Is The Prius Losing Its Purpose?

But then, your poll is the most flawed bit of research on Priuschat, it makes the "Hummer is more environmentally sound' research look good.

 

To the OP, I think the fact that your commute is mostly highway makes the benefits less readily visible. For me, my commute to work is uphill and 10 minutes drive away 5 days a week. I also go up other big hills to my martial arts class as well as going 40 kms to see my fiancee and go to church etc.

Between all the driving, I average about 5.1L/100KM. So that's about 45MPG which is certainly attainable in other cars like the Civic but they'd have to do pretty much all highway on a flat road. Factor in, stop and go traffic and city driving, that's where non-hybrid cars' fuel economy will drop. Having driven a civic before, I can certainly say, they can't touch the prius's fuel consumption in the city.

 

Liberals are very liberal until you prove them wrong .... LOL.


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I'm never wrong.

 

The Prius does NOT like hills. Monterey is on the sea with the California coastal mountains all around it right down to the water. You only get 15-20 mpg going up the smallest of hills and need to make it up going down the far side. If the ICE is on to warm up the motor then you don't fully make it up.
I assume that the Interstate you are using is I5 - that's a 50 mile trip over a 3,000 foot pass. If you mean US 101 then it is also has hills to the north. I got 50mpg in my Gen II a year or two ago on a trip back to the Bay Area from Monterey.

2K miles is just too little time to judge the car. The tires are just getting broken in. But, I would check the oil level and change it at 5,000 miles. Overfilling the oil can cause a loss of mpg.

You might also get better mpg if you use the performance setting rather than eco. I got 55mpg with my Gen III from Berkeley to Union City on I880 today. Ten miles of city stop and go and then 25 miles of Freeway at 65/70 mph. Totally flat except for the overpasses. Half of the time the a/c was on in manual mode. Automatic temp control has been blamed by some for a mpg hit.

 

One of the purposes the Prius fulfills is setting the bar for fuel economy and emissions. Nobody has topped that bar at it's price point ......yet. Frankly I hope some manufacturer does, and we can call that progress.:cheer2:

 

I bought mine because i wanted dependable economical transportation. I got that and more. I have had it 2 1/2 years and it is still worth what i paid for it. Another bonus is little or no expense on brake work.

 

Thanks for reporting the air pressure change info. Get a good gauge and a small portable air pump. Check the air weekly and add air as needed...during early am cold tire air check (42f-40r)
Remember that the AC gets its power from your hybrid battery charge which must be recharged from the gas engine. Less use equals better mpg !. Cold engines and short trips are killers.
Prius is still king on the hill and we all hope challengers will keep Toyota focused on improving its product. Enjoy your Star :rockon:

 

IMO, I don't know where this notion ever came from. If you are comparing mileage, the new "40 MPG" cars (Fiesta, Cruze, Elantra) etc. don't even come close when talking city/hiway combined mileage (generally low-mid 30's) The Volt is ridiculously overpriced. The range anxiety of pure electrics IS a real problem. The diesel VW's are just as expensive as a level II or III Prius, and diesel fuel costs more.

I believe the Prius is still the MOST relevant choice, when you consider it's reasonable price (at least on the lower trim versions), it's unmatched efficiency, it's bulletproof reliability, and it's practical merits as a "no excuses" everyday car.

 

^nailed it

 

I've just reached 4500km on my 2011 and when I first got it in April the top mpg was 63-65 (that's imperial gallon compared to american gallon's), at this moment I'm averaging around 72-74mpg in everyday driving, (I have LOTS of hills too & need the AC) but drive 99% in ECO. I've got on a few long trips and the top mileage I've seen is 3.4litresper100, that converts to 83mpg.
So, having said all that, I'm really impressed, although I know when the weather gets cooler by next January it won't be that good.

 

I think the real issue here is that perhaps the OP thinks the Prius has not lived up to the purpose for which it was purchased. However, any other car would have experienced the same decrease in mpg given the driving. The average mid-sized sedan in the US is 21 mpg average, so reduce that by the same percentage, and then come back and report on its purpose. A lot of people think that because the window sticker gives a certain mpg, that that is what they always get, regardless of how they drive.

 

As a side note, Top Gear got 17 mpg in a Prius, while racing it around their track keeping up with a BMW 3 series, which got better mpg in that test. However, they never took them on the highway or around town in normal driving and compared the Prius' mpg with what the 3 series would have gotten then.

 

Your poll does not detect 'liberals' who believe they are being green. It attempts to detect the 'fashionable' people who wish to appear to be green. Sadly, true fashionistas do not hang out here, so your poll did not count very many. I am sorry your flawed poll may have confused you.

 

I noted something yesterday and I am starting to come around to the MPG is not a good idea camp.

Our Fiesta gets around 30mpg our Prius around 45mpg. That is an SUV of difference but it doesn't seem that much...not compared to 15mpg vs 30mpg for instance.

However, my last Prius tank was:

429mi on 9.5gal

Fiesta:

290mi on 10gal

130 miles with half a gallon less is a big difference.

Or 429mi vs 275.5mi on a tank with the same gas usage.

Or another week of work commuting for me (24mi round trip)...those numbers are significant.

 

The only people confused by my poll seem to be you and one or two others ... the other 107 people understood it perfectly, and responded honestly, as their comments indicated.

Give it up .... you've lost.

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Yep; going from 25mpg to 50mpg saves more money on gas than going from 50 to 5000 mpg

 

I can only assume you know this because you polled all your respondents and asked if they perfectly understood it, and responded honestly.

I can only assume that those comments which pointed out how flawed the question was, were considered outliers, and discarded.

and of course "it wasn't meant to PROVE anything"

 

Looks like I'm gonna have to fire up the 'IGNORE' function once again.

Three times in one forum .... a new record ! LOL.

Ahhhhhh .... now that's better !!!!

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Using the ignore function just because you disagree with someone in a single thread doesn't reflect well on you and should be reserved for problem members (unreasonable people/trolls you can't reason with).