Dark Side Convert

Admitting how you used to drive is very helpful, and I think you already know why you're not getting close to EPA rating. Your Ridgeline mpg's was 20% below the city rating. At 40 mpg, you're about the same in the Prius, so that tells me you haven't adjusted your driving style as much as you think you have. For me, driving with the flow is key, only passing when you come up on someone going slower than the flow. Keeping your speed steady, not racing away from stops lights, anticipating when you have to slow down are good first steps. Minimize the times you have press and let off the accelerator will help even your speed out. Be aware that there is a lot of time you can use between lifting off the gas and stepping on the brake pedal. The more times you can go any distance down the road without using the gas or brake pedals, without disrupting the flow of traffic, the more you'll see your mpg go up. Use the gages, stay out of the "Power" zone except for when you pull away from a stop - never should be necessary on the highway. Also, I'm afraid you'll have to suffer being the one a lot of people pass, just like you did before your Prius ownership. For some reason, people think that if they're following me, even if I'm going faster than anyone else, they think they're going too slow. For more tips on better mpg's, view this short video found on Youtube.

 

Turn on the eco button. Remember the story about driving as if you had an egg between your foot and the accelerator pedal? Well that helps because eco mode slows down the throttle response. Your foot can help a bit too. Try to accelerate to speed on the down-slope and not on the up-slope if you can manage that safely.

I've gotten 40 in 2600 or so miles just by doing that and my trips are up to 75MPH and have all been in cool (but not below freezing) weather and that means the engine has to run to get the heater heated so you never start out just on electricity which costs you MPG. When it was closer to 50-60 out and I was really driving gently, I got 3 more MPG. There are lots of folk who do better. They probably drive more gently than I do And maybe they glide more. But when I compare the MPG I'm getting to even what my CRV got, I'm ahead more than enough to satisfy me. So I refuse to obsess over the last few MPGs, which on a percentage basis, really aren't that much. It is just a car and I drive it like that and get passed on a regular basis by other Priuses and I'm doing the speed limit. I could do better but there is a limit to what I'm willing to do to get there.

You are getting 3 times the MPG you used to get. Enjoy the ride.

 

I get about 55 MPG doing 60 to 65 MPH, I don't do anything special really just keep it in eco mode and while going down hills release the gas a bit to capture the energy. I live in Wisconsin where it's 32 and below some nights and I still get about 55MPG. I usually don't turn the heater on until I've been going for awhile because EV mode will not turn on once the heater drops to a certain temp. Once I'm warm I turn it off until I get cold again.

 

Your question addresses what we call "managing user expectations" and though I drive two other Prius models, NHW11 and ZVW30, there are some things shared by all:

Let me suggest using a larger pool of recorded mileage such a Fuel Economy or fuelly.com:

• 3 of 18 cars :: 36.5 - 38.0 MPG

Depending up the terrain, climate, typical trip profile, vehicle tuning, and driving style, all have an effect. The answer has to be tailored for you specific driving so the first step:

• Find and join a service that records your mileage
  • www.fueleconomy.gov - Federal agency, not likely to disappear
  • www.fuelly.com - a popular mileage site
  • www.ecomodder.com - a 'gear head' site for efficient cars
  • www.greenhybrid.com, www.cleanmpg.com - other sites

Once you start recording your tanks, you'll be in a position to experiment and examine the variables that impact mileage.

Our ZVW30 has the 1.8L drive train similar to yours. So what I do:

1. Tire pressure at max sidewall :: we carry a cigarette lighter powered pump and refill every two months.
2. Low power, 25 mph, for first 0.5-1.0 mile :: easy acceleration and neighborhood speeds let the car start the warm-up efficiently if driving off from a 'cold-soak.' Consider taking a longer route through the neighborhood where low speeds are OK before hitting the cross-town route. If not, consider letting the car run for 1 minute in "P" on the driveway until the engine stops on its own (heater off during this ice and snow scrapping time.) Then set the heater and drive normally.
3. Predictive braking and coasting :: if you are going to have to stop, coast down or lighter braking early rather than waiting until you reach the spot where you have to brake harder. This improves regenerative braking efficiency.
4. Change transaxle oil with the first, 5k engine oil change :: early oil analysis showed an unexpected load of left-over manufacturing debris, sealant, and earliest wear material. Get it out early as it does not good and plan to change again at 15-30K mile as final flush.
5. Wheel alignment :: fix it early so the tires will last as long as possible.

