Lousey Gas Mileage

My brother got his Gen III Prius last September and he told me he's been getting 45...ish mpg ever since the first day.

I bought mine this July and it got me thinking. So I tried my 15 years of Honda Civic hypermiling technique that increased its mpg from 29 to 33, on the new Prius, and I get between 55-57 mpg. The best tank was 59 mpg.

The technique? PP/CC/NG

PP - Power pulse (I even set it to PWR mode all the time) to traffic speed crisply, don't worry if the HSI goes all the way to the red pwr zone. The faster the car attains the cruising speed, the longer distance before the next stoppage you can use for the CC/NG techniques as described below.

CC - set it to Cruise Control as soon as you reach the traffic/desired speed (best between 40-43 mph). I found that the CC seems to be able to drive the Prius in the most fuel efficient way not easily managed by my foot on the gas paddle. You can tap the cruise control level down to lower the set speed for steep uphill climbing, or simply cancel CC and use your foot on the gas paddle. Adjust the cruising speed to meet traffic conditions all the time. I actually "drive" the car mostly using the CC lever.

NG - just about 1/2 mile b4 stoppage, cancel CC (pull CC lever towards yourself) or take foot off the gas paddle, wait for the instantaneous FE gage indicates the engine is off, pull the gear knob towards yourself for 2 seconds to put it into neutral glide. Re-engage "D" about 100-50 yards b4 stopping. Use this neutral gliding also for longer distance if no car following you, and for slight downhill slopes. This helps the mpg a lot.

Oh, I also use use EV mode everytime I start the car from stand still, it will cancel the EV mode automatically when you keep accelerating. Also use EV whenever in parking lots, side streets, last 1/2 mile of my trip home, or moving the car out of the garage to the driveway for cleaning. Just avoid using the gas engine for a few seconds/less than a minute low speed manuvers.

Using this technique, I am able to keep up with traffic (avoid road rage), and still have good FE. It's like having the cake and eating it too.

Happy Priusing.

 

What world are you living in where 45mpg is "lousey"? I wish it was and then our gas guzzling Prii would be banished but it isnt.

45mpg is normal for when you drive it wrong, i.e. not efficiently or if you have done no optimizations or if it is stuck in warmup.

Find the questionaire about fuel economy, answer the questions, and post back. Then we can help you figure out how to improve.

 

Your mileage is easily in the norm depending on driving conditions and trip length. Tell us about how you use it and we can be more specific.

Oh, and welcome to the group. Don't be alarmed by the somewhat short answers you may have received. This question gets asked a lot, and it usually starts like yours with little useful information.

Tom

 

No wonder there're so many Prius haters out there. This is no way to "greet" a new member by snapping at him like you're the kung-fu master beating up a new student just to show him your "stuff".

If you think newbies are annoying just don't answer them. There're a lot of helpful members here happy to do that.

 

Your living in Florida and with the heat, air conditioning, short trips and lots of stops will kill your gas mileage. You stop at a light or in traffic even though the engine is off, the AC is depleting the battery as it runs.

Sooner or later the engine has to come on to recharge the battery.

 

Hand holding is not required. We are all adults (or old enough to drive), so Marry Poppins' advice doesnt need to be taken.

Prius advertises 50mpg. Getting 45mpg is 90%. Cars that get 20mpg on the sticker generally get 17-18mpg 85%-90%. Seems average does it not?

There are search buttons for a reason, google knows all, not I.

 

I believe you are 100% correct. My mileage in NYC is about 35 with street driving and having the air on all the time. This heat is murder. Got to keep cool.

 

Please answer the questions from http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...-answer-these-questions-esp-if-youre-new.html in this thread.

Also, this really belongs in the fuel economy section and isn't a "technical discussion".

 

I don't think 45 mpg is lousey or even lousy. Lots of people say lots of things. Once in a while I get over 50 mpg. Most of the time I am in the mid 40's. That is approximately 30 mpg better than my last car. I am not all that worried about it. I have fun driving this car and it saves me a lot of money.

 

Adults have a common behaviour called "courtesy".

