Any tips for a new Prius C (and hybrid) owner for better fuel economy?

(Each of us may have successful tips that work for us and not for you, Weather, terrain, load, and traffic density are factors different for each driver)

If you drive as if you had no brakes, you learn to coast much earlier than you used to.
The Prius (and most cars) cruise well and accelerate badly, so use brisk acceleration and get it over with. Get to cruising speed and maximize your time cruising.

The first 15 minutes of any drive is the worst MPG, so long drives are better than short, and if you have many stops, drive to the farthest one and stop at the rest on the way back.

 

We are approaching 78,000 miles on our Prius. Short cold start trips will drop
mpg's. This is true with all vehicle but more noticable in the Prius as you
can see the mpg dash readout.

I keep all four of my tires inflated to 44 psi which is max sidewall pressure. Also
Toyota Dealerships sometime overfill the oil crankcase with too much oil when
you get a oil change. This will have an effect on MPG's.

Also you car is still breaking in and your MPG's will improve.

Our last fill up calculated was over 58 MPG, and for the last 6,000
plus miles 53 mpg calculated.

I would expect the Prius C to do even better with mixed city and highway
driving.

 

Great tip!

 

My salesman told me that EV was only attainable up to 25 MPH what he neglected to tell me was that coming down from say 50 MPH, EV is available at 44MPH.

This picture(Shows 7.9 miles at 95.5MPG) was after I put 9.02 gallons in the car right after a warning beep. Calculated mileage for the tank at 58.3 MPG.

95.5 MPG is an anomaly for sure but still cool to see!

Good luck with your car!

Sorry picture won't load

 

Congrats on the new car.
As for MPGs - compare my Fuelly stats for my C2 and my Prizm (which I still like). I'm more than happy with the C - even though I haven't been able to top 50 MPG on Fuelly. The Prizm is in great shape and has less than 40K miles - engine is 1.6 with 100hp & 3 speed auto. I did have one stretch driving home from Mililani to Honolulu where the C stayed at 70 MPG for over 18 miles. I don't know what I did. My usual MPG is around 52 when C is warmed up.

Do check your tire pressures. I run 41.5 F and about 39 R. Makes a difference. A month back I had a utility knife blade in one of my tires - didn't show on the low TP indicator till 17.5 lbs! An early indicator of the low TP - I could not get my MPG above @44 MPG. Really puzzled till the low TP indicator came on. Slightly OP - with the compact spare - the MPG went right back up to 52 plus - don't know if it's less friction or if the spare throws off the readings.

YMMV

 

I will try to give you some advice but some of it may not apply to the C.
The Prius goes through stages (read this)
The Five Stages of Prius Hybrid Operation | PriusChat
One of the tricks is to get the car into S4 ASAP. Once the ICE is warmed up you have to come to a complete stop for 5-10 seconds (you'll know its in S4 when you pull up to a stoplight (or otherwise stop), and the ICE is running, if you stay stopped for long enough and the ICE is warmed up, the ICE will shut off. This is the most efficient hybrid mode (I'm nice person-uming this applies to the C).
Driving "gingerly" decreases mpg's. As stated earlier, get up to cruising speed quickly, ease off the gas then reapply the accelerator to maintain cruising speed. Additionally, all power (electric or otherwise) comes from the ICE. When the mech pwr from the ICE is converted to electricity, there is a loss involved. Most new owners will try to utilize "electric" mode until the batt is depleted. This causes a hit in mpgs due to conversion losses (the ICE has to turn on to recharge the battery). Try to keep your battery charge between 50 and 70%. The most efficient normal driving is, ICE on and pwr going to the wheels and the battery charging. Heres the display to use to see this.

You should see power going from the ICE to the wheels and from the motor to the battery. It should look like this (couldn't find one for a C)

On a flat surface, going 35-45 mph (steady speed and not accelerating) you should easily net 60+mpg's in this mode. If the battery gets to 6 bars, ease off the throttle and use some EV until it drops to 3 or 4 bars. Then reengage the ICE to maintain speed and charge the battery (done by pressing on the accel until the ICE fires back up and easing off until you get the arrows as stated above).
If you're driving short trips, use the first 5 minutes to charge your battery to six bars using this technique.

Another technique is P&G. read this (written for a Gen II but most will apply)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1224
Mastering this technique takes practice but gliding is by far the most efficient way to move any Prius.
Additionally, read everything you can on this forum regarding increasing mpgs. Over time and with practice, you will easily net above 50 mpgs in the city (probably closer to 60).

 

Rule number 1. Momentum is your friend.

Off the highway:
Do everything you can to keep the car moving. Someone slows to turn left in front of you, if you are not the type of driver who already does this, immediately look to see if there is room to go safely around him rather then stop and wait behind him.

Approaching a red light or stop sign, begin slowing much earlier than you used to and glide up to the stop. You'll find the tires on the C will allow you to do this better than most cars.

Unlike you may have previously thought, driving at a steady speed or using cruise control will only give you good gas mileage if you are on perfectly level roads all the time. For example, if you are driving on a rural road at 40 mph, and approach a slight uphill stretch, let up on the gas and gradually slow down just a few mph as you go up the hill. When you reach the crest, gradually apply the gas to get back up to 40, or if there is a downhill stretch on the other side, take full advantage of it and coast down gaining as much speed as you are comfortable with. 5-7 mph over the speed limit should not be a concern in most situations, but use your own judgement.

