Wow, you guys are good. Can I ask another?

[TorontoSusan]

Thanks for answering my ICE question so darn fast! You've given me confidence, I'm gonna try another or two. (I've only had my car for 30 days, so I'm a newbie)

I was searching the site cause I was getting 99.9 in my mileage and I wanted to know if others experienced this. I found the thead: apparently I'm not alone. Why does this happen? What does it mean? Does it mess up my milage calculator?

And now that the colder weather is here (damn near freezing), I notice my ICE (heh, heh) is on more than it used to.. Even turning the fan off, the engine kicks in more than it used to and the mileage takes my breath away. It takes me about 10 miles or so before it goes back to 'normal'. I take it this is due to the colder weather and heating the engine?

[efusco]

Originally posted by TorontoSusan@Nov 17 2005, 05:51 PM
Thanks for answering my ICE question so darn fast!  You've given me confidence, I'm gonna try another or two.  (I've only had my car for 30 days, so I'm a newbie)

I was searching the site cause I was getting 99.9 in my mileage and I wanted to know if others experienced this.  I found the thead:  apparently I'm not alone.  Why does this happen?  What does it mean?  Does it mess up my milage calculator? 

And now that the colder weather is here (damn near freezing), I notice my ICE (heh, heh) is on more than it used to.. Even turning the fan off, the engine kicks in more than it used to and the mileage takes my breath away.  It takes me about 10 miles or so before it goes back to 'normal'.  I take it this is due to the colder weather and heating the engine?

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Actually, when it shows 99.9mpg that's just a default number for any mpg above 99.8mpg....you may actually be getting infinite MGP at that moment!! Remember, if you're moving, but your ICE is off (and you should know that feeling), or even if you're running at ICE at idle your instantaneous mpg will be infinity. But that would cause a serious calculation error. So the computer just uses 99.9.

Don't get too hung up, right now, on that instantaneous readout. You'll do better by watching your trends on the consumption screen with those 5 minute bars to tell you how you've been doing.

Yes, cold weather will have quite a negative impact on mileage. I, too, got my Prius in the month of Oct. ('03) and had some frustration with mpgs in the 40s. Summer is a very nice suprise b/c your skills at driving will be good by then, the car will be broken in by then and the warm weather will really help your mileage.

[TorontoSusan]

Originally posted by efusco@Nov 17 2005, 06:57 PM
Actually, when it shows 99.9mpg that's just a default number for any mpg above 99.8mpg....you may actually be getting infinite MGP at that moment!!  Remember, if you're moving, but your ICE is off (and you should know that feeling), or even if you're running at ICE at idle your instantaneous mpg will be infinity.  But that would cause a serious calculation error.  So the computer just uses 99.9.

Don't get too hung up, right now, on that instantaneous readout.  You'll do better by watching your trends on the consumption screen with those 5 minute bars to tell you how you've been doing.

Yes, cold weather will have quite a negative impact on mileage.  I, too, got my Prius in the month of Oct. ('03) and had some frustration with mpgs in the 40s.  Summer is a very nice suprise b/c your skills at driving will be good by then, the car will be broken in by then and the warm weather will really help your mileage.

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oh, cool ... thanks so much for the info - it was worrying me. By the way .... I married a Fusco - Michael. He's from the Niagara Falls branch (Cda side!)
Thanks ...

[hdrygas]

You car is just trying to keep itself and you warm and keep emissions down. I have a commercial after market digital gage and scanner that attaches to the computer system and reads data off the CAN bus. I get all kinds of readings over 99.9 but when the ICE is off and MG1 and MG2 are also off (called glide mode no energy transfer) I get 9999.9 mpg! Means the same thing I am moving and not using energy so actually it is infinity but computers do not handle infinity well so they are programed to display something else when they encounter that concept so they don’t grind to a halt. Just a bit of programing so the computer can continue to function and still count 0- 1-2-3 etc. or 00-01-10-11 etc.

