Tank miles: 545 Overall Miles: 556 Avg Tank Mileage: 49.9 Avg Overall Mileage: 49.9 Avg Temperature: 64F Price per Tank: $65.60 Avg Price per Gallon: $5.84 Just like TusconDave, this is my first tank. Just passed a filling station when the last bar was blinking, but the next one was around 7 kilometers away so I filled her up, I was not sure how much further I could go. Still I was able to put 42.5 litres of fuel in the tank, which means there was 2.5 litres left, which is less than a gallon. (1 US gallon = ~3.8 litres). I think because my car doesn't have a bladder the fuel gauge is a bit more accurate, it didn't skip any bars, although second last bar did disappear a tad more quickly than the first few bars. I did a few short trips (had to show the car to people and then we had to drive around a few blocks of course) but also quite a bit of highway driving, I think almost 50% of the tank (@ speeds of up to 135 km/h (84 MPH)). Also a lot of 'green routes', which is really good for the mileage. All in all I'm still very impressed with the car, even though I did a lot of test drives, and even some hybrid-sceptics were convinced after a short test drive. The car is quiet, peppy, efficient and looks great!! Still can't get the :mrgreen: off my face....
Those are good initial numbers you're posting. According to the long-term drivers it only gets better, assuming good driving habits. Well done! BTW, did you get a haircut? You look different somehow. :-D
Hehe, indeed, I changed my 'looks' Better, 'ey? Indeed, the price of fuel over here is enough to drive me mad... maybe I should get the other avatar back. Diesel is a bit cheaper (or rather: less expensive): $1,17 or so, but still expensive enough. The sad thing is, that the fuel price is made up of around 80% taxes!! * shakes fist *
I trust that is a per liter price? Ah, but how much do you pay for your health care, etc? I hear people compare the price of gas in the U.S. to Europe all the time but they never seem to recognize that the European gas taxes are paying for social programs we don't have here. Given the miles I drive, with my current Odyssey, I would pay about $2200 a year in gas taxes in Denmark. My medical insurance and co payments are WAY more than that. Hell, my family's "after the insurance break" prescription drugs cost more than that. I'm lucky to be able to afford it. Those that can't either don't get help or don't get sick. Isn't the grass nicely green on the other side of the pond
Alsnog gefeliciteerd met je nieuwe auto! I forgot to congratulate you on getting your car. As a fellow Dutchie, though living in the US, I am glad to hear that the Prius is catching on out there as well. That's a pretty good first tank you got. I have had 6 or 7 fill-ups so far, and my mileage is fairly constant around 49mpg. I agree with the previous poster, people in the US are lucky to have these highly subsidized gas prices of less than $2 a gallon. But even though health care is getting more expensive in the Netherlands, it is still a lot cheaper than here. The education system is also way better and more affordable, as is the government system (although I'm not very fond of the current one). But here (at least in Portland, OR) it is way easier to find apartments for rent, and to buy a house is fairly affordable. I guess each country has its advantages and disadvantages. PS: What happened to the Spanish Inquisition? And what is your new avatar? Esther
A small point, but U.S. gas prices aren't subsidized. It might seem that way with our relatively lower fuel tax compared to the socialized governments in the E.U., but everyone pays about the same worldwide for the base product courtesy of OPEC. Still, of the total cost of a gallon of gas here, most is comprised of an incredibly regressive tax that hits low income people hardest. I understand the logic politicians use (discourage high fuel consumption vehicles), but it's a red herring. For example, here in Oregon, one of the highest fuel tax states, it's said that the money goes to the state DOT. Their bi-annual budget is around $2.7 billion, yet not one new mile of new state highway has been built in the past decade. Instead, the taxes are first siphoned to fund the lavish public employee retirement system, the most generous in the nation. Also, I don't consider Portland an affordable city any longer. I think it was Barron's (?) that just last week rated us the 4th most expensive city in the country when factoring housing, income, taxes, etc. I don't see it getting any better with the artificial urban growth boundary continuing to inflate home prices well above the national median. /rant
New avatar: the battery of the Prius, but a cut-away model. As for gas prices paying for health care, that's not entirely true, other taxes are quite a bit higher as well. E.g. my income tax is 42% and people who are earning a bit more have to pay 52% income tax, meaning that every Euro they earn, they get to keep 48 eurocents... Of course people who don't earn that much, only have to pay 35% or so. Diesel price is per litre. But I'm not complaining about the gas prices, although it would be nice to have them a bit lower, most of the taxes (well... some 70% of them) are used for road maintenance, new high ways and that sort of thing. En dank je voor de felicitaties, Esther. /zwaai
Way to go!!!!!!!! It is strange but I almost wish I could go to the gas station more. My third tank and I still can't belive I can drive 575 miles on 10.7 gals.
