Prius v (lowercase v for the Prius v wagon...) Wagon (only) MPG - Please Post Your Results

You would be 100% wrong there. We get zero power from coal, gas or oil (BTW oil generated electricity in the USA is so small a % that is shouldn't even be mentioned). It is mostly hydro from Quebec. Used to get some from the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant but no more. It was supposed to shut down, end of life, Entergy is fighting in court and all the power goes to out of state utilities. And a gas burning car puts out more pollution than even a coal plant generating electricity.

I only sort of agree and I wish the term "golf cart" would stop being attached to cars that can drive well above legal interstate speeds. They are not golf carts in any sense of the word.

If you have 2 or more cars in the family and you never or VERY rarely need to drive both of them more than the range of the EV, the EV makes sense. If you only go beyond EV range for Thanksgiving or Christmas, rent a car for the weekend. It will cost much less than the amount of money you save between the price per mile of an EV and a gas car over the course of a year. If people can get that through their heads (AND they fit the model) there is no reason EVs can't be reasonable for probably 50% of the cars on the road today with the only "lifestyle change" being they plug in at night, just as they plug in their cell phone, instead of having to go to the gas station. Its like people who say they need a big SUV that gets maybe 15 MPG every mile it moves because they do a one week vacation once a year. Get a car top carrier FGS.

We have (at least for the moment) a 2004 Prius and a 2006 Prius. If the '04 isn't repairable (I do have hope it is), one EV and the '06 will very well suit our vehicular use. There is NOT ONE public natural gas station in the state so that isn't an option. 98% of the state doesn't even have natural gas available for heat. It is oil, propane or DIY wood. I can install solar or wind and generate my own power, not sure the economics are there though.

Since you are on the "Space Coast", do you know any of the "Space Coast Hurricanes" or "Space Coast Frozen Hurricanes"? And if you don't know what I'm talking about, never mind

 

If you say so. My in-laws have a 2010 so I'm not taking my dislike solely from pictures. My F-I-L disliked the seats in the Gen II enough that he wouldn't buy one so everybody is different. However, he has no idea what driver ergonomic (dis)improvements were made. What you don't know, in this case, can't hurt you. What you are coming FROM makes a huge difference in your "happiness" with what you are going TO.

I am 6'2" and can not drive a car that will not let me move my right leg and hip around on longer trips so the Gen III is a no go unless I can rip out the arch. And you could probably if they had left the climate controls where they belong, on the MFD. Of course, unless you get Nav, there is no MFD. They could have, AT LEAST, left the MFD touch screen controls ON the MFD if you paid for Nav and give you an option of arch or no arch.

It pains me that they took the most functional, safe (eyes ON the road while operating controls) , easiest to use (screens with ONLY the specific things you need on each) driver interface in ANY car and replaced it with 2 dozen "function specific" little buttons you need to take your eyes off the road to find. And the climate control "vent" position? Push and hold (or is it repeated pushes?), watch a display until you get to the one you want?? Or learn the car and count the pushes needed to get from wherever it is to wherever you want it??

They even removed function from the steering wheel in favor of small buttons you need to take your eyes off the road to find. I have no idea what they were thinking but I wish someone had stopped them from "improving" the driver's station. When I saw the first Prius V pictures, I said "good, they got smart and deleted the arch, put the shifter back on the dash where it belongs - OUT OF THE WAY. Then they put that stupid gated sifter on the Prius C. What a HUGE leap backward in usability. I REALLY hope that is not the future of the Prius line.

I was HOPING they would put the PHEV in a Prius V cockpit form but alas, no.

Enough ranting, hopefully they can fix my car. It is 4:30 and no call yet, don't know if that means they haven't gotten to it or it is taking way too long to estimate the repair costs.

 

To each his own, of course. I very much agree with your view of the arch and those control features. If I had longer legs, I'd be more understanding about the "No go" aspect of the arch for you.

As far as the other items, I've gotten quite used to them, and I don't miss anything about my 2007, except the location of the shifter and the cup holders. My wife is much more interested in the Prius v, mainly because of the lack of the arch and the room for her to drop her purse and other items in an easy-to-reach spot.

