I have to agree that speed makes all the difference. I travel from home in coastal OC to the Claremont area, which is a net elevation gain with a couple of up-and-down canyon hills. I typically get 48mpg going to work, but that's generally at 70-75mph. The trip home has more traffic and a slight elevation loss, and I typically get about 62mpg on that run. Yesterday, because of the Angel's playoff game, traffic was especially heinous. But my work-t0-home fuel consumption was 71mpg! (I shudder to think how traffic will be this late afternoon with another playoff game plus an Eagles concert at Honda Center!)
My experience is a slight bump up in MPG going from a 2010 Prius to a 2012 plug-in Prius without plugging. Here's a recent video of my commute home with no plug-supplied electricity available, HV only driving:
I tested my '12 PIP without charging the battery and driving in normal mode on Long island ,NY roads.....I was getting 57 mpg ...the best was 73 and the worst was 53. I tested
I get mileage in the low 40's making short drives when not plugged in, but on long road trips I'll easily average 48-50mpg.
Old thread, but thought I'd chime in. I live on a boat and only manage a charge at municipal parking lots in So Cal at most 1-3 times a week and sometimes not for a full charge so I almost never drive in pure EV mode. In 4,950 miles on a 2014 doing a ton of freeway driving at speeds in excess of 80mph and some city driving I've averaged 59mpg. I'm very careful how I drive to maximize MPG, use power mode to jump on freeways, hypermile when I can and have a 46psi tire pressure all the way around. The tire pressure helps a lot, and I find since adding the TRD sway bar in the back, the car likes equal pressure front and rear rather than the -2 offset in the back on stock. I also have both of Rude person's's mid and front stiffeners. Car rides rougher than stock but handles like a dream.
I'd have to look, I actually never look at that I will say that I haven't noticed a huge MPG hit by going higher speeds on the freeway (i.e. 75/80 as opposed to 65) . I don't know why that is but it's true. Perhaps it's the tire pressure. In So Cal it's start/stop a lot on the freeways so those 80mph bursts are followed by long hypermile style coasting and with 46psi all around and the suspension mods my PIP seems to coast forever, certainly a lot longer than it did stock. I don't just 'drive' the car. I'll use EV for bursts at intersections to get up to speed then drop back into HV, I make sure I've got a long run before I first go into HV so it's not warming up at a stop light, etc. I just wish I had a way to charge it at the Marina so I could maximize the benefits of this car but there's no charging stations here or access to a 110 outlet. If I could charge every night I'd be in heaven. Edit: Finally checked - 8% Ev mode
I assume the higher speeds you probably aren't too far behind another car? If so, you are getting a good draft off of them. That will definitely help you high speed driving. (but obviously more dangerous)
This question is interesting to me, as I'm looking at picking a hybrid up, and the PiP seems to be about on par with the equivalent spec (which I'm looking at anyway) prius, and there seems to be one available quite close to me. Where we're currently living is a communal parking type of deal, so plugging it in every night is simply not going to work, but I do forsee moving somewhere more enclosed during the life of the car, so I might have a word with them about it when I talk to them later today. The consensus seems to be that, under general use there's not a lot of difference, but it can be more efficient when you're charging en route more.
In hilly regions the PIP excels even without a plug. In a regular Prius I would regularly max out the battery capacity during regen on hills. With the PIP it just continues to suck up the energy.
i would prefer the pip, if the price was similar. once you have it, you'll find yourself changing routines to find free chargers. lack of a spare wouldn't deter me, and i never used the space below decks anyway.
For me the price thing was a red herring. It's like watching GDP to determine how well a country is doing without realizing the government dole contributes to GDP in many areas so it's not a reliable indicator. First off, the rebates were a huge factor for me and the lease option was stellar. I walked in with $500 and got a PIP advanced for $30k out the door with a $380 lease payment for 36 months and a 3 year free maintenance plan. Buy back is $`18500 and I believe resale will be higher than that so if I don't keep, I'll sell it for more. My Land Rover/ 500 CC scooter combo was costing me $400 a month just in gas and I was risking my life every day just to get higher mpg than the Land Rover around town. I could have gotten a cheap regular Prius and gotten 50mpg but I'd still be searching for places to park in L.A., whereas now I roll into municipal lots and plug-in, no queuing up anymore to park. I also fly through L.A. in the HOV lane. I also get great joy in spending the days that I can drive in pure EV, just as a way to say f*** you to the oil companies I live near Santa Barbara so the resale of my advanced version will be high as folks want that extra luxury up there and I love the big screen and HUD display on the advanced, not to mention the lumbar support and feel of the upholstery. So if I factor in the rebates, value of the HOV stickers on resale, the time I save using HOV lanes, the time I save searching for parking spaces, the advanced package on resale and the added personal enjoyment/value I get out of the PIP advanced then there really is no 'price' difference to me.