I've been a proud C owner for a week now and doing pretty well with MPGs but I know I can do a lot better. I've never owned a hybrid before and am still trying to figure out how you guys are getting such great mileage. Can you give me some tips? Should I be putting the car in EV mode at stoplights? Should I turn Eco off on hills? Anything you can tell me would be a big help. Thanks so much!
What kind of mileage are you getting now? I get about 56mpg in mine without doing anything crazy, just driving like I care about my gas mileage.
It depends on where I'm going. I got 63 on my way to work the other day but only 42 on my way home (the elevation steadily drops on my way to work without there being any major hills). I'm sure I can do better than 42, I just don't know how. Driving in LA traffic doesn't help me, either, and when I get stuck in it I'm doing around 48.
I am an experienced hypermiler and I guess thats how I got to a "C". The car does great out the door from the dealer. I honestly see no difference driving in ECO mode or normal (these are the only choices we have). I can say quality of gas does make a difference. I just spent 10 days days trying it. With good gas (no ethanol), I routinly get mid 50's. I have averaged over 60 before and I have averaged 44. My commutes total over 600 miles a week. I get a good mix of city and highway. I get better city mileage than I do highway. The car so far is fantastic. No regrets at all. This is the kind of car that gets great gas mileage without really having to try at all.
The car, as I'm sure you noticed, automatically shuts off the ICE when you come to a stop. Pressing the EV button doesn't do anything different than when the car goes into EV mode on its own. I've still yet to figure out the point of that button. The car will shut off the ICE when it can, and it will jump out of EV mode under the same circumstances, whether you had pressed the button or not. So I don't really understand that button. If you don't already do this, you can, and should, "prompt" the car into EV by getting the car up to speed then lifting your foot off the accelerator until EV kicks on, then use just the electric to maintain speed. This is easiest when you have the display set to the Eco Score screen, since you can see exactly where the ICE will come back on.
1. can you give me some tips? a. The best speed for fuel efficiency is from 20to40 mph. Speed kills MPGs. b. Avoid going over 40 mph on a curve/bend if possible. Centrifugal forces saps away MPG/momentum. c. Smooth dry roads good. Rough wet/icy roads bad. d. The Prius is like Goldilocks: too cold is bad, too hot is bad, but warm temperatures is just right. e. You'll get the best MPGs when each trip > 30 minutes. f. slowdown/coast/glide to stops. to extend the glid overinflate your tires to 40psi front, 38 psi rear. g. the Prius is more efficient when accelerating downhill and less efficient when accelerating uphill. h. change your oil and oil filter when the user manual says so . 2. should the Prius be in EV mode in stoplights? No. donot fiddle with EV mode, stay off EV - it's a crutch that prevents you from learning how to hypermile. 3. Should You turn Eco off on hills? For city and slo-n-go suburb traffic - Yes - acceleration from a dead stop is better in Normal mode while Eco mode's acceleration/throttle delay is better for flat roads or downhill roads. 4. Anything you can tell me? Your Mileage May Vary (YMMV). The Prius' fuel efficiency has a very wide range. When the driving temperature is less than 45 fahrenheit and the trip is less than 3 minutes/ 1 mile (from a cold start) - the Prius returns about 15-22 mpg. when the driving temperature is from 65f to 85F and the trip is more than 30 minutes/10 miles - a normal driver gets about 50 mpg and when driven by a skilled hypermiler it be as high as 80mpg === I've been teaching myself hypermiling on a 2010 Prius III for +2 years and +24500 miles.. my mileage log is on www.cleanmpg.com under "HyperDrive 1" my overall mpg is about 60mpg. Serious hypermilers have a thing called a ScangaugeII because provides detailed feedback - I have two scangaugeIIs... my best tank was 70 mpg over 727 miles, a skilled hypermiler with Prius c should be able to beat my best tank by atleast 5 mpg.
If you park in the parking lot and then they want you to move the car to another parking spot, EV move is fine, other than that, it is mostly for show. Eco mode gives you aid in finding 'just enough' gas pedal, and 'relaxes' the HVAC settings, so you never need to turn it off, but you may. I liked F and G above, try to plan your commute so you never hit the brakes. Do not race to the top of hills.
This is a great video...if you have not viewed it yet...watch it 3 times...then practice...works wonders for MPG! -M
