Can't beleive I actually bought a Prius!!

You are going to have to go through a learning curve on how to drive the car. If you tromp on the accelerator like it the truck you will never see just battery. From a standstill if you very very very gently depress the accelerator on flat ground you can get up to 42 mph before the gas engine kicks in once the car is warmed up.

You also need to work on the featering technique. Once you get up to speed take your foot off the gas for a second and then slowly press down to the point you need to just to maintain your speed. This will have you getting much better mileage. Try to drive the terrain also, gather speed going down hills and let yourself coast up the hill where possible. With a little practice you should be able to consistantly get high 40's or low 50' mpg.

 

ZAF,

Congrat on your purchase!

It's ok, new Prius drives always do that. But keep your eyes on the road!

When the car isn't warm up yet (first 5 to 10 min of driving), the gas engine will likely to turn on when you press on the pedal.
If you use kirbinster's technique, and search around this forum, you'll learn how to drive the car better. Well, enjoy your Prius!

Scott

 

Most of us use the kirbinster technique at least a little. When I drive, I spend a lot of time on the energy screen that shows the battery. I feather a lot to keep the green arrow going into the battery because I find that in the long run, the better the battery charge is the better the mpg. This way, you won't change your speed that much. Once you obtain the desired speed it is relatively easy to keep the green arrows going into the battery.

 

I dont use this method because:
1. It distracts from the road
2. The display is only updated every 3 seconds so is not reliable
3. The energy screen lies!

The best place to monotor if the ICU is running is the consumption screen which updates far more often, a couple of time a second. When the ICU is "off" no fuel is being used.

When I say the Energy screen lies have you ever noticed [you], being stopped, and the Energy screen says the motor is stopped, but you can hear the motor running? I get this a lot, and it will run for well over a minute, but go to the consumption screen and the fuel useage will still be at 99.9ltr/100Km!

 

Hey, what do you mean "evander" being stopped? Our immortal guinea pig has never left his cage except for Prius trips to the vet. : :roll:

 

I keep mine on the bar graph screen most of the time, and whenever the current reading goes below 50mpg I think to myself is there anything I can do differently to get it to be higher. Obviously when going up a hill or accelerating there is not much, but on flat ground this helps me acheive maximum mileage.

I never try to run on just electric unless I know that I will be approaching a down hill shortly or it is the last mile or so before I park. Remember almost all electric energy comes from gasoline - either directly charging the battery or recovering energy provided from gas when you apply the brakes. The best way to maximize fuel usage is to think and not to over drive the conditions so that you minimize the use of the brakes.

 

The thing that gets annoying though, is how high your electric bill is after plugging in the car all night. :violin:



And yeah, I notice the engine seems to run sometimes even though the monitor says it's not on. I'm assuming it has to do with the air conditioner running. I've only noticed it recently when the weather is unusually hot.

 

Congrats. I am also a convert from trucks. I drove a F150 and an F250 King Ranch. It took me a bit to get used to being lower and having less storage space but I love it. I went from $120 monthly fill ups to about $28.

 

Re: Can't believe I actually bought a Prius!!

I agree as well. And what's really frustrating is blowing fuses in the house with Prius plugged in as well as AC energy full blast in our stifling weather. :cussing:

 

Check to be sure your temperature control is all the way to "Max Cold". If you have it set at anything but that the ICE will continue to run until it can heat the water up enought to put out the temperature set, i.e. the higher the temperature set the longer the ICE will run.

A friend of mine bought a new Prius and hers was set at 78. She also could not figure out why her engine ran for such long periods of time.

I went through her car with her step by step. She was amazed by what the car had to offer...2 extra storage compartments that she didn't know about (yes the one in the center dash and the one below the arm rests) and she didn't even know about the smart key system. YIKES!

 

Took me a little while to figure out the temperature setting as well - I was wondering why the A/C wasn't cooling (had temp set to 78 ...).

I also went from a '99 Explorer to the Prius as a commute car ... but still have the Explod - uh, Explorer for hauling more stuff, camping, etc..

Nice to get ~50mpg instead of 18! and the Prius will certainly hold up better!

 

Traded in my LX470 for Prius. My wife refused to drive the LX470. From 13-14mpg (premium gas) to 50 mpg.

 

Uh, no, not in the summer. If it was 40 or less degrees outside, then maybe.