42 mpg??? Huh??? Sorry, at this stage of the electric game I wouldn't even consider a car that gets that MPG.
Ok... what are your current alternatives? You'll want to wait a long time for either a Volt (that doesn't even get 42 mpg on the EPA tests for city, highway nor combined in charge sustain mode) or a Leaf. AFAIK, Nissan stopped accepting orders for the Leaf, for now. From Power Search, when searching for 2010-2011 vehicles with >=40 mpg city and >=40 mpg combined, there aren't many choices: Prius, HCH and Insight. How does the Prius v stack up against these in terms of room and size?
I can't tell from your post if you are happy or sad about 42 mpg, nor under what conditions you got 42 mpg. If you search this forum you'll see a host of people who get 55-60 mpg in the summer, and another bunch who wonder why they only get 40mpg in the winter. Bottom-line: all cars get worse mileage in the winter, and a Prius is particularly prone to poor driving habits in the winter, and mileage will suffer. I just back from 40 miles at -10 degrees, and got 52 mpg on the HSI. I'm very happy with that (and yes, I blocked my grills today, to fight the cold).
So...I'm a relative Prius newbie (December 2010), and the posts complaining of low mpg baffle me. I feel inclined to respond for the people who are Googling around while considering a Prius and run into these sorts of threads. I understand there's the possibility of buying a lemon, but my used one is getting 55-low 60s display in the cold winter weather. I just had a 60.1mpg today over 28 miles, including some annoyingly large, steep hills and two steep bridges - and it was 14°F at the time! You can check my photo album for a couple others, including my best ever 68.6mpg over 20 miles (I admit the engine was already warm!), mostly pulse and glide speeds. From what I've experienced, it's really the driver for the most part (oh, and 40psi or so :-D). If I can get 60mpg in freezing temps, I can not wait to see what happens in my first spring and summer with the Prius! As for the concept of electric cars, sure, the Volt is possible, but outside of my budget - I imagine it's the same for many people these days. For the lengths I drive, too, I'd get lower mileage with the Volt. It does definitely look really great for people who drive mostly around town - so if you're one of those people, go for it, that would be great! No need for you to complain about my 60mpg, though
Well folks he is trying to discuss the Hypothetical Prius v, not any current Prius. Being a larger car it will get lower gas mileage, I find it odd that some here have not noticed that larger cars get worse gas mileage up to this point in their lives. Certainly the 'clean diesel' trolls have noticed it, they always quote MPG in imperial gallons using a European test cycle of some diesel not large enough to be offered in the US. So those pretending to be offended by the Prius v gas mileage, what is the mileage of the car you would prefer with at least 90% of the cargo area of the v? 34.3 * .9 = 30.8 (If you do not care about the cargo area, why consider the v at all?)
That's what I gathered when I posted my response since Toyota Vehicles : Toyota Reveals Prius Family of Vehicles at the North American International Auto Show / Toyota says:
The Prius V coming out is much bigger than the current Prius. Of course the Gas Mileage isn't going to be the same. Still better than anything else that size. :cheer2:
If you had to drive more than 100 miles carrying a decent sized load, I bet you couldn't do it in an EV, so the Prius v's 42 sounds pretty good to me! I bet the v will be a GREAT cross country car and a good alternative for delivery vans...
The OP is right, 42mpg for a CAR or HATCHBACK would be considered low by many current Prius drivers, however the Prius v is neither of the above. While Doug and his team refuse to call this a station wagon the EPA considers the v to be a midsized wagon and as such needs to be compared to other vehicles in it's size class. If space in not important to the OP then he/she should consider an EV or the upcoming Prius C.
42mpg for a Prius wagon or 42mpg for a Camry hybrid with 1/3rd the cargo capacity (with the seats up). The only advantage of the Camry Hybrid is that it's wider so 3 abreast would be more comfortable in the back as well as a potentially quieter ride (We don't know how the Prius v fares in that regard). The Prius v has a larger cabin (a wheelbase 3 inches longer... all of it surely didn't go straight to the cargo area. It seems like some went into the back seat area too). I'd like to think the Prius v as a travelling car. A family go-to vehicle for road trips.
