How to get people to understand that braking is the #1 cause of bad city mpg.

What is a good way to explain to the 99% of drivers out there that don't understand why braking is by far the biggest contributor to bad city mpg in any car?

I almost get nowhere with most people. I suspect most people think....gas pedal uses gas, brake pedal doesn't use gas, and don't want to go beyond this level of thinking. When I bring up the fact that their excessive braking is to correct for the excessive acceleration that wasn't actually needed, you sense that either people are stuck in their ways or they just don't want to let a single car get in front of them, which now could add a second or two to their 40 minute commute. Is it greed?, Is it selfishness, Is it ego, pride,.....? It's likely certainly not financial, as unnecessary braking, in addition to increasing fuel costs, increases wear and tear costs, causes traffic waves, which may be the cause of most of our congestion and hence delays on freeways. For example, I usually notice that the lane with the most trucks (the "slow" lane) moves more freely in heavy traffic, and I usually come out ahead in time and better mpg by staying in this lane.

 

I guess it's like people (or governments) that spend beyond their means, the short term buzz, the excessive spending produces, temporarily rids their mind of the task of dealing with making ends meet at a later time. I now look back at my old car which had half the mpg, and think how inefficient and wasteful it was. I still don't get what twisted logic comes into play when a large pick-up truck or SUV driver accelerates really hard up to a red light and then slams hard on the brakes. I guess the only positive is that your body experienced more positive and negative g-forces and you showed off the power and engine roar to your fellow motorists.....I'm just speculating.

 

I accelerate quickly every time I know with high probability that I won't be immediately turning that momentum into brake dust or re-gen. I usually try not go beyond the right side of the power band in HSI though, but if I happen to, it's absolutely nothing compared to the frustration I feel when I have to do an unexpected full friction brake. When I do have to slow down in normal driving and to try blend in with other drivers as much as possible, I choose glide with no-gen and then 50% regen in the HSI (as opposed to the fake drag along with 100% regen at the end) as 50% regen (60 amp braking) gives the most efficient re-gen. Of course this involves practice to perfect the best moment to initiate re-gen. Of course in an closed course mpg competition I would use no braking or no re-gen at all.
I must say a pet peeve of mine is when drivers move to the lane beside me when they see me coast or re-gen to a stop, assuming that I'm going to accelerate as slowly as I decelerated.

Now does any automaker's Eco Score display figure % friction braking, % regen braking (inc. regen fake drag), and % battery use with appropriate weightings into the over all Eco Score value.?????? I suspect most such displays emphasize speed and acceleration metrics, but I'm open to correction. Any thoughts.

 

Which is the point about not focusing on the acceleration too much, I at least accelerate as fast other drivers. Note the Prius doesn't enrich the fuel at higher power levels, so you're ahead of the game already, and if you don't brake too much, nearly all that motive force is going into productive kinetic energy or momentum. Actually theoretically if an engine consumed 10 times the fuel, but produced 10 times the power, it would just as efficient to accelerate 10 times as quickly. Fortunately, a Prius Gen III accelerating with 75 hp is only 5% less efficient than accelerating with 30 hp, and that 5% is only for the duration of the acceleration. As the amount of time with 75 hp acceleration is only a small portion of the overall consumption, figure a less than 1% impact on fuel mileage when doing quick acceleration, but figure a 10 to 50% impact with quick or repetitive braking (that is for example, when trying to keep a car length from the car in front of you). Look at it a small reward (or mpg opportunity) every time you see slow or stopped traffic a half mile ahead, where you can enjoy a zero consumption ride, harnessing the momentum you efficiently generated earlier.

Note: Following drivers are never annoyed by my acceleration, but often by my gliding to a red light habit. If they looked at the positive side, I've saved them waiting longer stopped at the red light.

Advice to fellow Prius drivers, don't annoy other drivers by slow acceleration, it's not gaining you or them much in mpg.