Very confused about fuel economy - please help

At those 70…90MPH speeds Prius is probably saving only about 0,5l/100km or 3MPG of fuel compared to focus. Prius can and will save gas compared to regular car even if engine is on 100% of time. City driving will save you a lot of gas compared to focus.

What fuel consumption do you get with your focus? What engine does it have?

Prius is one of the most reliable cars.
But it has problems too:
Engine may use oil if it’s driven a lot. But this isn’t a problem unless you forget to check it.
12V battery and two water pumps are pretty cheap.
HV-battery is more expensive but it will probably last 200Tmiles or 300tkm or maybe around 12years but its life depends on lot of stuff. Age and kilometers/miles both mater. Terrain around where it’s driven will effect a lot. If its mountains battery gets to two and 8 bars a lot and will have shorter life. If your car sits for months battery may get damaged from that. If it hot then battery will wear quicker. You should use ac then because it will also cool battery. And then luck has role in it also.

 

Hi Gid, welcome to Priuschat.

To be honest, you can get good fuel economy at 60 mph, but at those speeds, you are not going to get the best that the Prius can do. Whether you will do better than your Focus, maybe.

A couple of things that would concern me, driving up and down mountains (what elevation will you ascend and descend to?) at those speeds and the heat. The climb and descent, per se, are not a problem to the Prius, especially if they are not steep gradients, but going 90 mph might be pushing it. Heat is the enemy of batteries, therefore you will need to use the A/C to keep the car (and batteries) cool. This will impact on your FE. Also, you will need to have a strategy to keep the car cool when not in use.

Yes, the Prius is a very reliable car and reasonably cheap to maintain. Just choose your car wisely to get a good well maintained example.

Do you know of anyone with a Prius, and how common are they in Israel?

I hope this helps to get the ball rolling.

 

I'll save you some money and won't charge for my advice.

Slow down. It isn't brain surgery. You're hammering a Focus at 90 mph up hills and then complain it's destroying your bank balance. A Prius will destroy your bank balance in just the same way driving like that UP hills. The problem isn't the choice of car, it's your driving.

You've got to work out which is more important to you; saving a couple minutes of time driving at that speed or slowing down and saving money. The choice is yours. Whether you choose to take it is upto you.

 

Welcome to PC

As stated already, it's the heavy right foot that's the issue. The Prius is not the car to be driving at 70-90mph. A diesel car would be more suit to those speeds achieving better mpg than the Prius, if you shoose to keep hammerig along at 70+mph. If you kept it at a max of 60, the Prius will save you alot.

 

The Prius isn't for you. You appear to have an enthusiastic driving manner. Nothing wrong with that but you'll not achieve great fuel economy.

The Prius isn't magic and prefers to be driven in a steady fashion to get the great economy that it's more than capable of. There are many posts in this forum about people who drive hard and complain they're not getting 70 mpg.

Tony D is right. With your driving style and the apparent fact that you don't wish to change it, a large diesel engined car will probably be more suitable. Israel seem to have a lot of European cars so you shouldn't have a problem sourcing one.

Good luck.

 

Everything that was written above is 100% spot on. Especially what Grumpy Cabbie just said. Try slowing down some. Life is short, take the time to smell the roses. If you are speeding, you need to leave earlier. Less wear and tear on your car, you, the roadways, and your peers. Best thing to cause road rage out there is two or more impatient drivers who are late to their appointment. Now multiply that by thousands and you get the general idea.

Prius will save you money if you "drive it" to save money. It will also cost you if you drive it accordingly.

It is really all in YOUR personal driving habits. Anyone can achieve excellent fuel economy of their vehicles if they will follow one simple rule. Slow down, and go with the flow. Jack Rabbit starts and quick stops destroy MPG. Smooth and steady is the way to go. If you get a Prius, learn about how to hyper mile. Then you will meet and or beat the estimated EPA ratings.

Mountains, flatlands, country, it is all the same. It boils down to how you drive.

Peace,
Ron (dorunron)

 

GDD, FWIW if you will modify your driving habits slightly and get yourself a Prius you might find you will never go back to traditional ICE or diesel vehicles. Prius is radically different, but also unique in many ways.

Second Prius Owner here. Have watched and researched this jewel ever since it first appeared on the planet decades ago.

Forgot to say "Welcome to Prius Chat!"

Peace,
Ron (dorunron)

 

Again, it is all in your driving habits. I loaded ours real heavy just a week or so ago and took a road trip across the mountains here in the USA. Got excellent MPG, but also drove slowly. Others who travel the same roads on a daily basis do drive faster than I do (foreigner) All in all Prius will handle whatever you throw it with stride. It is a amazing product. I use ours regularly to haul heavy and bulky items also. Amazing what can be placed in the back end, especially when you fold the back seats down.

It really is all about how you drive, not what you drive...

Ron

Can't speak for GC about "moron". But will say this. Not a moron, just not educated about Prius. Trust me on this, they are great cars.

