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Better MPG on Short Trips After Long Trip?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Fuel Economy' started by Jolly Paul, Jun 29, 2010.

  1. Jolly Paul

    Jolly Paul Member

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    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    II
    I've had my car since October of last year.

    I've averaged 50mpg for moderate length trips in moderate (spring/fall) weather. Doing only short trips (2mi or less) loses about 5mpg, as expected. Cold weather took another 5mpg, again as expected.

    In May temps were in the low 90s and I was using the AC constantly, which seemed to lose only an extra 2-3mpg. Doing only my short 2mi daily commute (ave speed about 20mph) got about 44mpg.

    In June the temps are in the high 90s and I was getting about 40mpg doing only the short commute. Not totally unexpected. But then I took a longer trip (about 80 mi total, ave speed about 50mph) and averaged 56mpg. This was a hot day with lots of steep up and down hills, so the mileage was better than expected.

    Now I'm averaging 44mpg again on just the daily commute. Maybe it's coincidence, but everything else seems to be the same as when I was averaging 40mpg. I don't really have enough data points to be sure of this trend.

    Does it make any sense that letting the car "stretch its legs" would have that effect?
     
    #1 Jolly Paul, Jun 29, 2010
  2. alfon

    alfon Senior Member

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    Location:
    seaside, oregon
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
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    III
    Our car also seems to do quite well on moderately short trips. Here temps right now are in the 60's.

    Yersterday we took a 300 mile ride up to Washington State and got 56.8 MPG (calculated). A couple of weeks ago we took a 200 mile round trip to Portland Oregon and got about 54 MPG's.

    Normally mileage with in town type driving, mostly my wife driving, is in the upper 40's MPG.

    alfon
     
    #2 alfon, Jun 29, 2010
  3. yerac skrap

    yerac skrap New Member

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    Location:
    FL
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    IV
    Our mileage drops on short trips or high speeds, or heavy rain of course, but mostly it's the driver's right foot that causes mileage to go up or down. I look for large trucks to follow because people don't seem to get angry at them when they start off slowly, so if I'm behind them folks don't mind my slow starts.
     
    #3 yerac skrap, Jun 29, 2010
    1 person likes this.
  4. marduk

    marduk New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 23, 2009
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    Location:
    pdx
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    III
    My short 5 mile commute (with about 400 ft of elevation change) yields 44 MPG, and avg. speed of 20 mph.
     
    #4 marduk, Jul 6, 2010
  5. EmuMessenger

    EmuMessenger New Member

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    Location:
    Collierville, TN
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V
    Oddly enough, I seem to get my best and most consistent mpg on the highway around the 68MPH mark. My mileage is in the 30MPG range in city driving.
     
    #5 EmuMessenger, Jul 6, 2010
  6. Skoorbmax

    Skoorbmax Senior Member

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    30 mpg unless it's a very short trip or heavily up hills is atrocious, shocking mileage.
     
    #6 Skoorbmax, Jul 7, 2010
  7. EmuMessenger

    EmuMessenger New Member

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    Location:
    Collierville, TN
    Vehicle:
    2010 Prius
    Model:
    V

    As I am driving the car a bit more, that is the MPG for the first few miles. It improves over time. Although, I still cannot seem to average better than 45MPG. The car's computer shows 47-48 but the real MPG is 3-4MPG lower.
     
    #7 EmuMessenger, Jul 12, 2010
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