You will not get 50 MPG if...

[Felt]

All good comments with very positive suggestions.

Cossie1600 - I am sorry that you are not achieving better mileage. I have found fwolta's thoughts to be right-on. I am, by nature, a conservative driver, but certainly not a hypermiler .... my average with 1700 miles on my G3 is right at 53 mpg. To achieve that, it does require some steady driving in the 35-45 mph range (which is possible where we live). I doubt I could achieve that in heavy city traffic, and especially if I did not drive very far (as explained above). I doubt I will do as well come Winter, but I expect to do a bit better when not running the A/C. Thus far, I am absolutely delighted with the Prius.

[anne1965]

Originally Posted by namasteflc

To answer 4a: I try to use EV mode the last 1/2 mile of my journey, through the developement's 25 mph speed limit. I figure that the engine needs to run when I restart the car anyway, so why not let it recharge the battery.
Frank

The Prius uses battery power in the first stages of warmup to reduce emissions (you know the other emissions than CO2) while the catalytic converter is still cold. Since the prime objective of the HSD program is to pamper the battery, this will IMO increase emissions. I try to use as little forced EV mode as possible and park the car with at least 4 bars of charge.

Try P&G, that will enable you to shut down the ICE just as much, but without draining the battery.

Having said that, I have found that in the Gen III it is much harder to maintain more than 3 bars of charge in urban driving.

[seadub]

Originally Posted by cossie1600

50mpg, I can't even get above 43!

You're not alone.

I haven't made it near 50 either.

[windstrings]

Originally Posted by seadub

You're not alone.

I haven't made it near 50 either.

Based on where you live, this time of year can be tough... I find the major detractor of gas mileage is if I run the air or heat and how much.

Either of those plays a big role in how ofter your engine "rests" verses maintaining charge on the battery that the air cond or heater is pulling out.
You can baby the gas pedal all for naught if you run the air like crazy.

I get my best mileage during the spring and fall or any time when I don't have to have the air on at all and simply run the fans alone.

I physically turn off the "air cond" button on the MFD display so only the fans run without the computers logic thinking it needs to maintain a certain cabin temp.

*No one that is taking a mileage hit has mentioned whether they have the new 17" wheels?

[tzor]

Originally Posted by wfolta

2e. You think that Cruise Control gets better mileage than a human driver. (CC only saves gas to the extent that it keeps you from going 75+ MPH. Otherwise, it makes stupid choices.)

This is interesting; it's the exact opposite of my experience in my former car (A Gen I 2002 Prius) where the CC saved significant MPG. I'll try using less cruise control. Still, do you really think that CC makes worse choices than a driver actively listening to NPR on his commute to and from work? Guess I'll have to find out.

[windstrings]

Originally Posted by tzor

This is interesting; it's the exact opposite of my experience in my former car (A Gen I 2002 Prius) where the CC saved significant MPG. I'll try using less cruise control. Still, do you really think that CC makes worse choices than a driver actively listening to NPR on his commute to and from work? Guess I'll have to find out.

Bad choices by the CC are relative to what its compared to.
CC can definitely save over people who are always on the gas, and then on the brakes and back and forth and basically don't know how to drive.

On the other hand, the CC cannot purposely lose speed climbing a small hill because it knows it will regain it again on the other side, or see traffic stopping 400 yards ahead and so start coasting pending whether the light turns green or remains red etc.
It also cannot do any of the hypermiling or other driving techniques that hybrid drivers have developed to increase gas mileage.

If I'm on an extremely flat surface, CC is a good way to go if you want to rest your foot, otherwise, it annoys me.

There is just too much logic the CC cannot see and process that the driver can.

[ancientsan]

I'm getting 41 right now....but car not broken in yet (<200miles)...so if I add 10% after break in I'll get 45?

[windstrings]

Originally Posted by ancientsan

I'm getting 41 right now....but car not broken in yet (<200miles)...so if I add 10% after break in I'll get 45?

If you've never driven a prius before, it could be your driving.
I feel like my prius started really getting good mileage around 70K or so.
I"ve always gotten about 45 - 47 with air, 47 - 52 without air.. both driving fast, but I'm pretty good about not doing jack rabbit starts and not using my brakes unless really needed.... those numbers are with my GenII.

Anytime you get weight moving very fast in a short period of time, that equals lots of energy required.
Fast top end driving is not what gets you as long as you were pretty gradual in getting there, its the aggressive accelerations that hurt the most as well as unnecessary braking just to have to get up to speed again.... yes the regen saves some of that lost kinetic energy, but its by no means a pure conversion.

No regen and true "almost frictionless" coasting would be best when letting off the gas, but if Toyota did that, people would have wrecks because they are used to the transmission drag of the older technology cars and trucks and would miscalculate stops etc.

Once the mainstream of cars are hybrids and that becomes the norm.. maybe that could be... it would be nice to have an option to kill regen when coasting and maintain it for braking IMO.

But Toyota would have nothing to do with it due to liability issues.

[dogllama]

Originally Posted by cossie1600

50mpg, I can't even get above 43!

Spin around 3 times, touch your toes, then move all the change from your right hand pocket to your left....

[martinw]

Originally Posted by windstrings

No regen and true "almost frictionless" coasting would be best when letting off the gas, but if Toyota did that, people would have wrecks because they are used to the transmission drag of the older technology cars and trucks and would miscalculate stops etc.

One thing I'm finding is that coasting downhill, even with the regen, the car loses less speed than other cars. I guess it's not that surprising given the aerodynamics, but I thought the regen would cancel it out. I'm finding I spend a lot of time on the brake on long downhills when following other cars that are coasting, even slipperly looking sports cars.

Once the mainstream of cars are hybrids and that becomes the norm.. maybe that could be... it would be nice to have an option to kill regen when coasting and maintain it for braking IMO.

What happens when the battery is fully charged? I assume the regen system is still operational, so how and when does the extra energy get discarded?