i just purchased a 2007 prius a week and a half ago. i just filled up a few miles after last bar started to blink. the odometer was at 493 and it took 9.4 gallons and the mfd said 58.0 mpg. i drive very consertively, but the majority of my driving is highway with lots of hills. the temp for this driving has been between 32 and 55 degrees. i just have no idea how so many people report only getting in the 40's when driving conservatively. maybe there is a difference between models, i don't know. i'm just so happy with my prius. can't wait to see the mpg in summer. my current tank which is the 2nd so far is at 137 miles with an average of 60.3 mpg.
Although there are several factors that can adversely affect mileage, the largest culprit appears to be taking too many short trips. Until the ICE heats up adequately, the benefits of the hybrid system are somewhat negligible.
i probably should add that my everyday trips on the highway included two 25 minute drives. also, if i'm running errands and stopping in somewhere for only 5 or 10 minutes like the post office for instance, i don't shut the car off so that i can avoid the several minute warm up of the ice.
I think if you're only stopped for 5-10 min. you can shut the car off. There's a thermos to keep the fluids warm so I doubt it would require the ICE to completely warm up again.
My first "tank" was ~38 mpg w/45.1 mpg showing on the MFD. My best calculated "tank" was 54 mpg w/47.4 mpg on the MFD. However, it was 42 mpg calculated on the previous tank and ~44 on the tank that followed the "54". So far my lifetime mileage per my calculations is ~45.5 mpg. By time, ~2/3rds of my commute is on the highway, but I'm doing between 65-80 mph, I'd say most of the time at 68-74 mph. Unfortunately, much of the highway isn't level either. There are lots ups and downs due to overpasses... err underpasses? Your region may have a favorable blend of gas and have little ethanol compared to Nor Cal. By blends, see my post at http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=2...mp;#entry367477.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(poodlemaster @ Jan 14 2007, 03:57 PM) [snapback]375592[/snapback]</div> My car just loves rolling hills. That is where I get the best MPG.
i also failed to mention that my highway mph average is btw. 50 and 55 <div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(cwerdna @ Jan 14 2007, 07:49 PM) [snapback]375620[/snapback]</div> how do you manually calculate your mpg w/out a gas tank? i here it's almost impossible with the bladder system.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(poodlemaster @ Jan 14 2007, 05:32 PM) [snapback]375643[/snapback]</div> My last fillup resulted in 92% full showing on the CAN-View. Of course, I didn't try to top it off more than once to get that. All pips did show though. Dave M.
I can't believe you leave your car running for 5 to 10 minutes while on short stops like the Post Office.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(poodlemaster @ Jan 14 2007, 05:32 PM) [snapback]375643[/snapback]</div> Distance traveled / gallons used. In your case, it was 52.4 mpg calculated. Due to the variation of the bladder, all you can do is just put it in spreadsheet and average it out over time. It is a tank, but it's made out of a somewhat flexible material. I've seen and played w/one of the tanks before (I believe it was from a previous gen Prius) that a Toyota rep showed us at a hybrid "seminar". I'm not one to just put blind faith in a trip computer. On my former 02 Nissan Maxima, its trip computer almost always read 2-3 mpg too high, sometimes as much as 4 mpg off. Everyone else w/that generation reported similar figures (on maxima.org). My 350Z's trip computer is more accurate though (mostly within 0-1 mpg off, in many cases within 0.5 mpg). So far, my weighted lifetime avg figure is about 0.7 mpg lower than the averages of the MFD (I didn't weight these).
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(cairo94507 @ Jan 14 2007, 10:05 PM) [snapback]375674[/snapback]</div> why not? doesn't the ice always start up when the car is powered off for any reason?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(poodlemaster @ Jan 15 2007, 10:26 AM) [snapback]375812[/snapback]</div> I do the same thing sometimes, but only if my stop is <1 minute, to avoid having the ice restart.
<_< QUOTE: "how do you manually calculate your mpg w/out a gas tank? i here it's almost impossible with the bladder system." In any hand-calculated MPG equation, an acceptable degree of accuracy is attained over numerous 'tanks.' In the Prius, the variations can be more pronounced due to the bladder in the fuel tank, but likewise in an ordinary fuel tank, the amount of fuel your pump will vary due to temperature of the fuel and the backpressure settings on the gas pump. Even the calibration of the gas pump will have an effect. After over two years of hand calculated MPGs, I found the onboard calculations were just over 98% accurate compared to the hand-calculated - for me, "that's close enough for 'government work!".
