2023 LE fwd mpg, what are you getting?

@Gunslingerheel 55 mpg at 70 mph sounds about average for most any Gen 4 or Gen 5 Prius. During winter I typically get around 49 mpg at between 70 - 75 mph for 50 miles, from a cold start (completing the Prius warmup cycle), gaining a bit of elevation and mostly straight into the prevailing westerly wind.
Generally, somewhere between 50 and 60 mpg is where Prius lays on the charts for highway speeds below 75 mph. Slower speeds get higher mpg. There are so many variables to the mpg thing, it can be mind boggling when reading others mpg reports and fill in important details almost always left out of the descriptions, mine above included.
I've been a hyper-miler for a few years now, and I think @Preebee wouldn't be offended if someone thought he might be a hyper-miler too.

Hyper-miling reports have to be interpreted differently than an average report, even if a hyper-miler is averaging several drive cycles into one report.

To me there is nothing wrong with the Prius reporting 50 mpg for a tank + of gas at 70 mph. I'm imagining (filling in unknown details) that on your trip you were able to drive a fair distance on your one tank of gas.

 

That is great mileage.
Some previous posts about the distance to empty thing, and I've been the only driver of Gen 4 Prime for a couple of months now, it's been enlightening how much differently the car reports as it did when it was being driven by two very different drivers.
Anyways, back to the DTE gauge, our Prime has been showing a little above 600 mi DTE for several fillups now, My last fillup was early Aug with a little above 600 DTE and (I just passed 1k miles since that fillup in early Aug,. a few days ago, there is still 3/4 of a tank left) in the Gen 4 Prius Prime.

I went a full year on the original tank of gas that came with my leased 2014 PiP. But that was only somewhere around the first 2k mi driven in that Prius, iirc. I wanted to see how long that tank of gas last.

 

279.3 miles driven on this tank so far with just under 3/4's of a tank left. Tank Avg. shows 72.2 MPG's.

The damn heat came back the last couple days so I had to run the AC again a little. Things are cooling off again now. Hopefully I can get back up to 75 MPG's.

At this point, I don't think I could ever get more than 750 miles on a tank in the G5, unless I gain some fuel economy via break-in.

 

It'll get better as the tires wear.

 

1300 miles now and on my 5th tank of fuel. I am starting to get more fascinated by this car. Coming from a GR Corolla and mostly sports cars before that but wife did have a RAV4 Prime I stole occasionally to play with EV for my commute but I am no means a hypermile expert and actually would probably qualify as the opposite if you ask anyone who has ridden with me.
Weather in SC is perfect so on this tank I have limited use of air conditioning and am in ECO mode and trying relatively consciously to drive smoothly and use the EV mode when I think it makes sense (coasting and staying right at the "E" in ECO on the gauge to keep the ICE from kicking in. Pretty damn amazing car, and surprisingly fun to turn my commute into a eco challenge.

I am over 71 mpg after 160 miles on this tank. Almost all short trips and cold starts, so I have lots of room for improvement. I have well over 80 mpg recorded on a few short trips, which blows my mind a little.

 

Love it man! We can have a friendly little competition. You're the first person to post similar numbers to me that I can think of. Now perhaps folks won't think I'm exaggerating. This G5 LE has amazing fuel sipping potential.

One little tip for ya: when you're approaching a red light from a distance and aren't sure yet if you think you'll have to stop, keep the Eco Gauge needle at the first mark right between Charge and Eco. This is actual gliding (or coasting). Do this when you're going downhill also.

Use the regen as a last resort, but as soon as possible when you MUST slow down or stop. Max fuel economy is gained by maintaining momentum, not excessive use of the regen brake. Regen braking should be thought of as the best option in a bad situation.

 

Red light? What is that? My commute is 10 miles or so, but luckily just 5 stop signs of rural SC countryside. I will try your tip however as I haven't been gliding much. I mostly try and regen down hills and coming to a stop sign I anticipate (when nobody is behind me) when I can let off and regen the longest into the stop to generate enough battery for the longer EV runs on the flats. I then accelerate moderately and try to get back into EV mode as soon as I am up to the speed limit and play around with trying to stay in EV mode as much as possible on longer flat straights.

