Cold weather mileage hit

might be gas formulation as well. what did your old prius do? i didn't notice a larger delta from my 2008 to pip.

 

Unlikely to be anything to do with the lithium-ion batteries.

There are multiple things conspiring to increase fuel consumption at lower temperatures:
Higher air density, reduced flexibility of tires, increased drag with wet roads, increased viscosity of oils, increased energy consumption of auxiliaries such as lights and heating. Increased engine run time due to engine running to provide heat. The list goes on...

I used to have a gen2 Prius and even in California with mild winters it was very noticable. I did a couple of things to improve winter mileage. Blank off the radiator with pipe lagging (probably not necessary with gen 3 or 4). Created what is usually known as a "thermistor hack" to make the engine control believe the system wartms up quicker than it really did - that brought back the winter mileage to similar to summer.

If you look back through old posts you should be able to find a number on the subject.

kevin

 

wow, that's a big difference. let's see what other ten 4 owners report. have you checked all the usual suspects?

 

YOU CAN STILL BE THANKFUL.

If I lived in Pennsylvania, and all that snow, and cold, and I was getting 48 MPG… I think I would be doing backflips with happiness! I've never gotten 48 MPG in ANY car, at any time.

Please explain "Delta." The only delta I see, is taking off from the runway at the nearby airport.

 

4th gen Prius seems VERY willing to go electric, even at cold start up? This seems instrumental to the amazing mpg reports.

Maybe that behaviour is (by design) backing off as ambient temps drop, getting you closer to 3'rd gen behaviour, and mpg?

 

Delta mean "difference". The delta between 50 MPG and 46 MPG is 4 MPG.

 

Yes, in the summer, it used to go straight into electric, even when switching on first thing in the morning., which I always found odd, as a 1st time Prius user. Now, in winter, I 'feel' the engine kicks in a lot, and since the engine sounds coarse (I come from a 3.2 V6), it loses part of it's charm. I am doing a drive at 6.30am tomorrow when it will be close to freezing, I should check on the dash how much of the commute it stays in EV.

 

My ICE immediately comes on in the morning when I turn the defroster on. Or the AC, (which comes on with the defroster). But that's fine with me, I like warming up the gas engine.

I want all systems warmed up, oil circulating, and A-OK ready-to-go when I start out for the day.
Heater going when it's cold, and AC blasting when it's 90!

The mpg in my car has been so good, I could stomp the gas pedal to the floor every time I leave a stoplight and still get 62 mpg. (Or maybe the mpg display is stuck?)

 

I noticed a difference between morning commute and evening due to the temp difference, but since I only have 250 miles on my ECO, I'm not really worried about it. Need a bigger sample to really start to draw conclusions.

It was in the 30's this morning (60 mpg) so I was using heat, and it's 60 degrees now, so I'd expect to hit closer to 70 mpg going home. My numbers are also complicated by the fact that home is 20 feet above sea level, while work is 250 feet above. So I'm going uphill on the way in, and downhill on the way home...

I was up to 70 mpg lifetime total, but due to the weather, I've lost 2.5 mpg each of the last 2 days... I'm currently at 65.x now lifetime.

As long as I match (or slightly beat) the EPA numbers, I'll be happy, but since we're going into colder weather now, I might have to wait till summer to get my numbers back up...

 

i stole that from bob wilson.

 

Delta Dawn, what's that flower you've got on...

 

Drove my first 60 miles from dealer's today. Temperature ~+10C or 50F some city driving and some highway between 20-75 mph. Rain, wipers on intermittent a/c on auto 20C. Too delighted with first drive to remember to look at mpg but last noticed around 63 mpg on twisting switchback roads. Went into the red zone more than I really wanted but in traffic and didn't want to cause holdup.

 

congrats! didn't know you got yours.

 

Yup. Picked up the car and keys midday yesterday,(Tuesday).

 

What model and color? Is this your first Prius?

I see a thousand new Honda Civics in this area, and only 5 or 6 new Prius's. That Honda is a sharp looking car.

 

You forgot me already! How could you? The next 5 burgers are on you!

Got a Hypersonic Red business edition, that's like your three non touring. It has 15" wheels with Toyo tyres, no sat nav or sun/moon roof. Driven 71.9 miles and averaging 63.4 mpg on the screen.

 

Congratulations RCO. That red is a great color.

 

Does that mean the paleface approved of the redskin????
Hope are you liking your new president elect. We are with you no matter what comes next so buckle up. If it's like our Brexit you're in for a bumpy ride for a short while but it's gonna be fine.