Fuel mileage in the toilet now that winter is here

We have had -15 to -25 for lows the last four days, my coffee buddy's average is 28.6 mpg. He does use 70 degree heat.

 

I discovered today that when my wife got 35 MPG instead of 45 MPG on Monday it was because she had the heat set at 78 the whole time. On Tuesday her MPGs were a little bit better, back up over 40 MPG even with similarly cold temps, because she didn't set the heat so warm.

 

Yep! I set my temps. 67-69, no defrost if I can help it, fan speed usually 2-3, only higher if I really need it.

 

I use 65. I wish they went down to 62 or 63, heck even 60.

 

This short term "arctic vortex" thing will be over soon, and we can all get back to better mpg soon enough.
At least our car's still start at 0F and below- one co-worker had no-go conditions on his mammoth SUV where the starter only turned the huge V-8 over one or two times, not enough to fire it up at zero degree temps. A neighbor shopkeeper was frozen out of his car for a few hours Tues morning and had to use the blow-drier trick to get in.
I think they'd both be happy to get the "lousy" 29mpg that us Prius owners are getting currently.

 

I do the same usually, but she doesn't.

In our Fusion the temp will go down to 60 before going to "Low". When I get into a cold car and need defrost to run to keep the windows clear I'll set the temp to 60 since it still blows warm air. When I'm all bundled up with a winter coat and gloves I often don't set the temp higher than 64 in the car. In the Prius I usually keep it to 65 or 66.

 

See my step by step grill blocking mod in accessory and mod forum. Posted today.

 

this is carbon copy of mine !!! including the color of the car itself (minus the license plate I do not have a vanity one)

 

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I purchased a 2013 Prius V 3 wagon in August of 2013. The first few months were great, everything I expected. The first several months gas mileage averaged 44mp. Then winter hit. (I live in northwest Indiana, about an hour southeast of Chicago). This must be the worst winter car ever made, for three reasons: 1) traction is terrible, could not navigate a very minor incline from my service drive to the main road in three inches of loose snow. Even with driving with an eye toward avoiding any potential situation, I got stuck four times. 2) poor heater/blower that takes 15 solid minutes to warm up and move enough air to defrost the front windshield. Very poor design. This is not only inconvenient but dangerous--the longer it takes and the more difficult it is to clear the windows of ice and snow, the more impatient people get and it's too easy to start moving in less than safe conditions. 3) my mileage dropped from 44mpg in late summer/early fall all the way down to 25mpg (yes, 25 mpg, not a typo) from mid-December to mid- March. Last fill-up, on 4.20, I was only back up to 35mpg. I could get the same mileage from a dozen or more vehicles without having to pay for the electric motor and all the hybrid technology. I regret buying this car and would caution anyone living where there are real winters against purchasing this model. Very disappointed, all I can do is pray for a milder winter.

 

Hmmmm, another first time poster that is really negative. First I've heard of traction and heater/defrost problems. Of course we have to take first time posts like this with a grain of salt since there's no other history on PC. The Prius ICE is known for the faster warm-up times, especially the Prius v model since the heat exchange was modified to produce even faster warm-ups. I haven't experienced any problems like Ken V. Even in SC, we got a few freezing rain storms this past winter and had no problem navigating the roads, but I didn't have 3 inches of snow either. Let's hear from other owners, especially in the northern climate areas.

 

It was some winter here in New York (still not like in Chicago) but who defrost the windows from inside only with the hot air ??? doesn't everyone scrap it first ??? if OP did that all morning and then drove the car 5 miles ... no wonder also did OP changed to winter tire as manual and common sense suggest in climate like that !! I doubt a corolla or camry would have faired better...

Prius with all season tire does tend to slide around in fresh snow or compacted snow but not worst than comparable cars and breaking is quite better than similar front wheel drive cars ...

 

I call spam!

 

As a fellow NY (also Long Island), I call BULL on what Ken posted.

