32mpg ???

A moderator will move it eventually... Meanwhile, I can tell you from my own experience, when I got my Prius v, I got around 33 on the first tank, but better after the 2nd fuel up. Part of what I have learned is that this comes down to two things, short of the 12v aux battery...

1) Being new - You probably drive the way you used to with normal cars. I know I had that bad habit and you aren't taking advantage of how the system works. Which is normal, cause again, bad habits make for not using the car to is potential.
2) Car knows someone else's driving - Strangely enough, the Prius' systems sort of 'learn' your habits over time. From what has been said on the forums here, is the system tries to adjust the engine use based on how you drive, but of course, it requires time and adjustment to get the most out of it.

The question would be how many times have you fueled up and looked at your fuel economy? One time? Two times?

How have you been driving the car, while you say mostly city driving, have you listened to your car to see if it has been using the EV? Have you pushed your car above the half mark on the HSI (Power) indicator consistently versus, say, cruising streets at just below the halfway on the HSI indicator?

Do you 'ride your brakes' a lot when slowing down? Or speed up then brake when things slow down?

I ask these questions because it isn't mentioned, but could be a source of losing Fuel Economy, as some of the fuel stretching measures tend to be the 'breaking' of habits we all grew up with on older, gas cars and not taking advantage of what the car can do without doing certain things we did before.

 

Drive a round trip at 60 mph on a little used motorway in the evening with the AC off, all told about 15 miles after the ICE is warm. Zero the MPG meter for the test, and report back.

Low MPG is one or more of:
* the car
* the driver
* the route

The above test will tell you if the car has a problem. Normal Prius return 55 - 60 mpg on this test. If you want a detailed response head over to the stickied thread with a questionnaire for you to fill out first.

 

Tyres and tyre pressures?

 

What are you running for tire pressure? 42/40 seems to be the most used. The above comment about learning your car are indeed true. It will take a little time, and a new Prius driver to get into "The Groove". A few rules that might help, .accelerate evenly, but not aggressively, that sucks gas. When you are city driving, look way ahead, if you see you are coming to a Red Light, back off on the throttle and try to get into the stealth modr, coast up to the red, as you get closer and it turns gren, slightly apply power to have the battery power the car while leaving the ICE off.
It took several weeks, OK, about 2 months, for me to transition from a 15 year life in a 4Runner, I still love that truck, I still have it, to a Gen II Prius. I read this forum over and over looking for tips on how to drive, it's a matter of just reading, it's a tough search! Get a Scan Gauge, set one of the Gauges to RPM. Keep a eye on that one, hi RPM eats gas. As new X-Gauge commands for a Gen III are discovered, you can add them to assist you in hi MPG numbers. Do not be discouraged by initial lo MPG numbers, they will climb as you get the feel of driving a Hybrid.

 

The Big Easy! If you are waiting quite a while at signal lights...this will bring your MPG down. The absolute best MPG is crawling thru town under 40 hitting all the greens!

 

Yep.

The questionnaire's at http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...-answer-these-questions-esp-if-youre-new.html.

 

Follow Sagebrush and cwerdna's advice. This will save everyone a lot of time and effort.

 

Here in New York 10% Ethanol is the standard all year around... that can not be the reason...

If this is your first every hybrid try the power setting instead ECO so the car will feel more "normal" and you may not push the gas that much ...

I agree with some other comments driving style IS a big factor ...
Also what type of commute do you have? in a very hilly area you will not see high 50sMPG at all (simply just not enough battery capacity to save all the downhill regen)....

But be patience as well ....

 

Yes that also matter but no more than 3-5 extra MPG the most ...

 

You need to study this video:

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...max-mpg-driving-techniques-youtube-video.html

 

I guess that depends on the actual pressures.

If he's a few psi down then yes 5 mpg loss, but if the tyres are down to 15 or 18 psi then you're looking at big losses, esp in the Prius. Without knowing one way or another it was worth asking.

The common mpg losses are low tyre pressures, non low rolling resistant tyres and a failing 12v battery.

 

The first week my wife started driving her v3, the mileage was around 32. By the second week, she started watching the HSI and braking and now it is up to 38. This is with studded snow tires and lots of fresh snow and ice. So lots of additional rolling resistance.

 

I wonder if that's why this car ended up in the used car lot.

 

It's always interesting when someone's very first posts are something like this one, and then they don't even participate in the thread.

I can't imagine getting 32 MPG in a Prius unless you're driving like a total a$$. Just imagine how hard it would be to do that.

I don't think I could get 32 MPG if I floored it every time I accelerated, and skidded to a stop at every stop. The lowest I could ever imagine would be about 40, and that's if I was driving like a total jacka$$.

There HAS to be something wrong with a Prius that gets 32 MPG. Either that ... or it's winter, your tires are inflated to 12 PSI, it's 10 degrees out all the time, your longest trip is 1 mile, and you're towing or trying to tow a tractor trailer.

REV

 

If I got less than 35mpg, I'd seriously think that I had left the parking brake on.

 

Of course I meant btw Toyota recommended and the 42/40 ... (what I use)

I am not sure but 15-18 would trigger the alarm and would be considered flat ..

Could you elaborate on the failing 12V batter ??? no way that could cause you more than a fraction of an MPG ..... SURE it will be constantly charged but the only "loss" is due to the internal resistance of the battery ... and think about what the loss would do ... become heat ... so what kind of a loss are you propose a failing battery can dissipate ... and the loss on the inverter charging the battery BUT that loss is also heat

The hybrid system nominal power 100KW right ?? The battery is about 27KW so 1% of that would be 270W ... NO WAY that can be dissipated by the battery !!! That is just too much heat !!! 0.5% 140W event that is too much !!!

BY the way the two headlights are about 50W combined so runnig with headlight would also contribute to MPG loss ?? (yes, but not really significantly)

 

32 MPG is pretty horrible. I can't imagine getting that kind of mileage unless you drive like they do in consumer reports (which, to be fair, maybe that IS what you are doing). I would only expect to see that if you are driving a lot of very short trips. So either there is something suboptimal with the car or you are driving it in such a way that the ICE never shuts off. I have never seen less than 50 MPG so far, but my driving style was very very hybrid friendly even before I had a hybrid. Try referencing that youtube video elsewhere in this thread and see if that makes a difference. The consumer reports numbers are useful in that they show that it is possible to drive the car in such a way that one can get MPG that is that low. I consider it a worst case, but maybe that is how you drive. If so, then I would predict that your numbers will improve as you adjust your driving style.

 

On an additional note, I would be hard pressed to consider tire pressure to be a significant factor for mileage that low. For that to be the sole explanation, one would think that the tires would have to be square.