Mountains and Fuel Economy

what a great spot for the pip!

 

Nice report. Thanks. Nothing wrong with 55 MPG!

 

you can choose when to use ev, so if you know the area, you can use gas and just enough ev going up, to fully recharge the battery coming down.

 

I was getting 66mpg average across North Yorkshire Dales - UK (1500ft) and Pennines 1:20 1:17 rises / drops. Charging system often went into 'dump' mode due to 100% battery charge on downward hills in B mode
2016 model d performed MUCH better than my previous 2007 model b which found those hills a challenge.

 

Driving between Anchorage and Homer I've gotten between 57 and 65 mpg. Distance is about 220 miles and it's all up and down through mountains. Highest speed limit is 65 mph, but it's mostly 55 mph. I just set the DRCC at the speed limit and relax, so the variation in mpg numbers is probably due to who and what are inside the car.

 

Probably best to get into B beforehand, while the battery's still filling. Coming down a local mountain I'll shift into B on the steeper sections, back to D when it gets more level, and at switchbacks. It's still full-to-the-gills by the bottom, but it must help.

 

I live in a flat area, though I get a lot of miles all over the country when I do long road trips - once or twice per year if I can. But I am very new to driving a Prius - have had my first for 2 weeks. So I'm a bit concerned about mountains as I'm not used to the Prius and how it handles slick conditions and steep grades.

Strictly on mileage, I've been getting around 61 mpg on average (2016 Prius Two Eco) in Iowa. But also, keep in mind that Iowa is one of the most hilly states, despite having a reputation for being flat. The difference is that we have constant changes rather than long periods of ups and downs. And most of our grades are not as steep.

I've been watching my information screens as I go up and down hills, particularly since I live in western IA on the eastern side of the Loess Hills and regularly travel to Nebraska, going over the hills to get there. I've had 2 1/2 such trips (I bought the car in NE) and for some reason, the route I take gives me better mileage one-way than the other (possibly wind?). When I picked up the car, it showed around 72 mpg and almost 250 miles. When I got it home, it was at 69 mpg. But within a week, it was down to around 61 and has stayed for another week. I don't know how the mileage was so good beforehand, but as a new Prius driver, I find it hard to be disciplined and give it as much gas as I should when it needs to turn over to the gas motor.

Anyway, as far as mountains go, I would imagine that it depends on where you start and where you finish, as well as how full your battery is at the time. It would make sense that if you start at the bottom with a full battery, you use both gas and battery as you climb... then you charge battery again heading down and show a decent average mpg. On the other hand, if you start at the top with a full battery, you don't get the charging gain when heading down.

That is my guess, but I'm a total newbie. I'm interested in what others say. I'll also be interested to know how others handle snow covered mountains. My last car was a 2009 Toyota Yaris, and I took it over Wolf Creek Pass once in late December, at night. I'm not going to say it was easy or fun, but I didn't go off the mountain and die despite that most would not take such a light weight vehicle with 15 in wheels over that mountain with snow... but I know a gas only engine works differently. With the Yaris, I used low gear to control speed on the downhill side in snow with minimal sliding... and I didn't use snow chains or cables. I am thinking I should invest in a set of snow chains before doing anything like that with the Prius.

 

I live in Boone. Lots of mountains here. My office is a 2 mile, 1400 descent and then the same reverse climb back up to go home. I get a full charge going down, and in my 2016 3 Touring i get about 16 mpg going up to get home. In my 2006 Prius i only got about 7 mpg going home.


Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Just drove from the SF Bay area to 5,000 ft. in the Sierra and back. 55 MPG up and 67 down. Got a little lucky with the lack of headwinds on the way back over Altamont Pass, but on the other hand there was a lot of rain and water on the ground.

 

I live in the Sierra foothills near Yosemite National Park. My home is at 2200 feet. I go up and I go down... up and down... every where I go. I did make a trip out to the Bay Area a few weeks ago... down the mountain, across the valley, over the Altamont pass. That trip gave me my best mileage to date at 67.5. I've got over 1200 miles on the car and the lifetime average on the display is 61.4. My normal driving comes in a little higher. I make an 80 mile trip once a month across the hills to get groceries and that's my worst at 56 MPG. I use cruise control most of the time and lately I've had the car in Power mode which gives me the same fuel efficiency. I have yet to drive up to the park to see what my mileage would be. That is a good climb and I'm sure it wouldn't be as good.

I was very concerned to get the car. I didn't know anyone near where I live. I wasn't sure that the hybrid way of doing things would work under these conditions. It seemed as though it was fine tuned for flat city driving. But I took a chance and I'm very happy that finally, I've made a good choice in a car purchase.

 

I hope I shall do as well as Michelle, although I love almost at the top of a hill. To get from here to the city there are five hills to go up and down on route.

My Rover diesel used to average 39 mpg
Mercedes C200 used to average 41 mpg
Nissan X Trail 2 litre diesel got 42 mpg
Honda CRV 2 litre petrol getting average 32 mpg

Now you know another reason I'm impatient for my new Prius!

 

I live up on a hill as well. I've tried to climb it on battery power, I've tried it at various speeds, I've tried pushing the car up It's a pretty steep climb. I try to keep enough charge to come in on my gravel drive on EV alone. I can usually do that. When I leave though, I can go a very long way on battery power. I can coast down the hill for the first .7 miles. Then when I get on the highway, I can time it so I can get up to 55 MPH on battery power. That gets me 2 miles away before the next hill and that's where the engine kicks in. The thing I like about this car is that I can run on battery power. It's really quiet and I like that in my woodsy neck of the planet. I wanted an electric car but I couldn't afford one and it wouldn't really make sense to have one here where I live because I'm so far away from everything. The car is telling me that I'm getting anywhere between 22 and 36 percent of my driving on battery power. It is so cool.

 

Are those figured with U.S. or Imperial gallons?

From common U.S. fuel hog viewpoints, those numbers are excellent! You'd have no strong reason to switch to a Prius.

 

Sorry, they're imperial and I would expect to increase my mpg to ~60 mpg with the Prius. All in all halving my fuel cost and that's very significant over here. At the pump prices have increased by up to 4% in the past week!