800+ Mile Club

Jonathan reported also using an engine block heater(EBH) in the morning - which depending on far he preheated his coolant -- should have significantly helped him boost his fuel efficiency.

 

It's really cold now here where I live - ah... I can't wait until weather gets warm again..

 

Yes, the EBH really helped. I now start the mornings straight on to stage 2.

 

What EBH did you use and how hard was the installation?

Droid RAZR HD MAXX

 

LOL! Now the equipment escalation begins!

 

It's the Toyota EBH available mostly for colder climates like Canada. Ordered mine online and shipped from metrotpn for about US$94 back in 2010. Installation was fairly easy. Only got a few scratches on my left arm from wriggling it it place. Lots of installation tips here on PC.

Since you have a gen3, a good alternative is the DEFA EBH.
DEFA SafeStart Engine Block Heater | PriusChat

 

Looks like the second one you linked to is substantially (about 6 times) more expensive than the first ( http://www.metrotpn.com/ProductDetails.aspx?CollectionID=25&ProductID=191&SortIndex=19 ).

Any reason not to get the $49 one that you have? I live in Utah...I'll only use it about 4-5 months out of the year. Does it make that big of difference?

Droid RAZR HD MAXX

 

To dhendriksen, to see what difference the EBH makes, compare my fuel consumption to Agent J's fuel consumption. We are both in the southern hemisphere and we both drive GenII Prii. When you look on Fuelly you will see I get occasional good consumption while agentj gets consistent good consumption and our averages confirms it.

Agent J, how long do you switch the heater on before the first cold start each morning? I am thinking about getting two as well, especially for winter time.

 

The DEFA EBH is easier to install (from what i understand from my friend who tried it out) and has a different installation point where it can efficiently distribute heat to the block than the OEM one.

Why not use it all year round? It really makes a substantial difference on the warm-up stage. On my morning 16-mile commute, the difference between a pre-heated and normal engine start up is 4-6 mpg . In winter (not that cold where I am though), a two-hour plug-in would take me above 40C (104F) already where it doesn't take that long to reach 50C (122F) or stage 2. In summer, depending on the starting ambient temp, the block would already be between 50-54C (122-129F) which is already stage 2 in the warm up cycle where it skips the long fuel burning stage. The car can practically roll out of the garage using the HV battery already and any ICE startup will already charge the HV battery as you go. So a minimum of 1.5 to 2 hrs is ideal. I use it for 3hrs. Sometimes I do forget to turn it off and left it on for more than 5 hrs but since it's only a small heater, it could only put out around 400W and temps will only be limited to a certain degree like 55C tops when I checked. I have the EBH put on a digital timer and set it to go on and off between 3AM and 7AM. but i do turn it off manually when i leave the house at 6-630AM so it doesn't stay on too long.

Of course, you need to take into account the cost of electricity too. For my objective (fuel efficiency), I don't mind spending a bit more electricity to heat up my engine and save gas that way.

hope this helps

oh, and Merry Christmas!

 

Congratulations Jon.
I thought that your 1,200km last month was phenomenal, now you've hit 1,300km!
I missed you at Xmas because I had to leave Sydney after Xmas lunch to get home. Very wet run home meant 800 km was tricky let alone 800 miles.

DEFA EBH is the best option when living in a 230 volt country. Jon doesn't mention that he has to carry a 240v-110v step-down transformer. A reliable transformer capable of running 400W is $200, making the total about the same price as the DEFA. The DEFA system includes cabin heater and battery charger as options running from the same plug. As I live in Canberra, which is much colder than Sydney, I'll probably fit at least one of those options before winter.

 

I'm in the USA. 110v here.

Droid RAZR HD MAXX

 

And in a 100-127v country, the Canadian EBH makes the most sense. It took me a long time to get an EBH because Japan, my traditional source of RHD Prius parts, is 100v. While most consumer goods are 100-240v compatible, a simple heater element isn't. The DEFA EBH is an excellent choice for countries using 220-240v.

 

AgentJ - I salute you for an auspicious tank-o-petrol achieved under the rigors And They Are Rigors of a complex commute. My question- did you carry fuel with you the last few days?? I sure to hell will when I push for 700! My current tank was kneecapped by a veritable perfect storm of hypermiler no-nos the worst one of my own reluctant volition. I was sitting on 69 mpg when A) holiday and shopping traffic Happened in Orlando - big shock there - but my commute takes me past Florida's biggest Mall. Twice. While its open! B) cooler weather moved in and I know y'all know that there is a marked difference between 40f and 70f specially in the warmup.
C) I took a 150 mile roundtrip jaunt with the missus to Daytona Beach for a family Xmas. She was having no part of 60mph. I hit 70-75 mph for long stretches as I forlornly observed a full 5 mph drop off in my average. So Yah back at the commute now nudging her past 62mpg but fighting for every tenth of a mpg

 

Thanks, roadpup! I didn't carry extra fuel on a jerry can, but i did purposely put in about an extra half gallon on that tank so that i have a little more than 11.9 gallons / 45 liters as a precaution. Since I monitor my consumption on the ScanguageII, I can see where the standard 11.9gal/45 liter tank can take me and decided to refuel before i reached the 11.9/45 personal limit.

I know how you feel... It is really frustrating when you think you're already on a good run but then something
unavoidable gets in the way like a short errand or your wife wants to drive the car, etc. But the challenge there is we still try to get the mpg up any chance we get. There is always something there to improve every time we get back behind the wheel.

The past holiday season, I found out that under ideal conditions (light traffic on my daily commute to and from work), i can easily achieve 75-76 mpg to a theoretical 900 miles to a tank if traffic was like that for a whole month (or if i change my work hours)! Of course it's far fetched and need to wake up to the reality that it's not Christmas everyday and traffic could only get worse.

 

So Jon, when are we going for the 1000 mile club? If we share the driving we can do it in 2 days.

 

Haha! Maybe if we move to the western suburbs where it's more or less flat, then there's a slight possibility..

 

Dude, you left me out again. I just noticed this 2012 thread. I did my 805.2 miles in July 2010.



There's a thread that gives massive details called "800+ miles on one tank" 800+ miles on one tank | PriusChat but to satisfy your "thread requirements"

1. See pic above
2. & 3. Between July 9th and July 23rd, I drove 805.2 miles on 10.731 gallons of 100% no-Ethanol 87 octane gasoline with an average mpg of 75.016 mpg and an average speed of 22 mph and tires t 37/36 psi. Temps have been 79° to 98° with dew point from 68 to 85 (very humid) and south wind consistently @ 15 - 20 mph every day.
4. about 70 miles.

 

That would likely be the next Quest of Sir Drive-a-lot.

To get 900 miles per tank would require at least an overall fuel efficiency of 76 mpg calculated at the pump.
To get 1000 miles per tank would require at least an overall fuel efficiency of 84 mpg calculated at the pump.

Which is achievable on a Plug-in Prius -
but trying to do that on a regular Prius is very problematic.

 

That's an impressive tank especially given the wind encountered.