I just bought a 2009 Prius last week and today I drove it for about 25+25 = 50 min (went to pickup son from school - 25 min one way) in the city. This was the first time longest drive on Prius. I have been doing quite a bit of reading on driving tips to raise mpg, and have been watching the "Current Mpg" on MFD constantly, and I am proud to say that when I got back home the MFD was displaying an average of exactly 60.0 mpg. This is exactly what I bought it for. I have been using Lincoln Aviator (V8 engine) for this purpose (leaving and picking up from school) and it has been giving me max 13 mpg. This is a saving of about $125 in gas every month or $1500 per year. Its like having a car that makes you money And oh yes, saving the environment too Loving it!
Congratulations and welcome to Prius Chat. Continue to enjoy your improved mileage and enjoy driving your new car. I have had my 2010 for almost 5 months and still learn something new on this site every day.
:welcome: I wish I got that kind of mileage! I drive over a mountain to work and back. I am satisfied with the 42 I get, considering. Enjoy your Prius!
I am a new Prius IV owner of just less than a week. I have been doing lots of reading on PriusChat (and thank you all for the great tips). However, no matter how careful I am to follow the tips I see on here, I only average 38 MPG. I know there is a period needed to break-in the vehicle, but my MPGs are seem so low. I'm driving the vehicle in the moderate temperatures of the San Diego area. My daily drive is about 20 to work on city streets of 50mph. I'm assuming its me and my car's not a dud. Any suggestions to improve my mileage?
dang you and your "warm" weather!!!! I'm stuck with below 50mpg until we get above freezing at the minimum. Congrats on your 60mpg!! Hope you can maintain it throughout the tank!
Yes, the temperatures have been pretty cold here as well (almost freezing) last week, but yesterday it was in 70s. Don't have any reliable data as to the mpg's during cold weather for comparison.
Congrats on your new car! Mine is a little used. It already has 5000 miles on it. So it probably has gone through the break in period. May be yours need to break in. Others who have owned new cars can comment better, but 38 seems a little low. I am assuming that your trips are longer than 15 min or else you won't get very high mpg's. In that case I get about 43 mpg. Of course the cold weather also affects and if the car is starting from overnight parking, and if the weather is cold, it takes even longer to warm up and charge the battery enough to use more of the electric motor and less of the ICE. The best thing that works for me is accelerating quick to almost 5 mph more than where I need to be and then release the gas padel (very important to disengage ICE - does not quite work very well in the first 5 min though, but works great after that) and wait a couple of seconds until the display shows no arrows or the arrows going from the wheels to motor, then press the gas pedal a little bit until it shows the electric motor being used only (yellow arrows going from electric motor to the wheels). Unfortunately I have noticed that if the speed is greater than 38 mph, with this method you cannot maintain the speed, and the speed will continue to fall down, which is ok since you are already 5 mph above where you were supposed to be. Once you fall 5 mph below where you need to be, press the gas again and quickly get back to 5mph above and repeat. If your speed limits are below 38 mph then the electric motor alone can maintain the speed and you can continue to run on electric motor until you have to stop. On top of it anticipating stops like red lights way earlier and then gliding (no arrows or arrows going from wheels to electric motor) also helps. Other thing I can think of is the tire pressure. And wheel alignment is another factor which probably is not your concern since it is a new car. Hope this helps. Keeps us posted.
shah, welcome and great start! eamers, your mpg is too low and you've come to the right place for help. shah mentioned psi, very important, minimum is the toyota placard pressure, more will help up to say the maximum on the tire sidewall, although your ride will feel harsher. Make sure the engine oil is at or a little below full. Is your climate control working hard all the time (I wouldn't think so, this time of year)? Also, you could check alignment as some get out of whack on the boat. The more you can tell us about your typical driving, the faster we can find the culprit. For reference, my new 2010 does 40 mpg in Kansas winter with a 1.5 mile commute each way, and allows 50 mpg on highway without too much work. And these will improve with weather. You should be mid-40s or more just driving it with upside if you care to work for it. good luck.
Ohh.. it's after 11 miles lol. Well I can get 3.5L/100km (67mpg) after 30km (not downhill) if the conditions are right. But it's a good start. Again, I hope you can maintain it for a whole tank!
I know. It is not easy to maintain it because a lots of my trips are smaller trips (under 7 to 8 min) and on top of it, my wife also drives it . But I think for the whole tank it will be somewhere around low 50's hopefully. Right now I have been resetting quite a bit since I am excited and experimenting with it. Hopefully in a week or so, I will be more settled down and will leave the reset button alone. I will see then how it goes.
No worries. I like to think of winter as a practice period, and summer, the time to go for goal =). I've only got 60mpg once but again I'm waaay farther north than you are. I remember most of the 60mpg tankers were members from the southern states so you're definitely in the right circle and hopefully an inspiration for other newbies!