I hope you don't shout at someone asking for direction on the street: "Are you blind? It's right there!"

 

I am right with you. I am 2500 miles into my car and seem to be in the 44-46 range. 50 feels like a pipe-dream.

 

i'm stuck around the 49-51 range. The EPA ratings for this car is 51/48. So anyone can get higher, or lower. 45-46 isn't that bad, and is still better than a measily 43mpg insight or a 15mpg pickup truck.

Just fine tune your driving. avoid short 2-3 mile trips, those kill mileage. keep the bar in the eco range at all times. who cares if the drivers behind u get mad, they'll have to deal with it because they save gas too by not accelerating rapidly.

 

It is tough to generalize what may work.
Colonel Ronson lives in southern AZ, he is unlikely to ever mention engine block heaters or grill blocking.

QBee lives in Northern Mishigan, both engine block heaters or grill blocking may be viable mileage enhancers.

Toaster may live in Colorado, that will involve different tricks than Florida.

I live in the Mississippi Delta, hundreds of miles of dead flat roads mean that Cruise Control works very well for me, but if I had hills, I might swear CC was useless.

As you read PC, realize that each enthusiast is not 'wrong', you just need to realize that you live is Florida. Learning to downshift to B is unlikely to ever be wise in Florida, Heat and humidity will be more mileage killers than uphills or cold mornings.

Avoid short trips, drive like you have no brakes, and think of 66 MPH as your top speed. Or find tricks that work for you!

 

OP: What is your tire pressure? I find 44/42 or 42/40 are significant improvements over the door placard.

 

Well to end this, I would find it equally courteous to research a question before posting. I see your point, and I seem to be more Vulcan than Human. My post was logical and to the point, no sugar coating.

Still, that questionaire is the golden key. Everything is speculation until we find out the details.

 

Try rebooting, search andyprius

 

I'll also chime in that I wouldn't characterize 45 mpg as "lousy".

Yep... we frequently get posters (usually newbies) who post gas mileage complaints w/scant or no details, leaving us all guessing and spending a lot of time writing/asking the same questions. That was my motivation for writing the questionnaire.

What is/was worse is when people (including myself) spend a bunch of effort to type up our questions and speculation to have the poster never return to answer them, or complain more.

Heck, one of the mods wanted to just delete posts from low count posters posting mileage queries w/o answering the questions.

There are many of us willing and want to help. We just need sufficient info and context.

 

Suggestions?

The length of your daily drive/commute is critical. Many think they should get 50MPGs...even when they only drive 3-5 miles. That's not likely to happen (very often) for the simple reason when you first start the car in the morning, or on your drive back home...the car's engine runs to warm up the catalytic converter (that can sometimes take 5-10 minutes before reaching steady--state)..and sometimes, runs the ICE to re-charge the battery. I've noticed that when I start out in the morning, my MPGs drop, but the longer I drive, my MPGs continue to rise until they reach an equillibrium of between 53-58 MPGs for my commute.

I have no problem reaching the EPA number of 50MPG, and so far, seem to typically range in the mid-50's. In the Winter, as the ICE runs more often to maintain cabin temperature, and keep the cat at the right temperature so that it can reduce emissions...the mileage will come down.

I would recommend:

#1 Read the many threads and posts on here devoted to getting better MPGs.

#2 Learn to modulate your gas peddle, and kill the lead foot.

#3 Learn to coast/glide when you can, and as often as you can.

#4 Conservation of momemtum is key to good MPGs. That is, the fewer times you have to accelerate/decelerate, the better your MPGs will be.

#5 When first accelerating from a stop, come up to the speed you wish to maintain (ie., that can be as rapid as you want...you do NOT have to slowly accelerate so that you piss people off who are behind you), and then back off on the accelerator a bit to try and engage the electric motor...

 

I have had my Prius for about 8 months and have had disappointing city mileage (relative to what I expected). I do a lot of stop and go driving with short trips. I get 35 to 40 MPG in the city. I don't practice MPG enhancing driving techniques. I do, however, get about 50 MPG on long, highway trips.