Is The Prius Losing Its Purpose?

Even if it's not a short commute, you still get hammered for the first 10 miles of the trip ... even if you're going 50 miles.

I can attest to that ... my mileage this summer has struggled to get much over 50 .... although I still get about 57 on the highway on long trips.

REV

 

Yep. This goes back to the story I posted at http://priuschat.com/forums/other-c...eage-no-its-your-gallonage-really-counts.html.

 

I totally agree. It is much easier for everyone to understand is more effective in comparing fuel efficiency.

 

Will we ever switch to gallons per x miles in this country? Or keep focusing on mileage? Drives me nuts.

 

That's going to be quite a challenge to overcome. Many are oblivious to how MPG has become a tool for misleading about fuel consumption.

I'll start by adding it to my signature...
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If we think of gallonage, as in Cwerdna's link, it is much worse than that, because it follows (base-mpg) squared.

A 2.5 mpg drop in the Tundra, from 18.0 to 15.5, is the same gallonage as a 15 mpg drop in the Prius, from 50 to 34.5. Both represent an extra 0.90 gallons consumption per 100 miles.

I believe switching to gallons-per-100-miles would cause many hot weather AC and cold weather warmup complaints to vanish.

 

The Prius will NEVER lose it's purpose...on the interstate, stay in the right lane and keep your speed between 60 and 65. I know...to damn slow. Just get your speed to about 62 MPH, set the cruise control, turn on the radio, CD or MP3, and enjoy the relaxing ride, and just ignore all those ignorant a$$holes who are in such a rush..that right there will save you about 2-3 MPG.
Your friend is not gonna meet the EPA either with her Civic...I didn't buy my Prius to save money, I bought it to use less gas that reduces my carbon footprint and less money to go overseas to terrorist countries.
Also, when you get off the interstate, your battery should be 80% full if not more....take advantage of that on city roads and use the electric motor instead of the engine....just accelerate to speed, like 40 MPH, take your foot off the accelerator pedal, once the engine turns off (you can tell b/c the instantaneous MPG will go all the way to 100) depress the accelerator pedal slowly and drive at a constant speed.
Using the Hybrid System Indicator...keep the dark green bar in the Hybrid Eco Area, this will keep you driving in electric mode and not using the engine...
For more info, go to page 192 of the owner's manual

 

We always do much better in the summer. My wife gets over 50mpg even with A/C use in July/August and she is just starting to get into more conservative driving now. Most our our trips are 10 miles round trip or less, though it is pretty flat here in Chicago. It's the winter that crushes us, usually by over 20% from December to February.

We're pretty happy with our fuel economy overall. With even moderately conservative driving, I don't see us getting close to what we get in similarly sized vehicles that aren't alternative energy. Like the OP, we may never pay off the difference to a conventional car of the same type, but it will be close with gas prices as they are in Chicago. Plus, even if we dont, like others have said, we cut emissions, pollution and imports of oil regardless.

 

I like where this discussion has gone with "gallonage."

We STILL have people who drive more miles, and burn more gas for the specific reason of having a higher MPG readout on the display. This madness has got to stop. Thanks for doing your part, John!

 

LOL !! I picked up my car in January ... one of the coldest on record .... brand new engine, and I've NEVER gotten less than 47 MPG ... except this summer. Overall mpg is 48 and high change for the first 11K miles.

I think the AC is really hammering me, because it's been outrageously hot here. MPG on the highway is still great ... mid 50's - about 57 or so. I've never really gotten crushed in the winter like you. Worst I've ever gotten was a few tanks ago at 45 ... all around town in 100 degree heat .... I don't care about the mileage ... I'm cranking the AC.

REV

 

Darrell, you've probably seen the new EPA coming next year or so, they have the Gal/100mi figures on sticker as well. It's a start.

When I go to fillup, big thing on my mind is 'argh, how many gallons is it going to take to fill up? 15, 16? ' Then I think about MPG's.

 

It would be awesome to post big, fat billboards along the roads with ..

Gal / mile vs. MPG graphs .....

 

I knew I was having better efficiency on the last tank in Accord. Seemed like 'summer blend' gas kicked in. maybe 60% hwy, 40 city.

Just to give some perspective, 452 miles , 16 gallons refill ... 28 MPG ...

I know a whole bunch of yous out there could use half the gas on fillup

 

Where we live, we can't turn off the A/C; the humidity is just too high and usually too hot as well. We tend to keep the A/C between 75 and 78 depending on outside conditions.

Trying to get good mileage here is also a chore because of the hills and twist/turns. Trying to coast is the same problem, usually cannot see the traffic control early enough to make judgements on costing.

But I am not disappointed in the mileage I'm getting and feel it will get better in cooler weather, like late summer/early fall.

 

The information and the high mileage make you more aware. If you have a car that gets 20MPG and you do something that drops your MPG by 5%, well then you are at 19. Most of us wouldn't notice or complain about that. But when you ahve a car that you expect to get 50MPG and you get 5% less, now it is 2.5 MPG and a little more noticeable.

Also in the first 10-15 minutes of driving the mileage of the Prius isn't all that great for a small car. However, if you drive 45 minutes, that last half hour makes up for the first 15 minutes. However if you always stop after 15 minutes of driving, you just get that "bad mileage period". And will see a much lower overall MPG number. When I went from a 30 Mile commute to a 7 mile commute I went from 45-55 MPG to 33-37 MPG. Same driver, same Prius, totally different results due to a change in the drive.

 

Just remember that the Prius is built for the lowest emissions, not for the highest mpg's. The high mpg's is just a benefit of the low emission design. So that warmup cycle makes it really low emissions at the cost of fuel economy.

 

Right! And one hopes that our educational system in this country isn't so bad that we lose sight of what's important here.

Just like any other car - big or small.

And regardless of your mileage, you WILL burn more total gasoline on the 30 mile commute as compared to the 7 mile commute. Yet some folks are just THRILLED with the 30 mile commute because the gas mileage is better! :jeez:

 

depends on the weather, but i still get a minimum of 50 mpg on my 7 mile one way 15 minute commute each day in bad weather, and 65 in the best. granted, it's not too hilly.

 

I drive my 2010 Prius modestly. Not a hyper miler but I am just easy on the go pedal. I have 17K on the car in the year that I have owned it. I have averaged a solid 58 + mpg. I was over 60 mpg the first 6 months but it just won't do that anymore.

All of the many Toyota's that I have owned beat the EPA estimates by a huge amount. All the other makes that I have had just barely made the EPA amount.

 

My commute is just a hair under 10 miles. On the interstate it is about 15 mins. If the roads were flatter in East Tennessee I could get better mileage but they aren't and I don't.

When I take city streets, I can up the mileage but I also nearly double my time. Just does not seem like a good use of resources (time or gas). So I live with a little bit lower mileage.

My Honda CRV, which we still own, would average about 22MPG and I am getting twice that out of the Pruis. On road trips, the best I EVER got out of the CRV was 28MPG and it was more typically 24 to 26 MPG. The Pruis gets over 50MPG, especially if I get away from these hills and mountains.

Do I notice a change? Sure, but I noticed the change in the CRV, especially if it dropped below 20MPG.

Then again, I'm an anal, retentive, computer nerd! My wife says I may have Asperger's Syndrome which also explains some things about me.
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