PiP – the Marvelous Mountain Machine

I had nearly the exact experience with mileage and cycles of full battery charging on a trip to Yosemite from the SF Bay Area last September, when I averaged 62 MPG on a tank of gas with a single charge before leaving home for the trip. I have a 2006 Gen II as well, and there's no way it could achieve that kind of trip mileage with its smaller battery.

 

wow! that's excellent.

 

PiP continues to impress. It is efficient with both fuels and will get the most of out them.

I love mine and also love to read other's ownership experiences.

 

Shhh! You'll wake the Volt posters.

 

And or the nut cases that believe consumer reports is your only source of factual information.
Apparently those of us with actual experience that differs with them must be lying.

 

Last summer I went from Tioga Pass to (almost) Groveland...about 100 miles, using no gas and starting with the battery near empty. I doubt any other car can do that except maybe a Tesla (not sure if it can get enough regen on the downhills to handle the uphills).

Mike

 

Bfd, I got 67 mpg once driving from Reno to the Bay Area with a folded up bike rack on the back on my Prius 2.

 

At the speed needed to do that, did you stop and visit the Donner Party?

 

For serious mountain driving I actually preferred my PIP to my Volt. Yes I said it. There was a situation in which I liked the PIP better.

It was more efficient on those trips (slightly) but more importantly it was not as annoying because the ICE didn't rev up at insane RPM and it was easier to play with gliding and regen techniques. The Volt just drives.

 

I have some new data points. Las Vegas to Mammoth Lakes, CA (over three mountain passes and a couple of hundred desert miles) I averaged 47mpg at an average speed of 71mph. When I arrived in Mammoth, had 11.1 miles of EV recovered on the downhills of the mountain passes.

Yesterday, we went from Mammoth Lakes to Yosemite's Tuolumne Meadows up Tioga Pass (near 10,000 ft). Filled up in Lee Vining at the base of Tioga, and reset trip odometer. Upon reaching the Yosemite gate at the summit, fuel consumption was 29mpg! After driving around in the park and then returning to Mammoth, I had 12 miles of EV stored and fuel consumption of 50mpg since filling in Lee Vining before the ascent of Tioga.

Very impressive!

 

Even at 29 mpg going up mountains, that still better than most vehicles going on a level road. And better than any Consumer Reports overall MPG on any SUV they've tested.

 

Good to know that the mileage doesn't suffer much in mountainous terrain. I took mine through the Rockies a few weeks ago on a 1600 mile round-trip. I averaged about 55 mpg, but I was doing a lot of passing.

 

Good Point! I typically average 43 mpg from Sacramento Valley floor to Echo Summit. Of course that's starting with a full charge and using it appropriately. The round trip ends up at about 65 mpg. Mountains are nice

 

I like how efficient PiP is on the highway 70+ mph and on the mountains.

 

Yeah, that's not a fair comparison to my roundtrip to Yosemite from the Bay Area. Reno to the Bay Area is all downhill, 4,400ft to sea level...

Still, great mileage!

 

Not completely downhill. You still have to climb over Donner Pass (el. 7,056 ft) before you get to the long downhill to sea level.