Colder weather has zapped my mileage to 44mpg

so what yer saying is... you be happy when gas hits $4 a gallon... now, ah... i got that right?

 

Seriously... I give up! I just posted above why I'm frustrated with the Prius MPG hit during winter, helllooo... hit, hit, hit... repeat yourself 10 times. I am not questioning if 40 MPG is bad or good... or if the Prius should or should not get MPG bellow EPA... FYI I never asked why the Prius is not keeping up with EPA! Give me break! All I am saying is that the Prius MPG hit (got it, hit!!!), is a lot worse than any car during winter. So many people are saying the same thing but somehow folks are picking on me!

Oh, since you are so worried about EPA, FYI, my lifetime MPG is now running bellow EPA and will get significantly lower by the end of winter!

The Prius was a financially good choice for me based on my comparisons with the car it replaced. I know well that getting a Elantra or whatever would be a lot more financially smart, but who the heck said I want an Elantra? Does the word personal preference ring a bell? I wanted a car that I would enjoy, satisfy my needs, and also make financial sense... I was not looking for the best finacial option out there in the market. Is that clear enough?

 

You got it wrong. No buyers remorse here. I am not giving up my Prius... even with the winter MPG hit it still makes sense financially for me. I already told that, and even provided the updated math, but folks forget things easily when they don't want to accept it.

The reason I keeping arguing about the Prius winter MPG plunge is because 1-I need to make sure that even though this is a forum used by a vast majority of Prius lovers, the car ain't as perfect as most praised about and 2-Folks in that pool keep trying to find excuses for the hit when there is none. The car just don't perform well in the winter compared to what is capable in the summer. Just accept it and let it go... I'm tired of this...

And that was my last post here until I put together my MPG data to share with you all.. it's pretty cool data...

 

Perfect?

Excuses?

The MPG hit in winter is extremely well documented here. There are literally 1000's of posts covering the topic. Your complaints aren't bringing anything new to the table.
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Winter air is thicker (more dense). Therefore, the faster you go the more aero drag it will be in the winter. That's another reason to slow down.

Let the car break-in. You will adjust your driving behavior to your new car. I am sure you went through the same process with your previous car.

 

Found this thread while waiting for our first oil change to be done. One of the service managers said losing 10mpg in winter is not uncommon here; they even had some articles copied for customers who ask about it lol.

Just to add another data point. For the first 3200 or so miles, we were routinely getting close to 55-56mpg computer estimated, around 52-54mpg actual from gas receipts. In the last 3 tanks, about 1200 miles, it has dropped steadily to about 45mpg estimated. We had been getting over 500 miles to when the gas light came on, now it's 400 miles. That's close to a 20% drop and it's not even the coldest part of winter, yet. Our other vehicles were closer to a 2mpg or sometimes 3mpg loss in the winter, typically closer to a 10% drop.

So, it does seem like the mpg hit is somewhat worse than other cars. Our driving habits have not changed. I guess hybrids are affected more by the cold temps and perhaps the oxygenated gas we have in Chicago, too. I'll have them check the tire pressures while I'm here for service, as that may help slightly. On the plus side, we're still getting around double the fuel economy of my wife's old car (Subaru Outback)...

 

And that is the point that many others are trying to make in this thread. Despite taking a winter time hit you are still getting outstanding mileage for a non-compact car.

IMO the rest of the talk is just whining about a percentage loss.

 

Just one more question for Indy... if this summer when you were looking at the Prius to buy, the salesperson said you would likey experience a 10-20% FE hit during the winter would you have bought the car? Now this is ignoring all the other Prius shortcomings like creaky dash, cheap materials and such that you have pointed out so well.

 

this thread has ceased to go anywhere for at least several days now.

one parting shot and you all can work it out amongst yourselves.

