Well, I've started "mall walking". It's a very short drive to the local mall, about 3 km. It's been between -14C and -20C here lately and I've been leaving the A/C system on "auto", and leaving it on at lights because I don't want to shiver uncontrollably. I've also not been using the block heater. Sooo, the MFD tells me I'm driving a "gas guzzler". It's reading 7.3 l/100 km on the current tank! That's 32 MPG US or 39 MPG imperial! I've never seen it so bad. Glug glug!
Now imagine if you were driving a V8! We sold our 12 MPG Tahoe for the Prius and love it. Even in you situation, you're doing better than almost everyone else out there on the road and I hope I'm never in that -20C weather in my life.
that's nothing ! Here in Quebec my wife did use the Prius to go to the mall about 2 miles away a couple of times in the past weeks, with no EBH she got 10L/100km (23.5 US MPG) Myself, I drive 9 miles to and back from work and there are some hills. Using EBH and sometime I try not to use to much of engine heat by using warmer clothing. I'm now at 7.0L/100km (34 US MPG) for the current tank. Short trips in cold weather are really killing the mileage. However, like Branndon said, it is still a LOT better then regular "gaz guzzler" like my 2003 Honda CR-V that gets 16 MPG in the same conditions Whatever the situation, nothing even come close to the Prius. Prius FE FTW !!!!!!!!!:rockon:
Guzzler. You need to buy better Winter clothing and walk that 3 km to the local mall. Your mileage would spring way upward in a big hurry. -14 to -20C isn't life threatening, unless you're wearing shorts and sandals or you're from southern California!! :smow:
I love it, I know expectations and reality for Prius is much higher than regular ICE automobiles but 32mpg....in that cold a climate, with that short a drive that's still amazing gas mileage. I can tell you as a 1993 Honda driver, if I could get 32mpg in the winter I'd be thrilled.
I'm just a bit to the East of you David and my mileage drops like a rock in the winter too. I easily get 7.0 L/100km or worse mileage in the winter (33mpg US), that's a per-tank rating. Worst tank ever was 8.6 L/100km (27mpg US). Just one of the great things about living in the Prairies in the winter... LOL. What was your best tank David? Mine was last summer, I managed 4.8 L/100km (or 49mpg US). And I've done that just once in the nearly 2 years I've owned my car.
It's not just the cold. It is the commute. I live in (usually) sunny San Diego. My commute to work is 2 miles, down one hill, up another, 5 lights. It knock me as low as 37-38/mpg sometimes. My old commute was perfect in the 10m range, then I was mid 40's.
What kind of temperatures are you operating in to drop your mpg to 8.6L/100km? And what speeds? Tire pressures? I can't say that I use my Prius all the time during Winter, since road crews in Maine tend to put down so much salt, that sometimes it looks like there's more salt than snow on the blacktop! I'm sometimes prone to hyperbole, but not much in this case, unfortunately. So we usually wait until the roads clear, but then we're driving during the the coldest weather. My worst MFD indicated average has been 46 mpg (US). My wife can nudge it down to 44 mpg if she tries hard enough. That's in cold weather. On a trip south probably 5 years ago, under ideal early morning weather conditions on I-95, I fell behind a trio of first gen Audi TTs that were obviously running together. I was admiring them... all super clean and doing around 75 mph. I followed them for a few miles and then one pulled out and took off, and the others followed. It was mid week in South Carolina, so I decided to see if the Prius would keep up. My wife was working, lap top on lap. I asked her how fast she thought we were going. She answered 85. I told her to look at the speedometer... it was indicating 107 and the MFD was telling us 37 to 39 mpg instantaneous. We had a pretty good load on board and a full tank of gas, too. That was about the time I really understood what great aerodynamics this car actually has. But that is the lowest steady state mileage I have so far noted. That sprint only lasted about 3 miles, when my courage ran out. Somehow, hearing a local State Trooper tell me I was in a heap of trouble, just wasn't what I wanted. That same TT threesome passed me again later that day, since they probably had to stop for gas. It was all very cool. All that said, we really drive the Prius gently. When I get to drive it, my tank averages are 46 to 50 in the Winter and 52 to 55 in Summer. My wife does a couple of miles per gallon lower on average. It mostly has to do with her route to work and driving style. Sometime, I'd like to take her to work to see what I would get under those same conditions.
As for walking to the mall, it's pretty dangerous (slippery). Nobody seems to think the law of keeping the walk in front of their house clear applies to them. So I drive. Best tank was from Hope BC to Courtney on Vancouver Island in the summer. I got a calculated 4.1 l/100km. But it was only one tank so I can't really claim it's accurate. The next tank was 4.4. And I am being silly here. The anti-Prius (2001 Nissan Pathfinder LE AWD) got 17-19 l/100 km in similar conditions. So Pearl does well even when you try to burn gas.
David Beale wrote: "I don't want to shiver uncontrollably snip Short trips in cold weather are really killing the mileage." While I make a number of longer drives too, I have on many days the need to drive 1.5 miles or so, park for an hour or so, and then drive back home. And, I'm one of those people who tends to feel the cold go right through me. I've used a seat heater which helps quite a bit. While I actually have one built in under my Katzkin seats, it warms up too slowly. So, I use a strap-on one and it warms quickly. I know the electrical draw ultimately means lower mpg, but it is a short trip so that the overall mpg damage is relatively limited. And, with the seat heater on, I don't really rely on the car's heating system.
Two things - I don't know that leaving the A/C system on does you any good because the engine is too cold to give you heat anyway. But the defrost will keep the windshield clear anyway. I use the EBH, have a 2.8 mile (4.5km) commute. I'm comfortable with cold weather, I'll drive with gloves on when it's in temps like you mention, but often the windows start fogging over (more so at slightly higher temps - about -5C or 20'sF) and then I have to turn the fan on. I've been tracking numbers and haven't put them in a spreadsheet yet, but it looks like the EBH improves my mileage about 15-20% for a 2.8 mile commute to work. (I can't plug in at work, so the trip home sucks). I can average about 37 mpg in the coldest weather. (I get over 50 in the summer, but that has fewer short trips). But in the end, it's not the mpg's that matter, it's the gpm (gallons per month). I used to have a longer commute and had better mileage, but with the shorter commute I use less total fuel. I've used 10 or 11 gallons so far this year (includes a couple 30-mile trips). When summer comes I can ride my bike to work, and my Prius will go a good 5 weeks between fill-ups. I think the important question you're missing is 'how far' (which was already answered). If you're only going a few miles, the other factors you mention don't really matter because the engine hasn't gotten to its efficient operating temperature yet and that outweighs everything.
Well I feel a little better for my 42.4 mpg average since November mostly due to my 3x/week 45 mile drive at 74mph...:cheer2:
I don't turn on my climate control until the car warms up significantly... Even then -- if i'm approaching a light, in the canadian -10 or colder weather, I normally turn the climate off as I approach a light, otherwise I find the ICE running alot, then when I move off -- I just turn it back on.