[MNPrius]

Originally posted by efusco@Nov 17 2005, 06:57 PM
Don't get too hung up, right now, on that instantaneous readout.  You'll do better by watching your trends on the consumption screen with those 5 minute bars to tell you how you've been doing.

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So - another newbie here I was getting somewhat distracted by instantaneous readouts but I'm getting better. I, however, do not understand the consumption screen. Do I want the little car symbols or not? I've read the manual, but I'm a bean counter not a scientist.

Thanks fpr any insights....

[efusco]

Originally posted by MNPrius@Nov 18 2005, 09:29 PM
So - another newbie here    I was getting somewhat distracted by instantaneous readouts but I'm getting better.  I, however, do not understand the consumption screen.  Do I want the little car symbols or not?    I've read the manual, but I'm a bean counter not a scientist. 

Thanks fpr any insights....

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Little cars are bad...in a good way. IOW, you have to stop your car sometimes, and when you stop your car it's better to regenerate some energy in the process of braking than to waste it all as heat. that regenerated energy is represented by the little cars.

But they're bad in that it is better to not have to slow at all. Even with regen braking you only capture a fraction of the energy and it takes much more energy to get back up to speed than it would have taken to maintain that speed if you hadn't stopped at all.

Thus, it's better to learn to anticipate stops, increase following distance behind other cars so that when they have to slow (say for a car turning in front of them) you don't need to slow much, if any, too. Taking a route with fewer stops, etc. is Ideal.

On my 13 mile commute, when I go home late at night/early morning hours, I can often make it home with only 1 1/2 to 2 regen cars showing for the entire 25 minute drive despite a minimum of 5 stop lights and 4 stop signs. When I do that I know I got great gas mileage that trip.

[Mojo40]

Originally posted by MNPrius@Nov 18 2005, 08:29 PM
So - another newbie here    I was getting somewhat distracted by instantaneous readouts but I'm getting better.  I, however, do not understand the consumption screen.  Do I want the little car symbols or not?      I've read the manual, but I'm a bean counter not a scientist. 

Thanks fpr any insights....

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Rumor is that Al Gore designed the Prius interface screens. The little green leaves in the shape of a car indicate the amount of regenerated (recovered) energy. Each little car-leaf indicates that you have recovered 50Watt-Hours of energy (enough to light a 50 watt bulb for one hour). This energy is then used to help accelerate the prius , run lights, AC, etc. Good driving habits, like taking your foot off the gas a long time before the stop sign win you lots of extra Gore-points (regenerated energy car-leaves). Note that hard braking exceeds how much energy can be recovered by the HSD, so the energy is lost into heating up the brake pads.

[Jack 06]

Then imagine those little car symbols are beans! Count 'em! There, see?

Actually, they just tell you how much electricity has been regenerated by your braking/charging system. Thus you'll see more of 'em in most city driving and on downhills where you at least take your foot off the accelerator, or actually brake. Not as pertinent or interesting as MPG.

C'mon, MN, you're an old hand by now...

[MNPrius]

Originally posted by Jack 06@Nov 18 2005, 10:41 PM
Then imagine those little car symbols are beans!  Count 'em!  There, see?

Actually, they just tell you how much electricity has been regenerated by your braking/charging system.  Thus you'll see more of 'em in most city driving and on downhills where you at least take your foot off the accelerator, or actually brake.  Not as pertinent or interesting as MPG.

C'mon, MN, you're an old hand by now...

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HA! Thanks to all of you with speedy & informative replies. Like Toronto Susan states - "you guys are good". I do a lot more "stealth stopping" than I ever have, when I can. (maybe I am an old hand ) But mostly there is too much traffic to let the car coast to stop -- you have to show your brake lights for the people !

[hdrygas]

Efusco could you recreate the post you did in mid summer on the stages of Prius Mastery? I thought that was very insightful and followed my development to a high milage Prius driver. It was very good and I do not want to paraphrase it. I would like to see it in the Knowledge Base. It has followed my development as a Prius driver. Please. It was not just a random thought.