Max MPG Driving Techniques Youtube Video

You didn't mention use of the "B" position on the shift lever to decelerate. Is there a difference between using this to decelerate vs using gentle braking to decelerate at the same rate? Also, is there any reason not to leave the "B" position when in stop & go traffic?

 

B mode puts some of your momentum into spinning the cylinders (waste), whereas gentle braking puts what it can back into the pack. Only use B coming down mountains where your pack will fill even in B mode.

 

As a newby, I found this very helpful. Thanks.

 

Tag

 

This was great. Thank you!

 

Fantastic video!!! Thanks Bob!!! Learned a ton!!! Some of this I learned on my own from experience , but others I didn't know. Thanks for fully explaining the HSI. Will put it to use immediately !!!

 

I pick mine up tomorrow and luckily I found this video as I will begin using techniques on my first drive home from the dealer. exactly what chris said, this makes more sense than all the reading.

 

Great video for this newbie

 

Excellent video. So clear, concise and simple.
I can't wait for the wiki. Can I suggest a wish list of topics and sub-topics that I'm not sure about?

• For various speed limits, what is the Pulse Vmax and the Glide Vmin for best results? That is, for a given speed limit, how fast and how slow should you go (assuming no traffic behind). E.g. at 70km/h I might vary from 75 to 65. Is that enough?
• P&G at 100km/h (62mph) or higher speeds?
• Best driving technique on roads with undulations
• Best driving technique on roads with steep hills

 

Very good video, thanks for posting. I have a few corrections, additions, and questions.

• First, I agree that the "it's" grammar check would be nice and correcting the spelling errors would be nice.
• Second, I think it should be emphasized that one should use the whole ICE range before the PWR range when accelerating from stop or approaching a hill. The key point here is that you waste energy if you are accelerating or decelerating too aggressively. Accelerating too aggressively is using the PWR range and the engine is clearly over the 2100 RPM range. Decelerating too aggressively means that the CHG area is full and you're decelerating faster than that.
• It's nice to see that the lower the average speed the higher the gas mileage. Does that hit an inflection point somewhere and decreasing the average speed starts to lower the MPG?
• Becoming a hypermiler during the first 3 weeks with my 2011 Prius 3, I found that the best MPG I've attained seems to come from cruising on a flat road with few stops and cruising at around 30 MPH. During that time the ICE turns on for a little while at a time, charges the battery a bit, then shuts off to let the electric drive maintain speed. When the ICE is on it seems to get roughly 30-40 MPG. During that testing trip with some highway driving at 50 MPH on cruise control I was able to get my trip MPG up to 68. Thus my best guess is that if I could drive for 3 hours at 30 MPH on cruise control I could likely get 80-90MPG.
• Here's an interesting question. Why would my wife's aggressive driving going from NYC to Boston (~70 MPH most of the time) yield as much or better than my 60-65 MPH cruise-control based driving during the second half of that trip? Any theories? Best I can think is that you really don't have a huge hit to MPG when using the PWR range of the ICE. Perhaps a slow acceleration at all speeds is really a secondary or tertiary effect overall when trying to maximize MPG.
• Is 41 MPH the fastest that the electric engine can maintain. I know this would not be in EV mode, but when at 30 MPH the electric drive clearly takes over and cycles as described above. For a straightaway with no headwind, would 41 MPH be the fastest it can maintain (electric drive force = all resistance forces combined)?
• Lastly, does premium fuel give even better gas mileage? Theoretically it should.

 

Nice video. I am on my first Prius, drove 520 miles on a full tank. Will definitely incorporate more of your techniques into my driving. I will also like to add that driving behind huge trucks, slow moving trucks, being aware of your surroundings especially what is behind and in front of you, using the right/slow lane, adding extra time for your trip etc will help you get some more mpg from your Prius. Will like to see some video or tips about winter driving with a Prius. Thanks

 

You'll hear this a lot on PC, but please don't draft semi's. It can be very unsafe. Imagine you are drafting them closely and they have a blowout and spray large chunks of tire into your windshield. It would not be good. Other than that, good luck and enjoy your time on PC!

 

No, no, I am not drafting. Usually, drivers of bigger vehicles move slowly as they go uphill so I tag along behind them at a reasonable distance to avoid using more power. I don't draft.

 

There's a different hypermiling video that shows driving in the wake of a truck. That is, a truck passed in another lane and the driver changed to that lane to get in the broken air it left behind as the truck accelerated away. Not drafting; waking. There are methods of using a big windbreak without being, in the delightful Japanese phrase, "goldfish poo" *.

*Actually, "kingyo no hun" refers to someone following another person everywhere, like a pesky little brother or Mr Smithers. Tailgating is the somewhat less family-friendly "ketsu o kakareru" or "[he is] scratching my a&$#".

 

In this video you will find a few more helpful tips for max mpg.

 

^^^ Another great video by Wayne. Thanks Justin!

Some things he said about the 14:45 mark about delaying the start of the engine when you pull out of your driveway...what do you guys think about that. I suppose EV mode would do the same thing. But should you really wait to let the engine warm up in S1a until higher speeds?

 

Great video, but two things confused me:

1. Wayne shifted the car the neutral a lot. I thought that neutral for coasting was not the same was gliding by foot while in Drive? In a related video "Wayne Gerdes Ride along virtual ride 01 - Toyota of Yakima" (featuring a blonde lady and a car going the wrong way around the roundabout) he explains that you can do the same with your foot, as in the green power video. But are they the same technique?
2. You have roundabouts in America?

 

We do. In fact we have one at the head of Main Street right here in Essex, the little town where I live. Many people get terribly confused by it, have no clue who has the right of way.
Roundabouts are fairly frequent in Boston. As a result people there have a better idea of how they work, and have tremendous fun challenging each other's right of way in them.

 

Using neutral is the idiot's guide to gliding by foot...for lack of a better term.

 

Yes and no. At low speeds coasting in N is a lot easier than exactly balancing the accelerator with the right foot. But staying in D enables you to modulate the throttle to add in regen if you get going too fast or need to charge up the battery a bit, or add a little push from the battery if you need more speed.

At higher speeds >45mph the ICE keeps spinning. If you coast the Prius in D, you'll get a fuel flow around 0.35-0.40 GPH, unless conditions are right to get into Warp Stealth (0.00 GPH). This is different from conventional cars, which have DFCO and cut fuel flow to 0 when coasting in gear. If you coast the Prius in N, fuel flow will drop to around 0.20-0.22 GPH (you can see this with a ScanGauge). Of course, in N you get no regen.

So which is best really depends on the situation.

It's important to remember that the techniques demonstrated in the video were low-speed around-town strategies.

P.S. In a conventional car, you actually use LESS gas coasting in gear (assuming the gear you are in keeps the ICE spinning above idle rpm) than you would coasting in N with the ICE on. This is because DFCO cuts off fuel entirely when you are coasting in gear but the ICE is burning fuel at a (low) idle rate if it is in N. But the drag of the ICE when you are coasting in gear will slow you down faster, so which strategy one chooses depends on the terrain, PSL, and road situation.
MT drivers have the additional option of turning off the ICE and coasting in N, but most modern AT's can't handle this because they are lubricated by a pump driven off the ICE.