2023 Prius LE Problem

The car definitely tests a person's impulse control. It is SO fun to drive!

But when I actually try, it just sips like nothing I've ever seen. Beats my 2019 LE in glide ability by a mile.

The other thing is its shut off. It kills the ICE quicker after firing and then lowering the pedal compared to the G4, which had kind of a "wind down" before stopping at times.

 

I'm basing my prediction off the Fuelly average of past models in relation to the EPA rating. The peak of the bell curve tends to be just under the EPA combined mpg for the Prius. The new XLE and Limited combined is actually the same as the gen4 line up, minus the Eco. The new LE is better rated, and it will make up more of the population than the Eco once did. It can pull up the Fuelly average, but there factors working in the other direction. AWD has a larger penalty than in the old model, and the improved performance can lead to people driving it more aggressively.

 

Should I link to an old thread that I used to love? A group of PiP owner/hypermiler would play a game of best 1000 mile fuel economy with as few rules as possible and open calculations that were posted for all to read and run for themselves if they wanted to. A simple screenshot of one gauge (conforming to the 1000 mile interval ) was all that was needed to compile the list ( of what was it?) best mpge per 1000 miles.

I just wish there was a group like that still around for both gen4 and 5.

 

Yeah, we are all hypermilers on PriusChat. Average casual driver seems to obtain 5–10% below the EPA mpg estimate, whereas average PriusChat driver seems to obtain 5–10% above the EPA mpg estimate.

However, how much can we trust the EPA estimates? Do you know how the EPA estimates are obtained? Do we even remember the Volkswagen scandal?

• Zeroth, the EPA estimates are obtained by the manufacturer, not EPA.
• First, the car is let coast down on a track from a high speed to standstill in neutral gear (no power). This results in an estimate of the total drag (aerodynamic, drivetrain, and tire) on the car.
• Second, using a dynamometer, the total drag on the field is modeled.
• Third, the actual fuel-consumption test is run on the dynamometer using the total drag that was modeled.

There are so many approximations in each step. For example, air temperature and humidity will greatly affect the results in the first step. Then, the modeling in the second step is an approximation only. Finally, the third step, which is an approximation itself, runs on the approximation generated in the second step; so, two approximations are being built on top of each other. In fact, three approximations are being built on top of each other if you consider the first step as well.

Do you really think that Gen 4 Prius Eco gets 8% better fuel economy than Gen 4 Prius (56 vs. 52 mpg)? I don't, as there is minimal difference between the two cars (lack of spare tire and rear wiper on Eco?). I am also not sure if the fuel-economy difference between Gen 4 LE and XLE/Limited is as drastic as EPA claims (57 vs 52 mpg).

 

Those days might be over. Enter the new era of electric cars. I joined the party late which is why I still like to play the game. But I usually don't dedicate an entire tank to hypermile-style driving. I have to get kind of lucky. I'm sitting at 69 MPGs on the tank average gauge. If I keep it up, I'll post a gaudy number (68.5 MPGs?). But the days are getting hotter, and projected to get real hot next week. I did have to use the AC yesterday quite a bit.

 

I have to apologize again because I forgot again that this thread is for a Gen 5 Prius LE. From my 2 days driving a Gen 4 Prius (I couldn't even figure out which trim it was) I suspect there are some big differences between the non-plugin Prius and the Plug-in no matter what Gen is being discussed.
I hate seeing all the hubba hubba in the thread, but I'm guilty of adding to it from my experiences with the Gen 3 PiP and Gen 4 Prime and my very little experience driving a non-plugin Prius, sorry bout that one....

I do know it's really hard here to get on the same page with other owners driving the same model Prius since performance can be viewed in so many different ways per driver / owners tastes and surroundings.

I am very interested in the excitement shown for the Gen 5 LE in this thread. I do have to remember that this is a Gen 5 LE thread and curb my comments appropriately.

 

Not sure if it’s been mentioned: the government mpg tests are with pure gas.

 

I just got a bit over 35 mpg on a 48 mile highway drive. Remote area. Was testing out the power. It is, limitless. Not going to tell top speed here, but, I will say it will not be how I drive the car day to day. Just a test. It passed.

Btw, 35 mpg, at how I was driving, is pretty darn good.

 

Its easy to look past "ugly" when the net price of Prius Prime LEs bought in the 2020-2021 timeframe were under $18.5k OTD - with high CA taxes included! Nobody wanted these poor ugly ducklings, to the point where Toyota offered rebates of up to $4500 ($5500 for East Coast!), plus you could get state and utility rebates, and the $4502 Federal Tax Credit.
With a Prime, we can't haul much fertilizer, either, due to poor battery packaging. But anyone driving a 2023 paid MSRP or above; so I can confidently state that we can afford to have the fertilizer delivered with the $ we saved.

TLDR; G4 whoops G5 on value.

 

That's also about the worst I've gotten highway driving(today actually). 80mph straight into a 20mph headwind. Again, I'm in an AWD LTD, so I think I've got the worst mpg handicap in the Prius lineup.

I got about 68mpg yesterday over a 40 mile stretch, cruising at 50mph with a 5mph tailwind. The car was able to cycle between EV and HV modes at that speed.

 

Cool, now do Consumer Reports fuel economy testing.

My post wasn't about EPA testing, but a prediction of how the gen5 Prius user results will pan out on Fuelly with a larger sample size and all four seasons of driving. The peak of past Prius results there have been close to the EPA combined rating. I have no reason to expect that to change. Are you claiming Toyota has altered how they perform the tests for the gen5?

I do think the Eco gets better fuel economy. The current Camry hybird LE gets 13% better on the EPA, and that appears as a double peak on Fuelly. Again, those peaks are close to EPA. It isn't seen for the Eco, but it was a low content L trim made in lower numbers. It's purpose was for advertising. We'll likely see a double peak for the gen5 Prius, as its LE should be produced and sold in the same trim ratio as the Camry hybrid.

It isn't 'pure gas'. It technically isn't even gasoline, as the exact mix of compounds in that varies with source petroleum and refinery. The test fuel is a defined mix of chemicals that approximates alcohol free gasoline. Remember the EPA test's main goal is for emissions. The first step in controlling variables for that is in using a known fuel. It also helps with the fuel economy testing.

The official fuel economy tests aren't actually trying to produce results close to real world. The point is to have results that allow like to like comparisons between models for consumers.

PS: it is 93 octane; 91 for CARB.

 

Consumer Reports fuel-economy tests seem to simulate heavy-footed drivers who do frequent short trips. We will see what their numbers will look like. Since they are testing the XLE trim, I expect their numbers to be far lower than the EPA estimate and the Consumer Reports review to complain about Gen 5 Prius getting significantly worse fuel economy than Gen 4 Prius—Highs: Sporty, fun, ...; Lows: Worse fuel economy than the predecessor, smaller cabin and trunk volume than the predecessor, ...

 

OMG, "35 mpg" will give me nightmares tonight. Being used to 70 mpg, if my car were getting 35 mpg, I would have it put in a junkyard compactor and compacted into a cube.

Nevertheless, if you were racing it, 35 mpg is pretty darn good.

 

I'm actually surprised you were able to get it that low. Must have been a helluva drive! Usually when you go out and really run it, the battery has a nice charge and you make up a lot of MPG's on the way home. At least that's been my experience.