Is Toyota still sticking to this? A 525 mile range?

[Ken Cooper]

When it comes to miles between fill-ups, two cars come to mind:

1) When the American Motors Gremlin arrived on the scene around the time of the '70s gas crisis, AMC advertised that their new car would go more than 500 miles on a tank of gas. What they failed to mention in the ads was that the Gremlin had a 35 gallon fuel tank. This became kind of an inside joke because the car really did get lousy gas mileage.

2) I owned a 1982 Audi 4000 Diesel that consistantly got 47 miles to the gallon. I used to be able to drive (5 of us in the car - Once each Winter) the 1500 mile trip from Rockport, MA to Orlando FL stopping once for gas (>750 miles to the tank).

It's not so hard to find a car that will go lots of miles between fill-ups. What you won't find though, except in the Prius, is a mid sized car that can get more than 50 miles to the gallon, do 0 - 60 in about 10 seconds, and still provide the best polution numbers of almost any car on the highway.

[Fredo]

It sounds like the Pruis gets the best mileage at betwen 35 and 45 MPH. You should be able to drive from Detroit to Washington starting about 8:00 on a Friday night and driving all night (about 14 hours) at 40 MPH. Whether you could stay awake for a trip like that is a different matter! :multi:

[Astroprius]

Originally posted by efusco
Folks,
This is, in the real world, quite doable.

I'll confirm this. I'm averaging over 50 MPG on the highway (65 mph) and got about 510 miles on my first tank, and then re-fueling with 10 gallons.

Using the cruise control helps with attaining maximum mileage, at least as far as I can tell from the consumption screen.

I truly believe that the warmer temperatures around the corner will make some of the gas mileage grumbling go away (at least until the cold weather sets in again).

[jreasus]

I just recorded my first 600 mile tank (actually 601.4) on a tank filled to 10.6 gallons. I refilled today with 10.75 gallons. I drove 65 miles beyond the flashing bar on the gauge and probably could have gone a fair distance farther. Who knows? I wasn't willing to risk any more once I reached the 600 mile mark. Driving conditions were roughly equally distributed between highway, suburban, and city with temps ranging from about 25 degrees to 70 over a 10 day period.

Very, very happy with this car. It continues to amaze me its comfort, zip, and technology!

Tideland AM - Colorado

[Danny]

Next time you should take a pic for all of us to marvel at

[jreasus]

Originally posted by AdminCoop
Next time you should take a pic for all of us to marvel at

Yes, if I can reach 600 miles again, I'll do that. For my first several tanks, I've been resetting the display each day. I wanted to get an idea of the effect different kinds of driving, road conditions, and weather had on my mileage. With this new fillup, I'll be letting the average accumulate for the whole tank. Surely, there must be others who are reaching 600 miles as well.

[toyoprius]

I tend to agree. We have had warmer weather here in Boston, and the my mileage is reflecting that. During the last month my combined mileage has crept back to 50 or so (from the dark days of high 30's during the January cold snap).

Recently I have had several trips up to Bangor with the temperature in the 40's. If I drive the Interstate (I-95) with the cruise control at 75 mph, I get a predictable 47-49 mpg indicated. When I return via non-hilly backroads (i.e. US 202, US 1) with a previously warmed engine, I always manage to get just over 60 mpg indicated. The backroads allow you to travel 40-55 mph, with stops in the cities. I typically try to use "smart driving techniques" to get over 60 mpg. During my next trip, I will return via the backroads using "mindless driving techniques" (i.e. just letting my brain freewheel) and see if there is actually any difference.

Originally posted by efusco
Folks,
This is, in the real world, quite doable.  At the Orlando Shindig this weekend at least 4 of the 8 Prius owners there had exceeded the EPA numbers...  

[JasonS]

I definitely couldn't go that far. I typically fill up right around the time the gauge starts blinking, and my database says I average 361mi/tank
http://www.greenhybrid.com/explore/mileage...tails.php?cid=5

[jkash]

I am a little confused with the gas gauge myself. Last week I filled up with two bars left and put in 6.5 gallons and averaged 50 mpg on the display and calculated 50.7. This week I am averaging 51 mpg on the display and have driven 212 miles. However, there are only four bars left on the gauge. This just doesn't seem right to me. If the mileage figure is close, if I filled up now I would only put in over four gallons.

Any ideas?

Jeff

[cybele]

Originally posted by jkash
I am a little confused with the gas gauge myself.

The non-linear nature of the gas gauge is well documented anectdotally. At this point many of us are resigned to using the "divide your range by your mileage" method to know how much we've consumed. Some folks like to give themselves a target of using as many or more gallons as their last refill or maybe just try to hit 10 gallons (cuz the math is easy that way).

It does seem that the car has an exceptionally large reserve tank, probably because Toyota really doesn't want you to run out of gas because it can damage the hybrid system if other backup protection methods fail. The general advice is to wait until the car tells you to refuel or when your range tells you that you should get gas now rather than later.

Refilling less often reduces evaporative emissions so is another benefit of the mileage and range of the Prius. You should be very careful not to overfill though, as that can damage the fuel system and can lead to spills.

Now that you've got your car, you might want to browse the earlier threads about this like this one
http://www.priuschat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=171
and
http://www.priuschat.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=847