I have the same feeling, I can't wait to drive some more to see how much MPG I get and can't wait till I can tank again so I can update my .xls-sheet and data on www.greenhybrid.com
And I feel like I'll never get past the first bar on my first tank of gas!! I don't get the chance to drive enough....only had the car a week though but I love it!! The display says about 43 mpg so I hope it gets better with time...
Batavier, I'm still working on my first tank. Right now I'm averaging around 41. Looks like I have to get my act together.
Sounds you can do better than that, Tony. Working on my third tank here. Over 400 kms and still averaging 53.45 MPG. But I'm cheating by not taking the highway all the way to work but taking 'short cuts' and 'green routes' on slower roads.
My morning and evening drives are exactly the same avery day. Mostly on one road the whole time. Out of the 45 minutes that I drive, I'm in stop-n-go for about 15 of that. The rest is moving but still tight. All residential with speeds not to exceed 50 mph. I really found out that much like school, if you get off to a bad start it's really hard to get that average back up. But I'm slowing creeping. Barely above 44mpg now. I think I was over-enjoying the new car feeling when you have to prove that hybrids really do have performance off the line. Shame on me.
The thing that blows me away is how much the m.p.g. varies going one way vrs. the other. I took my daughter and her god son to Seattle Zoo I gained going, lost coming from Olympia to Seattle. Same is true for my commute. I am going to have to get my Topographical maps out.
I chalk it up to geography. The way I figure, heading South in the Northern hemisphere should require less energy because the centripetal forces of the rotation of the Earth naturally pushes things outward toward the equator. This effect would be reversed by traveling northerly in the Southern hemisphere. In addition to this, anyone holding up a map can clearly see that South is down from North which means that you can coast most of the way. Now, heading Northerly in the Northern hemisphere has its advantages also due to the magnetic pole which attracts the metallic frame of the car thus pulling it along. Unfortunately, you are traveling up from South which works to offset this gain. Traveling East and West, of course have their own characteristics. If you are Westward bound in the morning, the solar winds will help move you along allowing you to coast longer. Car manufacturers have recently started taking advantage of this by building higher and flatter rear bumpers to act as sails. Also, the heat from the sun will make the air in your rear tires expand thus giving your car a more angled and aerodynamic stature. The same happens when you are Easterly bound in the evening. On a side note, I'm still working on the mathematics to prove my theory of a Toniocentric universe. So far all I have is the observational evidence that when I drive at night the moon is clearly orbiting around me. If anyone's B.S. detectors have not yet gone into overload, I have several other theories. :mrgreen:
Not to mention making the car lighter! I think your car is full of hot air Tony, so I suspect you are getting better than average mpg.
Well Bruce, now you've touched on the real reason hydrogen cars are more efficient. A study done by the Claven Institute - a well-respected thinktank in the Boston area - concluded that the lighter-than air fuel source lowered the overall curb weight of the vehicle reducing the amount of friction between the tires and the road resulting in overall performance improvements. The problems arose, however, when the test driver got out of the car. Ropes had to be fastened to the bumpers to keep it from floating away; a phenomenon they have since named "The Hindenburg Effect".
I've ordered a solar sail for my Prius to make maximum use of the solar winds. I hope it really brings down my mileage!
