Hey! This isn't right is it?

Ok.
I promise I'll stop doing this.
Because I don't' want to become The Prius Chat poster that come in and talks about "his Non-Hybrid" vehicle all the time.

But I thought I'd share this.

Today I'm driving my new Honda Fit and the low fuel light illuminates.
I look at my total miles driven.
260....

OMG!

With the Prius? I was just getting warmed up at 260 miles on a full tank. I didn't even think about the chimerical dream of a gas station until I reached maybe 360+, and most of the time I was pulling in, at around 420-500 miles traveled on the tank.

Now admittedly, this is the first tank from the dealership, and I expect much better gas mileage in the future. As I use to tell new Prius Owners, I don't want to freak out about the first tank. Plus, this tank, had a lot of burning of fuel while remaining stationary. Lot's of time spent sitting in the vehicle while running figuring out new features and how they worked. So a lot of fuel burning without the odometer moving.

I'm suppose to get a combined MPG of around 35. So I'm hoping things improve. I expect them to do so.
Also, much like The Prius, from everything I read, the "warning" in The Honda Fit is very conservative. It has a cruising range, and all I've read is that you can drive it to Zero, and much like the Prius, expect to really have a generous cushion of fuel left.

Never gambled much with The Prius, probably won't with The Fit. I'll drive it to cruising range Zero, and then note how much gas I'm actually pumping in at fill up. That should give me a pretty good idea what my cushion REALLY is. Fit has a Prius like 10.6 gallon fuel tank.

I knew when I was going from HSD and Prius to The Fit, there would be some gas mileage adjustment shock. Or GMAS syndrome as I like to call it. But after 3 years of not having to even think about a gas station until well into 350+ ,miles traveled, I was shocked to see a gas pump icon illuminate with only 260 miles traveled.

And as an added anecdote....Yes, I keep coming up to stop lights and wondering why my engine is NOT shutting off. And last night when I pulled up to the drive through window, I somehow felt like I should apologize for the rudeness of my ICE continuing to run.

It's going to take me some time to adjust.

Being able to hang around Prius Chat should help ease the transition.

 

Thanks...but nah...
I remember BEFORE I got the Prius discussions about turning off your engine with a standard ICE vehicle, and I just don't think it's a good idea.
The Prius as a machine is carefully designed to do it, automatically and safely.

I don't want to be driving around a regular ICE and trying to match the automatic, computer controlled reality of HSD and a HV battery. Just doesn't seem safe to me.

Also...yes, this first time I was a "little" shocked. But....I do expect better gas mileage AND...when you go from Prius to nearly almost anything else? You just have to swallow the bitter pill that the gas mileage will not be as good. Unless you are going to a full electric or another "alternative" automobile, you just aren't going to get as good a gas mileage.

Kind of funny, that before the salesman knew I owned a Prius he was touting the FANTASTIC gas mileage of The Honda Fit, and how it would save me so much money and be so economical. --After his sales pitch I let it drop that I owned a Prius. I told him if I got 35 mpg with my Prius? Then I'd be looking at what was wrong with it.

Well...I was looking to trade it in...so...I wanted him to know that there was a LOT I liked about my Prius. Never good to negotiate from a position that you dislike the vehicle you are trading in, which really wasn't the reality. Even though maybe it was a little mean of me to let him go on and on about how fuel efficient The Honda Fit was...

 

Honestly no. And that's NOT because I don't like The Prius c, which I think is a great product.
I just have good memories and experience with my old Honda Fit and wanted to return.

Then my work here is finished.
But seriously, one thing I always liked and discovered after owning a Prius is it's rather refined nature. The turning off at stops, the starting out on electric power on initial acceleration, I always thought created a very refined driving feel and experience. It was a benefit and plus to Hybrid ownership I unexpectedly enjoyed.

Yes, I'm going to have to reverse learn.
Going back before 2010 when I was first learning about Hybrids, I read about hypermiling techniques and applied them to the vehicle I had at the time which was a 1992 Honda Accord. Basically just some pulse and glide, and a little thinking ahead to maximize momentum.
I was impressed at the time with how much I could improve the gas mileage of even that vehicle with just some very basic, nearly common sense hypermiling techniques.

Honestly though, I think owning and operating a Prius for 3 years has implanted economical driving protocol in my subconscious.
I've forgotten how to drive "badly".

It's also interesting to me that over the past 6 years, how "regular" ICE cars have adopted some of the Hybrid like feedback software.
The Fit comes with a very Prius like information screen that shows instantaneous MPG as well as the average for the trip.
Very familiar....except for the numbers don't routinely pass 40 mpg.
Honda even includes an ECON button as well as a speedometer accented by lights that turn from blue to green depending on how economically and efficiently you are driving.
It's not quite at Hybrid Prius level of feedback, but it's a far cry from most vehicles just 10 years ago.