slow driving when you first start....?

... on the engine monitor screen I will see green arrows, not red or yellow, and also the battery as bright green, if I may call it that.

... the sales guy said for me to get the mest MPG possible, I need to drive Popeye (my Prius) very slow first few minutes...


MiniLadyBug,

Hope you continue to enjoy your new toy (plus it is an engineering marvel as well).

Regarding the slow driving, maybe he wants to make sure you warm it up to get the best mileage, but driving "very slow" seems like overkill. As far as all the green on the monitor, not sure what the color means but didn't Popeye like spinach?

Have fun / drive safe !

 

Welcome miniladybug,

My advice is to start reading here.

The people who have contributed to this advice have much experience with getting the best mileage out of our cars. You could also check out the rest of the "Economy" section as well.

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-ii-prius-fuel-economy/14701-new-owner-want-mpg-help-read-first.html

 

Hi mini...,

The main reason to start slowly is to avoid taxing the battery. If the battery is in the green bars (7 or 8), no problem, but if its at 3 bars, or you have a big hill to drive right after sarting, read on. There is this thing we call Stage 1 (of the warmup cycle) with the Prius. During the first minute of operation the Prius avoids using torque from the engine, so that it will become fully lubricated before heavy use. Its still running, but its limited in its power output during that time. So, the car is being pushed along primarily by the battery. To avoid taking the battery to a low state of charge (2 bars or less) its wise , both to prolong battery life and to get good mileage, to avoid driving that requires allot of output from the battery during this first minute of driving. If you are going up a hill right after starting, you might even consider waiting a minute after starting the car, before driving away.

 

Sorry, but I could disagree with you more.

I live near the bottom of a valley and often do the climb up (in the extreme cold, no less) just seconds after starting the system. My Prius loved it, never a lick of trouble. In fact, it favors the battery to allow the engine to warm up gracefully.

As for driving differently the first few minutes, that's utter nonsense. Just drive it.
.

 

I agree with this post, but will add one additional detail which was also discussed by donee: When a Prius starts with a cold engine (ICE), the control system tries to avoid heavy use of the ICE and will rely more heavily on battery electric power. Running energy into and out of the battery is not the most efficient way to use energy, so if possible take it easy with the gas during warm up, not that jackrabbit starts are ever good for mileage. For best mileage, you want to efficiently use the ICE. Normally this means fairly brisk acceleration to cruising speed, but with a cold engine the sweet spot is a little lower.

Tom

 

In many cases, the most important factor is other traffic. If you pull out of your driveway and are immediately in traffic that's not poking along, you really can't poke along.

(And to reiterate what others have said, under most driving conditions, BOTH extremes of driving waste gas: slow acceleration, slow driving, or drag race starts and NASCAR speeding. Those are the quintessential rookie mistakes: a) figuring that you need to crawl away from a traffic light and b) try to use battery-only power a lot.)

 

Since there isn't a better term for that scenario, which is surprisingly small with the 2010, I'm not sure what else to call it. Put another way, whether or not I get stopped by the light 3 blocks from my house (along the base of the valley) has far more of an impact than my influence.

When the margin-of-error grows beyond the scope of what you are measuring, what advice should you give? I say: Just Drive It!

Remember, about 95% of the Prius drivers aren't enthusiasts that read online posts. If we're lucky, they'll download a document or FAQ check.
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