2 scenarios. a sprinter and a walker.

both are carrying their 28 lb, 2½ year old son. (have a lot of experience with this!!)

whose performance will be affected the most and why?

answer;

well the answer is just as obvious as the reason why the Pri loses so much in less than ideal weather or driving conditions. the reason seems to be much less intuitive, so i will postulate my feelings here

the sprinter is performing at a level near his capacity and much higher than a normal person. so even seemingly minor inconveniences can majorly impact his performance. now, keep in mind, that he can still outrun most people at the mall which is not the best environment for a runner, correct???

now we look at the walker. eventually he will get tired of carrying his son and he might get the large fries instead of the small fries at lunch. but his speed is not likely to be affected by the same percentage as the sprinter and the biggest reason why is because he is strong enough to continue carrying his son for another few years and 20 more lbs? which means that if his only purpose was to transport his son, he is usually wasting a lot of energy even DURING THE GOOD WALKING SEASONS... which would make sense that during the bad walking season, his performance would not be diminished enough because he would be ultilyzing his extra capacity at this time to overcome adverse conditions (please refer to this paragraph when complaining about the Pri heater) without expending any extra effort.

ok. i am done

 

Sharing information and noting that the Prius may have double the fuel economy loss of a non-hybrid in the winter is not necessarily whining. In fact, it appears pretty typical for those in colder, urban areas. My wife was alarmed enough to think there could be a real issue with the vehicle, given the sharp drop in fuel economy. While I was re-assured by the service manager that it may be normal, this thread was very useful to confirm it. More points of data make the drop seem like a normal condition of the Prius, rather than a potential problem isolated to one or a few vehicles.

 

For me, the most interesting thing that's come out of this is the fact that the VW Jetta seems to have so little loss in fuel economy during the winter.

My experience with gasoline cars has been somewhere between 10% - 25%, depending on the car.

 

What about the reality that the 44 winter from Prius is still better than the Jetta during the summer? Prius is cleaner too.
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I am so glad I never had children.

 

if u a guy and you are still breathing, it aint too late!!

 

I said I was done with this thread but I hate to leave a question unanswered. Quite frankly Spiderman, if I knew that the winter MPG hit in the Prius was that much, 20-30% in my case, I would stay the heck away from it. I did extensive research before I committed to buy it because I know very well that most problems in cars do not show up during test drives due to the limitations of such tests. Unfortunately, back on June, the info available in the 2010 Prius here (best source in the web BTW) was still scarce, the demand was high, few Prius were making it to the streets, so few people had anything useful to say. A few months after I got mine, there came the rattles and creaks, which is an issue for me even in the hwy (worst than a 1970’s beetle for that matter). Then I started noticing the poor interior quality, anything from the tire valve caps to the sunglass holder looks cheap, light, and fragile compared to my other cars. Actually, it was my wife who first noticed how toy-like everything in the car is. OK, at that point the MPG was still going good, but then the winter came and my MPG numbers plunged like the stock market recently... I don't care about the foolish talk of "well, the hit is huge but the absolute number in the winter is still better than any car". To me, that is just a ticket to accept being fooled by an auto company, since the high MPG is the Prius major selling point! For those folks that insist with the argument, I just want say that both my previous CR-V and my current Prius are getting winter hwy MPG in the 30’s right now, which is totally unacceptable. Because of the MPG plunge, I doubt I will ever be able to keep my lifetime running right at or above my expectations regardless of what EPA says. I don't care about EPA either. I just have expectations and most of my cars have met my expectations, except the Prius and a past Dodge Grand Caravan, just to give you an example of how poor the Prius is doing to meet my expectations. So, all of those issues above are not minor whatsoever IMHO and I will most likely stay away from the Prius brand in the future or wait at least one year after being in the market before thinking about buying the next generation.

Now, for everyone who keeps bugging me with this, please leave me alone, no need to respond to this… go out there and enjoy your holidays and Prius…

 

I live in Portland, Or. I was getting 52-53 MPG in the summer. Winter is looking like 42MPG in cold wet weather. I currently have 5300 miles on the car.

 

Uhh... what were you driving? Other non-hybrid, model V, package 2?

 

In Seaside Oregon our last tank was also 42 MPG;

So it seems that during similar conditions the Prius MPG's takes a very big hit in the winter more than any other car. At least thats what it seems like.

Just seems strange to go to a September 57 MPG to a 42 MPG December MPG.

alfon

 

I have read through this post and it seems that not many consider the batteries as a possible culprit for the poor winter gas mileage. Is it not likely that the battery capacity declines with colder weather and that this may account for the higher gas use. I have observed that the on sections where I normally would get great gas mileage, now it does not make much difference, the car does not rely on electric as much and uses more gas.