3rd Gen Max Highway Driving Range - Hybrid vs. Non Hybrid?

Curious to hear your thoughts on my situation. 90%+ of the miles I drive are highway at 75-80mph. I have driven both hybrid and non-hybrid and was certainly impressed by the power of both powertrains. The hybrid torque was super impressive and I was leaning towards it.


However, the more I read I'm a bit worried the hybrid is going to be the wrong choice for me. In no way do I expect the hybrid to pay for itself, I just enjoyed the excess power. I'm not terribly concerned about mpg. But I am concerned about maximum driving range and not having to hit the pump as often. I clock up a lot of miles every week. From what I understand I believe the hybrid helps slightly to improve efficiency at low speed city driving or in stop and go traffic. However, I can't really find any information on continuous highway performance. Everything hybrid related seems to be on passing power or tackling grades with a trailer or things like that.

Does this mean the Hybrid portion of the powertrain is turned off at continuous highway speed?

The published EPA ratings for the 4WD Hybrid is 19 City/22 Highway and 17 City/23 Highway for the non Hybrid. This would seem to indicate the non-hybrid would have a marginally longer driving range of 706 miles vs. 736 miles with the 32 gallon tank.

However, I don't think the EPA highway numbers are in any way reflective of real world highway MPG for extended driving drips. The “highway” portion of the EPA's gas mileage testing is only 765 seconds long, or just under 13 minutes of operation. Called the Highway Fuel Economy Driving Schedule (HWFET), it's much more complicated than maintaining a steady cruising speed. Although its average speed is 48.3 mph, it calls for acceleration and braking across a distance of 10.26 miles. I don't think that test is a good indicator of mileages one would expect on an open highway at continuous speed. I'm starting to wonder if the difference might actually be significantly worse driving range for the hybrid vs. non-hybrid.

Using the Toyota Configurator a 1794 Crew Max Hybrid 4WD is 6,095 lbs base curb weight. A Non hybrid 1794 Crew Max 4WD is 5,620 lbs base curb weight. That's 475 pounds or almost a quarter ton weight increase. I imagine that kind of weight increase can definitely reduce driving range

If 90% of the miles I drive are highway at 75-80mph I wonder if I might actually be giving up a significant driving range going with the hybrid for extra power I really don't have to have. Curious to hear what you all think. Many thanks in advance.

 

I think your analysis is correct. The only real world way I can think to verify it would be to get two trucks, one hybrid and one non hybrid and drive the same stretch of highway at the same time. Then calculate mpg manually.

 

Not to mention $4000 extra on top of the almost 500 lbs...that's why Toyota is offering an extra $500 in customer cash over plain iForce trucks $1500 instead of $1000...they just aren't selling.

 

I get about 18.5 highway with my hybrid 1794 /4wd crew cab stock tires
I usually run 80-82. around tow 16.5-17.5

 

That’s the exact truck I had my eye on. Dang that's disappointing.

I think that means less range than the old 5.7 V8. I comfortably got 18 mpg highway out of the 5.7.
684 miles out of a 38 gallon tank. Really great range when you are a long way between fill ups.

With the 3rd gen's smaller 32 gallon gas tank @ 18.5 you are limited to 592 miles at 18.5 mpg.

Thanks so much for the input!

 

Another thing to remember, while there is a 32 gallon tank in the 3rd gen Tundra only about 27 gallons is usable.

 

Not really , my 2016 5.7 would get like 11-12 going 80 mph +

that said , it’s a truck , their all shit mpg , get what you want and just drive it , when it gets empty put more in

Worrying about mpg with these things is pointless

 

I just did a 200 mile road trip in my tundra with the iforce max. The computer showed 19.4 mpg and I was driving around 75 most the time. I did get on it a couple times too and was kept in normal mode the whole time. I consider a 6200 pound truck almost 20 mpg a solid number. Coming from a 3rd gen Tacoma I could only get around 17 mpg on any road trip. At the time of buying I was limited to one truck as the dealer I like to buy from only had one crew max with a 6.5 foot bed. Pretty much everything I wanted and I don’t tow often but wanted the iforce max for the extra power and torque. Figured I was spending all that money was a few thousand more overall. I’m happy I bought the iforce max and it’s kind of cool when I’m driving through my neighborhood and it switches to just battery power. Not saying the hybrid is for everyone, but with how much you are spending for these trucks, why not get more power and torque.

 

You can use more than 27.

 

Just for a data point. I have a 24 non hybrid with 500 miles on it with the 32 gallon tank. We drove a mix of 55mph two lane highway and 80mph interstate driving.

computer shows 18.9mpg
It hit 3/4 of a tank at around 150-160 miles. I plan to fill it up in the morning to calculate the actual gas mileage.

But honestly for as smooth and nice as the truck drives and with so much power I’m super impressed with these numbers.

coming from a 2018 Tundra this thing is such a different animal. Interstate driving still blows my mind because it just never down shifts lol or if it does you can’t really tell cause the rpm’s barely change.

