What kind of MPG should I see? Prius v five. 17" wheels

Solid 40 mpg.

We do not do long distance travel.

 

The 2007 Prius was a regular Prius and not a Prius v. They didn't make the Prius v until 2011-2012 so the 70 mpg is a regular Prius.

 

There was no Prius v (wagon) in 2007.

 

I know that, even for a regular Prius in 2007 70 mpg average is still not believable.

 

Just bought my 2017 Prius v that had a whole 7 miles on it. I LOVE it. But. First tank of gas got 32 mpg in normal mode. On second tank now and averaging 34 mpg in eco mode. I tried EV a couple of times but it kicks off once I hit 9 mph. 98% city driving. I've tried different driving styles, any suggestions?

 

Welcome. How long are your trips? If you live in the city and you only drive short distances, then your car will be warming up for a while with the engine running more than usual, and therefore getting lower mpg.

After the warmup phase, the mpg climbs quite a bit. Then, your average mpg will be higher overall.

So if you only drive very short distances a lot, unfortunately, your mpg will suffer.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Most of my trips are right between 5-10 miles one way, all city driving. I work for myself and end up different ends of the city each day. One place is less than a block from me on a little side street. I have tried to use ev mode (just to check it out) but the ev kicks off right at 9 mph. I had read in some forums that ev usually kicks off at 20 mph. I could see 36-38 mpg... cooler weather 40s to 50s. But 34 just seems awful low. And I swear I do not "tromp" it. Lol. Used e15 gas in the last fill up . Going to run it down and put E0 in this next tank and see if that helps much.

 

Your new car is hardly broken in, so you'll won't know for some 1000+ miles. 5-10 is a bit short for best economics, along with the stop and go. Take some longer drives on the weekend to get more of a feel for the mileage and that will help your tires settle in, brand new tires are the worse for gas mileage.

My wife drives her v 50 miles roundtrip 80/20 freeway/urban and she gets around 48-49mpg. That is also with the tire pressure bumped up 42/40psi.

 

Teresa, has it been raining or snowing a lot? The only time I saw 35mpg was in heavy rain at highway speed.

Also if you are willing to tolerate the cold, turn the fan off and that will turn the engine off sooner. So you stay on EV mode longer.

I also notice that PWR mode keeps my car in EV mode longer. The only issue is the regen brakes. I have to apply more pressure to come to a stop but I seem to get more juice back in PWR mode. Let me know if that is true for you. I'm in So Cal so weather and temp is different.

 

Rain, yeah (live in the northwest), no snow since I bought it. Going to try ethanol free gas on the next fill up and see if that helps. Running E15 right now. And 98% of my driving is 5-10 trips in town. All of the roads can be considered flat where I am driving too, except one day a week I have a job up a hill (4 miles of twisted country road straight up... but, straight down makes up for it! Lol.) I haven't tried PWR mode yet. Will try that and also the B setting to see if it helps. I did find out that the engine has to be a certain temp for EV to work effectively and it could be I didn't let it warm up enough.

 

I need to check the tire pressure too. Haven't done that, just blindly drove off the lot with it.

 

On EV mode. When I first start my Prius v, EV is just a gimmick. Over time, Cruise Control uses EV more than my left foot does. By the time i am coming home after 50 miles on the road, I can go about a mile at 35 MPH on EV. I never push the EV button, it just does.

 

I think it's just the short trips where the Engine isn't being allowed to run long enough to get to at least 160 degrees. I have been tracking my engine temp and MPG through OBD-II and she doesn't start to get the 42+ mpg until even at her max temp of 195. The silver lining is these engines run so cool, which means they will last a LONG time...drawback...less mpg when cold.

 

Even 4 miles downhill depending on the outside temps your engine is running to get warm enough to defrost and warm the cabin. Your catalytic converter isn't warmed up. The ECU (engine control unit) usually has two programs and shifts to the more efficient one once everything gets warmed up and it gets the right signals from the Oxygen Sensors and the Mass Air Flow Sensor. Those monitor the amount of air coming into the engine (MAF) and the effectiveness of the catalytic converter (O2 sensor).

 

The EV button is useful for moving your car from one end of the driveway to another. B mode is for descending mountains. They won't help your fuel economy. They'll actually make it a little worse. Read the owner's manual.

 

From the FWIW department...

Personally I simply let the car computer do it's thing. I never press the ECO, EV or POWER buttons. Around town in summer I get 45+ MPG simply by watching my speeds, etc. MPG does drop off in the cooler winter months although not drastically. I keep my tire pressure at the Toyota recommended pressures.

 

Thought I'd toss in my two cents. I drive around with my roof rack on. 2015 Prius V, original tires. Haven't done any long interstate travel with it yet. So this is mostly city driving. One time I did a full tank test I actually got a little better gas mileage 39.x with the roof rack. Probably just an anomaly. Mostly what I've found is that it doesn't seem to matter much.
I like leaving my rack on as removing a major impediment to getting my butt down to the ocean for some exercise. Interstate long distance almost all 40-70mph, I got about 42 mpg.
My roof rack is a Yakima tube style with two kayak support widgets on each one.

 

Prius v vs V (aka 5)?

 

We have a 2012 Prius v (wagon) base model with the 16" wheels. MPG typically is in the low 40s.

I can also compare it to our 2010 liftback model. Because the v wagon weighs significantly more, I have a much harder time 'hypermiling' than I do with the liftback ( by 'hypermiling' I mean keeping the MPG indicator on or around 99.9 on certain stretches of pavement ). On my commute home from work, there is a stretch where I can keep the 2010 liftback at 99.9 MPG where I just can't do it with the 2012 wagon. Physics is real.

Also, as Jimbo says above...the 'EV button' certainly is a gimmick. I just keep it on 'eco' mode and let it do it's thing.

 

With new v Five's 17" Continental eco tires, we are getting 42-ish round-trip, at 'prevailing speeds' ( >> limit ) on I-95. More like 44-ish, slow-poking at limit speeds. Comparable to the OEM TOYO A20s.