OK, so what's the trick?

How long are your trips?

The first 5 minutes kill fuel economy, like 25ish average even in Prius. If you shut it off after 8 minutes, you might end up with high 30's FE - the engine never gets warmed up.

I rented a Prius V in June of 2009. Put about 35 psi all around, drove it around Sunnyvale, Saratoga, then up onto Skyline Blvd....

It was clocking about 50 MPGs right off the bat and stayed there. Then again, I was in 70F weather with no heat running.

It's cold in St. Louis, right? Cabin heat will lower FE some MPGs.

 

How long are your trips? Any car has to use a lot of gas just initially warming the engine in winter.

It's more noticeable in the Prius because of the readouts and because the Prius uses so little gas once it is warm.

 

First of all, stop trying to use electric propulsion; it hurts your mileage. Accelerate briskly. Try to time lights.

What is your typical trip like? Short trips are mileage killers. So is speed.

Tom

 

If I had bought a 2011 Prius at Toyota Sunnyvale, and it didn't get right into very high 40's MPG or over 50 MPG's immediately, I would have returned the car within the 250 mile return policy. The engine does not need 'break in' to hit the high MPG's - they do it right away.

check the tire pressure, start at a healthy 36 front/34 rear, measure the tread depths over time and go up from there. Use a gage, they only cost $9 for a decent one. Consider an air tank or compressor to top off pressure at home. Measure pressure in morning before driving.

All 9 3rd gen rentals got over 50 MPGs in continuous driving in 60+ F weather, no A/C or heat.

I see what Tom is saying. I would actually let the car roll off the line on battery, get it moving a little, then get into the accelerator and up to speed so as not to PO others.

Basically, keep your momentum as much as possible. I'm trying that quite a bit in this Accord Coupe, cause she's more thirsty on gas.

So, accelerate smoothly and brake smooth and easy.

 

I have been gitting 48-53 in the three weeks I have owned my Prius. I don't really do anything different with my driving, but I did move from a Honda Civic Hybrid to the Prius, so I may have altered my driving style years ago due to the HCHII.

 

Let's not mislead the OP into thinking there's something actually wrong with the car. We don't know if the OP is taking 5 minutes trips and it sounds like he/she might be trying to maximize battery usage, which is counterproductive.

Rolling off the line on battery goes against the concept of pulse and gliding. There's no basis for it.

 

A V will get slightly lower mileage than a II-IV, but not by as much as you report. The cold weather also hurts.

But we don't know anything about your driving conditions and style, which have major impacts on fuel economy. Please answer Cwerdna's questionnaire: Fuel economy complaints/queries? Please copy, paste & answer these questions... to give us more hints.

 

Do you keep resetting the trip meter every day or every other day, with the mild expectation of being amazed at the "miracle" of hybrid technology? If so, consider redefining the buzzword "average". Toyota doesn't claim anywhere a "specific distance" over which the Prius will achieve the advertised MPG average. This is key. Scientifically speaking this also translates into "the longer you drive the car in an average fashion, the higher the MPG may be." Did Toyota state this somewhere in the manual? - Perhaps not.

If you are not resetting the trip meter(s) every so often, then perhaps consider observing how the car behaves when your foot is on the gas pedal each time your mind tells you you need to accelerate or keep the vehicle at a constant speed. You may eventually observe (if you haven't already) that (and this is the case with most cars) you do not need to press on the gas pedal all the time. The tendency of a car to momentarily maintain its state of uniform motion under certain conditions without additional energy - flat surface or a downhill - removes the need for always punching the gas pedal. Some people call this "gliding".

Stop looking for technological amazement. In this part of the 21st century there ain't any. (One has to, again, look at the "average" affairs of the "entire" world in order to fully appreciate this). Just try to enjoy your ride : )

 

Dweezil,

I drive a IV (also have had it about 3 weeks and now have 500 mi on the car) and my mpgs are similar to yours. My best ever remains at 39.9 mpg. I'm averaging now about 38.4.

