Did a round-trip from Bend, OR to Salem, OR today, and got 50mpg on my brand new Prius. The conditions weren't even ideal. The route is very mountainous. Half the trip was in freezing weather during the night. There was quite a bit of heavy traffic in Salem. This car ROCKS!!!!
Welcome. Great that you've been able to get such great mileage already on your first tank! I think what you'll find with the Prius is that more than anything else, the longer your trip, the higher your mileage. A longer trip ensures that the engine is all warmed up, and allows for plenty of chances for the car to smooth out times of poor mileage such as climbing a mountain for example.
Congrats! Just out of curiosity...obviously, you didn't choose a route that would maximize MPG...but did you "baby it", e.g., not drive over 60, or let it coast a lot, say, down to 40, or otherwise try to stretch MPG?
I confess to a little bit of coaxing ( I think the Prius makes us do that). I probably averaged 55-60 mph. I coasted whenever practical, still keeping with the flow of traffic. One thing I'm good at is anticipating what lies ahead, and reacting accordingly. I probably use my brakes less than most drivers, because I start slowing as soon as I see something up ahead that warrants it (and I try to look far ahead). I believe the average driver is guilty of waiting til the last second before applying the brakes, causing a huge waste of kinetic energy.
Good for you! Soon you will learn the best way to drive this car at around 40 MPH for best mileage! Learn to pulse & glide.
I concur with Rabid1 on anticipating well in advance what lies ahead and in using brakes a lot less than many other drivers. By letting the Prius teach me how to drive it, on a trip down and back between D.C. and NC in July, I got 59mpg + on the way down but increased to 63.7 mpg on the return trip, more than four hours in length. The biggest increase in mpg happened during the final nine miles in local traffic about 10:00pm
