I had one of those Prius moments yesterday. I told my wife about using Pulse/Glide to increase my mileage because I was only getting 45 mpg in city driving. My wife, who drives a Ford Expedition, had a predictable response "What do you mean ONLY 45 mpg?". I had to admit that well .... yes 45 mpg is still pretty darn good. After driving a Prius I will NEVER go back to a vehicle that is gas only. Never.
I could'nt stop laughing on this one. My wife said the same thing to me and she drives the Expedition in our house as well... Now she drives our 2000 CamryXLE since we took delivery of our new Prius and mothballed the Expedition.
I get that reaction all the time when I tell the drivers of non-hybrids what my mileage is. However, after attending Hybridfest I don't feel quite as smug. So many more mpg to go...:violin:
Well I don't feel bad if others get much better mileage in their Prius than we do in our Prius. I'm quite happy with 48-52mpg that we see most of the time. The car is just a dream. We are now 1,000 miles into a 3,750 mile driving vacation. We left southern California on Monday with a full tank and only had to fill once in California. We filled the second time in Oregon (gas is 30-50 cents less) and will leave Oregon with 1/2 tank on our way into Washington. We are averaging 50mpg with no P&G or other techniques other than running 46/44 psi in the tires. Our driving has included stretches of 65mph, twisty windy mountain roads, heavy traffic, and both warm and cool conditions (80-50 degrees). The car is comfortable, quiet, smooth riding, and a dream to drive even on the mountain roads. What a car. I'm constantly surprised by conditions that I think are causing the mpg to drop but when I check the MFD it's increasing!
That's the car doing for itself what we're not smart enough to tell it to do! I've done a lot of interstate driving this summer - every fillup I've had 50 - 52 mpg, no real tricks applied, just driving a bit under the speed limit. 'Ol Whitey continually amazes me! Have fun
We too have decided that we will never own another traditional car again - it will always be some sort of alternative energy vehicle. I would love LOVE to have a new RAV 4 EV, if Toyota would come out with that again.
My Prius moment came when I first saw my car. Black and shinny and ready to save on gas and help drive down the dependency on foreign oil.
We fully plan to make our next vehicles PHEVs or EVs depending upon what's available...we're determined to move away from gas ASAP.
I learned very quickly not to complain about the FE I get unless I'm talking to another Prius owner. The whole "what you mean ONLY...." thing gets old real quickly. And yeah, I don't think I'll ever drive another "plain" gas vehicle again. To be honest I've started coveting an EV, but I also know that I won't be able to do that for quite a while.
I was grossly pi**ed off to get 55 MPG at the HybridFest fuel economy challenge -- dead last. I still do not know why I did so poorly.
Yeah, but in a way the MPG Challenge is a little different, you were talking about a competion, not day-to-day FE. I know that doesn't take the sting out of the result from the competition. Hopefully, you'll figure out your result.
I had a bit of a Prius moment this morning. I was sitting a stoplight when a black Prius pulled up along side mine, my Prius is black also. I lookled over at the driver, we nodded, smiled ... its a brotherhood.
I can not WAIT to be a part of the "brotherhood," (or sisterhood???) ONLY a couple more weeks............
Just make sure you get your decoder ring and that the salesperson teaches you the secret handshake.... Oh, and don't forget to enjoy the new car.
I had one a few weeks back when I pulled up to the pump and a guy on the other side was filling an SUV. He looked over at me and said "Getting your once a month fill up" and I said "yeah something like that!". I then put my 7 gals in and drove off with him still filling his SUV. It don't get no better than that!