The best thing will be to get your car back. I've been there, and I wish you the best!

 

First trip out in the v, purchased Wednesday. Drove through central Arkansas on the freeways, then up into the foothills of the Ozarks on two lane roads.....41.9 AVG displayed on the trip meter..... you mean this car requires that. at some point, I have to put gas in it?

 

Sadly, they totaled it. So my choices are:
1) Buy a car I do not want for > $20K out of pocket
2) Buy a used 2004-2009 that is equivalent, functionally, to what I lost. There is exactly ONE within 150 miles, a 2008 with 66K miles for $16K. Within 300 miles, there are three 2004s, one with 153K miles, one with 102K miles and one with 80K miles. I could buy either of the higher mileage ones for little to no "out of pocket" though the one with 102K is a touring so I'm not sure my dedicated snows would fit (probably since they are on their own rims) but the Michelin A/S tires on my car with 3K miles on them won't fit the wheels.

Anything else will cost me $7K to $12K. So I have to decide how much I can afford to spend for a car I didn't need a week ago and how much I am willing to spend for a 200x car with xxK miles on it. And how far I am willing to travel to get it. But, as I mentioned earlier, unless I buy the local car, ANY GEN II Prius will be very far away.
Thanks for letting me whine.

Bruce

 

Sorry to hear the news!

Maybe your wife would like a Gen III and will give up her 2006 once you hand her the newer car.

 

Not a chance. She doesn't like it any more than I do and mostly for the same reasons

 

Hmm. Then you are going to be chosing between a high-miles Gen II or a new lower-MPG Prius v? (Or, would you look at the C-Max? I think the jury is still out on whether it will perform on the MPG end.)

 

I don't have all of the details requested by the original poster, but here's my attempt to get this thread back on track...
- My Prius v 5 (with Advanced Technology Package) fluctuates between 45.5 - 46.0 MPG.
- My wife's Prius v 5 (with Advanced Technology Package) fluctuates between 39.5 - 40.0 MPG.

NOTE: Both vehicles only have ~600 miles on the odometer.

 

On my 2 roundtrips (~120 miles each trip) from NYC to Sandy Hook, CT this summer (1st about 90 degrees, 2nd about 75 degrees, sunny both days, A/C on speed 2), ~90% highway, I got 57.5 mpg and 56.7 mpg. I've driven 2,000+ miles since I picked up my v from the Manhattan dealership and found that city mpg is much lower than highway mpg. City mpg for me is close to 40 because the battery eventually gets too low to boost my v's city mpg. Eco mode always on, semi-hypermiling (lots of coasting, no jackrabbit stops/starts). I mostly drive around 50-55 mph on the highway, and no matter if it's hilly or level, will get mid 50s mpg. Avg mpg for the 2,000+ miles = 46.7. Btw, I always drive on the slow lane.

 

For city driving, is it worth it to run on ECO? Just bought a v, and so far drove 180km (about 100miles).

 

Mostly all I do is city driving, to and from work and the store, etc. Rarely on the freeway. I leave it in ECO mode constantly and am getting 49.7mpg at about 3000 miles.

Even in ECO mode, I floored it the other day and squealed the tires.

 

The traction control is supposed to prevent that.

 

It can still happen with new tires!

 

Aren't new tires supposed to have better gription(tm) than older tires?

 

2012 Prius V, 9255 miles, 48.9 mpg average. 70% highway, the rest suburban, moderately hilly, a/c on 90% of the time.

 

In my experience, brand new tires (i.e. less than 10 miles on them) can be extremely slippery until they're broken in a bit.

 

2nd fillup. First one where I've calculated miles based on my own topping-up method. Also just figuring out how to add the Fuely screen to my signature. Sorry for the multiple posts.

 

Finally figured out the Fuely link. I'll be updating the mileage rapidly as I'm on the road almost every day visiting customers around New England. I expect to get better than average MPG since I know how to wring the most out of a Hybrid with over 120,000 miles experience in the last 4 years.

 

Seems like you've been around PriusChat for awhile -- glad to have some posts from you!

What were you driving before your new Prius v?