2010 MPG Stats - Post Them Here

Actually, this is what we did:

• Kiwi dog and I got in the car and drove at 25 miles per hour through the neighborhood and no traffic, limited access road onto Redstone Arsenal and to the center. We played Saturday's "Car Talk" podcast. Estimated 15 minutes to get there and ending MPG ~67 MPG (includes warm-up.)
• We circled the loop at 25 mph and spied four skunks and one rabbit. Kiwi dog is very interested. The center has an outer, three lane loop and is posted at 25 mph with no stop or yield signs and a maximum altitude change of less than 5 meters. Two lanes run in a counter clockwise direction, the path we took. After 16 miles, parked to take a photo only to discover the batteries were dead. So we got out to sneak-up on the rabbit with ending MPG ~86 MPG.
• The rabbit spied us too far away so Kiwi dog had to be content with sniffing rabbit poo and leaving her contribution so we returned to car.
• We circled the loop one more time at 25 mph, counting the skunks and drove home at 25 mph. Car talk ended on the way home. Got fresh batteries, took photo and made posting, ending 87.7 MPG.

The 87.7 MPG includes vehicle warm-up. My charts are all based upon after the car is throughly warmed up and like my NHW11, it still seems to take at least 20 minutes. But I'm seeing enough data to suggest that 25 mph mileage will be at least 90 MPG and probably a bit more.

I still need to map speed ranges between 25 and 50 mph. The slope of the curve along with coast-down tests will give us a good idea of the vehicle efficiency. The last will be an 'idle' test to measure the heart-beat overhead.

I would like to disabuse anyone of thinking I'm doing these tests for any reason except to plot the engineering data. Sure, I know the tricks but I also realize one's actual mileage is as much an accident of where you live as anything else. There are people who are getting 40 MPG in their Prius and considering their driving environment, this is brilliant mileage.

There was a resident in Boston who lived at the bottom of a hill. For those who don't know, a resident is a physician who has to do a period of work in hospitals, often 60-80 hour weeks, for about two years. Living at the bottom of the hill, he had no choice but to climb his still cold engine Prius every time he went to the hospital and transportation time stole time away from sleeping, family and medical practice. His 40 MPG was brilliant and his use of his time sterling!

As for driving stunts, if they take more than an hour, not counting warm-up, or two hours including warm-up, I consider it a total waste of human time. If you can't figure out what is going to happen in the first 1-2 hours, additional time does not make it better. There are times when endurance is important but a driving stunt is below my threshold of importance. I'd rather send a robot with a body-sized ballast to do an endurance test.

Bob Wilson

 

See, now that is WAY more interesting than just driving in a loop at 25mph for almost an hour. I mean with a cool copilot, skunks and rabbits there was plenty of entertainment. I just feel sorry for Kiwi dog, I mean not even getting to chase one of the rabbits and instead had to watch from the passenger side window must have been torture.

Thanks for taking the time to write that reply. It made my morning my friend.

 

I've got good data on a trip much like that, but I only had it WITH A/C (on Auto at 72; ambient temps in the low 80s and humid). Also, my speeds were a bit lower. I set the cruise control to 70 (I-65 has a 65 limit), but I was using the adaptive cruise control and was parked behind other cars and trucks going anywhere from 63 to 70.

I measured the round-trip, so I wouldn't get only the benefit or detriment of downhill or uphill mileage. (Don't laugh, even Illinois and Indiana have hills!)

Here is the picture of my MID upon arrival home after the trip (shows 441 miles at 58.8 MPG):



I also just did a longer run from Chicago to St. Paul (via stops in Wisconsin). That run was not completely round-trip -- meaning I took some different roads in part, and it wasn't completely interstate, though almost all was on divided highway with 65mph speed limits or Interstate with 70mph limits.

Weather was a major factor in that I had rain, cool weather (50s and 60s for some) and headwinds. In fact, I had severe headwinds going north and light headwinds returning!

I drove with the A/C on and set at Auto (72). I used the ECO mode most of the time (some Power for fun!). I was driving in a BIG hurry going north, so even though I was on cruise control, I bumped it up several times. The way back was more leisurely, and I took a number of stops.

