35 mpg Prius blues.

izza, to get the posted mileage you need to drive like the EPA did when they measured the fuel efficiency. Just as with any other car.
No need to pulse and glide, warm up period or anything other than what the EPA did when measuring it.

 

the window sticker says 45 to 48 yes, but it also says the normal operations can be anywhere from 38mpg to 53mpg with a 46mpg average. Besides that those epa estimates are under specific driving circumstances. You say you researched before you bought the car but yet don't know those basic things? I researched also and knew full well what needed to be done to get the higher mpg ratings such as raising tire pressures, using hypermiling techniques(researching is not just reading a window sticker, you should read customer reviews, consumer reports look up web pages such as prius chat, read the forums), i am now consistantly getting 55+ and mostly hover around the 60 to 62 mpg mark now. I run my tire pressures at 42/40 though i'm thinking about raising that to 44/42. You are right though most prius owners just drive the car like a normal car and get in the low 40s to mid 40s mpg, but there are quite a few that use those "Special" techniques and consistantly get 25% above epa estimates and some of the super hypermilers get 50%+ above epa. It's all about how you drive even with a non hybrid. If you slow down, don't do jack rabbit starts and stops, Time the lights etc, etc. no matter what car you drive will get better MPG. The difference in the prius is you can use the hybrid synergy drive to do the same stuff but with better effiency thus getting even better mpg gains.

Having said that there is always the possiblity that you just got a lemon.

 

I say something is wrong. I have an 08 package 3 with 3k miles on it and I average about 50 mpg. My commute is 9 miles one way about half of which is highway. I also live in hotter than hell Texas. I have found that if I drive like total Poo I can still get mid 40s down here.

Maybe his parking brake is engaged or something?

 

You say you researched the car when you bought it. So, then you should know that the EPA numbers are not any sort of guarantee. They just describe the mileage numbers that the EPA got when they tested a Prius. So, if your driving habits aren't exactly like the EPA test, then you're going to get a different mileage. Some of us have made very minor changes to our driving styles that help us get better mileage. No one's forcing you to do that, but we are suggesting that as one way to improve your mileage.

The "short trip" factor is not to be underestimated. 9 miles is actually a fairly good length trip. I know that when we go for true short trips (i.e. a couple miles or less), our mileage really suffers. This is especially true in the winter, but even in the summer your mileage is destroyed by shortish trips. Note that you're always going to have that inefficient period just after startup; it's just that it averages out on longer trips. With short trips and blasting the A/C, I can definitely understand why the OP would be down in the 30s. However, as Shawn noted, we've gotten very little information from the OP other than their typical gas mileage. It seems like the point of this thread is mostly to complain about their mileage rather than to address any issues that may exist. I suppose that's fine, but that means that we should probably not waste too much energy suggesting solutions that the OP is not interested in implementing.

 

Yeahh, I keep imagining the following:

Get into a 110F car, and drive it 5 miles with AC blasting.
Park in the sun, and let car reheat to 110F.
Repeat throughout the day.

Come to PC and whine that the car sticker promised 48 mpg.

 

izza, you have been asked a number of times for some very simple, basic information about your driving.
Many people have offered to help, if you can give us some info, we may be able to help you.
If you don't want help, just keep silent on those simple questions people ask.

 

You know, I honestly didn't think this was a troll thread when I first responded. However, I'm gaining the impression that izza2me is doing his/her best to keep the mileage as low as possible to have something to whine about.

It's not like it would be hard to drive down the mileage. Just leave the vehicle running with or without the driver (crank up the AC and the stereo, turn on the headlamps to speed things up.) Park it in the sun. Keep tire pressure low while driving in B mode, apply the parking brake now and then. Fill up with ethanol.

Since izza isn't interested in doing anything to identify the problem I suggest we quit feeding the troll.

 

Well said there Robby.Thats really the introduction to the Prius system of driving right there.
Get off the pedal..drive smarter..be aware..think ahead a little..anticipate..and the ugliest of American words..."slow down". Ouch. Really? Slow down? Sucks...

So many posters of late complaining of poor mileage. The Prius is no silver bullet. You don't buy it..get in..fly down the road and get great gas mileage. Nope..your gonna be disappointed and then go on a mission to find out what your doing wrong.There's nothing wrong. You just cannot get good gas mileage driving like you have all your life.
Jack rabbit starts. Driving real fast.And the best which I love is flying up to the red light that you saw was red 3 blocks ago. Everyone flying by...you roll up 30 seconds later..still red dudes.

Here's a painless introduction to START you on your quest to better mileage.

Get into the habit of letting off the gas every 20 seconds. Not enough to shut off the ICE but enough to make a change in the energy monitor.
Stop flying up to lights. Stay below 60-70 miles an hour if you can. Not much difference in arrival time if you cruise 58 compared to 70.

And here's the worst part. It takes a lot of good driving to bring the average up 5 mpg's. Another words if I spend a day running short errands it will take me a few days of proper cruising to bring my mpg's back up.
Thats right. One day of short errands (42 mpg's) and a few days of getting it back up (50 mpg's). The car remembers. At least mine says it does.

Good Luck. Its an awesome awesome car.

