QX60 Hybrid Fuel Economy

32077 Views 31 Replies 18 Participants Last post by Tbuijs, Aug 19, 2014

WestieMom

Discussion Starter · Dec 18, 2013

I am a new owner of the QX60 Hybrid and although I love my new car I am seriously disappointed in the gas mileage. Wondering if it's just my vehicle or if others are having the same results. I have 1500 miles (I've had it 5 weeks) on the car now and my avg. mileage is 18.8mpg. I would say my driving is split to 70% city and 30%hwy. I wish I hadn't gotten the hybrid... on my lease I priced out the same options on both hybrid and v6 and it was $40 more per month for the hybrid. Based on the window sticker estimates I should be getting 26-28mpg and if that was the case it would more than make up the price difference. A few days ago I brought the vehicle in for them to check if there was something wrong with it because of the low fuel economy and they gave me a qx50 3.5 to drive for 2 days. I GOT THE SAME EXACT MPG!!! That is so wrong!! The hybrid should at least be getting better mpg than the 3.5, don't you think?? I am considering going in and demanding a new car in the 3.5 engine or maybe they should make up the price difference to me?? it's $1560 more for my 39 month lease! Anyone have any advice or similar issues... or on the flip side is anyone driving the Hybrid and actually getting the mileage they should be getting?

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ningster

· #2 · Dec 19, 2013

I'm getting 22mpg with about the same city/hwy ratio as you, in a gasser qx60.

I'm guessing something is wrong with your qx60, or you have a really heavy right foot.....

KCQ

· #3 · Dec 19, 2013

city driving will destroy your MPG, plus depending on how hard you accelerate the ECU will determine if you will be under gas or electric power...

considering you got the exact same mileage with the gasser as you do with thy hybrid I can only conclude that a big part of this may be your driving habits...

Have you checked fuelly to compare what other hybrid owners are getting?

dgandbver

· #4 · Dec 19, 2013

Precisely why I chose the CVT V6 3.5 "gasser" - after test driving both preferred the V6 knowing our driving habits and reviewing the changes in the hybrid engine - didn't feel the hybrid would be worth the extra bucks and we'd probably not realize the gains from it with the small battery pack.

foreverJX

· #5 · Dec 19, 2013

my skepticism of hybrid continues.

masterchen

· #6 · Dec 19, 2013

what type of fuel are you using with the hybrid?

WestieMom

Discussion Starter · #7 · Dec 19, 2013

I originally was using regular fuel because that was listed in the manual to use.. but my last fill up I put in premium just to see if it makes any difference. I understand the driving techniques with a hybrid (have a prius in the family as well) and I don't drive with a heavy foot. I called Infiniti Consumer Affairs today to open a claim. I mean.. how the the government put those fuel efficiency ratings on the sticker if they weren't even close.... and why would Infiniti sell a hybrid that doesn't improve at all on fuel economy!! So frustrating!!

ningster

· #8 · Dec 19, 2013

WestieMom said:
I originally was using regular fuel because that was listed in the manual to use.. but my last fill up I put in premium just to see if it makes any difference. I understand the driving techniques with a hybrid (have a prius in the family as well) and I don't drive with a heavy foot. I called Infiniti Consumer Affairs today to open a claim. I mean.. how the the government put those fuel efficiency ratings on the sticker if they weren't even close.... and why would Infiniti sell a hybrid that doesn't improve at all on fuel economy!! So frustrating!!

the dealer did not fix this problem for you? did they acknowledge it at least? there is definitely something wrong with your qx60.

WestieMom

Discussion Starter · #9 · Dec 19, 2013

The dealer is who told me to call consumer affairs... they did acknowledge the problem and said that opening a claim is the first step I needed to take. Do you think that they are just trying to push me off? I was hoping they were being honest!!

QX60 Hybrid

· #10 · Dec 19, 2013

I think the tests behind the highway and city MPG's are flawed and will not accurately show what to expect in real life. For instance is AC turned off during the EPA tests and it is done with 100% gasoline (not the gasoline/ethanol mix we get at the pump). Not to mention that a majority of the tests are run by the car manufacturers themselves and not independent companies.

I do think though that everything else equal it is fair to expect that the relative difference in mpg between 2 different engines in the same type of vehicle should be reasonably true and it is very surprising to hear that you got the same gas mileage in a four cylinder hybrid and a V6. And the 18.8 mpg for the hybrid is very far off its advertised mark. I would be mad too.

I have only done 2 fill ups with my hybrid and I get 20.2 mpg in almost 100% city driving. That number is calculated from keeping a manual log (Fuelly.com). The display in the car says I have 23.9 mpg on average so it is off with almost 15%.

Personally I wouldn't trust the trip computer too much. We have another car in our family that is showing less mpg in the display versus my actual log...If you haven't already I suggest you keep a manual log just for a couple of fill ups to get your exact number.

