I'm a week away from driving my own Prius down from Minnesota, and it is exciting. Today I spent a lot of time imagining life with it. I stopped at the gas station, $28+ of gas, for 391 miles. I smiled thinking that one more week, and my gas bills will drop significantly. I stopped at an ATM, and while there, just listened to my engine running, and then thought about the quiet that will come from the Prius. I can't wait for mine, and hopefully the peace of mind that will come with it (mine is kinda old, and it becomes more and more of a death trap every day.)
I filled up today.. it's quite nice 20.30 for 463 miles. My numbers are going up. Currently i'm at about 48mpg. At first, your gas bill will drop about 1/3 of what you currently pay. So, around 20 for a fill up for about the same mileage. Not many get under 400 miles on a tank. but, it happens if you drive bad. The longer you own it, the more the mpg will go up. I heard it jumps up around 15k. I have 4k to go.. so.. give me about a month and i'll let you know what 15k is like. At first i was getting about 40mpg... well.. passing traffic all day long and well.. speeding. I cruise more now. I keep up with traffic and pass some. I find it more relaxing to just cruise now. Even better in total silence with the radio and A/C off.
Funny you should mention the gas station experience. I filled up today as well, but it will be a looooong three weeks for me. I too thought as I pumped over $30 into my tank that it probably would have cut off at or under $20. I also can't help but think as I look at my dash controls, the wimpy "trip computer," etc. That I will have the same feeling soon as I did when I recently ran across my first StarTac phone. You know, the one with the single line of LED lights that provided my dialpad, phone book and programming interface. Compared to my LG 6000 camera phone, 64K color backlit LCD menu interface, etc. It looked downright archaic. Soon my current drive will seem archaic as well.
The question is.. how long does it take you to burn a full tank.. or... 400 miles ( minimal prius tank ) ? This is the big compairison. My father burns 400 miles in about a week.. but that's $120+ to him. I burn 1300 miles a week in fuel. But it's only $60-$63 to me
Minnesota, ouch that is cold and getting colder this time of year. We do some what better around here temps in the high 40's and likely to go down to the low 40's and high 30's. Nothing with reference to the temps you are going to experience. You may very well not get EPA don't get discouraged. Heaven knows I have been depressed at the drop in my m.p.g. and I recognize that is expected at this point. I got pumped up by getting my car in August. Go for it.