Just 'predictive braking', I'm not a fan of driving styles that change the vehicle speed in ways other drivers can not understand. So I often use the rear-view and side mirrors to change lanes so approaching traffic can smoothly flow and everyone has a good day.

No but one of my first efforts was to plot MPG vs mph over two passes of a 10 mile, flat highway:

• 60 mph
• 65 mph
• 70 mph
• 75 mph
• 80 mph

Once you have the data, choose the mph that matches the MPG you want.

First figure out what the car gets as a function of mph. Then choose the speed that matches your fuel budget. If you choose to drive slower, follow at a safe distance, moving vans or heavy trucks. Their typical driving profile is driven by their need to manage fuel costs. There is a lot of wisdom in those cabs.

Bob Wilson

 

Welcome aboard! If you Prius v wagon (not the regular Prius aka liftback), can you update your info to reflect that?

 

This video was made with the Liftback in mind but it applies to the v as well. The only difference is how your gauges look. Hint: gliding (coasting) is your friend. Do it as much as possible. In other words, pretend like you don't have brakes and you need to stop at a light without them. How would you do it? Lift off the throttle WAY early.

 

Oops, forgot my thread on Hypermiling vs. Not.

My daily commute: Hypermiling vs. Not | PriusChat

 

Zerid, You really have a "station wagon" v model and get 55? I've never seen anything like that on any trip or tank and I figure you gotta be doing something radically different than I am or have a different car. I've heard of fastbacks getting 55 but a v ?!?! Not by fuelly and not by the optimistic v's display.

 

Alan - welcome to the forum, congrats on the new v purchase, and way to go with the self-improvement plan! Keep it up!
I don't see on your profile where you're located, but weather has a big impact on mileage, and so does the type of driving you do (freeway vs. city, hills vs flats). See my thread on worst-case scenario mileage... 36-38 might be all you can expect at this time of year, unless you have an ideal-for-hybrid commute, or unless you get into hypermiling techniques.
Personally, I prefer to drive normally, stay safe, not do anything (like long coasts?) that other drivers would find too "weird". Safety first - don't get so into "efficient" braking that you become a hazard to yourself or others! And the idea of driving farther around your neighborhood to warm up the engine makes NO sense to me - sure, your mpg number might be slightly higher, but you've just driven more miles, and most likely used more gas overall! Unless the mpg number is your ONLY goal, just drive your normal route as efficiently as you safely can, or heat your engine by other means (i.e. attached garage or block heater, see below).
With "normal" driving this winter, my wife and I been getting about 36-38mpg in our v. This is with snow tires, which hurts mileage a bit. And until about a week ago, we didn't have a block heater - in cold weather, the Prius has to run the gas engine longer just to warm itself up, which drops your mpg numbers. Also, our neck of the woods is quite hilly, with lots of rural highways. (Prii like stop & go, low-speed city traffic, but there isn't much of that around here!)
In the summer, we average just over 40mpg, and like I said, winter has been closer to 36. Therefore, if you also live in a cold climate with less-than-ideal hybrid-driving conditions, you might pop right up to 40ish mpg as soon as it warms up this spring!
Note - I haven't been able to keep close tabs on mileage after installing the block heater, but that theoretically makes a big difference when you first start on cold days, so you might consider that if you are in a chilly climate zone and want to optimize your mileage. If you're not familiar with this, it's a little cigar-shaped 400-watt electric heating element that inserts into your engine block, and you plug it in to a wall outlet, so you use electricity to heat your engine instead of gasoline. Three hours of plugged-in heating uses something like 15 cents worth of electricity (1.2 kwh) in most areas, so it is cheaper than the 5 minutes or so worth of idling-engine-gas that would otherwise be used to heat your Prius. The part does cost $60, so it probably won't pay for itself in gas savings unless you live in Alaska and take lots of short trips.

