I've been driving a 2015 Prius v for the past 3 weeks and I noticed that the live MPG indicator (MPG after departure) is always poor on short distances. If I drive to the grocery store (about 10 blocks away), flat roads and a few traffic lights, I get something around 20-28mpg on ECO. If I drive just a little longer, I manage to get it down to 35-40mpg. Is this normal?
Absolutely. Cold starts with short trips hurt mpg on internal combustion engine vehicles in general, and Prius is no exception. The way around this is to use an all-electric vehicle, or a plug-in hybrid that can make the trip in purely electric mode.
Darn! I wasn't authorized to install a plug-in charging station at my condo, therefore I had to opt in for a plain hybrid. Since this car displays live MPG after each start, it's a little more obvious than in my previous cars (I never did a reset at each trip). Most of my daily trips are very short - house to train station, house to grocery store... and then on weekends, it'll be a mix of highways and running errands a little further in the city. Thanks for the input guys! I learn something everytime I come here!
hehehe... since I got this car, I keep sneaking out the house just to drive around. I like it a lot. Then, is there any benefit of warming up the car (5 minutes) before leaving or should I just start the car and drive?
Agreed a plug-in is best for these trips. I do three to four of these everyday and burn zero gas. It's too late now but the OP can use any 120v receptacle near their parking spot as a "plug station"; no additional equipment or wiring needed. Simply pay the condo association a $20 monthly fee for the electricity.
As soon as I move out and get my own house, I'll upgrade to a plug-in for sure! There are no 120v outlets near the parking lot and it would require too much work and investment on my end. Also, we don't have reserved parking spots, anyone can park anywhere. 70% voted against such modifications, so they told me to forget it!
You could get the block heater. Two hours plug-in is more-or-less optimum, will raise the car's coolant temp about 20C above ambient. We have it, use pretty much religiously, before the first start-up of the day. It has a side benefit, of making you think twice before hopping in the car for impulse spins. We'll just hoof it, if we need to run an errand really close to home, leave the car parked.
hehehe!!! perhaps I could get a solar powered block heater! Funny thing, I haven't even checked under the hood since I purchased the car so I don't know if I have a block heater plug. Does Toyota equip all northern cars with a block heater? My old Ford came standard with one.
You know, it might. This is REALLY something they should put in at the factory, all vehicles, much simpler then. The sad reality is that 90% of them would never be used though. Our daughter's Ontario Vibe had the blockheater, when they brought it out here (west coast). Totally grungy and never used. When the dealership did ours, they did not run it out through the front grill, just bundled the cord and plug in the engine bay, on the fuse box side. Look for a silvery, sharp cornered cross-section wire (triangular or square?) snaking down the driver's side, back of the engine. The cord switches from silver wire to regular black cord nearer the plug, it's 3 prong. If you look on Toyota Canada it shows the installed price of this accessory around $235 I believe. When we got it put in we got dinged $400, by Open Road Toyota, Port Moody.
Yeah, a plug in is wonderful for getting back that short-trip mileage. It would be fantastic to have them all plug ins, best of all worlds.
Thanks Mendel Leisk! I'm going to check under the hood this morning out of curiousity. I read a few threads on here of people of bought it from the Prius Chat Store for 59$ and self installed in 20 minutes. 400$ does sound a little steep!
Yeah, the install is not that easy. Doable, but access is difficult. From above, you'd want to remove wipers, motor and cowl. Google "Nutzaboutbolts Prius spark plug" for a good video on this. It's also reachable from below; I believe either approach involves some Braille work, lol. $400 seems like nothing when you're cutting a check for around $30K. But yeah, I paid full retail for that one, and it's good that Toyota Canada has cracked down and set an installed price on their website. I'd strongly consider the installed route, at $235. Particular with our exchange rate, shipping and duty charges, any US parts cost balloons by the time it's in your hands. And the grief of DIY on this one is significant.
The block heater will have virtually no impact on average MPG, its mainly a comfort option for those who want heat right away. Even under ideal block-heating conditions, you'll spend more on electricity than you save on gas. And at $300-400 for install, well that's more than 100 gal of fuel. So if its not worth the money to have instant heat, don't waste your time.
That depends on what else may be on the same circuit. Plug-in cars represent large loads, and must not be on the same circuit breaker as other large or medium loads. E.g. a plug-in car must not share a circuit with another plug-in car, nor even with a bunch of garage lights. Without knowing the electrical layout of the facility, plug-in owners should not assume that the simple presence of a 120V receptacle means that it is electrically OK to charge there. Always ask for permission.