 

Who wants/can sit in their car/pickup and drive that long… I can’t drive long enough to drain my 5.7’s 26 gallon tank! At 14mpg!

 

23 Platinum hybrid, ran Southern CA to Chicago last September, ran cruise 82-85 mph, 2000 miles and got 19.4mpg with 87 octane. Spent 36 hours straight in the truck, 31 driving, 2 hour nap and 3 hours food and gas.
Return trip ran 91 octane, same speed, but less headwind and got 20.3 mpg. Happy with gas mileage with the Tundra. Around town running 16+.
Haven’t driven non-hybrid to compare, but easily ran 500+ miles on highway between fill ups. No complains on the hybrid from me.

 

Did you get 18MPG highway with your 5.7L V8 with cruise set at 80-82MPH?

I’ll bet you don’t.

 

I've been getting right around 19 mpg with mostly around town driving in my hybrid. I went on 1 extended highway trip and my truck got 22 mpg. This was all hand calculated and not using the truck's estimate. My truck has read anywhere from .3 to .5 low on the lie-o-meter since I've had it.

 

Exactly. Stock 2wd 5.7 on a road trip i got 15mpg doing 80 on a road trip.

 

I just drove from Baltimore, MD to Lynchburg, VA - approx. 200 miles. Truck is stock 23 platinum with bed cover and wife as only added weight. Temp for the ride average was 50 degrees. With no A/C running and we averaged about 70 miles an hour give or take, and the truck was in "ECO" mode. We got 19.6 mpg. This is what I would consider the best conditions for MPG and even though that number could be better if I drove slower I'm not going to do that.

 

2023 1794 TRD non hybrid with TRD Pro stock wheels and tires just got 19.5 on premium 93 in normal from VA to NJ 19.4 mpg running through crawling beltway up to 85 in stretches where traffic was flying, probably 75-80 when possible. The truck really doesn't care happy to cruise but feels rock solid smooth and unstrained at 85. My 1999 Land Cruiser 4.7 would get 17 at best same as 2003 Tacoma 5 speed. I am still getting used to the seat and tweaking it in Tundra, LC seats are the best right with my 2002 LS430 that would get 23 mpg on 93 on that trip. Slowing down would put me in low 20's. Just turned 12k miles. Last trip I did my best to keep it under 75, mostly 65-70 and got 21.3

 

28 then?
My point was, roughly 4 gallons is there to stay and have a fuel pump submerged. But yes, if you want you can even try to use all 32.

 

Oh wow, seriously? Are you certain this is correct?

 

Oh wow, I know what you mean. I’m really just more interested in maximum highway range as I drive a lot of miles And I often in out of the way places In Texas, where gas can often be 100 miles or more away.

I just don’t understand why they’re making the gas tanks smaller all the time. I remember the good old days where you could buy a suburban with a 42 gallon tank.

The Mpg was not great, but you could drive a long way.

 

The 2nd gen is the same way. 38 gallon tank is really like 32 or so usable 'to keep the pump cool'

 

I purposely bought a Tundra without the hybrid motor. It was a $4k "upgrade". They get the same MPG, you lose the underseat storage and it's one extra system to potentially cause issues later down the road.

I got 525 miles out of my last tank. When I filled up, there was still almost 4 gallons in reserve. Averaged out to 19mpg.

 

Sorry, I should’ve mentioned. I almost never use the cruise control. I found that utterly destroys the MPG and therefore driving range. I just maintain continuous RPM to maintain 75 to 80 miles an hour. The cruise control was constantly downshifting And would drop the MPG down to 14-15. That really adds up Over a full tank versus 17 to 18 I can get by just maintaining RPM. Sorry for not mentioning earlier earlier. I have read the new version seems to not need to downshift nearly as often.

 

I think I’d be pretty happy with that. That should do just over 600 miles.

 

oh well, 22 miles per gallon is pretty great. Was that pretty much 75 to 80 miles an hour or slower?

 

Not sure where you're getting 600. That's about what I get in my 2nd gen with 38 gallon tank averaging around 19 (fill up 30-32 gallons max)

Unless you plan on using all 32 gallons every time versus leaving some for the pump

 

Curious, if any of the hybrid owners could elaborate on the behavior of the powertrain at continuous highway speed. If it’s mostly flat 75 to 80 mile an hour highway does the electric drive seem to be contributing to supplying power or is it off?

 

No idea if anyone has actually documented this for Tundras

 

I know what you mean afraid I just drive a ton of miles and less fill ups would be nice to have. I also get into some out-of-the-way places where gas is a long way off.

 

I'm sure you'll have a thread on the topic eventually

Jokes aside. The tanks size versus 'usable' is all over this forum but idk if there has been any definitive answers? I don't care enough to look because filling up 30-32 gallons is enough range for me