling in both directions.

[eh.ohKate]

To Work:

To Home:

To Home (Alt):


I have an alternate home route because the regular one is about 3.5 miles shorter, but it involves a much steeper gradient and in bad weather conditions (ice and snow) it just isn't safe to drive.