How do you do it???

I am getting my car in 10 days, I drive a Honda Ody.Touring van.
I have only 4 miles to work. I don't check my gas mileage can't
be over 16 mpg. I have to smile as he is having problems getting
40+MPG. What you guys are describing as a driving style I have
been doing with my van for years! Puts a bid smile on my face
to know I will be going from 16MPG to 40+++:focus:

 

In busy So. Cal, many times it is just impossible to drive perfectly for best mileage. Accelerating at the top of the white ECO bar, staying out of the red power mode is just not usually acceptable on many streets here - I am not usually in a rush or trying to beat anyone, but I am often a hazard or road rage producer if I always accelerate with only the ECO light lit.

I live up some pretty good foothills - I can not even get up the hill without the red pwr bar for a little bit. If I stay in ECO lit for going up home, it will take over a half a mile to get to 20 mph. Conversely, I get to coast down a lot, but that is in a warm up period for the ICE usually.

We are getting 48 - 50 avg - had a few 30+ mile trips at the high 50s. Most mileage reported way above the EPA ratings are one way anomolies, IMO. A trip with good downhill roads, certain types of slow traffic that allows lots of battery only power, and slower freeway speeds will allow really high mpg avgs. for that one leg.

Once we are past break in, get some longer commutes (so far the majority are short trips), and drive for mileage more intuitively, I think we will get low 50s. This car should easily give the EPA 48/50 without much behavior change over the longer term average (given the person already drives reasonably well for conservation).

Getting high 50s and 60s seems like it would be a trip anomoly - I can't see long term averages there, unless one has a very unique commute that allows really, really conservative driving without care for the other traffic flow.

There is a safety to traffic flow, I have notice many "hypermilers" on the so cal roadways and it is maddening at times to be stuck around them when they are happy to be 10 - 20 mph below the flow of traffic. Let's be careful out there, LOL.

 

With only a 4 mile commute you will struggle to get above the low 40s even with a Prius. The engine will never reach operating temperature.

 

One other item in addition to the great stuff mentioned above that's helped mine move into the 57 - 58 range is use the EVO mode when in residential areas and parking lots. I always switch to EVO when I hit my neighborhood coming home and can go below 25 mph. The engine is going to run and recharge the battery first thing the next morning to warm up the engine anyway. It adds up.

 

My first rule is always to drive my car in a way that I feel comfortable with. As soon as I feel like a road block, I accelerate. I think btw the Gen III is quite forgiving in this respect and that accelerating a bit harder will not ruin your mileage. My two main weapons for good mileage are low cruising speed, and anticipating traffic to minimize braking. On the highways I settle myself in the right lane and set my cruise control a tad higher than the fastest trucks: 96-98 km/h. My litmus test for being a road block: being passed by a truck (I mean the really big ones, I don't know what word you Americans use to distinguish trucks from trucks).

I tried some 'normal' driving (120+ km/h on the highway, braking later, accelerating in the pwr zone), and I estimate the difference in fuel consumption to be about 15% as compared to my economic, sub-100 km/h driving. So driving briskly will not turn your Prius into a guzzler.

Maybe they're just pensioners.

 

i am at 2400 miles, mfd 56.7 lifetime, about 55 actual at the pump

2 top tips

1. as said in this thread, get to speed quickly. always in eco mode, i hit the gas and try to keep the hybrid systems indicator bar before the mid point (before is battery only and after the ICE kicks in) until about 15 or 20 mphs (fewer if i am holding somebody up). the instant mpg display should be 100+ (assuming already warmed up). When i go past the mid point (the ice kicks in) i really step on it, keeping the HSI bar far to the right but not in the little red "PWR" zone". Doing these things the "ECO" light on the HSI (not the mode indicator saying eco) should always be on unless yuo slip a little into the "PWR" zone.
2. when yuo reach the target speed, take your foot ALL THE WAY off the gas pedal suddenly, which kills the ICE, then quickly hit the pedal again, but learn how to do it so the HSI bar stays before the midpoint. This is a mellow form of pulse and glide.

on the downhills try to achieve coast (no HSI display at all)

on some downhills when i know there is an uphill, i "gun it" going down (but not in the PWR zone) to grab 5 or 10 MPHs to use to bleed off on the uphill. The prius going uphill trying to hold a speed or even accelerate can really kill a tankful's mpgs.

 

Wow! This sounds exactly like what I am experiencing. Frankly I was getting a little worried that there was something wrong with my 4-day old Prius, since I haven't been able to break ~37 MPG!!! I've only driven around 65 miles, and pretty much only on short trips around my neighborhood. But I keep the AC at 78, the car in ECO mode, and was expecting to get much more, since I only let it get into the white when coming off a stop, and then try to keep it bellow the middle line in the display. But I'll try your tips, and hopefully I'll see the MPG I'm expecting!

 

HEY i resemble thst remark.
When i drive it's usally " catch me if you can" and get the he!! out of the way LOL

 

Wow, these techniques make a huge difference! Like I said, I was driving very conservatively, in such a way that I was expecting to get very good MPGs, but instead was only getting in the high 30s. Well, I just got back from a 14 mile midnight drive, and was able to get 64.2 MPG! That's more like it!

 

Is there any advantage to manually managing the AC

I've always thought that an intelligent AC that took advantage of situation where regeneration was being used to cool instead of running purely based upon the temperature would help.

My car is new and I haven't even burned a tank but I'm wondering if I tried to do this my self it would help, or just make me more likely to wreck because of the distraction

 

I am trying out normal mode on this next tank of gas. I am back to 45-46 mpg. So this morning I tried out your suggestion on number 1. Now what I was sure about to start with is that you couldn't possible get on a highway like this. Since there was no traffic this morning I tried your method. Almost 3/4 or a mile later I was up to 60. I think this method would be well suited for city driving where your top speed would be around 35-40 tops.