Of all the cars I've owned, I've noticed the A/C and heat kicks in a lot quicker in the Prius. Granted, I haven't driven my Prius this past winter, so I can't speak about the traction (yet) with regards to the kind of snow we've had. But we've had some crazy up and down in temperatures though and I can attest that the Prius heat and A/C works great.

 

You must be doing something wrong. But I was just up in Ill. last week and it must be the gas because I went from 48 down to 39 mpg with the environmentally friendly gas. The snow must be different up there because I have driven through 4 inchs of snow in Oklahoma this winter and never had any issues with traction. Plus when it was 7 degrees outside, my heater was warm within 5 minutes and hot within 10. I have a steep driveway after I drive up a hill and still no issues.

 

Ken, you are not mistaken in that the winter of 2013-2014 has been an exceptionally bad winter for fuel efficiency in the USA. My 2010 Prius fuel efficiency dropped from a summer high of 68 mpg (7/6/13 to 8/10/13, +1250 miles) to 50 mpg (1/20/14 to 2/03/14, 525 miles) a drop of 27% or 18 mpg -- similar to your 2013 Prius V wagon 44 mpg to 25 mpg drop. ( My fuel efficiency results are a bit higher than normal because I'm hypermiling.) All Prii have low ground clearance - and the front air dam is especially prone to damage from uneven curbs and driveway... my first month of driving I scrapped the bottom of my front air dam on an uneven driveway ramp. I don't know what tires are on your 2013 Prius V or what tire pressure they are set at , but I still have my original OE tires - 15 inch Yokohama Avid S33d and I still have plenty of tread on them even after four years and 46000 miles .... the only time I experience traction problems was when I over inflated the tires to 55/50 psi and drove the Prius in the rain and did an emergency stop on a downhill slope. I've since then dropped my tire pressure down to 44/40 psi and I haven't had any traction problems. So my first advice is to check your tire pressure. With respect to the defroster power - it's pretty powerful if the blower is set for only the front windshield - but the blower controls are clumsy and its easy to set the blower to both the windshield and the floor board / front cabin and then the heater isn't as strong. If you have a garage - installing a 400W engine block heater on your 2013 Prius V wagon can restore your fuel efficiency during the winter - if you preheat your Prius' engine block for 15 to 45 minutes before you do a cold start. Note that all fuel efficient vehicles - whether conventional gas or alternative energy are very sensitive to cold temperatures because all fuel efficient vehicle have very little reserve power so to compensate for the colder operating temperatures some fuel efficiency is loss. Performance vehicles which have more reserve power to compensate for the colder operating temperatures. A performance vehicle's s reserve power can never be diverted for fuel efficiency to the loss of that reserve power to heat of the vehicle never seen as a loss in fuel efficiency. The Prius fuel efficiency is very sensitive to short trips because - it aggressively heats up the gas engine to warm up the coolant which brings the emission exhaust system up to its optimal temperature quicker than a normal conventional gas engine car - why? To make the Prius emission levels the lowest of almost every single gasoline engine based vehicle in the world - the only other gasoline engine based car in the USA that has an emission level as low as the Prius is a tiny metro Smartcar ... so when taking short trips will kill fuel efficiency instead of raising a Prius' real world pollution levels/emissions. Note that most vehicles, like a Chevy Cruz or a Honda Fit have a higher emission levels the first five minutes after a cold start and you need to run them about 45 minutes before their emission levels drop to their EPA emission level rating. A Prius' emission level drops more dramatically after the first 5 minutes from a cold start ... and unless you have a Plug in or an electric battery car or a fuel cell car - emission levels are not going to go much lower than a Prius.

BTW: my 2010 Prius's MPG is climbing back up with the warmer temperatures... I think my next tank will be +60 mpg...

 

FWIW my parents have a V 5 in Upstate NY and not a peep of complaining from them this winter.

 

You can see our Fuelly tanks for our Prius in winter. My wife does nothing to hypermile and cranks up the heat and she still averaged over 40 MPG all winter in temps much colder than you have in Indiana.