Oh! What I'd Do to get a Longer Daily Commute!

I have a four-mile commute -- one that many people would love to have. If I didn't need to drive to clients, or run errands at the end of my day, or go to court, I'd just ride my bike. OK -- I do ride my bike on some days, but I tend not to during the cold wintry days, the really wet days or the super hot days. (In Northern Illinois, though, that doesn't leave many days!!)

I've already noticed in my 2010 that mileage is significantly better for my short commute than it was with my '07. How much better? For the past 300+ miles of simple commuting and errand-running (no trip farther than about 8 or 9 miles except going to the Chicago Prius Group meeting this past Sunday), I'm getting FE of 62.5.

Last night I had to run a quick trip up the river. It was a 15-mile trip; about 30 miles RT. I had to stop on the way to get gas (547.9 miles at 59.3 MPG), and I reset my Trip B. Here is the MID readout after I got home:



Wow! If I did this everyday . . . Well, better that I just use less gasoline overall, but it sure is fun dreaming about a 70+ tank just from a 15-mile commute! (Of course Jimbo has that on a really bad day!!)

 

My time is typically less than 10 minutes. I have one four-way stop, one two-way stop and three stoplights (roundabouts would be great additions!), and most of the time I'm on four-lane roads with speed limits between 35 and 40. Very little traffic, typically.

Your extra time on the road and more congested traffic should lead to better MPG performance from your 2010 Prius.

All the best!

 

That's surprising to me, too. I know I don't really use hypermiling techniques (just sensible driving), but you are even more of a "drive it like a regular car guy."

Great mileage!!

 

That MPH reading takes into account the entire time the car is in Ready mode. So it keeps clicking along at every stop light, rail road crossing or traffic jam!

Houston? In the summer? Whew! What kind of big bucks are you payin' me? When it gets all the way up above 75 and humidity hits 70% I'm dying! Houston? I really doubt I'd live through the experience!! I have a friend who lives up here who just can't stop talking about how great it was to live in Houston. Well, he loves that heat and humidity thing, anyway. I think I'd like to try Houston in the spring or fall!

Why not drive up to Illinois? See how things can be green even without ridiculous humidity. See a large body of water that is fresh and cool (and cannot flood miles inland). Wear a jacket at night, even!

 

I'm certain you are taking a "hit" by running the A/C, but what options do you have? Is it worth it to you to sweat out the extra MPGs? If so, great, but if not, then why worry about it. Wait until you see my FE numbers for the winter, then you won't be jealous of anything!!

 

Gotta love it! I'm not quite broken it yet, so I don't really know what to expect. At 2,400 miles, I'm starting to get there. I'm expecting to get slightly better until oil change/tire rotation at 5,000, then a drop until I'm back up to about 7,000. By this fall, I'm hoping to see a couple of 60 MPG tanks!

Who doesn't?

Show off!

The whole point of my post, Jim, was that the trip I took could easily have been my commute. It wasn't a complete round trip, but it was close enough. If I counted the early part, the number may have been (probably would have been) even higher. My SOC start and stop was pretty much the same -- I didn't start with 8 bars and stop with 2 -- so I think this is a repeatable number. It won't be for me, because I drive only a quarter of the way to get to work!

 

And I though you were just triply jealous!