I put in $6 worth of gas when the low fuel indicator comes on. Last week I put in $6 as gas was pushing over $3/gal here, then I noticed it had been over 1200 miles since I last put in gas. That's 1200 miles on 2 gallons of gas. WOO-HOO!
Sweet! First time I filled up, I was just topping off before a long road trip. I had gone 2,280 miles and it took 5.811 gallons. An amazing car.
I find that I am either almost all EV around town (1,200 miles on 1.6 gals before my last long trip), or all gasoline on long trips but getting 55+ mpg (55 at 73 mph by GPS, with the A/C on). The Prime meets my needs nicely. Since I don't burn much gasoline locally, I didn't fill the tank with fuel when I returned from a long trip, but the 1/3 tank will likely easily last me until my next long trip, then I will fill it just before I leave home.
Yea, I'm all electric going to work and back as well as most weekends, but that once a month trip always knocks me off the EcoDashboard leader board. But that's why i got the Prime i guess... for those trips that i take that are over most EV car ranges, otherwise I would have just gotten an EV. I still need gas every month, but just a tiny bit.
On the plus side, this exercises the gas engine a bit and keeps the fuel in the tank from sitting there 5 years and going stale.
I only put in $6 worth of gas b/c I hear the additives break down after 90 days or so, and I can easily go 4-6 weeks between just adding ~2 gallons. I think a full tank would last me a year! Actually, when I got the car, the dealer gave me a full tank of gas. After two months, I stopped charging it b/c I'd only used 1/8th tank of gas, and I was worried about the additives based on what others here have said. Besides, why haul around an extra 100 lbs of fuel for no reason?
Minor correction - a gallon of gasoline weighs approximately 6 lbs, so the full tank on a Prime (11.4 gals) will contain 68.4 lbs of gasoline. At the indicated empty point on the gage, there are still about 1.5 gals in the tank, so the difference between indicated empty and indicated full is 10 gallons or 60 lbs. Still, weight is weight. I don't refill my tank after trips just for that reason. Why haul at least a full 5-gallon can of gas around in the car all the time, if you don't need it.
well, it's dead weight however you count it. The more there is, it reduces your overall range and efficiency accordingly.
This is why I normally make my wife walk if it's only a few miles. That's over a hundred pounds right there!
I'm glad I already swallowed my iced tea or I'd be cleaning up a mess. I take it your wife doesn't read your posts.
My daily commute being a bit longer in summer (or almost twice longer in winter) than the PRIME's EV range, I always fill the tank. Without any long range trips, a full tank can last ~2 mo in summer but I still have not hit illusive 2000 miles/tank mark yet. 1942 miles/tank is my top score. However, usually with out of town drives mixed, my filling is much more frequent than that though. 38 fills in 2 years 30k to be precise.
She could not be less interested in the Prius or anything to do with it. As long as the seats are comfortable and the A/C works, it could be any car model and she'd be equally happy. She doesn't drive it. Edit - She has a Subaru Outback that she likes a lot - carries her gardening tools and stuff, she sits up a bit higher, AWD and good in the snow, good ground clearance for light off-road and parking wherever you need to, decent mileage, reliable. We take that car on winter trips or trips where we'll be on dirt roads to campsites.
I say nothing. I showed her once the various modes on the dash - EV, HV, etc. She told me she just wants to get in a car and drive it. I explained that you can in this car, but most of us try to tweak the settings to optimize economy/fuel use, etc. Not her thing.
Some great anecdotes in this thread showing how the Prime reduces our dependence on foreign oil. Why doesn't every conservative drive one??
Because you can’t do much with a Prime. Haul stuff, tow a boat or trailer, put hay in the back, haul a load of mulch, etc. Regardless of politics, it is a limited platform. And how would you know what political persuasion is or is not buying Primes? They don’t ask at the dealer, so it is not being tracked.
That is pretty good, but still just a few bales. For 20 you will need a lot more trips. I haul a lot of stuff in mine but frequently borrow a friend’s pickup for lumber yard runs.