City MPG and enthusiastic driving?

Bob Wilson

 

Given that the OP was asking about city driving, that chart isn't likely to apply; the main detriment of city driving is all the starts and stops, even when you have regenerative braking to help capture some of the otherwise lost energy. Fuel economy is much more likely to be affected by how fast you brake (possibly exceeding the regeneration capability), as well as how fast you accelerate, and whether you coast towards a red light, or if you keep your speed up and go straight from accelerator to brake.

That said, I've known people that regularly get 30 mpg or less on a Prius. That takes a special breed of driver, however. (Or a particularly short/uphill/bad commute. But I'm talking about drivers that manage to get 30 mpg where the rest of us get 45-55.)

 

This is the question I was answering:

This is a different question:

Individual and repeating Prius mileage is a complex relationship with these variables:

• vehicle set
• route set
• driving style set

When the user asks specific questions like these, it will be a lot easier to provide detailed answers:

• What can I do to my Prius to get better MPG?
• What is the best way to travel between point A and B for best MPG?
• What Prius driving techniques would optimize MPG for the above?

But I would always recommend the user do A-B-A testing by changing one variable at a time and measuring the effect. There can be subtle, independent variables that are sometimes difficult to describe in a posting of reasonable size. The key is establishing a dialog and working through the options until an optimum solution is reached.

Bob Wilson