battery stays green most of the time

How long have you owned this car? Green is common in the winter.

Tom

 

If it's mileage you're worried about, calculate it yourself next time you get gas.

 

This is my first time on this chat room so I hope I do it right. I bought a 2008 Prius new and have been enjoying the 47 to 51 mpg. I have kept record of every gallon of gas used, and calculated each fill up. My icon for the high voltage battery has run 90% of the time in the blue. But about 500 miles ago it started running mostly in the green and my gas mileage has dropped 8-10 mpg. The only change that I can associate with it is that it started right after I got a new set of tires. The tires are the same size, different brand, and they installed new valve stems, and had 27 lbs pressure in them instead of the 32 lbs I carried in the original ones. I raised the tire pressure back up to 32lbs but it seems to make very little difference. I'm very aware of the difference in colder weather and its' effectiveness. Any comment are deeply appreciated.

 

You will see a number of comments in the various tire reports in the Fuel Economy forum section that new tires do indeed reduce mpg for a while. Many people here go with ~40psi in the tires. See if that helps. Cold weather plays a role, and cabin heat. If your usage is more for short trips, then the warm up period is longer, so the engine will run more to get up to temp. Some use grill blocking to help with that.

Please add the general location to your profile, as that helps with future comments.

 

Please let us know exactly what tyres you have fitted as this can make a big difference to your MPG.

John (Britprius)

 

Yep, it's the tires. It may improve a bit as they run in. As John said, please post the exact size and model of your tires. For example mine are "Bridgestone Ecopia EP100 195/60". We need the full details to identify the tires and whether or not they are any good.