I don't have a screen shot of the MID for the round-trip, but here are the stats: 849.5 miles at 53.0 MPG. Average speed was 46mph (those stops -- and also a lot of time "idling" while I took pictures -- take a look at my new album!).

I'm not so certain the A/C is making as much of a difference in mileage in the 2010. Using the ECO mode seems to help by keeping the fan from going bonkers.

 

Very impressive. That is better by about 2 mpg than my G2, and I drive at 5500 ft. elevation.

AC use is more informative if the ambient temps are reported.

 

Good point! I made a quick edit.

 

My first tank ended JUST under 50mpg ... Just over half of the miles were at Interstate speeds of 75mph ... I am confident I can get 60 mpg with an all city tank.

 

VERY NICE. it looks like the new gen III owners are very happy with the MPG's they're receiving. with averages into the 50's, this is a great number to have.

cheers

 

Like any good science author, Bob has done a wonderful job of documenting study methodology in his paper.

 

I understand Bob's interest in the science, but for the others, it seems to defeat the purpose of buying a fuel saving vehicle if you use fuel just to get your average up.

 

if current tank holds i will be 9 mpg higher than the SPM, granted different drivers, driving conditions similar but SPM routes tend to be shorter and when i was driving SPM i was averaging closer to 55-56 mpg... so i will say, all things equal, the 2010 is doing about 7 MPG better.

so where that make me?

63.4 mpg on 420 miles

 

Hardly apples-to-apples, though, is it?

Do you know what your mileage was on that same route when your SPM was two weeks old?

 

Is this fuel efficiency in regular mode?

Thanks!

 

Sorry ... ECO mode for the most part ... I used the PWR mode a few times though. All ECO really does is moderate the accelerator input (makes it less responsive to abrupt changes) and tame down the A/C when necessary. I think I'd be achieving similar results in regular mode b/c I don't tend to mash the throttle anyhow.

On my new tank so far (in town only) I'm averaging 59 mpg over 15 miles ... I expect this to go up over the day b/c my drive this morning involved quite a bit of driving over 45 mph. Again, in ECO mode.

 

Thanks for info! Took a test drive in a V on a seven mile loop... was able to get 44 mpgs in ECO mode. I mainly drive on the highway, so I assuming 50mpgs on the highway in ECO mode is very possible. Really like the wheels and feel of the V. I am looking at getting the same color and model.

I'll be passing by on my way to Hybridfest 2009... can you recommend a god sandwich or burger place? Any good eats would be appreciated.

 

have driven both and estimates say i could probably be up to 56-60 mpg on the SPM with similar driving. but in my 04 and 06, my top tank ever was 62.5 mpg which is less than my current mileage on the 2010.

EPA says its supposed to be 3 mpg better. i think i can make it better than that. i am saying minimum 4 mpg.

 

Passing by Lincoln and Omaha you mean? I could recommend LOTS of places

 

ALL - a quick question. have you all (2010 owners) had any problems filling up? no bladder so it consistently holds all the capacity advertised?

 

I'll be passing by Lincoln & Omaha, so either one would be great!
2-3 places?

 

In general practice I agree completely but sometimes you start off with a really great tank and people like to throw out great #s so you may tool around at low speeds to further increase that number and show off. It is similar to race days for many of us that do that sort of thing. You spend the morning ripping out seats, tailgates, swapping tires etc. just to put up a better 1/4mile time. You can't go that fast on the street because the weight reduction is not practical for daily driving but in the interest of getting good numbers we tend to do some wacky things.

 

2010 Prius III with Navi:

So far for about the last 3,000 miles, overall average is 51.2MPG this is based on miles driven and gas pumped. The dash guage reads about 2 MPG more.

My wife, Nadia, mostly drives this car and she does not drive for fuel economy. Infact, she told me she was really impressed how fast she can go from a stop light to 55 MPH.

When I drive, say to Seaside Oregon to Astoria, about 30 miles roundtrip, I average 58-60 MPG on the dash display. Nadia about 51 to 53 MPG.

We are more than pleased with our Prius, and with gas prices pushing to over $3.00 a gallon soon we will be even more pleased.

Alfon