Difference in mileage and battery charge with different driver

Perhaps L/100km isn`t a bad way of measuring... It just seems very strange to me that Japan would be km/L while other places using the same measurements would do it differently. It seems it would be easier to use the display as is... A bit of a mystery.

As there isn`t a lot of long open road where I commute, it is usually 50-40 (45 limit). But a nice glide from 50 to 40 is rare, I think. Usually it`s accelerate to 45~50 then see a light change, or a car decide to turn, or someone comes into my lane and suddenly needs to turn, etc, in front of me then have to brake partway through. I felt really lucky when I managed to just glide to a light without needing to brake until the last bit. There was maybe one stretch where I was able to keep up 50-40 without having to stop. I don`t feel comfortable slowing to where people behind me are inconvenienced, so a big glide dropping 20km is kind of unthinkable for me.

At first it felt like this was giving me terrible mpg, but it did keep a good amount of battery charge. I would push until I felt the motor come on, and stay there until I hit a good speed, then glide. But once I had picked up speed, I was only using the battery to retain it. Like, 0 to 50 was ICE, then 40 to 50 was battery. Should I be using the ICE even then? It seems a waste to fire it up for just a few seconds...

 

Actually, the first time with trying to make sure I made use of the ICE for the acceleration in the beginning instead of trying to go slow seemed to take care of the battery problem. I wasn`t actually trying to avoid using the ICE, but it seems just my normal driving habits were leaning toward using the battery quite a lot. Making sure that I accelerated out of a stop using the ICE until I had reached a target speed kept my battery much higher - yesterday`s commute left me with nearly a full battery upon stopping. Before I was accelerating in the very beginning with ICE, but once started rolling would add speed with the battery instead of going all the way up with the ICE. Thank you for helping me notice this.
Acceleration from 40 to 50 or so didn`t seem to do too much to the battery charge. At the very least, it didn`t leave me with just 2 bars for the entire trip. I am dreading today`s drive though because the temperature has dropped a lot so it will be my first time driving with heat on. It has been between 10 and 15 for most of my commuting so far, but this evening it is supposed to be 3 or 4 with wind and rain.

In Japan, I don`t think the Prius is a target at all. Gasoline is extremely expensive to begin with - currently about 128yen/l, which is something like $1.46 in CAD (you are in Canada, correct? I don`t know the prices there, but I understand Japan is much much higher than the US) - so cars here usually strive for high mileage. Prius is just a car that is very good at that.

Together with your comment about me being aware of my surroundings (I think it is just about the same level as everyone else) made me realize that there is a difference in how people are driving here and there. Usually here, a car paces itself with the car in front and watches it well while driving. If the car in front slows, then the car behind will begin to slow almost immediately. So when I drop from 50 to 40, the car behind me doesn`t get closer - it drops it`s speed in pace with mine, then raises it again when I accelerate. One time of this is okay, but if it is repeated many times I think that they might notice. It is obvious if I drop speed because while everyone else is keeping pace with the car in front of them, I am not. And if I accelerate quickly above everyone`s pace, I would quickly close in on the car in front - with the car behind me also in pace with me... And the one behind them in pace, etc. So it`s a lot harder for me to glide if there is traffic... So I try to do very small glides of maybe 5 km decrease, trying to keep close to the pace of everyone else.

2b is difficult because of everyone pacing - I would probably come too close to a car in front if I were to jump ahead of the flow. I think it would work without much traffic, but then it is easier to do everything.

I will try comparing 1 and 2a today on my commute to see a difference. The road and incline is fairly flat both so there shouldn`t be a big difference in conditions on the way and back.

Thank you again for dedicating so much time to my thread.

 

I will probably try the grille blocking next winter, but now it is just a short time until spring so seems that I would be taking it out before I know it.
As far as heat goes, I am quite comfortable just being inside the car without heat on, but if I don`t turn something on it fogs up the windows. It is much worse when it is colder outside, so I usually keep it set to 18C for heat.

It sounds like in high places you are paying nearly as much as we are. I thought maybe it would be all very much cheaper there like in the US because of Canada being so close. I haven`t seen prices below about 95yen/l for more than 10 years. When gas prices were very high in the summer, it was about 190yen/l here, so quite painful.

