Why Does YOUR Commute Suck?

[TonyPSchaefer]

I figure that everyone has that one hill, that one section, that one stretch of highway that if not for that, their mileage would be so much better. So let's vent! What's so sucky about your commute?

Here's mine.

I drive almost identical routes to and from work. On the way there, traffic is normally very light. On the way home, traffic really stinks. There are three separate situation in which I am forced to creep. Creeping is what I call slow and steady travel at speeds less than 10mph.

One of the situations is along a two-lane road leading to a stoplighted intersection with a highway. Speed limit is 40 which makes it excellent P/G and stealthing in the morning but it creeps between 1/4 and 3/4 miles in the evening. On the other side of the intersection is an uphill 40 mph zone.

The second occurrence is less than a mile from the previous intersection. This really stinks because I don't have time to regen much. So I often come into this situation with a reduced battery level. This one leads to a 4-way stop. In the mornings, I can roll up, stop a little and procede. In the evenings it's another 1/2 mile of creeping. On the way home, I usually hit that 4-way stop with two bars though I've seen only one on occasions. Once I pass through the 4-way, the speed limit is 45 for about three miles. This means that I have to go from 0 - 45 on a depleted battery. I really hate when someone's behind me.

The third is due to construction and will end at some point. It's only a couple blocks. On a good day I might drop a bar or two but on a bad day it'll sap me down to two bars. Once I get through the construction, there's a two-mile run at 45 mph.

So why do I hate the creeping so much? I mean, if we're moving so slowly, I should be able to stealth the entire time. And in fact, I do for a very long time. The problem is that at speeds less than 7 mph, energy is drawn from the battery to propel the car. At speeds above 7, the wheels regen the battery. Unfortunately for me, the bulk of my creeping is between stopped and 7 mph.

This means that my consumption display shows very high segments where I am stealthing at very low speeds. But then the battery gets really low and the ICE kicks on to recharge it. This means that I will spend about a half mile driving at very low speeds with the engine running. At this point, I'm really no better than a conventional vehicle. I shudder at the thought. Then once I'm through the creeping, I have to speed up to "normal" speeds. But the Prius wants to recharge the depleted battery which means that it is not very powerful to the wheels and the mileage for that segment is also horrible.

Long story short, it looks like this:

[Matt Herring]

Our commute in terms of elevation is very similar...more uphill on the way home than on the way to work. I try to break even on the way home but expect to pick up more mpg on the way to work. Hopefully over the course of a tank I'm picking up more mpg than I'm losing on the way home (not to mention the errands during the course of the tank that might cost me some mpg too).

Sometimes I leave earlier to get to work to avoid traffic to take advantage of less traffic on the road so I can determine my speed rather than the person behind me. If I leave 30 minutes early for work I can often see only a few cars on the road and get as much as 10 mpg better on my commute to work than if I left at my regular time.

There are several times on my way to work when I see 1 car behind me and no others for a good distance that I pull over to the side of the road while maintaining speed to let the driver behind me pass so I have some time to dictate my FE.

On the way home it's usually at 5pm so I can take advantage of slower traffic and use a mix of EV mode while still keeping my SOC high enough on the hills to remain efficient during the entire commute without wasting energy to recharge the battery when the go pedal is needed.

I had a monster commute to work today and traffic was perfect. Over my 11 mile commute to work I got 74 mpg (confirmed with SGII and mfd). I then had a 5 mile drive after that (left the car running to maintain engine temp) and pulled a 108 mpg run on that route). I'm sitting at 69.1 mpg right now after 130 miles on my mfd and hoping to replicate this tomorrow!

[efusco]

Hills...I get 'em both ways and there's just no way to avoid a steep up-hill both going to and coming home from work...I'll hit one either way. Of course I have the benefit of the downhill each way too, but it never seems to quite make up for it.

Other than that I've got a pretty ideal commute by most standards and have been seeing 80-85mpg in the night time doing my regular commute averaging right around 30mph.

[TheForce]

The highway is my only problem. There is no way around it unless I take back roads that go over large hills. I only have to travel at highway speeds for about 2.5 miles. If it was not for that I could go full electric my whole 22 mile commute to work and back home.

[TonyPSchaefer]

And here I thought someone was going to point out that I'm showing 65.6 but still complaining. Instead the next two replies come from guys posting numbers like 85 and 108(!).

And I see we've been joined by the guy who ran 2,500 miles on a single tank.

Indeed. We are a deeply troubled lot.

[hyo silver]

I gave up commuting decades ago. It's just too depressing. My absolute worst these days is a ten-minute walk. Maybe fifteen when it snows. The best (I don't work in the same office everyday) is about ten feet to the other end of the hallway.

[efusco]

Here's my home commute data for tonight...

[F8L]

Mine sucks because of a 13 mile long hill climb gaining approx. 1,000ft. Because of the topography I cannot coast/glide down it very well so averaging approx. 30-33mpg going up the hill simply cannot be overcome by gliding downhill so my average always drops. On my flat road commute to my 2nd job I can easily get 52-53mpg at freeways speeds (65-75mph) but the primary job commute is always 47mpg.

[qbee42]

The key to good mileage on a commute is to keep it short. Mine is about 15 feet.

Tom

[Genoz World]

MINE sucks. At the time when I can P&G, i get 5mph traffic to deal with. On the way home, it's good speed but it's on a slight uphill climb. errrrrrrrrrrr

TONY - THE SHEEPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP IS BACK.

DR FUSCO - looking at your screen, may i ask do you drive like that on instinct now or do you really pay attention to your driving style? for me, i still have to turn on the consumption screen to remind myself how to safe fuel. can't do this on feel alone just yet.