 

Here's what OP had to say on another forum on the topic of "Protect your
GPS from Theives":

25 Posted by izza2me on Sat Apr 12, 2008 2:13AM EDT
"I just bought a 2008 Toyota Prius. It is the future. Half electric half gas. 44
+ mpg. Star Trec controls. The large screen "GPS" is multi function, and is
built deeply into the dash. Super alarm if tampered with. we are truly
blessed with an afordable car. They don't advertize them much in Florida
because they sell before they unload them on the lot. I failed to put a
deposit on a blue one I liked. They closed at 9pm and it wasn't sold. we got
there the next day when the opened and the 6 I saw the night before were
gone. We waited for the delivery truck fought the mob and boughta loaded
red one. We stepped into the future afordably. The "GPS" is large screen and
can be interactive through the steering wheel buttons. Also acts as a back up
camera, climate control, engine moniter, and many other inportant modes."

That was here:

Protect your GPS system from thieves : Gina Hughes : Yahoo! Tech

A truly strange response to the topic. OP seems to have some issues.

It is time to let this "weeping dog" lie.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Many thanks to the many posters who have provided information on
how to maximize the potential of the Hybrid Synergy Drive from many
different perspectives. Good stuff for newbies to consider and others to
review as the cooler weather comes creeping up us on cat-like feet.

 

I only avg about 42 all around, but I live in the Los Angeles area and drive it pretty hard. My best mileage is while driving on the Highway. I usually drive about 10mph over the speed limit on the Interstate and can get about 47 mpg. And I dont think I have ever driven the car without the AC on... The max I have ever managed was about 52, but that was driving like a granny on Sunday...

 

Something is very wrong... either the parking brake is engaged or something else is dragging down your car.

See the video I made where I got 30-35 MPG going up the Williamsburg bridge. Jump to 4:15 in the video to see.

 

Hello izza2me,

I've stayed out of this one so far, but now I'll toss in my two cents worth. Forget about the nasty comments. The regulars on this site get asked the same questions over and over, and sometimes they get a little testy when they perceive that the OP is not answering their questions. That's water over the dam; let's move on.

The mileage you report is not anywhere near normal with the type of driving that you describe. Those low figures would make sense only for very short trips, or for someone that drives like a NASCAR racer. Even during the break-in period you should do much better than that.

Many of the posters in this thread suggest various techniques to improve mileage. Many of these are excellent techniques for squeezing out that last MPG, but are unnecessary for good mileage. You shouldn't have to do anything more complex than drive.

Here are some things to check:
1) Tire pressure. A low tire will kill your mileage. That said, you don't need to over inflate your tires to get good mileage.

2) Dragging brakes. Check your front and rear brakes after driving. They should not be hot. Hot brakes indicate something is dragging.

3) Bad gas. I know you already said you buy your gas at the same station as other Prius drivers, but gas needs to be mentioned in the interest of being complete.

4) Power down. This one will sound really stupid, but almost all Prius drivers have left their car running at one time or another. It's easy to do. If you do this, the Prius will run the ICE as needed to keep the battery charged. It will do it without complaint until the gas tank is empty. Obviously, this is not good for mileage.

5) B mode. Don't use B mode, ever, unless you are coming down big hills (mountains).

6) N. Don't shift to N at stops. The Prius cannot shut down the ICE if the shifter is put into N with the engine running.

Try driving on a straight, flat road after the engine is warm. At 55 mph you should get around 50 mpg without doing anything funny, maybe as low as 45 mpg in the winter. Less than this means something is wrong.

Pay attention the engine (ICE) when you stop at lights. Does the ICE shut down on its own? It won't do it all of the time, but a warm engine with good battery charge should shut down. If the engine runs continuously it will hurt your mileage.

Try some of these things and let us know how they work.

Tom

 

I'm voting that the alignment is a bit wonky. It happens. Not enough to really feel it driving, but enough to create drag on the car, which drives down MPG.

Yes, your service department should do a complete alignment check.

 

I can't buy that explanation. There is TOO much of a drop in MPG to be just an alignment issue.

... Brad

 

This gets my vote for a "next step."

 

Well said. Izzy, if you only listen to one post, make it QBee's post.

If you really want help, report back to us what your tire pressure is and what the average distance you travel is. That will help more than pictures of the MFD. Relying on the warning will prevent immediate tire damage, but it's not good enough for good gas mileage or long tire life. Often dealers keep the tires a little low for a softer ride.

One point, kind of related to point 4) above, is don't warm up the car (or cool off the interior) before driving. Turn the car on and go.

The thing about the break-in period doesn't apply here. That's probably a 5% difference at best (like the other hypermiling tips, aka 'dancing'), we're talking about a 25% difference.

The one thing I did notice about your picture was that you had driven less than 5 minutes (no energy bars) and it was 88' outside. If you do short drives (each less than ten minutes) with high A/C usage, that will definitely hurt your mileage. You may do much better in the winter when it cools off. You may not like it if your drive is not average (average commute is 25 minutes), but that's what the EPA numbers are intended to represent, more or less.

 

Listen to the tips posted by others. I did not see you reply trying those suggestions and seemed you simply ignored them. How many miles is your average trip?

Prius have a 3L vacuum bottle that stores the hot coolant when you turn off the car (like those coffee thermo vacuum bottles). This allows the car to start "warm" after not driving for a couple of days. In the video (as I remember), I started the car after a day in the 40 deg F weather and the thermo bottle shot it up to 70 deg F by the time I drove off. It made my first 5 mins bar 40 MPG which is not low because I had to accelerate from 0-60 burning gas.

Perhaps, your thermo bottle is not working and you do very short 5 mins trip. If you have scan guage II or some type of ODBII reader, you can monitor the engine temp and check if it raises up as you turn on the car (like in the video).