Speed limits & city mpg

^^^
The above isn't correct. On the Gen 3 Prius, max EV only speed is ~46 mph. That's not the same as the max speed allowed when using the EV button.

You might want to educate yourself on the EPA tests at Car and Driver: The Truth About EPA City / Highway MPG Estimates | PriusChat. If your drives are short, esp. w/lots of stop and go, you will need meet the EPA city # at all or not easily. Notice the shortest cycle that the EPA test has from a cold engine is 31.2 minutes long. Engines get terrible mileage while warming up.

They also don't drive on a real road nor measure actual fuel usage.

On CR's tests, they get much worse city mileage but all non-EVs and non-PHEVs get terrible mileage on their short test. See The most fuel-efficient cars, Best vehicles for city & highway mpg and Best & worst fuel economy. Last page of http://www.consumersunion.org/Oct_CR_Fuel_Economy.pdf describes their tests and old (prior to model year 08) EPA tests.

 

ChatterBox12 – An anticipatory “Welcome To The Hybrid ‘Hive’.” I suggest a bit of reading “homework” to give yourself a “Knowledge Baseline” about the ins and outs of driving “Hybrid $mart.” A convenient place to do this is to read the material that can be found by clicking the e-link in my signature.

The “most of my ‘local’ driving is on boulevards and avenues with speed limits mostly 45 mph or higher” you describe is what I call “Around Town” driving. If you learn to drive “Hybrid $mart” in “Around Town” driving, you can meet and likely will surpass the Official EPA 51 MPG CITY number for the 2012 3G Sedan.

Of course, you will have to loose that “And I have a fairly heavy foot” of yours, and transform it into a one adapted to operating the Hybrid Synergy Drive to its best fuel economy advantage.

 

I get great mileage at 37 to 48 MPH, so long as I am not stopping each block, and the car is fully warmed up. Does "boulevards" mean no stop signs or signals? Do you drive long enough that the car warms up? (15 minutes for me)

(To do well at hypermileing, drive like you had no brakes. If you must use the brakes, long gentle braking regenerate about 30% of your energy. Not using them at all saves 100% of your energy.)

If you are neither accelerating nor braking, this chart by Bob Wilson is handy:

 

Since driving only with the electric motor results in 999 MPG, whether or not the gas engine runs doesn't actually matter with 51 MPG as the target.

It's other factors of influence, like how short your trips are and how often your steady cruising at suburb speeds (35 to 55) is interrupted by stops.

 

If your commutes is over 12 miles /45 minutes in each direction - you can increase your MPG efficiency by 20% to about 60 mpg if you learn to hypermile on a Prius.
If you live atleast 8 miles/40 minutes from work - you'll come close to the EPA rating.
If you live between 04-07 miles/15-30 minutes from work - you'll likely get in the mid 40's.
If you live between 00-03 miles/00-14 minutes from work - you'll likely get in the mid 30's.

If your commute is less than 5 miles each way - you should seriously consider a Prius Plug in - which if fully recharged each day should get 95 e-mpg over a 10 mile range.

 

63 miles today. Recharged at work. 98 MPG.

 

The plug in prius really does shine all the more brighter when one can recharge its batteries at work.
Sweet setup.

 

It depends on how you drive... plain and simple . if your willing to make some adjustments, you will surely save fuel, unless you believe you are on a nascar track and are driving aggressive.

I rarely get to 20 mph in ev mode but am constantly using battery by getting up to cruising speed and using pulse and glide. One of my favorite drives in Chicago is lake shore drive and drive it often. I increase my mpg as well...

 

I live in a rural-ish suburban area. Trips are anywhere from 4 to 25 miles. And I'm getting 50+ mpg.
Admittedly I have allowed the Prius to train my driving habits, but it's really not that bad. (I am not hypermiling)

 

For what it's worth, I live in the suburbs and commute downtown, mostly on surface streets with speed limits ranging from 35 to 45 MPH. Going to work, I face a long uphill slope and then a fairly short downhill glide. Coming home, that's reversed. I'm averaging around 58 - 62 MPG (displayed) - better since my new tires are getting broken in.

On the weekends, I try to do all of my errands in one trip so the engine has a chance to warm up. My first stop on Saturday is to meet a friend for brunch approximately 3 miles from my house. I'm lucky to get 30 MPG (displayed) on that short trip.