MPG Advisory for New Owners

I don't have any pretty charts, but I took delivery of my car in January, and there's no way I'm going to get in a cold car at 30 degrees below zero and drive away. So I pre-heat for 4 or 5 minutes. Wastes gas, but saves my fingers and toes from frostbite. My commute is 4 miles in 10 or 11 minutes. Heater on full-blast all the way, so the ICE never shuts off and the battery SOC stays at 6 or 7 bars. Car never goes into Golf-Cart Mode under those conditions.

I think my first couple of tanks were 29 mpg. I had not yet discovered these discussion boards so had not been forewarned, and I was very upset, as I was expecting 60 mpg. The dealer encouraged this expectation.

My mileage improved steatily as temperatures moderated and then warmed, and the car began to break in.

Somewhere around 150 miles on the present tank, I am at 50.2 mpg average for the tank. I still drive mostly short distances. The same 4-mile commute and occasional longer trips to the shopping district. I seldom go out more than once a day, so the car is almost always cold when I start it.

With the car broken in, and judicious use of the EV switch, I'd be utterly delighted with 40 mpg this January. Or maybe it's time to spend my winters in Arizona.

 

at -30º, daniel, i highly recommend arizona even the Prius got 80 mpg!!

 

If I knew anywhere in Arizona with all the advantages of Fargo, I'd sure be tempted. (I'm tempted anyway.) But this is a mighty nice place to live, except for the weather.

 

actually, arizona in my mind is ridiculously too hot. i like it here in olympia. it rains occasionally, but rarely freezes here. we always get a couple weeks worth of days that go below freezing every year and if we are lucky, it doesnt pick those days to snow. when you get so little snow, even a little will cause a major disruption of everything, and we dont get enough here. so even a little is not welcome.

besides, if we want snow, we can drive 60 miles and see it 6-7 months a year.

so the weather is very nice here and so is the scenery... unfortunately, the secret is out so there are more people moving here every day... more than i really want here to be honest with ya. but there is still plenty of room and you dont have to drive far to be in the middle of nowhere if that is where you want to be.

 

Daniel the temperatures are moderate and we can visit snow or water as needed. There is one problem when it snows we use the God method of snow removal... God put it there god will take it away. I does not happen often, thank god. I keep gas for my generator, did I mention that the power goes out during fall and winter storms? I generally get fuel in the fall i.e. September and I have never had problems with it getting thick or what ever. I do put Honda fuel stabilizer in it.

 

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I love the heat, provided it's dry heat. It's the humidity I hate. I spent one summer (and two winters) in Seville, Spain. 100 degrees and bone-dry is wonderful. You wear a hat and drink plenty of water, and you can go out walking for hours. But the damp, dreary, chilly winters are miserable. It never freezes, but the humidity feels worse than our bitter cold. I imagine the Pacific NW is like that for most of the year.

And we don't have to drive an hour to see snow. We see snow for 6 or 7 months of the year right outside our window. Actually, the snow is beautiful, except when you have to drive in it. Ice is worse.

But again, I cannot tolerate humidity. It makes me feel grimy. It saps my energy.

 

our humidity isnt that high except in the winter.