MPG maximizing tips/mods?

The only tips I can give you for Gen 5 is forget all that silly hyper-miler stuff from the old days. Prius and Prime are a learning experience.
For example updates made to Gen 4 compared to Gen 3 made Gen 4 a complete new game. I expect Gen 5 is close to if not more of the same.
Some of the basics are still the same as outlined in the owners manuals, including silly old stuff like steady speed on the flat, obviously, only more so with the newer models. It took me a long time to actually experience that.
Speeds not intuitive, it's good to have a plan and sane expectations, the Primes pack is small, and it's dynamics are different than an EV with a 1 ton pack under it.
Gauges are another thing, Gen 3 to Gen 4 tripled in gauges. I still don't have a complete understanding of all the gauges Prime offers. I believe I've seen them all, but there may still be some buried deep behind or on the simple screen dash settings I've missed.
I take pics - once a or every few months - of all gauges and history data, even if I never look at um, there are so many.
The algorithms keep getting dialed in more and more with each new generation, an example: heuristic mode is nearly impossible to detect in Gen 4 and that's one of the main points about how early pulse and glide worked.
Pulse and glide may still work, if willing to put the work in to see how it's been dialed in, but there are other thing that are more important, IMO.
With Prime, I wanted to learn about how EV works and not so much about when it's better to switch to HV instead. Like most new Prime owners I drove in EV exclusively for the first few years. Now, I wish I'd had the forethought to use HV all winter instead.
The HAVC systems another one of those things, not many of us know how best to handle, especially when new and can't really see long term results.

The car can be driven anyway a driver wants to, but learning the system takes time and some motivation, cause you'll see all kinds of claims and counter claims made about how the system really works, but a clue is to check location when reading in this forum about how the Prius or Prime and which model if included works in a location that doesn't have the same climate as yours. It can make a big difference year to year.

 

I think the most straight forward thing you can do to increase MPGs is downsizing your tires to 16s or 17s. Plenty of posts about this online.

Still debatable if the upfront cost of new tires and rims can be recouped with the gas savings though. Depends on how long you plan on owning it and how much you drive.

 

If pulse and glide worked for you in the past, it should still work. The 'trick' with a hybrid is learning to feather the accelerator to the point of not having any power going from the motor or engine to the wheels on the energy monitor on the glide. Failing that, just get a little EV on the glide portion. Or just put the car in neutral for the glide.

Driving with load is another old hypermiler method. It's like steady speed, but you keep the power output constant instead. So you slow down on inclines and speed up on the downslope.

 

One ploy I've found quite effective: if you've got to use the car for something during the day, appointment, a dinner: also do some chores, shopping or whatever's been piling up, the same day. Consolidate trips as they say.

Also, almost without fail, I plug in the block heater, approximately 2 hours before start-up.

Both these are good for mpg, and engine longevity, I think.

Another thought:

Ultimately it's about using less gas. This is the elephant in the room, and anybody, with any car, can do that, by just reducing superflous driving.

 

In terms of aero mods, there isn't much that can be done, and you might even hurt overall aero.

Smaller, lighter wheels will help. You want to keep the tires the same width to not have a negative impact on aero.

 

The tip for maximizing fuel economy I can give that absolutely works every time, for every car is....
Slow Down 5mph.

If you like the results on that tankful, slow down another 5 mph! The savings will be noticeable.

 

Increasing following distance is no slouch either; it's a momentum "surge pile", allows you to coast through slow downs, even avoid full stop at red lights occasionally.

 

Anyone looking for tires for the 2023-25 Prius Prime or Prius Hybrid? I have a set of 4 Bridgestone Turanza T005 205/60R17 (that if paired with the 17 inch rims yields exact rolling diameter as stock 19 inch wheels and tires on up level models) and a set of 4 Toyo Extensa 195/60R17 tires (for the 17 inch rims of the LE Prius/SE PP). Both have just about 2000 miles or less on them no damage no repairs. I do not have the '24 PP any longer so am looking to sell these. In Michigan. I have the Bridgestone ones on ebay Item ID: 335826037509 and will put the Toyo ones on Monday as well on Ebay. Please let me know if interested or if there is a better place to list these or inform users. I was thinking of starting a separate thread but was not sure if that is allowed (for selling tires). Did duplicate this on another thread and that will be it. Sorry for the clutter. Thanks.

