I just don't understand

[FJRCRAZED]

How some of you folks are getting 60+mpg. This week I took the longer way to work around Phila. I did not take the surekill expressway at all. Most of my driving was 20-40mph and I still could only manage 50.3mpg. It does however beat the heck out of 15mpg in my Tundra.

[auricchio]

Several factors: ambient temperature, terrain, traffic, winds, and driving style.

[MikeSF]

Stop & go (ie traffic lights) really puts a hit on mileage EVEN in a prius, there might be something for the EV mode to allow you to accelerate from a stop since unless you want to cheese off everyone behind you, it's almost impossible to get an all electric acceleration. But maybe someone with the EV button can chime in to how much more efficient the electric motor is on accelerating vs the gas engine. But this all goes under "driving style"

[iaowings]

I have an all-stock base model 06. during my commute there is a portion of stop and go averaging between 0-15 mph. I find during this time I can drive almost all ev rarely does the ice come on. I find that if you leave about 2- 4 car links in front you can cost and then drive on ev when people accelerate. You do have to get used to people jumping in the space in front of you , however iv noticed that people behind me don’t tend to mind my large gap as we never really stop. If they do they usually roar around me and fill in the gap. I have also noticed that im not the only one using this method. I don’t think its due to me just people trying to keep a flow in traffic.

[Presto]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(MikeSF @ May 20 2006, 10:57 AM) [snapback]258488[/snapback]</div>

Stop & go (ie traffic lights) really puts a hit on mileage EVEN in a prius, there might be something for the EV mode to allow you to accelerate from a stop since unless you want to cheese off everyone behind you, it's almost impossible to get an all electric acceleration. But maybe someone with the EV button can chime in to how much more efficient the electric motor is on accelerating vs the gas engine. But this all goes under "driving style"
[/b]

Using EV button to accelerate in stop and go traffic will eat up your SOC pretty fast. Moving in EV mode from a complete stop eats up a lot of power. Accelrating from 0-50km/h eats up about 8-10% SOC.

[cwerdna]

FWIW, my lifetime mpg so far is only 45.6 mpg according to my calculations (46.3058 mpg if I average the readings from the MFD). ~15-18 minutes of my 28 minute drive to work is on the highway where I'm going usually 68-75 mph.

My tires are only a couple psi over the Toyota recommended values (tires came overinflated). I'm not about to go into the 40s that some people do.

[barbaram]

I'm getting about 48-50 so maybe that is more realistic!

[daniel]

The best use of EV is when maintaining constant speed on level or downhill roads. When accelerating it's always better to use the gas engine.

[Jeannie]

I've had my Prius for just over a month; my first tank was 43.1 MPG, and 380 miles into my second tank, the MFD says I'm doing 50.8. Most of my driving is 5 miles each way home/work. Last weekend and today I've taken trips that were 30-40 miles, and that increased my average from about 48 to a little over 50. So clearly the 'short hops' lower my MPG. But I'm thrilled to be getting such good mileage compared to any other car I've owned, and I love driving my car.

After picking up my plates and registration at my dealership, I parked at the mall today next to a Hummer H2 - I'd never actually seen one before! They're incredibly ugly, aren't they? On the way home I pulled into a strip mall to get coffee, and there was another Prius - Seaside Pearl - parked at the Italian Ice store, so I stopped, got a large chocolate, and waited for the owner of the beautiful blue machine to return so I could compliment her on her car.

Have fun driving your Prius and don't obsess about the MPG. Just enjoy the ride!

[daronspicher]

Right now, I have 2 bars left on the gas tank.

The tank is at 501 miles.

The mfd is showing 56.6mpg

That means when I fill up, I'll actually be about 53 or 54mpg, it's usually 2 or 3 mpg higher on mfd than what I really get at the pump. If it were just an error in filling, eventually I'd have to see the actual be higher than the mfd.. it never happens.. almost always lower by a couple...

Most of my miles are on the tollway. I drive usually 60 to 68mph on the tollway.

I do see how the car could average above 60 if you were to roll along at 43mph and never have to stop at a light. Stop at a light, speed up to 40+, stop at a light, repeat... kills my mileage.

My car has about 10,600 miles on it since feb... My lifetime is 51.3mpg.