Reduced winter MPG

Block heater.
Consolidate trips.
Drive less.

 

there's a limit to what you can do, and it's a small difference, unfortunately. old man winter doesn't like hybrids

 

The most effective way to improve winter MPG, is to wait until spring. Cold temperatures and wet roads inherently burn more fuel.

See also here:
Why mileage gets worse in winter | PriusChat

Come on Bisco, you know this isn't just hybrids, it is all cars.

 

except that one hybrid advantage is that it doesn't produce waste heat, which is somewhat lost in winter.
and batteries are less efficient.

 

I've learned to manage my expectations! Having owned one Prius since 2011 and another since 2015, I have realized that in the warmer months, I can expect around 50 mpg and in the winter months I hover around 40 mpg. (And the 20% reduction in winter was similar to my previous ICE cars).

 

Yeah, I've only owned my new 2022 Prius LE for just a couple weeks but I noticed the fuel economy is much better on warmer days when I don't need to turn on the heat. I usually leave it off when I'm alone, but turn the heat on whenever my wife is riding with me. She's always complaining if it's cold.

I also live in a very hilly area, that compounds the reduction in fuel economy. However, my car usually performs at 32-36 mpg in the cold weather and hills around here. The car averages at 50+ mpg in warmer weather and less hilly areas.

The car usually doesn't get a ding in fuel level until I reach the 50 mile mark, though. Not at all bad compared to my old 2009 Honda Fit - it would perform poorly at 23-26 mpg during the winter months. I'm pretty happy with the fuel savings I've had so far. I've only topped the Prius off twice in the past three weeks I've had it.

 

That'd be awesome, but some of us have to use our cars more often, and we really don't have a choice. I'm often envious of my mother, because she doesn't really need to get out often. Hell, she got her 2015 Prius brand new and she's only racked up less than 100k miles since then.

I'll try my best to avoid racking on extra miles on my new baby Prius, but I gotta be realistic at the same time. I'm not even 50 yet. ALMOST there, but not quite yet! LOL

 

Cabin heat is only a portion of it, likely not even a majority. Engine efficiency, tire temperature and pressure, etc., would add up to more total energy loss. Any wet roads or wind would be large factors too.

 

Also the traction batteries being cold means they can't take a charge as fast, nor release it as fast, which erodes some of the advantage of driving a hybrid.

 

Dress warmly so you can use less cabin heat! Leave the Climate Control off until you are actually driving and don't sit idle with the cabin heat on. Don't turn cabin heat on until the ICE is warmed up by driving it several miles. But seriously 5-10 MPG drop is completely normal, so just get used to it.

 

Keep the cabin heat setting as low as you can tolerate, or even turn the system right off. When the car's partially warmed up it'll shut the engine off more sooner, at stops, red lights.

 

I guess my first tank at 47mpg isnt too bad. But then again I didnt fill it the first time so who knows how the dealer filled it. I am hoping it will go up. I have to lighten my right foot. Maybe put a bungy cord on it to keep it from pressing down too hard.

 

A scangauge (to see water/engine temp) goes a long way in knowing where your prius is at, since
it does not have gauges to see that info.

@FuelMiser is on point to wait to fire up the ol' climate control until after the temp is higher from driving a couple miles.
@Mendel Leisk has some very good points. EBH is about the only way if short commutes.

I use a (EBH) engine block heater and I also have the scangauge to see my temp.
I only have a 3 mile trip to work, so I do not see any heat. (nor do I attempt to turn it on lol)
I can still eek out high 40s mpg in my C ...if I use EBH and no heat. (@below freezing temps)
In seriously frigid temps (i.e. 10f and lower), I may sit a bit until I get up to 80f watertemp
then I wait until I am above 135f until I turn on heat. By that time I am normally pulling in driveway hahaha.

We sold our Gen3 for a Prime, and this car takes kids to school in the morning (6mi round trip)
Gen 3 would average like 30-35mpg w/ a block heater. Prime=ahhh much better ALL EV!

Battery temp will cause engine to fire up more and longer and also MUCH less battery use/drain.
It has the safety's built into the programming.

If you are driving per say over 10 miles, then mpg will gradually increase, but not by much.

Check tire pressures as they will drop with lower temps (i.e. winter) and need to fill em up if you have not already.
Of course as others have mentioned, Do not use heat unless KIDS OR MISSES in da car!

 

You in ECO mode? that will lighten your foot by default.
You can still stomp on it if/when necessary.

47mpg isnt bad at all. esp for the weather we have atm.

 

4 tanks so far and the average mpg is 48.8. Not bad for 95% highway driving

 

Dors anyone know what the gaps are in the minute mpg chart?

 

There hasn't been much discussion about that screen here at priuschat, at least that I've seen.
And the few times I've looked at that screen I've never seen a gap like the one showing in your pic.

If you can remember what type of driving conditions or how the car was behaving when the gaps showed up on the screen, it may help get some ideas about what they mean. That is unless someone already knows what those gaps in the graph mean.

 

I think the confusion here is that the "E" blocks are a separate graph overlaid on top of the MPG graph. For the avoidance of doubt, the MPG graph contains the solid blue columns, and the "E" blocks are essentially just displayed over the top of a MPG graph. They should be treated independently.

So, ignoring the "E" blocks for a moment, the solid blue columns indicates your MPG for that minute. On the column in question with the gaps, the solid blue column is at around 25MPG, and hence that's what your MPG was during that minute. The remaining height of the column is white, because that's what the background colour is. Hold that thought for a minute.

Each complete "E" block represents 30Wh of regenerated electricity. They only occur at specific heights on the graph, because you only regenerate up to 30Wh of electricity every 10 seconds - so each column of the graph will only show up to 6 "E" blocks and there are gaps between them as each block is around the height of the E character, not a full 10 seconds worth of column height. If your MPG is less than what is required to fill the background behind the "E" blocks on a given column, then you will see the white background showing through between the gaps in the "E" blocks.

In your case, you had an MPG of around 25MPG (quite low, so a short column of blue), and you regenerated about 2.5x 30Wh (75Wh total) in that minute, which reaches a height higher than what 25MPG would be behind it.

 

That's a great explanation of what that screen is showing @The Professor ....
I'm still curious what kind of situation would cause the Prius to regen that much while getting such low mpg.
I'm sure there is way for the car to do it, but it just looks like it's an odd occurrence at best. Something like driving up a steep hill with the brake pedal partially depressed.