1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

Spouse gets much worse MPG, how to remedy?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Main Forum' started by rerstad, Oct 1, 2004.

  1. rerstad

    rerstad New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 30, 2004
    26
    0
    0
    Location:
    Saint Paul, MN
    OK, I've been married long enough to know that it's probably best to not try to do anything about this, BUT . . .

    My wife consistently gets a much lower MPG than I do and because we both use the Prius, it makes it really hard for me to try to get the average up. For instance, she filled up and then drove it for about 30 miles and the screen showed an average of 39.6. I then took it out for about 20 miles, similar driving conditions, and got the average up to 46.7, where it stood as of last night. She'll need to drive it today, so I can count on the MPG being lower when I get home.

    I've tried to gently get her to change some of her driving habits, but no luck so far. (And I'm not going to push it too far--I know better than that, and it's only a few MPG anyway.)

    Any ideas about how to handle the situation? I'd love to get the average higher, but it's not likely to happen as things stand now.
     
  2. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2004
    7,663
    1,041
    0
    Location:
    United States
    Vehicle:
    2004 Prius
    Model:
    N/A
    Do and say nothing about it. Absolutely nothing. Put it out of your mind and be happy.
     
  3. jamarimutt

    jamarimutt New Member

    Joined:
    May 4, 2004
    985
    5
    0
    Mission impossible. Buy another Prius for yourself.
     
  4. bookrats

    bookrats New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 12, 2004
    2,843
    2
    0
    Location:
    Seattle, WA
    :iagree
    Pearls of wisdom! (And if you don't believe us -- call the Car Talk Guys. I know they'll back us up!) :lol:
     
  5. JHartman

    JHartman New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 30, 2003
    45
    0
    0
    Location:
    Los Angeles
    My first reaction was also to buy another Prius, however that may not be economically possible.

    Why don't you reset the mpg when you drive? That way you can compare your trips and not worry about what she is getting.
     
  6. heliotropehead

    heliotropehead New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 26, 2004
    701
    1
    0
    Location:
    New Orleans, Louisiana
    :lol: !!!

    Assuming the two of you chose the car to save gas and money, why not take a few trips with her offering helpful hints(careful about your phrasing) about how she might improve her MPG. As much as I dislike hearing what I should be doing instead, when it comes to saving money and getting the best MPG possible I would certainly be all ears!
     
  7. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    May 11, 2004
    14,816
    2,498
    66
    Location:
    Far-North Chicagoland
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    Perhaps you can do what many poeple on this board are doing and track the milage per tank building an overall average MPG. But this has nothing to do with your wife's driving, you say? Of course it does. When she is faced with the average MPG and the chart (easy in Excel), she might mentally want to increase that average. This would really work if she notices that the Average MPG is high when she gets in the car but lower when she gets out. With luck she will think about the spreadsheet and the graph and pay more attention to keeping the average up. The best part, it's subtle.

    I know that everyone has a different format for tracking their mileage. I'm sure mine's not the best, but if you click the link in my signature below you can see how I've set it up.

    Other point for consideration is the geography of the different drives. Are we to assume that the lay of the land is the same, the average speeds are the same, and the number of stoplights, stopsigns, and stop-and-go traffic are all the same? If that's the case, then she must be driving like a car critic out of Hell to score such low numbers. If the paths you each take are different, perhaps she's not to blame.

    Just my thoughts.

    Good luck.
     
  8. bruceha_2000

    bruceha_2000 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2004
    3,054
    301
    19
    Location:
    Northwest VT
    Vehicle:
    2018 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    Tony,
    Are the MPG values in your chart from the car's computer? I'm guessing so since they don't correspond to tanks miles/refill gallons
     
  9. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    May 11, 2004
    14,816
    2,498
    66
    Location:
    Far-North Chicagoland
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    Yeah, all of them except for 9/17. During that tank I suffered a hard reset and had to actually do math. I pondered about creating another column to show calcualted mileage versus reported mileage. In the end I had a beer, watched Office Space, and went to bed.
     
  10. bruceha_2000

    bruceha_2000 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 2, 2004
    3,054
    301
    19
    Location:
    Northwest VT
    Vehicle:
    2018 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    Given all the variables in pumps, how you fill and all, I think I'll ignore the calc for "miles/gallons pumped" and rely on the computer as well.
     
  11. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2004
    15,140
    611
    0
    Location:
    South Puget Sound, WA
    Vehicle:
    2013 Nissan LEAF
    Model:
    Persona
    do you two ever drive together??

    maybe you should drive so she can see what you do to keep the mileage high...

    also maybe explaining to her that rushing up to a light that you know will be red only makes your wait at a standstill longer.

    emphasize the joy you feel when you coast up to a light just as the car in front of you starts to move, knowing that although you were forced to start coasting 6 blocks back that you still timed it perfectly.

    offer her dinner if she can get up to say... 44 mpg...

    a diamond for 55 mpg...

    (forget that last part...,my so made me say that...shhhh)
     
  12. Marg

    Marg New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 25, 2004
    155
    1
    0
    Location:
    Eastern Ontario, Canada
    For some strange reason, I find this to be an intriguing question. I have some questions of my own...

    Is she an experienced driver?
    If she isn't, she might not be able to change her style, even if she wanted to. If, like many newbies, all her attention is focussed on the basics of obeying the rules and not getting into an accident, then maybe she doesn't have any attention left over to think about improving her style.