Running 33-34 psi so not sure if pumping them up a bit will make much difference? I do know that not using the AC has seemed to make a significant difference. I tried painfully long acceleration up to speed limit but not sure that really is worth it to me, and went back to decently moderate (into the "power" on the gauge) acceleration to keep my gap to any potential traffic behind me so that I can fluctuate speed in EV mode as needed.

I will say however that all of these shenanigans are null and void if I am driving with anyone behind me. Then I drive like my version of "normal" (5-8 mph over speed limit and accelerate with traffic) as to not give my Prius a bad name around town.

 

Oh you better believe it will. You'll also get more mileage out of your tires and enjoy improved handing in corners. I go 39/38.

Accelerating to the top of the Eco band from a stop is pretty close to ideal. Super slow acceleration isn't optimal for the engine's efficiency, and like you said, you want to get the ICE to shut off ASAP.

 

Thanks again for the tip. Checked this morning and was at 31psi cold (it has cooled down a lot here)
I bumped them up to 39/38 and will see what that does! I'll be careful not to beat any of your records so you don't stop giving me good tips!!!

On that note have any of you tried ethanol free fuel and noticed any difference? Probably not worth the cost, but curious since ethanol has less power density and have always read it makes a difference in fuel mileage to run ethanol free gas, but never really cared about fuel mileage in any of my other vehicles to do my own testing.

 

The energy difference between E10 and E0 is about the same as between winter and summer blends. If you notice difference between the seasons, you should notice one with using E0. Though not enough to warrant the price difference I've seen. Using E15 might worth considering if the goal is lowest cost per mile.

 

Just a tick under 1/2 tank and almost 400 miles. Still on pace for a 700 mi. tank.

Temps got up to 90f today and had to use the AC again. Dang it!

BTW, DTE is off by a long ways of course.

 

I agree with what you said. I was a mechanic in the 1975 to 1995 range and part of my job was to deal with complaints about fuel mileage. The things that I noticed were the car was going to get what the car got. In other words, don't expect 50 mpg out of a crew cab, 4-wheel drive Dodge Ram with an 8' bed. It ain't going to happen but some drivers get better than others which is the second most important part of the equation (your right foot). The third thing has to do with when and where you drive. In town, rush hour, versus 45 mph zone with no traffic and no stops. When I see someone who claims a 10% better MPG than I get my bs meter begins to activate. When I hear 30% + it goes into overdrive. I, however, do realize there are things in this world that I don't know so I am trying to pick the brains of those who claim they can do this be they hypermilers or not. It is something of a hobby of mine. I appreciate your response.

 

You said you were getting 55 MPG's at 70 MPH in an XLE. That's very respectable.

The way guys like me get the high numbers, is by optimizing traction battery usage. The way to do this is by driving at the ideal ratio of ICE-on and ICE-off for your intended journey.

Driving on the highway is going to result in nearly 100% ICE-on conditions. That won't allow much if any hypermiling techniques to be utilized. About the best you're gonna do is near what's on the window sticker.

Non-highway driving is where the Prius REALLY excels for a myriad of reasons.

 

Have you owned a Ford with a mpg readout?

 

Yes I have. Several.

 

I've really been slipping in the MPG's lately. I've had to use my AC several times. It was literally 96f the other day!!!! And we're in fall.

Temps are supposed to drop soon. 700 mile tank is still in reach. But barely.

 

Hot weather can definitely take a toll on your gas mileage.
I have noticed that my gas mileage decreases by 10-15% when I turn on the air conditioning.

 

Keep your thermo set to the highest temp that is comfortable. I found that 75F helps in lowering the MPG hit. 77F even better. And if it's sunny outside, you'll still feel relatively cool. If you need more cooling, consider manually cranking the fan before lowering the thermostat.

If it's a hot and muggy night, you'll need to lower the temps to feel comfortable IMO.

 

umm..are you sure you’re not driving a Prime?

 

I’ve only had it a few days but so far with about 120 miles I have gotten about 54.9 MPG

LE AWD 2023

Looks like the AWD is giving the milage quite a ding, compared to the numbers some of you are posting. Still acceptable tho…although I didnt initially want the AWD….lol