I tend to take short trips (commute is only 6 mi) with most trips 15 mi or less, and it's been cold in my area (30's this winter). I don't often use the heater in the car and I keep the car in Eco mode 97% of the time. When I have used heat I keep the thermo at 65 degrees.

The one thing you can control is tire pressure. Mine were really low, so I pumped them up to 40 psi. It helped a little.

You're in cold weather too, and cold weather zaps mpgs (so I'm told). I believe the people who are getting the highest mpgs right now are in warmer weather and they also have become quite proficient in pulse 'n glide and even some hypermiling techniques.

There's some undefinable secret sauce or pedal touch that somehow allows high mpg people to keep up with the flow of traffic and still remain in in Eco mode. When I try to keep up with traffic (going at the speed limit), my car jumps into the PWR end of the range. I take my foot off the gas pedal a lot (do a lot of pulse and try to glide). Small hills really lower the mpgs, I'm finding.

Sounds like people who have 20+ mi commutes and longer trips tend to do better, mpg-wise because any startup or first few mile low mpgs are more than compensated for by the last 10+ miles of their trips.

 

I have a 2010 V and drive in NC and SC everyday and I get about 47MPG. One day a few weeks a go the outside temp got up to 65 and I averaged about 54. I do drive a lot though so I guess that helps me. I bought this car in December and already have over 6k on it.

 

Shorter trips hurt more than you can think. My commute is 30 miles each way, the first 10, my average goes significantly down, then builds back as the ice warms. Car is kept garaged at home, [not heated] but no block heater or grill blocking. NW Mich. this year has been cold and snowy, but with the tips learned here, I average 46.7 mpg. Winter blend gasolines also greatly affect your mileage, and those differ from geographical areas, I believe.

 

well done! how many miles on it? there can be a break in period, but not always. how many tankfulls? sorry if i missed this info. once you have a few thousand on her, compare notes with your buddy, sit in his car while he drives and have him drive yours. you should be able to do as well as him or close to it. all the best!

 

Hi Dweezil,

The bigger 17 inch tires will cause a MPG hit, and yours are at 35/32, which is even more of a hit. Get them up to at least 40/38 F/R .

The cruise control will over accellerate to stay on mph target. You might try running ECO mode when using the cruise control and see if that helps.

And of course, allot of use are doing mid 50's in the right lane in metropolitan areas, where the highway average speed during rush hour is not even 55 mph.

The battery meter is for the 30 HP traction battery, not the 12 V battery. In cold weather the HSD will tend to hold the traction battery at 8 bars. With warm weather, the HSD will let this battery vary more, and that can result in better mileage, especially in secondary road travel.

There will be some break-in improvement, say 5 mpg. But, until your first oil change you wont see any of that, and it takes up to 20 K miles for the full effect.

 

okay, well of course, you never know everything about a used vehicle. i would definately do a 12v battery test. you can find info here with search function. looks like you have some good info to go on.

 

An experienced hypermiler can easily break 50 mpg in mild weather in the 17-wheel Prius even at factory recommended tire pressures so it's mostly in the driving techniques.

My suggestion is to read up on some of the pulse and glide techniques and wait until it's warmer to realize your expectation.

 

I am a gen II owner, so this may not apply.

When you get gas, the miles go back to zero, but the MPG is additive unless you hit reset. You may not be seeing YOUR mileage, but cumulative mileage through the time at the dealership.

Have you compared by hand?

Other than that same stuff as others, accelerate briskly, but drive like had no brakes. The longer each trip is, the better the mileage, so always drive to the farthest destination then make short stops on the way back, once the car is warm. Set the HVAC on the temp you want and forget it for 3 months.

 

Screw "Pulse and Glide."
Screw "ECO" mode.
Just put the vehicle in NORMAL mode.
Get your tire pressures up to 40/38 PSI.
While the daytime temps are below 60F, use "grill blocking."
Reset your trip odometer at the next fuel up and get on with life.