My first 50mpg+ commute in my new GenIII

Ok so this is old hat to most of you but it's new for me.

I have a commute that would normally be considered not Prius friendly. It consists of 1/4 mile from home to freeway 46.5 miles of freeway (65mph speed limit) and 1/4 mile from freeway to work. I also have an elevation gain from 50ft. ASL to 1,200ft. ASL. Traffic moves pretty fast around here so I am usually forced to drive at least the speed limit but on off-peak traffic times I can lug around at 60mph and not tick too many people off. Last night I had to speak at an event so that added maybe 5 miles onto this trip BUT it took me an hour to get there because the town was in gridlock traffic due to an accident on the freeway. As such mph dropped from 48mph average to 37 by the time I got back home. So I'm done complaining about the gas mileage in the new car. It's going to do just fine once everything is broken in and summer temps are here.

So this is what my commute looked like yesterday.

Temperature: 54deg
Miles Driven: 102
Average MPG: 56.4
Average Speed Indicated: 37 (dropped from 48mph after being stuck in city traffic for an hour to only go 5 miles.
Technique: None. I just drove at 60mph with cruise control on. No hypermiling at all.
Tires: Yokohama AVID Ascend at 42/40psi and about 500 miles on them.


My commute elevation graphed (to work) Multiply elevation number by 10 (100x10=1000)

 

My usual high for this commute in my GenII is about 57mpg but I would have to do a littler hypermiling to get there. 53-55mpg was my more common average during warmer months. So for now I am happy. I was starting to wonder if this car was going to be worse than my GenII. I guess it is all about breaking everything in. Temps have not changed and neither did my driving technique.

My driving habits are pretty well fixed. There is not much to change on a 99% freeway commute. You can either drive slower or faster. I already glide when possible on overpasses or hills and in the GenIII the CC tries to do that for you already so I'm not likely to pick up much there until the tires are past the 5,000 mile mark.

Bah. Technicalities.

 

I'll never be a part of the 60mpg average club but I do get to attend their events occasionally.

 

Congrats Ted. Summer time MPG always brings a smile to my face.

No car does its best in cold weather. Air density increases dramatically and tire rolling resistance can double. Toss in water and wind and mpg plummets. Unfortunately most cars get such low gas mileage that most people don't notice the 2-3mpg loss and they just keep pumping away. That was me 7yrs ago.

 

Thanks! It is a good feeling. Spending a load of money on a new car that is supposed to get better gas mileage then not seeing the higher numbers is kind of a downer.

I really don't notice the car being roomier. It feels a little larger but the center console hems you in so any extra room is likely shadowed by the perceived tightness caused by the console. I like it though! I'm fairly thin so I don't need a lot of room and I really like the console design. My girlfriend does too.

 

Sacramento Valley. base of the Sierra Nevada.

 

My first tank was as expected for a 470 mile trip 400+ of which was at 70mph.

The next trip was not any better despite easy driving. After that the rains hit us and I gave up and figured I'd play around a bit and learn the car.

Yesterday was the first dry day that I got to commute in so I drove it in the exact manner I used to drive the GenII when I was attempting a 55mpg tank. The GenII had great LRR tires that were over half worn so the comparison is not quite fair. Despite that the GenIII achieved greater mpg than I would have been able to get in the GenII in the same conditions.

I truly think a big reason for the lower mpg had to do with the car/tires breaking in (remember I swapped tires already) and the really crummy weather which FORCED me to drive like an idiot.

 

My 55mpg tanks in the GenII were mainly driven at 60mph. Same for this last commute in the GenII. 70mph pretty much dumps me into the low 50s or high 40s given my high elevation commute.

My tire pressure is at about all I can stand right now. I tried sidewall max (51psi) and it was not comfortable. It's a big difference between this car and the GenII. I used to run 50-60psi without a problem. Now I don't like it.

 

I used the google MyTracks app on my phone.

If you have only been driving in winter weather then you should notice a big boost once summer hits. I'm just going by your 14 fill ups on Fuelly.

The 17" wheels are not helping but with the right commute you should still be able to get to 50mpg without having to resort to a bunch of hypermiling tricks. Keeping your speeds at 65mph or lower really helps though.

 

Are you commuting into Vallejo? That hill between Cordelia and Vallejo is a killer.

Once you get used to the hybrid system and summer hits you should be solidly in the 50s. As long as those Cordelia/Suisun winds don't get ya. lol I was born and raised in Fairfield/Suisun. I don't miss the delta breeze.