Correctly stated Jimbo... There are no comparable vehicles to the upcoming Prius v in terms of size, carrying capacity and fuel economy. In fact there are only 3 competitors of any sort... The Chevy HHR The Matrix The Mazda3 hatch None of these three gets anywhere near 30 mpg combined on the EPA test, nevermind 42 mpg. For those that only are concerned about fuel economy...the Prius c... Ta Da. Likely it will be able to achieve 60 - 70 mpg but it won't be able to carry squat. It's all about choices. But the laws of phyics cannot be ignored or obviated. Yep, see above. There are only 3 vehicles on the market which are similar in size and capacity and none of the 3 is anywhere close to the upcoming Priux v.
Yeah I looked at VWs big time. The problem with the TDI is the exact same model with a 5 cylinder gas engine is almost $5,000 less. That can buy a lot of gas, even premium is cheaper than diesel around here. And the base model only gets 8 mpg less than the TDI. Also the costs associated with the maintenance of the "clean" tag (repairing the dozen or so emission controls) scared the crap out of me. And of course where I live I'm not sure I would even want the responsibility of trying to figure out how to keep the fuel lines from freezing up without degrading or destroying the engine/fuel system/emissions control.
Hi Mike, Your MPG in pictures is indeed impresive. Have you actually checked that the computer is right? What I mean is this: I've just got my Prius and tryed very hard no to accelerate to fast, use the EV mode in traffic, etc. The computer tells me that I have achieved between 55-60MPG. However, I did my calculations from when I filled up the tank, to the next time I filled up. Noted the miles I had driven and the amount of liters that were required to take it to Full again. Making the actual calculation, tells me that I have actually achieved only 43MPG. I'm pretty dissapointed to be honest because I tried very hard. I didn't even care about all the other drivers nearly giving me the finger as I pulled off so slowly after traffic lights, etc. I still love the fact that it's emissions are down to 89g/km though, although it makes me wornder if that figure is real or is as well an "Ideal Scenario" that can only be achieved in the lab rather than in real life. Cheers, Victor
Sorry, I've just realized that in the US they do show some realistic figures. In the UK, the Prius is supposed to achieve 72MPG.
I believe the OP intended to discuss the Prius v for versatile, which isn't shipping yet and is rated at 42 mpg city, not a currently shipping 3rd gen Prius. I don't know where you're located but if you want fuel economy help, please answer the questions at http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...-answer-these-questions-esp-if-youre-new.html in the Gen III 2010 Prius Fuel Economy - PriusChat Forums area. If you want to read about the EPA tests, read http://priuschat.com/forums/other-c...uth-about-epa-city-highway-mpg-estimates.html. UK gallons are larger than US, BTW and European driving cycles are totally different than US EPA ones.
I don't think the Prius V is really all that much larger than the Prius hatchback. I mean if you see that picture with the two cars overlaid, that speaks volumes. The main loss of fuel economy, I suspect stems from the flatter back of the V, verses the more kammback style of the hatchback. And since that is all about wind-drag, I'd be curious to see how the vehicles compare in fuel economy at lower city speeds, rather than at highway speeds.
That's because TDI is loaded to the hilt with stuff that's optional on the non-diesel. Suppose that the 'v' is $2000 more than the regular Prius. That would put make Prius 'v' III equally priced with the TDI 2.0 wagon with an automatic transmission. Prius: 42/38; TDI: 30/42 The TDI has everything the Prius has, and, on top of that, it comes with heated power seats and a full-size spare. Jetta is slightly smaller (32.8 cubic feet of cargo space vs. 34.3 cubic feet) but, in all likelihood, noticeably faster to 60 than the 'v'. Jetta gets to 60 in 9.5 seconds. Prius 'v' will probably become the first vehicle to go above 11 s since Honda pulled its first-gen Insight off the market.