Overall, keep focusing on the mileage improvement over your Ridgeline. Very impressive upgrade there, even if you're "only" getting 37mpg! Another way to look at it is the quantity of gas you'd use in a year. If you drive 10,000 miles a year, your truck would have burned about 833 gallons. At 37mpg in the v, however, you only need 270 gallons! (If you got the EPA-max 44mpg in your v, your gas needs would drop to about 227 gallons - very impressive, but you can see it's not as big of a jump as the initial move from 12mpg to 37mpg.) Make sense?

Have fun Prius-ing!
Andy

 

G'day Alan.
It took my some time to absorb the advice (the video is very informative) and put it into practice. Despite trying I never seemed to get the low l/100km (or high mpg) that everyone else was getting. I was trying through Winter, which is tough on fuel consumption. Eventually, it started to click and I routinely get 900km (560 miles) on a tank in my Gen III without much effort, even if my wife drives for a bit. Had my first 1000km (621 miles) in October 2012.
If anything, I'd been holding my own during the cold months in part because of modifications to my driving and car.
(The other trick is that the Distance to Empty is very conservative, at least in the Gen III. So driving to DTE=0 and beyond is no problem once you know how much is left in your tank.)

 

I went through this "newbie" phase after my first hybrid purchase and have come to see a new-owner pattern both here on PC and other hybrid forums.​

​

First is the amazed/excited/happy phase to see the great fuel economy of their new purchase especially compared to their old gas guzzler.​

Next is the confused stage; trying to figure how it all works and why others are getting better numbers.​

Followed closely by the research/education phase when you learn "the tricks".​

Next, the implementation of these techniques.​

What comes next is dependent on the individual:​

a) you hit the big numbers and are content or​

b) you become frustrated because the techniques are too difficult for you (tons of threads on this) or you still can't hit the big numbers with these techniques.​

After going through some or all of these, many owners recommend: turn off the CONS screens and just drive the car! You're still getting WAY better economy than before.​

​

Enjoy your V, it's a great car.​

 

So at 12:00 noon Monday, I got a call about a forgotten appointment in Nashville TN, 120+ miles away . . . at work. Now this meant I had to go home to pickup some stuff to take to the appointment, another 15 minutes the wrong way!

• half-way home - low-fuel indicator goes "ping" so I reset the trip meter knowing I have 2.1 gallons before absolute out of gas and started planning my route.
• grabbed the stuff at home and told the wife - fixed TV
• took a short-cut through base knowing there was a gas-station/food market just before the Interstate
• 120 miles later, average speed 71 mph, indicated 39 MPG (37 MPG), 30-34F, light to medium rain, 10 mph quartering headwind
• walked into Nashville office at 3:02 PM (called them to let them know my progress)

Other than taking 45 minutes to go one mile to reach the Interstate (Nashville has a rush hour), nothing remarkable. The return trip indicated 50 MPG but took a biology break midway and ordered a pizza to pickup with exactly enough lead time to pick it up hot and ready to take home . . . a 8:30 PM.

• Total: 240 miles from gas station and back home, 6 gallons, $20.00

So Tuesday, I have a 1:00 PM appointment in Nashville and I'll repeat the trip only not so 'frantic.' <grins>

The point is don't let individual trip mileage and timing and driving conditions get you down. Sometimes you 'have to get there' so do! After all, sometimes other priorities take precedence and life is too short to worry about the small stuff.

Bob Wilson

 

Hi Alan,

If the lion's share of your driving is highway with your fuel economy, either you are driving 80+ mph or you find reasons to brake on the highway.

You also may wish to check tyre pressures, and be sure the parking brake is fully released.

 

So true!

 

Me too. Except for the occasional tank driven in very wet conditions, I pretty much always get at least 50 mpg (indicated - 47.5+ at the pump) per tank. My secret is driving 60 mph on the highway. It's not as hard as some people think it is. You just have to ignore your primal need to "run" with the pack. Stay in the right lane. People will just go around you and leave you alone. I get the "need for speed" at work so I don't have the urge to drive 75-80 mph to play the pole position game anymore. It takes me an additional 3 minutes at 60 vs 65 mph. I drive my 1990 Integra the same way.

The last week the weather has been drier but cold. The V is back to displaying trip mpg's (33.5 mi each way - mostly highway) in the low 50's even with temps in the mid 30's.

So, you just have to sloooow down and enjoy life while getting stellar mpg's from the “Caddy In A Kimono” as catgic would say.