Is it possible to pulse and glide on highway?

You asked, "greatly improve mpg in highway driving"? How about "just improve". I suggest reducing your driving speed without being a traffic hazard. My short 10 mile one way daily commute is 80% highway. While in EV mode, the difference of 2 only mph increases my range, allowing all EV. I use my cruise control at every opportunity for a steady speed. Got any unnecessary junk in your trunk? Remove it if you can.

 

Use your cruise control and if you don't hold up the traffic, set it at 60 mph. I think that is the best bet. Start driving over 60 and it has to bring your mpg down. You are not going to be able to pulse and glide on the highway if it is level. If you are in hilly terrain you can do it.

 

I have found my mileage S L O W L Y increases on the hwy if I stay just under 65. HOWEVER, I'm in Florida - very flat here.

 

I agree with you. I live in Illinois. Very flat here as well.

 

I don't even understand how you can glide at normal highway speeds without the engine off. The engine has to stay on above 45 mph, so you would just be using gas anyway. Plus it's not efficient and will probably get you into an accident on the highway, which is scary when you have idiots all over the road.

Maybe if you have the Prius plug-in or a Ford C-Max, and you're going downhill on the highway, then I suppose it's possible.

 

Go to You Tube and type in Prius Driving Lessons by Dr. Romanazzi. He will show you the Prius Pulse and Glide concept.

 

Where in the video does he show pulse and glide at normal highway speeds?

 

I find it very useable at highway speeds; my gliding lasts many times greater than my pulses. Typically pulses last 5 to 10 seconds and glides 25 to 30 seconds when I'm not involved with impeding traffic. I usually gain 6 to 8 mpg compared to my usual 48 mpg. most of mine is in hilly terrain so hypermiling isn't as useful as it could be taking into account the loss in average speed.

 

I think what might be being missed here by the people who drive a liftback is that on the Prius c the ICE forces itself upon us after ~43MPH. So I have to agree with the OP PN'G is very hard on the highway, in the Prius c. Honestly I gave up and just set the cruise to 63MPH and as I come down a hill ease the throttle alittle till the instant MPG is hovering at 50MPG then as the flat part comes back just gently ease of until back at 63.

 

When I drive on a flat highway I don't try to pulse and glide. I just set the cruise control at the speed that I want to travel at. Most of the time in all situations I get better MPG if I just drive the car and forget about pulse and glide. I don't think I am very good at it anyway.

 

I honestly and wholeheartedly agree, I PNGed with my Aveo and it went from 28 to 32 MPG. I have try'd to PNG so many times in the c, and every time I try I get 46MPG so I decided to just stick to slow and steady. My last trip at 60MPG got me 54 MPG. On a 4 lane highway if they don't like me doing 60 in a 70 they can go around. It's my time and my gas.

 

With sixteen months Prius experience, slower speeds work best for me. As a I said previously, a few MPH less makes a difference. Years ago, I drove with a radar detector, driving faster, not wanting to get caught. Older and wiser now, I enjoy the slower pace best.

 

I did the same as you and I do the same as you do now. I prefer to take my time now.

 

I take the back roads now. Speed limits of 40 - 25mph get the best bang out of the C. I can get 60mpg on these roads easily, but it takes 60mins to go 24 miles. If I feel like blowing through some premium gas, Ill hop in the SRT-4 and go 20 miles in 2o minutes and use a + 1 gallon of gas doing it.

 

do not know about "greatly", but for simple, incremental improvement:

Slow down, as much as you can get away with. Stay at or under the limit, in the right lane, behind slower moving vehicles. If there's a secondary highway with lower limits, as long as it's not a mess of traffic lights, go that route. Use the cruise control on level roads, it's pretty good at maintain speed with minimum throttle.

 

On the highway, we routinely get 10% to 30% over the EPA highway estimates in warm months just by sticking at the speed limit of 65 (or perhaps lower if your speed limits are higher). Keeping your tire pressures at or above the recommended PSI is another easy tip.

You can likely do even a bit better with pulse & glide on the highway, maybe even helped if you don't mind being a little close to that semi-truck as you finish your pulse. You can also avoid having the A/C running. All these are best accomplished if you have no passengers. This style of driving is definitely not conducive to a peaceful trip with spouse and kids. I don't even bother anymore...

 

That's what I did, yes, but mostly only to avoid being a moving roadblock and to annoy passengers less. I think the experts do it constantly, though, with much better results.