    Does she understand the factors that affect a Prius' average?
    Not everyone is able to understand even the basics of how a Prius works and what the energy screen is saying. I've seen 8 year old kids "get it" instantly and middle-aged PhDs remain baffled after long explanation. If she's one of those people that doesn't "get" the car, it might be impossible for her to understand what she has to do to make it perform better.

    Is she interested in keeping the car's average up?
    If she thinks that keeping track of the stats is just a silly geek thing or something, then she'll never be interested in helping you.

    What percentage of the time does she drive the car? What percentage of the time does she fill up the car and pay for the gas? If not often, then she might not have had the opportunity to see for herself the connection between driving style and a postive outcome (such as going for a longer period before having to fill up).

    Just my two cents...
     
  13. jimofdg

    jimofdg New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 10, 2004
    533
    0
    0
    Location:
    DG, IL, US
    Or, the unthinkable:

    Spouse 2.0

    Very expensive and not necessarily an upgrade.

    -Your marriage may vary (good luck!)
     
  14. rerstad

    rerstad New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 30, 2004
    26
    0
    0
    Location:
    Saint Paul, MN
    Jimofdg, nope, I'm not going for Spouse 2.0. No way.

    She is an experienced driver, but she mentioned to me once that she doesn't want to seem to be driving slowly because she doesn't want other drivers to think hybrid cars have no power. An admirable thought, but I don't like to have it cut into my MPG!
     
  15. rflagg

    rflagg Member

    Joined:
    Jan 5, 2004
    947
    9
    0
    Location:
    Springfield, VA
    hmm, I often feel that way too - but then I realize most other people aren't paying any attention to me any more than I pay attention to them. The majority of the people driving by her are thinking about getting to work/home faster, what's for dinner or breakfast, and so on. And, a handful of others are paying attention to the road enough to not notice she's driving a hybrid!

    I agree with Dave - the only good solution here is bribery. Offer her something for hitting certain MPG marks - say if she can make a trip at 42MPG, you'll take her out to dinner and she can drive, and if she can obtain 45 on the trip there and home, you'll rub her feet when you get home. If she plain doesn't know how to drive the car better, she's smart enough to ask you for tips, I'm sure. :) But make it personally worth her time, and I think she'll do it for the greater good :)

    -m.
     
  16. finman

    finman Senior Member

    Joined:
    Apr 9, 2004
    1,287
    111
    0
    Location:
    Albany, OR
    Vehicle:
    2014 Nissan LEAF
    My situation is a bit different. It's 'our' car, but 'my' ownership (I traded in my old car to get this one). So, that being said, I 'got' it fairly quickly (driving for high MPG). My SO just wanted to drive it. I used to get better MPG.
    Now, though, she is getting the same or better than I, and she says she is still 'just driving it'. I'm working hard at maximizing coasting, minimal high speeds, etc. and here she's driving fairly normally and getting simialr numbers!
    I think it is a case where I try to 'baby' it too much and she just drives faster and coasts out of habit. Although I have seen her lately doing more 'predicting' red lights/stops and getting her foot off the gas as soon as possible! Love "my" Prius!
     
  17. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    May 11, 2004
    14,816
    2,498
    66
    Location:
    Far-North Chicagoland
    Vehicle:
    2017 Prius Prime
    Model:
    Prime Advanced
    Jim, shame on you. It would be much easier to upgrade to Spouse 1.2.1 with the 'Good Driver' patch. Unfortunately, the 'Game Day Sunday' function isn't available until the 1.4 version.

    I too think that. In fact, I chirp the tires now and again just for fun. Granted, I can only do it if I'm turning left from a stand-still and only do it when there's a sporty car nearby. But in my own mind, I've made my point.

    I'm convinced that in time she will mellow out. Just let it go for now with the knowledge that 40 MPG is better than 20.
     
  18. prius04

    prius04 New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 26, 2004
    1,161
    0
    0
    Location:
    NorthEast USA
    I just read this thread and something came to me.

    Do you all realize that you all seem UPSET by 40 MPG!! Do you realize how many people would die for that kind of mileage? Also, is there anyone in this group that ever got more than 40 MPG prior to their Prius?

    And now we find it disconcerting to get less than 50!!!

    She is obviously driving quite agressively. (Assuming she doesn't leave the E brake on.) Can anyone imagine driving agressively in ANYTHING else and getting this kind of mileage?

    To me, this is another example of what a GREAT car this is.
     
  19. prius04

    prius04 New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 26, 2004
    1,161
    0
    0
    Location:
    NorthEast USA
    And another thing.

    NEVER buy the .0 version of anything. Always wait for the .1 version so they can work the bugs out.
     
  20. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

    Joined:
    Apr 13, 2004
    15,140
    611
    0
    Location:
    South Puget Sound, WA
    Vehicle:
    2013 Nissan LEAF
    Model:
    Persona
    sorry prius04 but i would be extremely upset as is the OP for mpgs like that.

    i got my oil changed yesterday and immediately took a trip of length that was identical to a trip i had taken a week earlier.

    well my previous trip which was chronicled here got me 58 mpg on the freeway. this time it was only 54 mpg... i nearly had a coniption (what ever that is ...) i finally found out that the oil change people kindly drained my tires... they were clockwise from front driver 33.5, 33.0. 32.0, 32.5

    well i immediately reaired them to 38/36 and now i hope my mileage will go back to normal

    keep in mind that 40 mpg is exactly what the original CAFE goal for 2000 was... it was supposed to continue rising so settling for 40 mpg... that is the big 3 talking... well i dont drive an american car.