As a new owner the first month or 500 miles the average mpg was 48.5 and I started noticing an improvement in gas mileage around 600 miles. The mileage on the vehicle is now 1100 with the average being 54.5mpg with the same type of driving on the same roads. Perhaps someone with the technical expertise could explain why this occurs.
Most on here will state that historically with Prii, full MPG benefits are reached around the 5K mile mark. I'm no expert, but I know that fresh tires are a hinderance to mileage. New engines are going to have a slight break-in period as well. Then there's the AI learning and adapting to your driving behavior. Then there's YOU becoming a better extractor of all the potential the HEV system has to offer. Hybrid vehicles driven like normal vehicles will leave a TON of fuel economy on the table. Tweak just a few things (like I did with the AC the other day), and you can make massive jumps in fuel economy. This is the game/puzzle part of it all that I find so interesting.
You're probably just getting better at driving it. Look for another increase in MPG when the weather cools off. You will see seasonal changes as heat and cooling demands change.
Do you know how the math works for an "average" ? Have you ever reset the mileage display that you are quoting ? Or are you doing the math by hand at each tank fill ?? But yes, during the "break in" period that is common with computer controlled vehicles these days. The computers "fine tune" the fuel as it goes along.
Is there a way to do the math by hand on the Prime, when a lot of your driving (most, in my case) is done in full EV mode? If you know, thanks.
I find mood effects the mileage. Feel in a hurry, just the feeling, mpg goes down. Feel relaxed not in a hurry, just the feeling, mpg goes up. The very first miles may have lowered the average, now you are averaging that upwards. So you are doing better than 54.5 now. The fewer miles the more sensitive averaging will be. At 100k your total average mpg won’t be changing very fast. I wish I hadn’t experimented and reset the mpg on the total miles. I learned holding down the odo button does reset the mpg on it. Too much testing for no real reason.
In my 2003 Ford owners manual it went to lengths to say don’t think manually calculating is more accurate than the readout. Use the readout number. I think 20 years of improvements makes this even more true. It’s one of those never ending topics to argue about. No Ford wasn’t making it up because they purposely made it read high and are out to deceive you.
Not sure I understand the question. Although the result that you get won't really have anything much to do with how efficient the gas engine IS...... You do it the same way as with any other car. Miles driven divided by gas used.
THAT is total marketing BS. Absolutely, totally CRAP. While having the "readout" tell you if the number is getting better or worse, the absolute number is NOT accurate. Sorry but it just is NOT. But then neither is a manual calculation based on only ONE visit to the pump.
The car on top is the new G5 Prius; the car on bottom is a Lamborghini Huracan. Or... did I get them mixed up again...
Fresh tires, driving habits as you get accustomed to a new vehicle and weather/temperature can affect things. Good to hear you're getting 54 MPGs in an XLE though. Is it an AWD or FWD?
Actual MPG (of gas) in a prime is not easily computed by hand, because energy for most of the miles comes from the wall, and the mode the car chooses is complex and varies with the charge level. The car will report the data but it must be logged and combined, and even then it is based on reported values, not physical quantities like miles and gallons. It is possible to sum up the cost of the gas and the cost of the electricity, divide by the current cost of a gallon of gas and compute an “effective miles per gallon of gas (as if all the miles were from gas). There is one situation where an actual MPG for a Prime is easy - when it is displaying. SOC ——% for a few fill-ups. All miles will be a result of gas. BUT this is not the usual mode for the car, nor the most efficient gas powered mode. I have recorded 9 end of HV mode trip data and averaged the reported MPG. Thus the car is saying when it was driving with gas, it got x MPG which a non-weighted average works out to 58 MPG, (mileage weighted average is 56 MPG). The problem is the 9 trips totaled 69 miles of which only 25 miles were on gas. 25 miles at 58 MPG is less than half a gallon used.
