Thinking About a Prius

[Husker4theSpurs]

I won't be doing any long commutes with the Prius, but rather many short 5 minute trips most likely along with highway driving. How much does this hurt the fuel economy? I know generally it performs best when it can "warm up" for 20 minutes or so around town.

Any other info you can give me to talk me into buying would be great

[jboaa]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Husker4theSpurs @ Apr 11 2007, 03:53 PM) [snapback]421587[/snapback]</div>

I won't be doing any long commutes with the Prius, but rather many short 5 minute trips most likely along with highway driving. How much does this hurt the fuel economy? I know generally it performs best when it can "warm up" for 20 minutes or so around town.

Any other info you can give me to talk me into buying would be great
[/b]

I LOVE my Prius. I do a lot of short trips in town, and generally get 50.4 mpg. And it is a bit better on the highway at usually 52.4. We take a few long trips a year (1200 miles round trip, plus all the running while there) and this has been wonderful for us.

We went from a mini van to the Prius. We have 3 kids, my husband and myself. It is roomy, and we have enough space to put our luggage. We are taking another trip next month, and are going to haul a lot of juice with us (MonaVie) to deliver to family and friends, since I am now a distributor. And have to say, the car is a VERY CUTE advertising billboard. Not too mention, better for the environment, that is FAR more important to my family than the gas mileage. However, who can complain about THAT? We will definately buy another one, we have not had any problems with this one, we love love love it.

[MegansPrius]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Husker4theSpurs @ Apr 11 2007, 03:53 PM) [snapback]421587[/snapback]</div>

I won't be doing any long commutes with the Prius, but rather many short 5 minute trips most likely along with highway driving. How much does this hurt the fuel economy? I know generally it performs best when it can "warm up" for 20 minutes or so around town.

Any other info you can give me to talk me into buying would be great
[/b]

Generally it takes about 5 minutes to warm up, and if it's really a concern, you can install an engine block heater (a Toyota Canada Prius part) that warms the engine with the car plugged in while sitting in your driveway. Look in the fuel economy forum and you'll see plenty of threads with mileage tips.

[CMonster]

My trips are all short, and I average 48 MPG.

Aside from fuel economy & reduced emissions the other reasons to buy one are subjective. If you test drive it and like it, that's enough reason to buy one.

[priussoris]

We use ours in the morning for a 6 mile round trip 35mph and then again at night, some small inclines and our average mpg is anywhere from 45 to 55 mpg.
It beats the 13 mpg our jeep gave us. so thats another reason to buy
plus it is fun I got it for the wife but I like it so much I take her to work and I can drive it all day no wonder we have 2800 miles in a month..
has a great warranty on battery pack and rust/corrosion, low emissions, LOOKS GREAT. LESS FILLING

oh sorry that was a beer commercial.
anyway it is fun and seems very pratical I have ordered the engine block heater because of the short trips in the AM.
plus all the nice prius owners you get to know here.

Craig

[EricGo]

Husker4theSpurs, welcome to PC

Reasonable question, to be sure.

But first, to clarify the underlying issue: short trips do NOT decrease mpg in the Prius by a huge amount*. Running the engine cold does, until it warms up. So if your short trips are spaced by enough time, and the weather is cold enough so that the engine and lubricants are cold by the time you drive off again, then overall mpg in the high 30's or low 40's may be seen.

If these mpg numbers seem way off the 55ish we expect based on average EPA, just remember that the same thing happens in a non hybrid, only worse. Worse, because the Prius has a thermos that recycles heat, allowing it to warm up quicker. Do you know what your current vehicle's mpg is ? (NOT EPA). Compare that to about 40 mpg in a Prius as a worse case scenario if you expect the engine is cold before each short drive.
If your goal is to figure out how much money or fuel savings different cars will result in, figure out the ratio of (your mpg in your current car)/(your current car's EPA mpg), and apply that ratio to the EPA to other car's you are considering as a best guess of actual mpg of each car in your hands with your local conditions. In a strange bit of irony, as the mpg's of each car decrease by the same percentage due to cold engine starts or whatever, the total amount of fuel saved *increases* for the higher mpg vehicle. You will not hear GM advertising this, but it is true nonetheless.

One last, sometimes overlooked point: The car heater, and particularly the defroster, are energy hogs, and the Prius is about the same as other cars in regards to this component's efficiency. So if your short drive means a cold engine with the heater/defroster on, then the Prius advantage will be at it's nadir. My winter mpg has gone up about 5 mpg since I figured this last part out. But I rely on the dry air in our high desert climate to keep the windows defrosted, and bundle up, because I allow it to be cold in the car until the engine has heated up.

My personal opinion: At least for me, the Prius is a competitive choice vs other models *even* if the mpg is identical. I say this based on styling, my demand for a hatchback model, the car's superb reliability, ergonomics, finish, ride, PZEV status, and price. For the first time ever, I saw a lease deal that made me salivate: A prius for about $250/month -- for just long enough to reach the next model year when plug-ins are expected. I don't know if it still going on, but if it is I recommend checking it out.

*Each time the car is restarted, it goes through a 4 phase heat up sequence to optimize the catalytic converter efficiency. But this sequence is very quick if the engine and cat are already warm, so the net affect on mpg can be quite low.

[queenie]

I live in south-central Wisconsin and have been driving my Prius for just short of two years. My daily commute is about 10 minutes and most of my driving is short trips within the city.

I'm currently getting about 40 MPG with temps in the 30s. My mileage dropped to about 30 MPG during the really frigid weather this winter (single digits and below).

Last summer, I was averaging around 50-54 MPG. My averages were a bit less the first summer (between 45 and 50 MPG as I recall).

Usually get 55-58 on infrequent trips I take out of town. These trips are through several small towns so varying speeds throughout the hour-and-a-half trip and through hilly areas.

[Darken]

Wow! See what kind of great information can pop up from a simple question. In my limited experience I haven't seen a large drop in MPG on short vs medium trips. True you will read that it takes time for the ICE to warm..etc. All in all though you still should see some great MPG on all of your trips using the many techniques out there.

All in all test drive the car and see if you like it as a vehicle, if you find that you do the rest of the features are all a verg big bonus!

[Pinto Girl]

The way I see it, every car takes a mpg hit when it's used for short trips; I drive my Prius about three miles (six miles round trip) to the transit station every day and am averaging approximately 41mpg, which seems pretty good to me.

I really like four-door hatchbacks, so the Prius was a natural for me...the hybrid drive initially was an unknown, but has proven itself at least as 'natural-feeling' as a conventionally powered automobile with an automatic transmission. It's not perfect, but it's definintely growing on me.

Not having the engine idling in traffic, I think, has reduced my blood pressure by five points. I *love* this about my Prius and am still surprised that, initially, it didn't seem like a big deal to me at all.

[JimN]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Husker4theSpurs @ Apr 11 2007, 02:53 PM) [snapback]421587[/snapback]</div>

I won't be doing any long commutes with the Prius, but rather many short 5 minute trips most likely along with highway driving. How much does this hurt the fuel economy? I know generally it performs best when it can "warm up" for 20 minutes or so around town.

Any other info you can give me to talk me into buying would be great
[/b]

You can minimize the cold engine mpg hit by blocking the grill (for next to $0) or adding a block heater. At its worst it is still much better than just about every other car out there.