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First 250 miles, mpg for mostly short trips

Discussion in 'Prius c Fuel Economy' started by celticmoon, Jun 4, 2013.

  1. celticmoon

    celticmoon New Member

    Joined:
    May 27, 2013
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    Location:
    Milwaukee
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    Model:
    Three
    One week newbee here, still on the first tank. Most of my trips are under 5 miles and I was concerned I wouldn't see great mpg on such short trips. Not so. The mpg from birth reads 47.8 but that includes the test drives and my first days' stumbling. The most recent 125 miles was 51.2 mpg. And I think it is still creeping up with practice.

    -> Drove freeway into city last night, 10.4 miles each way, and got 57.7 mpg out and 51.1 mpg back.
    -> Made a morning Lowe's run for plants, 1.5 miles each way, and got 67.3 mpg out and 59.8 back.
    -> Just took the dogs to the dog park, 2.8 miles each way, and got 59.5 mpg out and 55.6 mpg back.

    I am finding it easy to adapt to this more gentle way of driving. Even when I don't watch the eco score screen because I am talking or whatever, breaking 50 mpg is routine. I know that the real world measure may be a couple mpg lower, and that winter will bring lower mpg, but I am very VERY happy.

    Incredible car.
     
    #1 celticmoon, Jun 4, 2013
  2. Deleted member 111882

    Deleted member 111882 Guest

    0
    Yup. Nice numbers. Short trip fuel economy varies significantly. You could get only 32 mpg going one way and 80 mpg the other way. I usually reset my trip fuel economy so I get whatever mpg at the end of all my trips for the day and use that, which is usually in the 50s mpg.

    Companies seem to make a big deal out of "not using the car enough" or "not going on long-enough trips to charge the battery" - but it shouldn't matter to me since it's a 20K automobile. In the winter, your fuel economy will go down, but I know it's still gotta be like double that of an SUV.
     
    #2 Deleted member 111882, Jun 4, 2013
  3. PriusC-illa

    PriusC-illa Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius c
    Model:
    Four
    Welcome and Congrats!

    I've been driving a lot of highway lately and with the heat wave last week, had the AC going quite a bit. I was a little disappointed to drift down to the 40's for MPG. Then I remembered my last car got 22 MPG on a good day. I <3 my C
     
    #3 PriusC-illa, Jun 4, 2013
    minkus and Chad Ferguson like this.
  4. ftl

    ftl Explicator

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Long Island NY
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    Model:
    Three
    Like you I drive in the NYC metro area - in another post I described the impossibility of practicing hypermiling techniques on these roads. I've had my C just about a year now, so it's been through summer and winter (and Hurricane Sandy); I'm quite pleased with my almost 50 mpg average for 7800 miles of this kind of driving.
     
    #4 ftl, Jun 4, 2013
    PriusC-illa likes this.
  5. css28

    css28 Senior Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Suburban Detroit
    Vehicle:
    2011 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    Very nice!
    The short trip mileage *will* take a hit when winter comes back, but you'll still do much better than anything else you may have driven.

    Welcome aboard!
     
    #5 css28, Jun 4, 2013
  6. PriusC-illa

    PriusC-illa Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
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    Vehicle:
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    Model:
    Four
    Did I see you leaving the yankee game last night? lol I never see any C's and saw a grey one in traffic. I pointed it out but none of my friends cared :cool:
     
    #6 PriusC-illa, Jun 4, 2013
  7. ftl

    ftl Explicator

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    Three
    I was driving back from NJ to Long Island via the GW Bridge and Cross Bronx about 8:30 last night, but that's as close as I got to the stadium. :)
     
    #7 ftl, Jun 4, 2013
  8. PriusC-illa

    PriusC-illa Member

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    Ahhh then it was someone else! It was around 11 en route to the GW
     
    #8 PriusC-illa, Jun 5, 2013
  9. celticmoon

    celticmoon New Member

    Joined:
    May 27, 2013
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    Location:
    Milwaukee
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    Model:
    Three
    OP here. Just did first fill up at 487.7 miles, a couple miles after the beep and flashing last pip. 8.355 gal.

    Subtracted the 57 miles on the odo when I took possession because the dealer had topped the tank off. Eco score said 51.3 mpg since birth. My 430.7 miles/ 8.355 gal is 51.55 mpg. That's pretty close to the readout. I was expecting the ususal 1-2 mpg error.

    I am still happy.
     
    #9 celticmoon, Jun 15, 2013
  10. Phil 29 Palms CA

    Phil 29 Palms CA Member

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Twentynine Palms, CA.
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius c
    Model:
    Two
    Welcome to the Prius C family. A few tips for better MPG in the future. Increase tire pressure to 40 PSI. Review the videos on YouTube.com for Prius driving techniques. Drive in the ECO mode as much as possible.
     
    #10 Phil 29 Palms CA, Jun 18, 2013
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