Gas mileage

Tire pressure makes a difference. Faster acceleration up to speed then drive at the speed limit or below. I use the cruse control a lot because I have two numb feet from a back problem and surgery. The feathering thing takes too much concentration and watching the road suffers. Watching the road and anticipating is really important. Coasting and gliding to a stop. You will learn the points to cut the throttle for every stop you have on your commute. I think the flattest rout is better if you have a choice and the milage is better. Give people in front of you space so you can react and change speeds slowly. You may even be able to avoid braking when they do to turn etc. Every time you slow down and accelerate you loose. Read Evans article. Things do get better. You will get better milage than I ever can. It is warmer in Florida and yes much flatter, and yes that is why I live here and not there.

 

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I see the 780 miles in 3 months as significant. That averages 8.5 miles per day. If you would observe your consumption screen you will see that most of the time you are getting 25-35 MPG during the first five minutes, then the mileage goes up. With short trips most of your driving is in the initial warm up the engine period where you are getting poor mileage.

But with three fillups in 3 months, you are spending far less for gas than those who drive long enough to get 50+ MPG.

 

WOW, 780 miles in 3 months??? Amazing!! I've managed to log almost 2300 miles since mid March. The more you use the car, the more it breaks in. Heck, you've barely passed the 600 mile car break in period!

It should improve with time and longer trips.

 

It won't improve much with those short trips. High speed driving will also lower your mileage, but not as bad as short trips less than 10 minutes would.

At 1 mile commute, you might be able to get an EV switch and defer some of your warmup to the next trip, as long as you can drive under 34MPH and not accelerate too hard the whole time.

 

I don't want to sound like a wise guy but if you live 1 mile from work, get a bike or one of those Segway scooters. Your MPG might not improve but there is a good chance you might only have to fill up 2 or 3 times a year. I just got my Prius 2 weeks ago so of course I'm looking for any excuse I can to drive the thing. Averaged 48 on my first tank and the second is looking even better. Right after you fill up next time, reset the consumption meter and go for a 20 or 30 mile drive, you might see a difference.
Matt

 

I drive about 2,000 miles a month commuting between Long Island and NYC. At this rate I will run up against the 3 year/36,000 warranty in a year and a half. That's why I had to get a fuel efficient car. So far I average 48 to 49 miles per gallon. Not that much more than an Echo, but much better than the midsize Camry, which is the real comparitor. I fully expect that I will recoup the additional cost of the Prius in gas savings over the 10 to 15 years I will own it. I also expect gas will be much more expensive in the future, perhaps in the $5.00 to $10.00 range. Plug-in hybrids that can get over 100 mpg will be the answer to high gas prices, and there will have to be massive investment in renewable sources of electricity like offshore wind turbines as oil begins to run out.