This Simple Trick Boosted My Plug-In Hybrid's Fuel Economy To 50 MPG My Volvo wagon’s fuel economy was great to begin with, but a driving strategy change unlocked a new achievement. Electric cars are awesome, but sales are not going quite as automakers envisioned a couple of years ago–at least not in the United States. As a result, car companies are banking on hybrids and plug-in hybrids, and more people are spending their hard-earned money on electrified cars to try to lower their fuel bills. I did the same thing last year, when I bought a used 2023 Volvo V90 plug-in hybrid wagon, and during my 14-month ownership, I’ve had time to do several experiments. I’ve already checked the high-voltage battery’s degradation and found that there is nothing measurable, and now I’ve had the chance to test how big of an impact the different driving modes have on the fuel economy. 2023 Volvo V90 T8 Recharge Plug-in Hybrid charging To my surprise, spending some time fiddling with the settings while driving made a meaningful impact, resulting in an average fuel economy of 50 mpg US (4.5 l/100 km) on a roughly 250-mile (400-kilometer) trip that began with a fully charged battery. Last year, I did the same trip in similar weather conditions and with the same cargo, and the average fuel consumption was 42.7 mpg (5.5 l/100 km). Just like in my latest journey, I left home with a fully charged battery, so what made the MPG figure jump? The short answer is that I was lazy the first time, and the last time was a lot more involved. All modern Volvo plug-in hybrids have at least four driving modes and three battery management settings. My V90 defaults to Hybrid mode every time it starts, and it’s fine for most