My problem with my commute is that I have a about 5 miles of highway(65) before the first red light that I seem to always catch. Then another 4 miles of psuedo highway(65) until another red light that I turn at. Then I get to city highway(55) for 9ish miles with redlights throughout and then down to 35 before opening back up to 55 and then lastly I-10 Interstate(70) for a mile or 2.

As you can see I have lots of acceleration points that make me get out of my own way in most instances.

I am fortunate to have 2-3 other ways to work where one is mostly interstate but traffic can be busy in the mornings. And the other is back country roads that max out around 50-55 with turns and stops along the way but not as many as the red lights above. I will probably try these alternate roads to see. I wish I had more than 2 tripometers as I would like to compare all paths(I know I am lazy here).

Lastly - I haven't checked my tires since I put the Goodyears on last week. They are probably set a factory levels instead of 40-42.

Good thread and ideas.

Oh yea, I have been able to get as high as 56 on a short slow highway trip and averaged 51 that tank including a trip to Houston. So I know the car can do it. Its all between the ears.

--Mickey

 

I really have to study all of these tips. I agree with Maggie, i wish there was some tips on the DVD.

I am at 104 miles and my avg. is 39MPG all city driving. I just feel like I can't help but go in the red from a stop. Around here staying in the ECO section would cause road rage from those around me. This is going to be a huge adjustment in the way I drive.

I may go out and check my tire pressure today. Maybe it is low.

 

Definitely a good idea to check the tire pressure - that never hurts.

But as far as the going into the red thing, I thought that too, at first. Then I realized that I was actually accelerating much faster than I thought and ending up going faster than traffic more often than not. What I've found since is that staying out of the red is only slow up to about 10-15mph. After that, keeping it right at the top of the ECO band provides more than enough acceleration to keep up with traffic - doesn't feel fast in the Prius because it is smooth and quiet, but when I started looking at the speedo and traffic, I realized my 'seat of the pants' was not reading right. So now I might just bump into the red as I leave the line, if there are impatient people behind me, but I very quickly return to the ECO region of the gauge. Add in careful, gentle braking, and it is not hard to get near 50mpg as long as the trips are over 5 miles. If your city trips are real short, like a mile or so, you're going to have a hard time getting that high though - trip length is a big part of it.

 

You would think Toyota would have given you some instruction booklet how to get the best gas mileage out of the Prius. If it wouldn't be for coming across this site I would have never known how to get the best gas mileage out of mine.

 

Around 40 MPG is not bad for a new car and driver, and especially in stop and go traffic where you are forced to push your accelerations. Over the next 2-3 months your car will gain maybe 4-5 MPG by breaking in and you'll pick up another 4-5 with hybrid driving experience (just estimates) so you'll probably be near 50MPH for heavy stop and go traffic.

I'll bet if you take your car, right now, out into the countryside where you can drive steadily at 50 mph and put it on cruise control in ECO mode, you will be near 60 MPG. Yes, 44/42 PSI will help, if you are comfortable with that.

Warm up the car (25-30 min) before starting the trial. Make sure you go at least 10 miles both ways on the same stretch of road. Re-start the trip A or B MID after stabilizing on cruise at 50 mph for each leg. After you finish each leg, write down the MPG and average the MPG for the two legs. If you have to touch the brakes or the cruise control (after getting started on cruise), start over again. No lights, stops signs, etc allowed on the 10 mile stretch. Got a road like that?

If you do try this - try it again in a year and see the improvement!

Good luck and have fun!

 

Thanks everyone. I know it will take a while to get the hang of it. I am coming from a car with a stick and used to race the BMW's at a light to the merge point from a two lane road to one and my Corolla would beat them about 50% of the time. Can't play that game anymore, now playing the MPG game. I'm just so used to zipping out from the light.

My usual commute is 18 miles going 25 - 45mph. Going to work I have one huge steep hill to go up, much easier coming home and coasting all the way down. But going up I am in the red most of the time.

I am still getting used to all of the gadgets in the car. When everyone talks about lifetime mileage, is that indicated somewhere on the dash? Or do you keep Trip B for that? I was looking in the manual and could not find see where to find that without it being a Trip. I am sure I am missing something.

 

There are no wrong answers, use what works for you. I like to start off and come to a stop in electric all the time. An ICE is most efficient when it is at higher rpm or speed, thats why most cars get better highway mileage. Most of the fuel is used just to get the car rolling. If you can accelerate to 40-45 mph in electric and then use the ICE on steady you will be getting good mpg. Starting in electric to about 30-40 mph will utilize both engines most efficient ranges, low speed electric and higher speed ice. good luck

 

I got 68mpg on my trip home from work today. I forgot to track the trip to work where I have to drive up a big hill. I had to go in the red most of the way up because someone was on my behind. Ugh. Now for the tank I am at 42mpg. I kept the AC and 78 and I was traveling alone. Usually I am commuting with my husband.


So at least I know I *can* do it.

 

That's great but please tell us your MPG on the way to work tomorrow morning as well so we can avg the two and you can see what your real MPG is! One way is so maddingly deceptive. I don't work at Toyota but their dealership is about 12 miles from my house. My wife and I drove down their Monday and I reset the Trip at home. By the time I hit the dealership, my MPG said 90.2!!!!

 

Yesterday I tracked it each way. I think it was 42 or 43 going to work and 65 coming come. Today I tracked the whole trip and got 49.9mpg. My ride home gives me the ability to glide down a hill and seems to have better light timings where I can smoothly ride home. I can also travel through a good stretch of town where the speed limit is 25 in EV mode. Going to work has more uphill climbs, more stopping at traffic lights with the pressure to accelerate quickly when the light changes.