 

That is my technique also, drive smoothly, coast into the stoplights and avoid braking, but unless it's a Prius or an EV behind me the driver won't appreciate the way I am driving. Unfortunately.

KH

 

@KH111 yeah, you and most every other eco conscious driver on the road.

I do my best to stay out of the way of traffic. But when I'm in it, I'm slowly learning to forget about bein eco conscious and wait for an appropriate space to open up behind. Than switch back to my eco driving habits until the next pack of -normal- for this day and age, drivers close in on my comfort zone.

 

Right, so they accelerate hard while changing lanes to get around you, then seconds later see the red light right in front of them and then get on the brakes hard. Then you gracefully pull up besides them at that light. Let them see you grin at them!!

You can't control how the chump behind you drives.
If you are rear ended it's 100% their fault. Time for a Gen5 upgrade, thank you very much!

Drive as you like. Don't look back.
As they say in France: "Ta'HayL with'em."

 

“Growing up” is when you shake that urge to grin. It takes a while.

 

I just took my first decent longer distance trip. 491.3 miles, 9.108 gallons, $24.04. It was not slow and sometimes acceleration was to get me away from idiots who don't know how to drive (tight groups on an otherwise empty road). On winter gas 54 MPG and a car that keeps me safe is great as far as I am concerned. It got a little hairy when an idiot in a Suburban decided to merge one car length front of me (at 65 MPH) to exit and my car decelerated quickly (adaptive cruise control), which combined with the other idiot that was tailgating me, could have proved disastrous. On the trip I think I averaged closer to 60 MPH, so the old style hypermiling is a thing of the past. I think unless there is a combination of circumstances that could produce a panic stop from me my acceleration is around peak efficiency for the engine. I do notice other drivers who seem to think taking half a mile to get up to speed is efficient, which is absolutely not the case. 80% of max load without max acceleration enrichment is best and has been that way since I started driving for efficiency. The power of this LE is amazing and when used properly makes it much safer in the post covid driving environment.

It's way beyond cool to see pure electric downhill at 70 MPH. That really helps the MPG.

 

Just passed 2k miles. Oil full and clean as new. Last tank 56 MPG. Overall mileage seems to have increased by about 3MPG, probably summer blend now. Less than 5 cents a mile. Other than that just cleaning the fresh bird crap off of it as soon as I see it. Tires holding at just over 40 PSI. I'm a happy camper

 

To save gas:
1) Turn off PDA feature, the car will glide much further, otherwise, you even have to step on the gas when going downhill on a windy road.
2) Avoid stepping on gas unnecessarily if you are approaching a stop sign or red light not very far ahead. Try to let the car glide as much as possible without stepping on the gas or kicking on the regen brakes by feathering your throttle pedal so that the hybrid meter is showing 0 power & 0 regen. This method is not letting off the gas pedal, if you do, the regen brakes would kick in and will ruin your glide.
3) Lift off the gas pedal very quickly, when you don't need to accelerate, this will kick in the EV mode and use #2 above in conjunction if you are in the stop & go traffic jam.
4) Have optimal air pressure in the tires
5) Slow steady acceleration.
6) Try not to have frequent short drives because cold engine will waste a lot more gas.

 

Flipping that works too: if you’ve got to do a good drive at some point in the day, with time to spare, run some short trip errands the same day.

 

Was wondering if there'd be actual real information here for people who might benefit from it.
It seems you all here only post opinions from your own POV and not from a collection of verifiable data.

I don't operate on personal experience, I do repeated real world tests and then choose the most efficient mean after labouring many hundreds of hours.
This thing can use EV at any speed. in town get to 45 to 50 as fast as you can.
(I drive in sport/Custom mode 100% of the time. Never Eco , never normal.)
Let foot completely off gas, put foot on gas in slightest bit possible so EV turns on. Keep it under the halfway tick that says ECO.
Drive using battery everywhere, easy peasy.

On the highway, I get up to like 75, do the same thing.
Works for any speed you're at 90, 80, doesn't matter.
Tanks always average around 60 though I could do better If I wasn't bringing it up to 115 multiple times a day.

Would love to hear more from a non standardized mindset, driving it all super slow and whatever absolutely does not do as much as you people tend to think.
Quicker you can get it into and stay on battery is all that matters.

I drive everyday, 100s of miles a day. That's why I got a Prius.
Because for me it actually matters how much mpg I get and I try to maximize it.

When there's no one behind me I use that pathetic all EVmode in my neighborhood to get to the convenience store without using gas(hardly).

