lower than advertised mpg |Model\package vs mpg

Another reason why I am beginning to suspect variatons between cars -- my friend also recently purchased a IV with solar. She was a complete newbie but on her recent long drive was able to achieve 59mpg (trip display) overall. She lives about 30 miles from me so the general topography and weather is going to be similar, but she is routinely getting better mileage results.

 

43 is my best tank. 50-mile commute (round trip) daily, mostly interstate, mountainous, at 70-75, but it's waaaaaay, better than the 19-20 I was getting in my ghetto sled.

 

I too may concur... The one variable seems to be the battery pack.......

 

Given as complicated a piece of machinery as the Prius is I would be astonished if there were not variations between cars.

 

I have a V and get 44 - 47 city really working at it. Coasting down hill and to a stop. I have never matched city numbers put out by Toyota. Highway is a lot easier on cruze and the numbers are closer to projected.

 

I bought my car because of gas millage. Getting 50+ miles per gallon is incredible; however, getting low to high 40 miles per gallon is also super fuel economy. If you make a small comparison between Toyota Matrix and Toyota Prius, you will see that Matrix's gas millage is around 32 MPG during summer and 28-30 MPG during winter WITH THE SAME 1.8L ENGINE.
It is incredible that we can get 44+ MPG with our cars, even though, our cars weight is 3000 lb.
I calculate my gas millage everytime I am at the pump, and my millage varies between 45-50 MPG, and I can say that this is super good news.
I hope to stay in this range during winter.
All I can say is ENJOY YOUR CARS and try to improve your driving habits. We are owners of one of most advanced cars on the planet and help more or less to save it.

 

Hi All,

I doubt the differences are due to variations in vehicles. The first thing to learn about driving a Prius is the accelerator dead zone, which is really not dead. When cruising along the pedal has a range or positions where no speed up or slow down will occur. When at the most lifted portion of this range the car will get better gas mileage, but it will take long to get into an effective gear ratio for quick accelleration. Alternatively, at the most depressed portion of the constant speed accellerator pedal position the car gets the worse mileage, but it will respond to accelleration requests very quickly.

People tend to learn this subconciously over time. But know about it up front one can work towards the desired results conciously.

 

Hills and windys ( driver is probably the largest fact LOL) have alot to do with it
Drive into a 20mphr head wind and see what happens
By the way why do I always drive into a headwind going to work, and drive into a head wind driving home. No matter is the job site is east , north or west of the house mmmmmm

 

Well, I'm always going uphill going one way, and uphill coming back!

 

SO do you live on a one way street that goes up hill

 

See my overall mpg in the signature below of my Prius 2010 with 17" tires. Done on over 2500km/1550mi, of which about 1500/900mi on European highways (that is, driving anything between 120 to 150km/h (75 to 95 mph - completely normal for EU, and within road regulations, depending on the country - i.e. Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria).

Considering also that it is getting cold, that the consumption on my commute is 0.2L/100km (or 2mpg) better than my previous diesel 1.4L powered Polo (weighing 200kg less and with 60HP less), I don't think there is anything to complain about the Prius, on the contrary.

My commute, though in city, it is half of the time driven (as per road type) at speeds above 65-70km/h (40-45mph) and the other half stop&go and traffic lights. So my city drive, is more "city" than a real "standard" 50km/h (30 mph) true city drive. And that accounts for the rest of the kilometers driven overall. No wonder I cannot get less than 4.7L/100km average on my commute drive calculation.

In EU the Prius with 17" tires, is rated 3,8L/100km "out of town" and 4,0L/100km for both "city" and combined (62 and 59 mpg respectively).
I was pretty sure before buying mine, that - like with all other cars, I would never achieve it, but being, currently, within the first 2800km/1700mi only about 20% above it, I assure you, it is remarkable. And I live in the land of "diesel" and "small" cars...

BTW: my best fuel consumption in "city" drive, *without* ECO, has been 3,4L/100km (69mpg):jaw: - twice in a month. Don't ask me how I did it, I don't know - I was simply shocked at the end of the trip when I looked at the fuel consumption indicator. This probably means that if you simply *drive* the Prius, she will treat you with excellent fuel consumption.

 

Today I got a sound 3,7L/100km (63 mpg) coming back from work, and a 4,8L/100km (49mpg) getting there this morning with a cold car and temperatures around 10-15C (50-60F).
I think I have found the trick to bring further down the consumption:
1) use ECO when in areas with lots of stop&go, traffic lights - as per instruction manual
2) use normal everywhere else
3) accelerate progressively, but decisively, not driving like a granpa - start with a little gas and then continue increasing acceleration (depressing more and more the pedal) to at least half or at least until you reach the desired speed, but never "flooring it" or going more than 3/4 (which I think I never had to reach anyways - the Prius was accelerating fast enough already for the traffic conditions) - soon after the desired speed is reached, completely release gas and reapply after a couple of seconds just enough to keep momentum, and likely shut off the ICE; I call this Pulse & Coast (compared to Pulse & Glide - I cannot glide in Munich traffic, it is too uniform and constant, everybody drives at the same speed and pretty quickly and regularly, leaving empty spaces while gliding down to the lower speed before a pulse would irritate a lot and likely not be applicable at all).
4) never use the EV mode, unless in closed parking garage where you don't want to stink and really want to be sure the engine will not start unless it *really* has to (that is the whole reasoning behind EV mode, IMO)
5) last and not least, and though it may sound strange, not looking at all at the fuel consumption and simply driving and enjoying the smooth drive and the music! in these conditions I have always got the best consumption values!

I will try again tomorrow and likely I will get good values again. I think I cracked the Prius!