Uphill vs. downhill makes the biggest difference

[PriusRos]

Originally Posted by Rokeby

PriusRos,

It may be better to come down the ramps in EV!

This is counterintuitive, but when you consider how the HSD works it
makes enough sense at least to give it a try.

Disclaimer: my experience is in my Gen II with after-market EV
switch. I hope it is relevant here.

As soon as the ICE starts, the HSD's first priority is to get the car
operating to produce minimum polution. It does this by running the ICE
rich which ultimtely leads to quick warm-up of the catalytic converter.
So, like it or not, the first minutes and miles produce very low MPGs.
One way to work with this unpleasant truth is to set things up so that
you are at least making some mileage while the MPG numbers are
low.

I don't know if there is a discretionary use EV switch in the Gen III.
If there is, engaging EV mode to get out of the garage will suppress the
engine coming on and you won't be using either fuel or SOC and your MPGs
don't take as big a hit! It works for me anyway.

As soon as you get out of the garage, drop out of EV so you don't run
down the SOC and incur the attendant recovery costs.

I've tried -- it won't go into EV on start-up. I could be mistaken, but I don't think EV will work when you first start up regardless of how much charge the battery has.

[Rokeby]

Originally Posted by PeteJE

There is an EV switch/mode, but discretionary is up to the car, not the
driver. There are many conditions where the car does not allow it -
one of them is when cold. I can never get it to work first thing after a
long cooling off period.

Originally Posted by PriusRos

I've tried -- it won't go into EV on start-up. I could be mistaken, but I
don't think EV will work when you first start up regardless of how
much charge the battery has.

Well, there you have it. General Gen II knowledge doesn't always map
across to the Gen III. I hope that I haven't wasted your time.

As Bob Wilson has pointed out, you are in the first days of discovering
the minutiae of how the Gen III operating algorithms work. In all the
years of the Gen II thre are still many questions and mysteries despite
the work of Bob, Hobbit, et al.

To all the Gen III explorers, investigators, and de-mystifiers, keep up
the good work.

[PeteJE]

No waste of time, I like all the help and understanding I can get. There will be many here trying to learn; some stuff old news to most others here, and some stuff new to Gen III.

TeamPrius showed the demographics of sales here.... lots of first time hybrid owners with the gen III (I am one).

Originally Posted by Rokeby

Well, there you have it. General Gen II knowledge doesn't always map
across to the Gen III. I hope that I haven't wasted your time.

As Bob Wilson has pointed out, you are in the first days of discovering
the minutiae of how the Gen III operating algorithms work. In all the
years of the Gen II thre are still many questions and mysteries despite
the work of Bob, Hobbit, et al.

To all the Gen III explorers, investigators, and de-mystifiers, keep up
the good work.

[PriusRos]

Originally Posted by Rokeby

Well, there you have it. General Gen II knowledge doesn't always map
across to the Gen III. I hope that I haven't wasted your time.

Not a waste of time at all. You had an idea that made sense ... except that the Gen III EV switch is very picky about when it will let one use it!

[EternityInBlack]

Much like the OP, I live in an area that's very hilly - in both the side-streets and the highways. I've managed to increase my mpg from what I started with at the dealership (40mpg) and have it hover around 41.3-41.9mpg. The constant need for acceleration on the uphill climb is what I've discovered that drops the mpg. Also, it doesn't help that the on-ramp to the freeway heading to work is a long uphill climb.

I'm going to try and see if I can increase my mpg today by avoiding the freeway altogether and using the side streets heading home as the uphill/downhill isn't as bad. I'm curious to see how the mpg would react to this change.

[SR1227]

EV can work at start up, if you have enough charge. The car will need a few secs to initialize before the EV will engage. So I just keep pressing the button every sec or so until it lights up. Just be sure to engage it before the ICE starts warming up. No going back after that happens. Then, you just have to make sure you're going less than 10mph on those garage ramps. It will kick you out of EV if you go over 10, although I haven't tested that limit with a no-gas free-roll condition.

[LoraJ]

Going to work today, which has a few hills going up including a pretty good sized one (for a city area), I got 43mpg. Coming home we got 65mpg.

[PriusRos]

Originally Posted by LoraJ

Going to work today, which has a few hills going up including a pretty good sized one (for a city area), I got 43mpg. Coming home we got 65mpg.

The other thing you'll find is that a low mpg for one stretch brings the average down much faster and lower than a high mpg over a similar distance brings it up! Darn those mathematical laws!

[LoraJ]

Originally Posted by PriusRos

The other thing you'll find is that a low mpg for one stretch brings the average down much faster and lower than a high mpg over a similar distance brings it up! Darn those mathematical laws!

Yup!
My mpg for the tank is finally out of the 30's and is now 42. Tomorrow I am going to track our whole commute together.

[Kapena Gary]

This is a very good thread. I have about 1,500 miles so far and usually drive short distances (with AC on almost always) and notice that because of the ICE running to heat up the catalytic converter my MGP is fairly low for half the trip which so far results in around 45-49 MPG.

But on longer trips, like 100 to the airport, I can easily get 52-55 MPG. I really think the warm really hurts MPG but once you get beyond the warm up period great milage is possible.

PS - First Prius, absolutley love it.

And the members here are so loaded with great information. Thanks to all.