Worse prius gas mileage numbers

A fair request. My '06 has almost 40K on the clock and I live in the Western part of NJ where I am going up and down hills all the time and the winter driving can be pretty cold. I mention these conditions because they dramatically affect MPG. My running average in the summer is between 42 - 46 mpg. In the winter it drops to between 38 - 42 mpg. My overall 40K average is 42.7 mpg. I am a very happy camper with that performance and enjoy the Prius experience. I would do it over all again.

 

Hi ctbering,

Last summer I did not hypermile, but was fully competent in using the Prius. That summer, I cruise-controlled on the highway at 62 mph, and staying below 40 on a 45 mph road on the last 3 miles on the way into work with traffic light issues (timing the lights was what I was doing), alternatively I glided at 40 mph on a 35 mph road for the last 3 miles before home (again it was a light timing thing). I do not consider timing lights any kinda sacrifice to hypermiling, I have been doing it for at least 30 years. Many times it gets one ahead of traffic that does not time the lights. Its as much a travel time reduction technique in suburban driving, as it is a hypermiling techingue. In one instance I WOT'd out a flat footed full up Mustang who was stopped at a red light, as I timed through as it went green at 30 mph. I also did not have the instrumentation, flush hubcaps, or the other little aero things I have done this year. Last summer from May through Novermber, I got every tank better than 58 mpg, one or two above 60 mpg. The mileage was very consistent.


I am really tempted to tell you about this summer, so far, but that would be OT.


Add - on ..... Last summer was allot hotter than this one, so far, with many days very humid in the high 80's and some days in the mid 90's. So I use the AC when I was taking the interstate route home when it was above 82 or so. I set it to 80 F.

 

6.1L/100km (~39MPG) is the worst I've seen on my Prius, if I don't go anywhere except work. This is because I have no commute, as my office is about a mile and a half away. It's not that I can't, or don't want to walk, but I just like to sleep in till the very last minute

 

I've had my Prius since May, a little over 3 months now. While I do try to glide on hills and such, I mostly just drive it like a regular car. I've been getting around 50 mpg consistently. I must say that I'm quite pleased with that.

 

I suggest that you take a look at the tank-by-tank results offered at sites like CleanMPG and GreenHybrid.

I post mine on GreenHybrid: Follow this link to see my record of mpgs for the first year of ownership. (You can see my current "lifetime" MPGs in my signature.)

In summary: My mileage is trending upward. Summer is great and Winter, well, just sucks icicles. My worst two tanks were both in February -- and both in the 30s. My best two tanks were both in August -- and both in the 60s.

 

I've had my Prius for two years. I get 56 mpg in the summer, 46 mpg in the winter. To get these figures, all I have to do is drive. My driving consists of an occasional trip to Traverse City, which is 25 miles away on two lane 55 mph state highway. The road winds around a lot, and goes through two villages and an the Peshawbestown Indian reservation, so the speed varies a lot. I drive the speed limit, and a little slower than that when going through the reservation. Other than that, I just drive.

Tom

 

Oh No!

First Evan. Now you!

a priori DCC

 

I live in the Portland, Oregon Metro area in the West hills, (elevation, 550 feet). I commute 20 miles one way to work (which goes to about 1000 ft elevation). When I first got my Prius, I drove it as my other car (a Honda CRV) and averaged about 43 MPG the first tank. I now drive with the pulse and glide technique and average 46 to 47 MPG.

If I lived in an area without mountains or hills, I suspect I'd be getting the high 40s without any techniques and in the 50s with more careful attention.

Going up hills, is a real drain on gas.....I suspect if I lived up on the mountain communities (3 to 5000 ft elevation here) my average might be in the high 30s....

 

My husband has a 2003 (Gen I), has a heavy foot, does short trips, idles the car in winter to defrost, and has even had a brake job done. He gets 37 mpg lifetime average. When I first got my 2007 Gen II) I was getting 45-47 before I changed anything I was doing. Hope that helps.

 

My first tank when i drove it like a normal car i averaged about 48, since then i've been using some of the hypermiling techniques and now on my 4th tank i'm close to getting my first 60+ mpg, currently after 230 miles i'm at 59.8 on my current tank and seems to still be climbing.

 

I think I have a decent idea of your interest. You will get a variety of responses with the question you've asked, but this latest post does help clarify things a little bit.

I've never aimed to zoom the car, and I have learned to drive it differently. I started out driving it "softly", but I've learned to do better than that and get better MPGs. Still, I never had a leadfoot, and I've always been looking to conserve energy by coasting into red lights and timing traffic.

Here is an interesting thread (Something's Not Right) started by someone who was hoping to drive the Prius like any other car, yet still get 60 MPGs. He is now very upset that even when backing off of the really aggressive driving he won't get into the 50s or even mid- to upper-40s. I think that thread will be a good read for you. Some folks didn't like his approach to driving the Prius, but it is fairly clear that he is just an aggressive driver and doesn't want to change. His mileage isn't that great, but it is still double anything he's had before. The exchanges probably will show you some of the info you've been seeking.

 

I hope you are a patient person. We'll need lighter batteries and more oomph all around before you see that dream fulfilled! I'll just go for the MPGs and low emissions (and less $$ on gas)!

 

2 guys, the rest of the car filled with camping gear while carrying two bikes on a rear hitch bike rack... all on the open interstate doing 75+... 29mpg...

 

Oh, Your looking for the mileage gotten by idiot drivers? Sorry, I will opt out of this thread then.

 

I didn't even know about "hypermiling" until last month. Thats what I get for living in rural central Virginia. When I bought by Prius in April, I was getting 44-48. After two months, I received 48-50 mpg. That was driving the old way, not too crazy, and driving 5-7 mgh over the speed limits. There a LOTS of hills in our area just east of the Blue Ridge mtns, so I thought I had it made having driven a Chevy Cavalier for the previous 5 years at 31 mpg.

This last month, after learning to hypermile, I have been averaging (three tanks so far) a ridiculous 58.5. It helps that I drive 35 miles to work on rural roads with speed limits between 45 and 55, no traffic lights, and can easily drive 45 mph without blocking traffic. Of course the only thing that blocks me are deer and tractors.

Oh, and an occasional turkey. What a country!

Chris

 

Congrats on the improvement.

How about pictures of that beautiful countryside and the turkeys?