New Prime mpg

The salesman, who likely knows nothing about a Prime or how it works, was quoting you the EPA estimated mileage figure from the window sticker, in mpge, for EV mode travel.

As noted by others previously, the mpg display on the car is fairly non-useful. It is the elapsed distance divided by an estimate of the fuel burned. It's an estimate because there is no accurate fuel-flow meter on the car. The fuel consumed typically is tallied from fuel injector firings, and most Prime owners have noted the even on HV-only driving (with no electrical energy from the wall in the equation), the displayed mpg on the dash is 5-8% higher than the mpg from a calculation using elapsed miles dividied by actual fuel consumed as measured by a gas tank refill. Even that has a bit of error, depending on how full the tank is (and you only know if you fill to the top of the filler neck, which is not a good practice).

My strategy is to drive the car as much as possible on EV (cheaper for me by a lot), and try to maximize my EV range while doing so (surface streets, etc.). When I go to HV, then I try to maximize my gasoline range, using some of the displays on the dash (the ECO line, instantaneous fuel economy, etc.) I have found that Hybrid Assistant (Android app) is a nice tool that adds a number of displays of vehicle parameters. I have found a correlation between engine RPM and fuel economy - keep your foot out of the throttle and engine RPM as low as possible and always under 3000 RPM if you can, and the fuel economy is higher.

 

I guess it all depends how much you want to focus on it.

I get far worse mileage on the freeway with EV than on normal streets, I think because higher speeds simply consume more power per mile than at lower speeds.

That said, the HV design of these cars is really optimized for both stop-and-go and relatively low-speed (~40 MPH) steady driving on surface streets. So if I have the time, I'll use surface streets with EV and when it goes empty it switches to HV. Or the freeway one way on EV, then surface streets on the way back.

It varies with outside temperature; whether you're using A/C or heat, or not; how fast you drive; how much time you've got; what the traffic is like ... you can really go nuts trying to optimize every single trip!

There's a place I go regularly that's almost 16 miles on surface streets and a bit over 19 miles on the freeway. If I take surface streets, I can almost get a full round-trip on one EV charge. If I take the freeway, the EV battery is pretty much drained when I get there. But I usually leave at the hottest part of the day (late afternoon), and return at 10PM when it's much cooler.

Hey, it gives me something to think about while I'm driving other than the traffic, ya know?

 

This is why the Prime should make use of the navigation system for energy optimization. If you are going on a trip (one way or round, desitnation charging, etc.), put that in the NAV system. The car knows the weather, the HVAC settings, seat heaters, traffic, etc. Then the car can put itself in whatever modes are most efficient for the round trip, and all you have to do is push on the gas and brake pedals and steer.

 

Great idea! But that takes all the fun out of it

 

That seems like incompetence to the point of malpractice. EV mode is so peppy and fun to drive that I hate it every time it switches to the gas engine.

Sadly, I do remember the salesperson at the dealer I bought my Prime had to go out to the lot to make sure it didn't have a dead battery for the test drive. Good thing I knew more about the car than the dealership did.

 

It's the dealership's vehicle which they have paid for (or have the loan for), so I think malpractice might be a bit much.

I asked the local dealer to get the car charged up overnight so I could test it in EV the next day. They did. I also chatted with the General Sales Manager and told him that the one feature that sets that vehicle apart from everything else on their lot and would be attractive to potential buyers was the one feature they weren't able to demonstrate. I recommended that they designate a spot in front near a power outlet, plug the car in, and put up a sign that says something to the effect of "this vehicle can drive you around for months and use zero gasoline, using the wall outlet you already have in your garage."

 

With dealerships, I presume corrupt and incompetent till proven otherwise.

Also, its hard to give them any benefit of the doubt when they are so woefully bad at knowing basic information about anything besides gassers:
Toyota Prius Prime buyers misled by dealers; more education needed
US Auto Dealerships Are Bad at Selling Electric Vehicles, Study Finds | Greentech Media
Many Car Dealers Don't Want To Sell Electric Cars: Here's Why

 

What’s even more useful for the thrill loving crowd is to squeal the tire when launching out in EV mode with a full battery.

Since a lot of folks like to beat someone else off of the line, this would populate the ranks more too.

I had the wife’s family from Michigan out here and when her uncle heard I bought another Prius he rolled his eyes. I said let’s go for a ride. When we got out to the street and I made the tires talk, he was impressed.

Might be another selling point.

 

Occasionally it's fun to wake up those napping 5.0 "Stangs." Ooops, my foot slipped.

 

I do see a future where the performance car space is dominated by electrics.

 

Uhhhh .... don't even get me started .... the built-in nav SUCKS. The entire large-screen display is one of the worst pieces of UI/UX design I've ever seen in a commercial product! (Well, aside from the fact that it's pretty much the same brain-dead NAV that's been in their cars for two decades now.) And to think, we paid a premium for that POS.

The sales guy kept telling me, "It has Google Maps in it!" well, maybe the map data is from Google (which I don't think is true), but the UI sure as hell isn't.

AZ just passed a law that makes it illegal to even be HOLDING your phone, let alone poking at it. It's too much of a "distraction" legislators said. So what about this piece of crap device that you can't even talk to? (Yes, I know it has some limited voice recognition stuff, but nothing near what Google or Apple has built-in to their mobile devices! So why not let us plug in our far better devices? Crickets...)

I can't wait for the first lawsuit with someone who was forced to look at the damn display in one of these cars in order to do something, and then who got into an accident and/or got a ticket for being distracted.

That design FORCES you to take your eyes off the road and LOOK AT THE DISPLAY BEFORE YOU CAN DO ANYTHING because you cannot reach out and FEEL anything. If you happen to brush it with your fingernail, it can go off to some weird place that you don't recognize, can't figure out what you hit, and you have no idea how to get back. HORRIBLE DESIGN!

It won't let you adjust anything on the NAV while the car is moving, but it will randomly jump hither and yon from a barely perceptible touch of a knuckle or finger-tip that was outstretched a bit too far.

It's such a huge difference from my earlier 2012 Prius V that required you to pretty much mash your fist into the tiny display to get it to recognize a "finger-press".

 

Press the "Home" button on the right and you will get back to centered on your vehicle.

 

I don't know? Does changing the air and cabin filters count if Toyota gave them to me? I did just today put on new wiper blades. I'm gonna change the oil in July. I'll do a tire rotation then too. Yes ... as far as I know ... original t-battery. Like I said before ... I'm happy.