I just got a 2018 Prius C. It's my first Prius. I have been watching videos of how to drive a regular Prius pump gas pedal, glide, coast. I can't tell when my car is running on electric power. Does anyone have any good driving tips to maximize my miles per gallon? Or any other Prius C tips. Not sure if the regular Prius tips apply to the C. Thanks for your help!
My "C" is a 2016 and like you it was my first hybrid. Not knowing what to expect I simply drove it like normal, with the current mpg's showing on my radio's display. On the dash, I used the "Eco" display to sort of teach me how to drive it effectively. What I've found within the last year is that the "C" (at least the way I'm driving) seems to get the best mpg's at speeds of around 40-50 mph. I tend to accelerate to the speed limit, then lightly let off the pedal. Running in pure electric mode (usually seems to happen at speeds of 30mph or below) and tends to simply run down the battery. Then I suffer horrible mpg's with the engine running to get it charged back up again so I tend to avoid running purely electric if possible. I also tend to anticipate a stop light changing. If it's been green for a good while as I approach I will let off the gas and coast up to the stop. Short braking tends to put very little charge into the battery (or so it seems). Whereas light, braking for a distance puts the most. Whether this is right or not, it's how I do it and seems to work for me. I do still experiment in various driving conditions. Eco button on/off for a month to see which is better etc. (btw, Eco button "on" does seem to work better for me, but my cars acceleration seems to be horrible.) My average mpg's right now are around 55-63. My typical drive each day is 18 miles to and from work with half my drive at speeds 40mph or below.
Wow, the EPA rating of the car is only 54 city / 45 HW, how could you get such high MPG? I just bought an used 2012 Prius C with only 24K on it for under $7K. It is still sitting on my garage because I need to sell my Honda Accord first before I will register the Prius C. Just hope I will get good MPG also.
I admittingly try pretty hard to get the best mpg's I can. If I drive like "normal" - as in the way I did my old Yaris, I'd probably get the estimated ratings. Did drive it on the Interstate once. That was horrendous mileage - well way under what I'm used to getting anyways HAHA
Follow my fuelly if you want to see a data point on daily driving. I drive it like a normal car... well, a slow normal car. I drive my Chevelle significantly different.
Welcome to PriusChat! Yes, regular Prius tips apply to the C, but its aerodynamics are worse so MPG is worse on the highway. I agree with "dubit", who recommends using the ECO screen: - to make it easy to tell at a glance if you are in EV mode and - as a way to monitor if you are drawing too much power from the battery. May seem counter-intuitive, but for max MPG we want to: 1) allow the car to be in EV mode as much as possible, BUT 2) we want to draw as little current as possible while in EV mode. Both of those goals will get easier with more Prius experience. It's difficult (and impolite) to drive for max MPG when you are sharing the road, so finding routes with lower speed limits and little traffic is the #1 thing you can do to improve MPG. Conversely, MPG will take quite a hit when the weather turns colder, but there's not much to be done about that.
wow everyone thanks so much for all the replies. this is all helpful. my first tank of gas i got almost 800km out of it (i'm in canada) and then 2nd tank of gas i got under 400! Just filled up again and looks like i will get another at least 800km on the tank. Cost about $40 bucks canadian to fill the tank. I have used some of the suggestions above like taking routes where i can be electric more - these routes also avoid traffic! and the city speed limit here is 50k so I hover around that. We don't have a lot of highways so I am mainly on city streets. I try to use the B mode on hills. Does anyone use this? And pumping the breaks to charge the battery. I love this little car and it's a great first car! Thanks for all your posts! I appreciate them!
"B" mode will tend to turn the engine on to assist in braking, so I don't use it unless pressing the brake pedal to the limit of regenerative braking (which you can see on the graph on the "Eco Score" screen) isn't sufficient to keep the car from speeding up too much.
Unless the battery is full, I would just use your brake pedal to regen and use that to slow the car down. B mode spins the engine which creates friction to slow the car down - that energy could've been recaptured with regenerative braking.
Remember when the cold weather starts, the mpg's are going to go down. I've already noticed a slight downward trend here in Indiana on these chilly mornings.
The most important "tips" apply no matter what car you have. SLOW and SMOOTH wins every time. Drive it like you NEED TO in any given situation and you will get whatever gas mileage that you GET. Paying extra attention to other "techniques" is a distraction that you don't need. My family is on our 3rd C.
Fast and hard in the left lane with the horn blaring!! Lol all joking aside I’ve found it best to avoid stop n go situations when possible and to keep trips in the car more than 10 min. Less than that and you’re greeted with mpg around 30. I’ve been averaging right at 49.6 mpg with my C and that’s mostly highway with some city/town driving. Best tank mpg I got was 57 and that was achieved by driving the speed limit or less. Best of luck and congrats!!
Para la conducción eficiente y obtener muchas millas por galón, o como decimos en Europa a consumir unos pocos litros por cada 100 kilómetros, lo que tiene que hacer es frenar lo menos posible, a ser separado del vehículo de adelante de modo que usted puede anticipar sus reacciones y evitar el frenado, tenga en cuenta que el semáforo y levantan el pie tan pronto como aparezca la luz roja, y el coche con el control de crucero CC que sabe mejor que nosotros lo que usted tiene que utilizar el pedal del acelerador. En resumen, el uso de conducción preventiva Lo siento por la traducción, pero ha sido hecha por el traductor de Google Para una conducción eficiente y conseguir muchas millas por galón, o como decimos en Europa consumir pocos litros por cada 100 kilómetros lo que hay que hacer es frenar lo mínimo posible, ir separadazo del coche que va delante para poder preveer sus reacciones y evitar frenar, estar atentos al semáforo y levantar el pie en cuanto aparezca la luz roja, y conducir con el CC control crucero que sabe mejor que nosotros como hay que usar el pedal del acelerador. En definitiva usar la conducción preventiva Perdón por la traducción, pero es que la ha hecho el traductor de google
For efficient driving and getting many miles per gallon, or as we say in Europe to consume a few liters per 100 miles, what you have to do is to brake as little as possible, to be separated from the vehicle ahead so that you can anticipate your reactions and avoid braking, keep in mind that the traffic light and lift your foot as soon as the red light appears, and the car with the CC cruise control that knows better than us what you have to use the accelerator pedal. In summary, the use of preventive driving Sorry for the translation, but it has been made by the Google Translator For efficient driving and get many miles per gallon, or as we say in Europe to consume few liters per 100 kilometers, what you have to do is to brake as little as possible, to be separated from the car ahead so that you can anticipate your reactions and avoid braking, be aware of the traffic light and raise your foot as soon as the red light appears, and drive with the CC cruise control that tastes better than we do as you have to use the accelerator pedal. In short, use preventive driving Sorry for the translation, but it has been made by the google translator
Drive it like a normal car so you flow with traffic. To reduce fuel usage, add a couple lbs of air pressure to the tires, use EV mode in stop and go traffic and around your driveway, use AC sparingly, always drive with a 1/2 tank of fuel (never fill up), keep "the stuff or your junk" in the car as light as possible are my two cent comments. Have fun.
Any idea what's going on with the Prius C redesign? I have a 2012 with 100K miles and am anxiously awaiting the new model.
