It sounds to me like you're still using too much assist. 5th gear is not for climbing steep hills.
It's better to downshift and use engine power than to run your battery dead climbing a hilll, only to spend the next 30 minutes charging it up. That will destroy your overall MPG. Unless we're talking about a mountain pass, where it's easy to recharge on the way down, this should be avoided.
The car requiring too much assist all the time could be a symptom of your tires. That's one of the things I noticed when Insight #2 had the wrong shoes on. Assist was nearly impossible
not to use when trying to accelerate. Especially when starting off. It would go higher on the assist gauge and last longer, despite lifting my foot to try and avoid it. With the wrong tires, the SoC gauge lived in the bottom half with my fiancee driving it. With the correct tires, even she can maintain it in the top half.
__________________
Insight #1 - Silver '01 5MT @
158,388 as of 7/11 - Best Tank: 84.5MPG over 807mi
Insight #2 - Silver '01 5MT @
450,000 as of 1/12 - Best Tank: 86.0MPG over 800mi
Insight #3 - Silver '00 5MT, MIMA #163P, BCM Gauge, OBDIIC&C Gauge, BetterBattery @
228,869 as of 1/12 - Best Tank: 78.4mpg over 687mi