Getting the car moving from stopped is always the biggest gas using activity. Get used to starting more slowly and gradually. You'll have to play this by ear and see what works, short of getting everyone behind you upset. Use the ECO score gauge, the one with the curved green bar that goes up and down, to help you do all of the above with the most efficiency. Stay out of the red (POWER) zone unless you really need it, then use it only briefly.

On the highway:
If you like to drive at 80 or above, your mpg will probably never get over the EPA rating of 46. On my typical 40 mile commute, I have found that 71 mph seems to be a cut off for me when I am alone in the car. If I stay at 71 or below, I can maintain an average of 50 mpg or better. Over that, it drops into the mid to high 40s. You'll have to see what works for you in your situation. Remember, this car was geared towards better mileage in the city than on the highway, but with a little moderation, you can keep it above the 50 mpg mark.

Find the lane of traffic that is going the speed you like and drive in it. Maintain a steady speed unless going up or down hill, then apply the same tactics you would on rural roads- slow a bit on the uphill and gain speed on the down.

It should go without saying that tailgating is a no no, for safety reason as usual, but also because it inevitably results in the need to brake more often which slows momentum and then requires more gas to get back up to speed. A healthy gap in front of you allows you to just let up on the gas a bit when you see the traffic ahead slowing, rather than brake. If there's a tailgater behind you, he or she will probably be visibly upset at having to follow you, but as long as you are keeping up with the flow, and going faster than the traffic in the lane to your immediate right, you are following all the traffic rules.

AC use will definitely cause lower mileage, even more than in a non hybrid, because the AC runs off the traction battery, as does the fan. Higher fan speeds use more amps, and eventually cause the gas engine to come on more often to charge the battery. Drive in ECO mode at all times. It will moderate the AC use in ways to save battery use and you wont even notice the difference. Keep the fan speed as low as you can tolerate.

If you really want high gas mileage, the Prius comes well equipped to help you do it with its dash gauges and it's computer controlled transmission/engines. On a 10 mile stretch this morning, with about 4 stops and average speed of 38 mph, I got 76.4 mpg.

You'll get the hang of it after a while.

 

I told you that you well inevitably become a sloooowwwweeeerrr driver. Lol.

 

On the freeway, the #1 rule is speed kills mpg. This is mostly due to wind resistance, but also due to more engine inefficiency.

Without AC on, and assuming a flat drive and ideal weather, 55 mph and below wield yield 60 mpg and above. 65 mph in those conditions will bring your mpg down to mid-to-lower-50's. 70 mph and above will send your mpg below 50, and the faster you go, the lower your mpg will be.

Also, make sure you learn how to "glide" using the Eco Power Bar. Gliding is a critical tool in hypermiling. It means the engine isn't running, but neither are your wheels regenerating energy to your battery. In the C, this means adjusting the gas pedal so that there is no yellow on the power bar and no blue in the regeneration display. This will take some practice to learn the proper positioning of the foot, and it takes a little while, but gets easier.

Gliding is particularly useful in downhill portions of a drive. It leads to higher mpg because it is, in essence, "free miles" where no gas is being used and energy is not being wasted on maintaining engine speed (though at higher speed, the engine is still rpming to protect the EV motor). In slower-speed longer stretches, there is a technique called "pulse and glide" to learn which leads to higher mpg. Basically, sacrificing a little mpg with higher engine inefficiency pulsing up to speed still leads to an ultimate savings of gas because so much energy is lost by the friction of the engine whenever it is running- the "glide" portion of "pulse and glide" saves more energy than is lost by pulsing up to speed.

 

Perhaps the most useful tip that I have noticed while driving my non hybrid car is simply looking at the stoplights. If you see a red light within a reasonable amount of distance, or just see a light turn red, take your foot off the accelerator and glide up to it. Often times you will still be moving at some speed by the time either the other cars ahead of you are moving, or you will be able to glide through the newly green intersection. IMO there is no reason to continue acceleration up to a stoplight unless you know it is about to turn green (takes a bit of practice to determine that). More often than not, just glide, and wave to the people who passed you in the other lane only for you to pass them as you glide through the now moving intersection.

 

^My boyfriend drives me crazy the way he accelerates up to a stop light and brakes hard once he's close. He's gotten better when driving my car but still does it a lot, and it's like he forgets the whole lesson once he's in his Mustang

 

Yeah, I laugh every time I see someone do that. Or there is the case of people who pass you on the freeway only to turn off at the next exit <1 mile away... impatient people these days...

 

You have freeways in ND? (lol)

 

Meh, to me the terms are synonymous. I guess there is a difference though since looking it up. It would be rather odd to have a toll booth on ND highways for all 50 cars that pass on any given day .

 

I have been averaging 50-54 MPG with the AC on city and highway. I have gotten as good as 73 MPG with the AC only city driving in a 15mile segement. I decided to see what it would do with the AC off in the city and I got 86.7 MPG. I will not be doing that agin it is 94+ degrees here and I am happy with the numbers that I get. The AC in my car is nice an cold

 

I noticed your name is bamboozle, r u bamboozling us? This sounds extremely high in both cases. If this is not a joke, tell us more info like avg speed, hypermiling techniques etc.