Good luck with your complaint and keep us posted.

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masterchen

· #11 · Dec 20, 2013

wheel size could also be a factor

KCQ

· #12 · Dec 23, 2013

masterchen said:
wheel size could also be a factor

not stock though...

Sinecure

· #13 · Dec 26, 2013

masterchen said:
wheel size could also be a factor

How do you figure?

Westiemom: Try this. Press the "Climate" button. Turn off the AC. As much as possible, leave it off. The battery in this hybrid isn't very powerful. As such, the gas engine seems to run whenever there's any real load on the car. The AC compressor is more than enough load to force the gas engine on. I don't have enough clients with hybrids yet to figure out all the best practices for maximizing fuel economy in this car.

Also, FWIW, I've noticed in the Q50 hybrid that fuel economy seems to increase notably after the first 1500 or so miles. Not sure if this will be the case with the QX60 - it is the same technology, but a very different hybrid drive system than the Q50.

foreverJX

· #14 · Dec 27, 2013

AC does lower gas mileage, even in the non hybrid.

Why didn't they make the battery bigger in the QX60 hybrid?

QxSixty

· #15 · Dec 27, 2013

foreverJX said:
AC does lower gas mileage, even in the non hybrid.

Why didn't they make the battery bigger in the QX60 hybrid?

in theory it should, it's puts a load on the engine, requiring more from it.

qxcouldbbetter

· #16 · Dec 28, 2013

I do want to ask folks to share actual data though. I'll continue from the original post:

Qx60 awd hybrid
No ac, highway, speed about 65mph - best 31.6 mpg for 30 mile trip.
Ac, going 80 on highway - avg about 24.6
City - probably worst because depends how long I stand on traffic lights (Florida has these 2 to 4 mins red lights) - I've seen anywhere between 9mpg and 22mpg.
I know, those city numbers are useless but appreciate any info people can add their data with driving conditions.

Thanx

QX60 Hybrid

· #17 · Jan 10, 2014

Here is an update on my fuel economy after a total of 6 fuel ups. Still almost exclusively city driving and AC is on.

The mpg displayed on the trip computer has dropped from 23.9 to 23.1. The strange thing is that the actual fuel consumption as measured by my manual log has increased from 20.2 to 21.2.

Glad to see the improved gas mileage and that the gap between actual mpg and trip computer is decreasing but still some ways to go to come close to what is advertised...

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jwelch649

· #18 · Jan 12, 2014

WestieMom - how are things going with Infiniti Consumer Affairs? I leased a QX60 Hybrid AWD on 12/3/13 and am having the exact experience you described. Extremely disappointed that we went with a Hybrid, terrible mpg. The dealer, of course, said that the EPA MPGs are only guidelines and aren't indicitave of what everyone will see. I've owned several new cars and have always found that I get within 10% of listed MPG, we are over 25% off on this QX60 Hybrid. I've driven the thing like a senior citizen on Sunday and can't get it anywhere near the advertised MPG - Infiniti's got to do something.

InfinitiFan

· #19 · Jan 12, 2014

jwelch649 said:
WestieMom - how are things going with Infiniti Consumer Affairs? I leased a QX60 Hybrid AWD on 12/3/13 and am having the exact experience you described. Extremely disappointed that we went with a Hybrid, terrible mpg. The dealer, of course, said that the EPA MPGs are only guidelines and aren't indicitave of what everyone will see. I've owned several new cars and have always found that I get within 10% of listed MPG, we are over 25% off on this QX60 Hybrid. I've driven the thing like a senior citizen on Sunday and can't get it anywhere near the advertised MPG - Infiniti's got to do something.

25% is a lot to lose out on especially when you add it up over a long period of time. I think if this situations gets out of hand they might have to give out pre-paid fuel cards to compensate owners like what Hyundai did

hvr

· #20 · Jan 13, 2014

jwelch649 said:
WestieMom - how are things going with Infiniti Consumer Affairs? I leased a QX60 Hybrid AWD on 12/3/13 and am having the exact experience you described. Extremely disappointed that we went with a Hybrid, terrible mpg. The dealer, of course, said that the EPA MPGs are only guidelines and aren't indicitave of what everyone will see. I've owned several new cars and have always found that I get within 10% of listed MPG, we are over 25% off on this QX60 Hybrid. I've driven the thing like a senior citizen on Sunday and can't get it anywhere near the advertised MPG - Infiniti's got to do something.

We are in a similar situation. Purchased a QX60 Hybrid about 3 weeks ago and after about 700 miles we have yet to break the 20 mpg mark. I have reset the fuel economy history a number of times to get the most up to date readings. Our dealer stated that the car goes through a "break-in" period and the mpg should improve after that but I am skeptical of that explanation.

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