2023 Prius Ltd Awd MPG

Detailed Test Information

 

The AWD and Prime are acutally very similar in WLTP - the Prime might be slightly more efficient on highways but I dont think that matters much when trying to hit vmax. They all should have very similars numbers by then anyway.

 

Is it true that the awd comes with grippier tires than the extreme low rolling resistance tires in the base model two wheel drives?

 

@PhoS: MPGs do vary considerably based on gazillions of conditions. I have no doubt most of the numbers posted are genuine, but probably reflecting some ideal circumstances. For sum those idea circumstances are common, for others much less common.

On my 5200 mile trip I got tanks with as little as 42MPG and as high as 52MPG over the entire tank. My driving was very consistent, but things like temperature, relative wind, road conditions all varied considerably. Even for the battery which is easier to track I've gotten actual ranges from less than 40 to over 50 miles.

Now that winter is here, I'm not expecting to set any short term mileage records until spring. That is just as true for ICE cars too, but as a group they aren't so focused on mileage like us!

will

 

I broke into the 50s on good tanks before summer ended. I even had trips that broke into the 60s. But it was very easy to slip back to the upper 40s if I wasn't careful or used Interstate(85mph) versus 2-lane roads(50-60mph). Now that winter has arrived, I'm down to low 40s or even cracking into the high 30s in the worst case. That being said, I'm doing mostly short trips(<2mi) with liberal use of pre-starting the car and letting it run while parked. Plus, I switch to Interstate almost exclusively in winter. All-in-all, it takes a lot to get terrible numbers like I'm sometimes getting. Also, temps have been fluctuating wildly, so keeping proper tire pressure has been impossible.

I think I'm getting winter numbers a little better than my old 2010 Prius II; maybe 3-5mpg. So that's comparing a base-trim gen3 with the smaller wheels with a top-trim gen5 with AWD and remote start and liberal use of heated seats, steering wheel, windshield wipers, and rear defroster. But I've taken the car to get my second fob, gotten an oil change, and disconnected the battery a couple times while installing my modified mirrors, so getting reliable full-tank averages has been difficult to say the least.

 

If you're going 85 then 40s is expected. The Prius gets inefficient as the speed goes up.