76.1MPG-New Record Tank after 5 1/2 years of driving

[usbseawolf2000]

I can probably do 76.1 MPG in a trip... but for the entire tank? Wow! That's very impressive.

[allargon]

My record after 50k miles of driving is 50 mpg for a tank. I could maybe get 55 mpg by driving the speed limit and doing pulse and glide but not 76. Congrats to you, Evan!

[ggood]

Congratulations! I have to say I don't think I'll ever be dedicated enough to work this hard at driving a car. Maybe I need a little more kool-aid!

[bestmapman]

Nice job, Congrats.

[efusco]

Originally Posted by ggood

Congratulations! I have to say I don't think I'll ever be dedicated enough to work this hard at driving a car. Maybe I need a little more kool-aid!

You get a life-time supply of the kool-aid with the purchase of the car. Look, I was a long time and determined type-A personality 10mpg over the limit, "get the hell out of my way" and semi road-rage tendency driver for years. And I was determined that no Prius would take that out of me.

It did. I'm a much more relaxed driver. I like going the speed limit. I like taking my time and letting people pass me. I end up less tense/stressed at the end of a drive. I'm much more aware of things around me and road conditions and traffic. And it's just plain fun "playing the MPG game" and getting those numbers as high as possible.

[Matt Herring]

That's awesome and something to boast about (to everyone that will listen)!!!

Love how the mpg bar just keeps getting higher and higher...80 mpg next...good luck!!!

[morpheusx]

That is awesome, after 2 1/2 years of driving mine (50,000+ miles) I still haven't been able to finish a tank over 70 MPG I have had some close ones that I have had in the vicinity, but a few bad days of weather or bad luck in traffic can wipe it out in a hurry.
I took this picture of a good start of a tank I had last year, I was able to hold onto 70+ for about 250 - 300 miles on this tank, but I had lots of bad luck and it ended with me barely holding 65.

[efusco]

You're right, it doesn't take much to tank a tank. For me it's usually a highway trip mid/late tank or something like that. The planets aligned well for this particular tank. Not for my personal or family life, but for my Prius MPG!

[ArtH]

Originally Posted by TonyPSchaefer

That's truly impressive.

My mileage stalled at 55-56mpg for three tanks. Can't explain it. But this year my hypermiling commute route is more congested and road construction season is gearing up. This is causing more stop-n-go and a lot more battery-depleting, sub-7mph creeping. I measured a creep stretch of 4.3 miles on Friday. I fear this may become the norm as the summer wears on.

I'll try to take a picture one of these days, but the consumption screen looks something like this:
65 - 85 - 30 - 35 - 20 - 75
In other words: starts good but then creeps for a segment on battery causing a good second segment. Then the engine comes off-n-on for a couple segments and then it's up to 45mph on a depleted battery and then back to better driving. Truly frustrating.

So I applaud your mileage exploits. As much as I really hoped to beat 75mpg this year, I fear that I may have to hypermile vicariously through you.

Tony,

In a word, Battery Charge Management. Or was that 3 words? I got that crappy crawling traffic when only the battery is needed, and it kills it. You gotta allow the engine to start for brief periods to help maintain the battery when you are trying to gain a little speed. If your battery gets low, it is impossible to get good mileage. You gotta keep the battery charge in the good range. You gotta be proactive. You gotta bite the bullet. You can't borrow yourself out of that situation.

When you hit that section of that road that is crappy everyday, make a better plan and attack that section with your battery in good shape ready to go. I think my goal then becomes having 3 pips on the battery when traffic resumes to a reasonable speed.

55 mpg is pretty good by the way. My Prius computer likes to lie to me in an attempt to make me happy. But when I add gas and calculate the mileage, it is always lower.

Art

[F8L]

Originally Posted by ArtH

55 mpg is pretty good by the way. My Prius computer likes to lie to me in an attempt to make me happy. But when I add gas and calculate the mileage, it is always lower.

Art

I assume you are calculating this over a large number of tanks and not just when the fancy strikes you right?