Anyways, I'd love to hear some thoughts.

 

Closing in on 60 MPG AVERAGE. I guess that works for me and at 2300 miles it will get slightly better as I improve MY technique, which is specific to me and me alone. I've spent decades refinning my techniques and got better average mileages that this car in hybrids and non hybrids of the the past 4 decades starting with my 84 CRX 1.5 bought new in Houston Texas, serial number 1018, averaging 45 MPG for 50 k miles. Bought for $7k new, sold for $5k with 50 k on the odometer.
02 Insight CVT 67 MPG for 35 k miles. $7k in warranty repairs.
2015 Mirage 1/3 rd of the price of this Prius 55 MPG for 55k miles.
The last car I owned prior to this Prius was a 2013 Prius C that averaged 53 MPG for 25k miles.
At 75 years ago I know my time left is fairly short but I could live to 100. Great gene pool but a lot of injuries and hypermiling a car is tedious and unnecessary. I managed 167 MPG in the Mirage bought for cash brand new, same as my 2024 Prius was bought for cash brand new.
Wife has a 2016 Rogue bought for cash, with 80 K miles and she is 79 years old.
We drive my car almost 100% of the time so that preserves her car while I drive about 1000 miles a month.
At this point in life, we have no debt. Everything is paid for (for 33 years) and now we collect rent on our money. The combination of interest, social security and her pension makes us $100 k a year, with 7% federal taxes. We're set for life with a net worth over a million.
Not so sure of the intent of the post above me by Phreak, This is my real information, specific only to me. If it provides you with useful information, good for you.

 

You seem to be incredibly insecure which is honestly a very childish fault in someone on in their years.

Did any part of what I said rub you the wrong way?
Then what ? You can't directly communicate and go on a rant about how everything in your life is how it is for everyone else at your age while at the end trying to do a childish "side-eye" remark?
Indirect passive aggressive people are a bit out there.
I honestly don't care but it does give me that inquisitive feeling.

I focused solely on this threads actual topic. How to get better mpg.
I'm not going to address anything else that was said , seeing as its a moot point and has no place in this conversation about how to increase mpg.
I quoted you simply for the phrase hypermiling is a thing of the past ,however, it's very possible I misunderstood you as you seem to be saying the same thing as myself.

I don't know what or how hypermiling was/is done. I'm assuming the way I've always driven vehicles is akin to hypermiling.
Probably in the same manner as you've stated whereas I get over the listed mpg on most every car I drive, simply because it's a kind of fun like EFF yeah! I did it feeling.

But then as you've also said. You kinda get into the mindset like... I can... do this.. I achieved it.. But do I really want to keep driving this way forever?
Anyways, I'm well aware that my manner of approach rubs a few the wrong way.
I'm not going to be any different but I can apologize quite easily.

The only thing that makes me feel "Bleh" about it was your need to talk about things that are pretty much a given for every non homeless and non "I worked at tacobell for 50 years" people.
There was no mention of those things from me about yourself.
Which means you mentioned al of these facts because you thought they meant something and were impressive.
Your finances. They don't matter. How you act in this world is all that matters. Rich or Poor.
And just like 100k today pay is like 60k back in the day. A mil today... is not really a mil.
And you know that, everyone does. Natural inflation running concurrent with GDP.

You also mentioned money in your previous posts as well and that was without any provocation.
This thread was meant for tips about how to drive the car in a way that may increase mpg.
You didn't explain a single thing in your posts above or the one in which you made an indirect reply to me.
I'm just old-school and tell it like it is. That picture on my thing is when i was like 16.
It just popped up when i used google to connect account.
None of what you listed was helpful to anyone trying to get help and advice.
Your posts just feel like gloating, and gloating over insignificant things is very tell-tale of a persons persona.

I drive on all 35s 45s in town on electric. How I do that is basically described in your own post.
And I also agree that the only thing that really gets in the way of trying to maintain on battery acceleration or stable speed happens to be drivers who like to go side by side like theyre going to the bathroom or something.
Great way to cause accidents yet these people do it everyday and everywhere.

I also agree that trying to go super slow while getting to speed is not as efficient as quickly getting to speed or about 5 over then switching it to all battery mode.
You also get way more charge the faster you go and then use the brakes from a higher speed.


Hey there bud, I enjoyed this civil and direct back and forth exchange that we did not have.
In your old age you should be much more comfortable than you are and just address others directly.

Toodles ~