Mileage in Southern California

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Driver-72 @ Feb 3 2007, 10:27 PM) [snapback]385007[/snapback]</div>

You only have to 'think' when you are learning. After sometime, this becomes your regular driving style; 'just driving'. Many people who buy a hybrid care about the emissions, usage of fuel, and (this may be a shock to you) saving money on fuel. So, yes, it is really worth 'all' of this. Actually, it's fun to learn something new.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(maineprius947 @ Feb 12 2007, 09:57 AM) [snapback]388847[/snapback]</div>

OK, what is hypermilling and how in the name of Prius did you get 83 mph?

Another poster said he/she got high mpg on the surface streets. I am getting just the opposite. All the acceleration and stopping does murder on the MPG. Feathering the gas to get electrical only is impractical because the accelerations is way to slow before the gas engine kicks in.

HELP!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(zaxinc @ Feb 18 2007, 07:17 PM) [snapback]392638[/snapback]</div>

These URLs should give you some ideas.
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05220/550484.stm
http://hybridcars.about.com/od/news/a/100mpgrecord.htm
http://hybridfest.com/MotherJones.htm

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(zaxinc @ Feb 18 2007, 11:17 PM) [snapback]392638[/snapback]</div>

THe best one that I have read is:
http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/articles/t-...m-fe--1224.html

 

zaxinc:

I guess it depends on what kind of "surface" streets you are driving: suburban 45mph surface streets, or 25mph city streets? I get kick-A gas mileage on city streets, where the proximity of red lights and density of traffic mean that the gas engine hardly even kicks in (of course, I'm hardly doing anything but coasting most of the time). Suburban streets are an entirely different beast ... you accelerate to 40 just to hit another red light and have to slam on the brakes. It's even worse here in San Diego, where it seems that lights rely primarily on sensors instead of timed subsequent lights on a main road to facilitate traffic flow. Gotta love San Diego's city planners <sigh>.

 

[I gert about 49 mpg in my 50 mile commue (each way) between Oxnard and Northridge.

Cruise control, 65 MPG, very few traffic jams, mostly freeway driving (about 98 per cent.)

My commute in is about 45 MPG and my commute home is about 55 MPG.

City driving (in Oxnard / Ventura) is lwo 40's MPG, I think because most trips in town are less than 20 minutes, so most trips involve mostly 'cold' start when the ICE is operating more often.

 

We live in the foothills around Pasadena, with a hilly nine mile each-way commute to work. The average over the first 30,000 miles (about two years) has been 46 mpg. No effort is made to maximize gas mileage -- we just drive it as if it were a car. The ICE spends a fair bit of gas each day just warming itself up.

Which reminds me, I've seen (likely very expensive) solar panel installations for Prii. I wonder if it would not be more effective (and much cheaper), at least for these short commute cases, to put a solar oil heater on the roof.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DougBear @ Feb 6 2007, 10:40 PM) [snapback]386607[/snapback]</div>

That's a whopping 1,320 ft (or 1/4 mile) that you travelled during that 15 minute period... you sure get excited easily!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(John in LB @ Feb 27 2007, 03:39 PM) [snapback]397512[/snapback]</div>

Yeh, I guess he does. But while he hasn't burned any gas in those 15 minutes, nearly everyone around him has probably burned close to a pint of gas. Let's see (1/4)mile divided by (1/8) gall is 2 mpg. Say I'm wrong and they only burn a cup, then they're all getting about 4 mpg.

I suspect it may be the principle of the thing.

Fortunately, I rarely have to put up with those conditions.

Dave M.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dmckinstry @ Feb 27 2007, 04:58 PM) [snapback]397547[/snapback]</div>

On a serious note, I have always wondered what my fuel consumption rate is at idle.... (I am looking for fairly accurate numbers)... to help me decide a break even point between shutting engine down and idling... Right now, my rule of thumb is a minute or less as a decision point.

Anyone else have a better analysis?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(John in LB @ Feb 28 2007, 11:14 AM) [snapback]397960[/snapback]</div>

I don't have a better analysis, but I've heard the minute as a rule of thumb before. The trouble is in that kind of traffic, you're probably going to get rear-ended if your engine if off when the other cars start moving.

OK. I"m just being nasty.

Dave M.