2007 Prius base milage

Hard to tell without knowing the conditions of the drive and car, but in general I would say that's pretty low unless you were doing over 80MPH for the trip. Check the tire pressures and make sure they're at least what the door sticker says (many here prefer higher for better handling and/or MPGs). Hopefully they're LRR tires.
Were you trying to do anything like stay in EV mode, or just driving it like a normal car? Driving it like a normal car is generally the best thing to do when you're new to the Prius, as many of the things people do to try to increase mileage actually hurts it (like using EV too much/at the wrong times). There are many threads and websites that discuss driving the Prius for maximum MPGs. This video is a good intro (your car doesn't have the HSI, but the same concepts apply).

 

It depends a lot on the type of driving you're doing. If all your trips are short (less than 10 minutes), your average is about expected. If you can do trip lengths of >20 minutes, you should have no trouble getting into the 40s and 50s. Practice some hypermiling techniques and you can get 60+.

 

Enjoy the car, and Welcome!

My parents and I each have 2007 package 1s as well.

Probably the most effective hypermiling strategies are pulse-and-glide and driving-with-load (DWL). Also practice finding and holding the spot in the go-pedal stroke where energy flow is near zero (for coasting).

Pulse-and-glide:

Driving with Load:
Video Series: Driving for fuel economy: Driving with load (DWL) | Green Lights Hudson Valley

List of all kinds of techniques to consider:
100+ Hypermiling / ecodriving tips & tactics for better mpg - EcoModder.com


Disclaimer: Traffic safety should always be the priority. No staring at the energy flow screen!

 

you really can't tell what your average mpg 's are until you fill the tank a few times and calculate it out. all the best!

 

Tanglefoot pretty much hit the nail on the head with all their advice given.

Bear in mind it will take a while to discard your old driving style and become an expert in hyper-mile driving techniques BUT you will get the hang of it.

Keep studiously reading every thread on the subject on PriusChat and you'll soon be routinely getting high MPGs.

iPad ? HD

 

32-35 seems kind of low for a highway drive ... is it uphill both ways?

We'd be hard pressed to maintain under 40 .. and we're usually on the highway at 75 or so.

 

Don't forget to reset the mpg average when trying different techniques. It doesn't reset automatically with a fuel refill like the mile counter next to it.

I agree--that mileage is pretty low for a longer drive.

A few things to try:

Inflate the tires to 42 psi front/40 psi rear.
Try only using the climate control conservatively in manual mode, not in auto mode.
Keep the windows closed at higher speeds (use enough climate control to stay comfortable).
Sometimes the parking brake is adjusted too tight. Lift a back wheel off the ground and see how much effort it takes to turn it (with the parking brake off). It should spin easily.
Inspect the tires to see if they're wearing evenly, especially the fronts. It's an indication of alignment, which can affect mpg.

How do your 5-minute yellow mpg bars look on the consumption screen? It's typical for the first bar to be around 25 mpg, the next bar to be ~40 and the third and subsequent bars to be 50 or higher.

Another technique I forgot to mention is "driving without brakes". It doesn't mean rear-ending everyone, it's a focus on awareness of traffic speeds far ahead and minimizing the use of the brake pedal by anticipating stops and slow-downs, getting off the power early and coasting instead.

 

Please let us know what tyres are fitted to the car with as much detail as possible. Tyre pressures also make a big difference, suggest 40 psi front 38 psi rear, or even higher.

Size (eg) 185/60/15
Make (eg) Michelin
Model name of tyre or type numbers and letters (eg) Energy saver AS

John (Britprius)

 

Avoid unnecessary "jack rabbit" take offs. Especially if you're clearly gonna be braking up ahead. On a clear highway, get up to speed quickly (but not like you're drag racing), and then maintain a steady speed by feathering that "fly by wire" throttle pedal. Ditto on the settings for climate control; I mirror what Tanglefoot said. What tyres do you have installed?
Finally, all advice regarding driving do not in anyway suggest that your driving is at fault. Indeed, you might be doing the right thing already.
Just trying to help

 

EV mode, or "golf cart mode" is best used strategically. More is not always better. Use it only for short periods at times of low power demand, such as rolling slowly on flat ground, gliding down a slight grade, crawling in heavy traffic, etc. You don't want to be using large amounts of energy with the electric drive with the engine off, as this reduces efficiency and can reduce the life of the HV battery.

That's not too bad of a tank total. With the short commute, you probably won't see optimal fuel economy. One thing you could try is at start-up, let the gasoline engine run until it stops before you start driving. For short, low-speed commutes, it may help to get the powertrain into the later warm-up stages sooner for better averages on the rest of the drive.

 

The 5-minte bars make it look like you should be averaging higher than 37. You have pressed the "reset" button in the lower-right of the screen, haven't you? Some observations are that your first 5-minute bar is lower than I've seen, you have more regeneration than I'm used to, and it's unusual for the battery display to be at all-green (8 bars) when on the flats, in traffic. Does it do that often?

You are driving in "D" on the shifter, and not in "B", correct?

The numerous regeneration emblems (green cars) indicate you are using the brake pedal considerably. Try holding back on the speed and anticipate stops better so you reduce the amount of braking.

What are your first 5 minutes of driving like? Is there a hill climb?

 

Hmm. This is a head-scratcher.

It's very odd that the HV battery is all green most of the time. That usually only happens after a long and/or steep descent. It should be between 1/3 and 2/3 most of the time. You might pay more attention to that battery level as you drive (but still keep your eyes on the road). How quickly does it change? If you climb a hill, it should drop, but not too fast (maybe a bar every minute or two of climbing).

B-mode on the shifter helps the car manage excess energy when going down long/steep descents. Don't use it for normal driving--it reduces fuel economy (it's wasteful with electrical energy).

I don't know. You have fuel efficient tires. Your commute probably isn't optimal for fuel economy, but I imagine it should be doing better. If you have the opportunity for a different route, reset the average and take a drive that's 25+ minutes out in the open, where you can maintain 40-55 mph for a while and see how it averages. You might also try resetting the average after the car's been driving 10 minutes, so you cut the warm-up period out, just to see what numbers that produces.