What is the average mpg of Prius in SFO?

....also moderate winter should help MPG...but hills are not good in the overall scheme because there is loss of energy if you have to take charge/discharge losses, better if you have levelness. Let's see what the residents say.

 

But you have to go up those hills too. It probably evens out in the long run.

 

The motor can provide the torque, but they have to overcome gravity as well. There are some very steep hills and I can't imagine trying to use EV on most of them successfully.

 

Short trips in the city - 35-40 MPG winter - 40-45 MPG summer. Using the 2008 Gen II.
About 4-5 MPG more with the 2010 Gen III.

 

I have checked fuel loses on a long climb and then turned around and drove back to where I started and I have yet to get my average back to where it was at the start of the climb. I find this puzzling but it's a fact! H

 

I just got my 2013 Prius 4 yesterday and drove around SF from the Ferry Building to the Outer Sunset district to where I live. Its roughly a 6-7 mile drive. I believe when I shutdown the car I averaged 27 mpg - there wasn't much traffic but keeping it in the "eco" range is truely difficult on some of those hills. You'd be crawling and annoying everyone behind you.

That being said, I used to average about 19 on my Honda Fit Sport...so I'd say this is a good improvement. I should have tried to use EV mode...I'm sure the battery would be out of juice way before the 1 mile mark...haha.

 

Mine is in eco mode 100% off the time. Once you get used to driving in eco its not bad? Stay in eco for big savings. H

 

Mine is in POWER mode all the time. ECO reminds me of my old 1980's VW Diesel. A Slug on wheels.

 

I don't live in SFO, but in a similarly hilly town. My perception is that hills hurt more than they help, so long as you always have to climb back up. The best conditions I've seen for regen is a traffic jam where traffic moves from stopped to 40 mph or so (Getting there very slowly) and then back to stopped repeatedly. I don't encounter those conditions too often where I live but when I have, it seems like my battery charge hardly changes.

 

I drove to work today all within SF (Sunset to AT&T Park). In comparison to my old car: 2008 Honda Fit Sport...I averaged 41.6 MPG with the Prius vs. 18 MPG with my fit (range: 14-18mpg).
Traffic was lighter today but that's when I achieved 18 MPG with the Fit.

 

Generally speaking, you spend a lot of energy climbing those hills, and don't get all of it back with regeneration coming down the other side (efficiency losses). However, your brakes will last a lot longer because of the regen braking compared to a conventional car's friction braking, so there is some savings there.

My mileage always plummets when I have to drive into San Francisco.

 

In general, driving hilly roads in any car is more efficient than flat roads. Hills are a forced "pulse and glide", which is a very efficient way to travel. That said, it isn't very efficient if there is a lot of stop and go on these hills.

As for regen, I've heard it's about 30% efficient at recovering energy. That means the vast majority of the energy is still lost to heat. Driving without brakes is always more efficient, regardless of regen.

Also, it's way more efficient to use the gasoline motor to supply energy instead of relying on the electric motor. There is a big loss in energy when the motor has to run harder to charge the battery back up.

 

Not my experience at all. Sorry to disagree with you on this point. Love all the rest of the stuff in your post, though.

 

49.1mpg to work today (22 minutes, 7 miles)...either im driving more efficiently (highly doubt it) or my car is getting more efficient with more miles put on it. Either way, very happy.

 

He should have suggested that hilly roads can be more efficient that flat roads, but this very highly dependent on the particular circumstances and terrain and driving style. Success is generally associated with shallow descents appropriate for gliding with little or no braking, little traffic interference, and driving styles that take advantage of descending glides but don't induce pulses on flat lands.

My SF visits were long before my hypermiling days, but I seen to remember many hills too steep for proper glides. And lots of traffic interference. The lightly traveled, rolling hills of the Palouse in eastern WA state are a much better example of where this can work.

 

Think of the fun you could have with a Plug In Prius!

 

I would have gotten a PIP if I wasn't renting...
My landlords might not appreciate me leeching their electricity and it's always strange to run an extension cord into the street from a house...I have seen it done with the Leaf and Volt and RVs though...haha.

In related news, I hit 56mpg driving for 1:02 and 44.6mi - SF to Milpitas this afternoon.

 

Hills hurt fuel economy. The steeper and more hills there are the the more it will hurt your fuel economy.