Ron

 

It's the best way to be. Much better than being grumpy

Back to subject. The Prius is a 99 bhp petrol engine with an additional electric motor which combined produces a maximum of 134 bhp.

The Prius handles hills fine but if they are long steep hills it does seem to run out of steam. It depends on the hill. There is a motorway near me with a steep hill for about 15 miles and that really tests the Prius. It will keep up at 80 mph happily but economy bombs. As others have said, the Prius is different. It keeps up with traffic and does all the things you'd want of a car, and then some. It will chill you out as a driver and the very fact you're considering one shows you're open minded. You'll enjoy the smooth, quiet ride in town - turn the a/c off, wind the window down and silence - bliss. No clattering of a diesel, no rumble of a petrol, just nice n quiet peace. The a/c also works when the engine is off (the engine will fire up if the battery gets low) so you can keep your cool and save money.

If you can get a test drive I think that'll answer your concerns. I was sceptical at first when I went for a test drive and took a chance. I now would be very reluctant to go back to a traditional car. I used to drive for a living and had a very heavy right foot - I dare not tell you how I drove! You must at least test drive a Prius but don't be too alarmed at fuel economy figures at first as it takes time to work the car out to achieve the best from it.

Go for it.

 

The atkinson cycle used in the Prius and some other hybrids, is more efficient (in MPG) than traditional Otto cycle gas engines at part throttle cruising. It almost reaches diesel like efficiency at low throttle settings. (the cost to all this part throttle efficiency is low HP for any given displacement)

Your initial post makes it sound as if you never drive at part throttle. So many told you the car cannot help, it can, but the engine can't.

The Prius is still one of the most aerodynamic cars sold, (unless you 'need' to alter any component on the outside of your vehicle) and, insanely, the faster you drive the more that would help.

The Prius has a single speed, constantly engaged transmission, as you might guess, that means certain compromises in its design. In the Gen 2, the electric motors can solely power the car up to 42 MPH, above that the gas engine must run, even downhill when you don't need the HP. The top speed of 112 MPH is due to RPM limits for the electric motors. above 62 MPH the gas engine runs faster than it may need to for HP, just to protect the electric motors RPM limits. (most of this was addressed in gen3)

The battery can give an additional 67 HP boost to the gas engine (76 HP) mostly at low speeds, Toyota rates it at 110 HP combined. Electric motors produce maximum torque at 0 RPM, so low speed acceleration is not bad at all. But the battery, which can cruise at 29 MPH for about a mile all by itself, is going to run out on a long enough hill, and you will have just 76 HP. (In the US, this is only really a concern getting over the continental divide)

Above 75, the diesel will beat the Atkinson engine, above 65 the transmission is not being used in its best range, below about 50 aerodynamics won't help. Below 43, a variety of driving styles can help, pulse and glide most famously.

The longer each commute is, the better the car warms up, so your MPG will still be rising at 50 miles. with the car warmed up and the battery charged, the car has plenty of choices when your commute slows at the end of your trip. After a good deal of practice you can help it make the best choices, but many new owners try to help without a clear idea how, and get lower MPG than if they just drove it like a regular car.

My best advice, rent a Prius for a week. Fill it up at the start and at the end and do your math. That is the MPG you would get if you owned a Prius. Not what is advertised, not what I would get on a 150 mile long flat plain, what YOU get.

 

Welcome to the forum.

Great advice...test drive one, or even see if any of your co workers or friends/family have a Prius.

Another thing you can do in the meantime is see if you can adjust yourself to kick it down a notch
with your focus. Try to take it easy on your foot.
How is your mpg compared to the epa est?
See if you can get it better by driving it a little easier.
You may get 10% higher just from that.
If you can do that for a week, then it will be a good transition to a Prius.

 

Maybe not. YOu might be able to get significant savings with your present car by keeping it at or below 70 too.

I was going to suggest a plugin hybrid but if you can't control your "need for speed" even that might turn out to be disappointing.
It's a trade off; there is no free ride.

 

But you gotta pop back and let us all know how you got on and what findings you made

 

אחי!!

Hello friend. What kind of mountains are we talking about? Where is your commute too and from - Jerusalem? Haifa? Golan?

Even if you keep the pedal to the floor up small mountains, a Prius will do better on gas than your Ford Focus, it'll do really well going down hill, and do much better when you are in city traffic. Also, just to confirm, you are going 70-90 miles per hour? Not kilometers?

Of course, if you slow down a little, or keep the pedal down a reasonable amount and slowly reduce or maintain speed while going up the hill (they call it Driving with Load around here), you'll save a lot of gas, in any car.

Is there a reason why you were recommended the Gen II Prius? The Gen III would do even better, particularly up hills. It would cost more to purchase, but being newer, would also be less likely for things to go wrong.

As was suggested, I'd also recommend renting one. Reset one of the trip meters before you drive and it'll tell you your gas mileage for that trip. One day, drive to and from work the way you usually do. The next day, drive a little slower up the hills, and see the difference. Do a little math and see if the savings are worth getting a different car.

בהצלחה!!

 

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