My wife has a relatively short commute with either our Prius c or our 2009 Gen II, less than 10 miles. If/when the weather ever cools down (it's blazing hot in KC lately) is it more efficient for her to let the car warm up in the drive for a few minutes before heading out or just start and go? I'll experiment with it when it does cool down, but just looking for any opinions on the matter.
Depends on if you have to go from a driveway to 45-50 mph immediately. In any case, an engine block heater would be good for those 10 mile trips in winter.
The engine runs for a few moments and shuts off, so there really isn't any "warming up" in the usual sense. The best bet is to simply start your trip right away.
I turn the key, put it in gear and go. I find the ICE shuts off before I leave my neighborhood - about 1/4 mile of slow driving. I did the same with my Corolla for 23 years. I traded that car because the rest of the vehicle was deteriorating around a perfectly sound engine. It has been nasty hot this summer, hasn't it. When I run the A/C the Prius C shows a noticeable mileage drop. Not drastic, I keep the thermostat set to 79, but the difference is there. Tom
I've been doing mostly highway driving since I got my C and was reasonably pleased with 52.1 mpg average after three fuel-ups. I happened to fill the tank just before and also just after the recent spell of a couple of weeks of very hot weather around New York when I had the A/C on most of the time (max temps were at least high 80s and well into the 90s on quite a few days). I wasn't too surprised to see that my mileage on that tank dropped to just over 48, bringing my cumulative down to 50.8. All numbers calculated from actual usage. I also keep the temperature control set to 78/79.