I think the Prius really does seem to be more of a city-area car. I wouldn`t want to live in the mountains and own one, and most certainly not go down dirt roads.
I had never noticed that it was spelled Axela. I always thought it was Accela because it is said the same way as "accel" in acceleration.
In Japan the standard cars for just transportation tend to be light cars, like from Suzuki and Daihatsu. The standard car for people living in the countryside or mountains tends to be the Kei Truck - like this; ??? ???? It seems like everyone out in the country has one... Probably similar to pickup trucks in other countries.

Here it is generally 2 lanes, one going each way, with no space at the sides. Or 1.5(?) lanes, where you pull to the side a bit and stop to let another car pass you. Because everyone is going slowly, there is less room between cars so less room to speed up and move forward. And if there is a lot of room in front and I move forward quickly, the car behind also follows and closes the gap left behind.
Here is an example of roads - a two lane road I always drive in my commute, and a one lane I also drive regularly (It isn`t one way - you pull over to let other people pass you)

I just now realized you were talking about cruise control and not just holding a steady speed...:redface:
I don`t have CC and probably would never use it even if I did. There is never long enough of a stretch to use it - especially on my commute.

Thank you. I think that we have figured out the low battery, and I think that it has been resolved now. I have come to understand that I was pretty much driving in a way as to not use the ICE, so there was rarely any charging done besides braking regen. Now that I am trying to accelerate from a stop by using the ICE, the battery is staying at a fair amount. (2 bars from the top or about)

I didn`t get to try out staying at a steady speed compared to using the ICE for minor acceleration... I left late so had to take the expressway in order to make it in time. It did give me a chance to test out pulse and glide at higher speeds (around 100) with a far distance between cars - which went very well. Part of the expressway drive has a large decline, so I was able to go very far by gliding there with almost no decrease in speed.
Too bad it is a toll road...

Even if my concern about low battery charge has been solved, I am still enjoying discussing the differences between roads and driving styles in other countries. I`ve never driven outside of Japan, so only know a small amount from being a passenger or hearing other people discuss it.

 

Thank you for the link. Once I am a bit better at knowing what is going on I may order a Scangauge to get more detail. Now just parsing the displays available is a bit of work.

I was quite shocked when there was news of people being so upset about gas prices in the US back when it spiked a lot. Then it was still cheaper than the average prices here before the spike.
Is the difference in price between Canada and the US because of taxes? Or is it less infrastructure to bring gasoline in?

Are they allowed on the road there? I believe that they are not allowed on roads in the US. When attending university in the US, there were a couple used inside the university grounds for gardening and maintenance - but I seem to remember being told that they were not allowed on any legal roads but only on the private university service roads.

Allow me to express my shock at the prices on the imports... Those are incredibly expensive. Anything more than about 10 years old here is worthless. It is almost impossible to sell - you must pay to have it disposed of. I always wondered what happened to the older cars that were "disposed of" - now it looks like I know.
For the early 90s kei trucks they have listed... You would not be able to sell them for even about $100 here. You can buy brand new for $6000. Even with import costs they must be making a lot on them...

I remember seeing a similar image and being told that the kei on the back was a backup. Unless you run a business I find it hard to imagine needing the kind of space that a regular truck there has. Maybe once every long while for carrying something large, but certainly not everyday?

Here it largely depends on the road. The expressway relies on tunnels to keep the road somewhat level, but there are some very steep regular roads. However, the speed limits on them are always low so I don`t think it would be a problem going over them. When I said I wouldn`t want to live in the mountains, I meant more that there are a lot of very narrow roads and unkempt roads - sometimes gravel or dirt. Going over something is one thing but living there would make me want something more adapted to that environment.

Hmm... I am and for me it does go to the street view. I wonder why it isn`t working. I apologize. If you are interested, you can try zooming in to street view I suppose. At least it should be centered to the roads I am talking about.

The listed limit changes based on weather, but I believe standard is 80. But for the expressway, this tends to be a recommendation instead of enforced limit. If you are driving safely and not going too much faster than the average you will not be pulled over. Usually people drive 80 in the left lane and 100~110 in the right lane.
Unfortunately it seems you couldn`t see the regular road to compare, but those are much wider lanes. They are about 25% wider (I think) than regular lanes. The one lane road I tried to link to is about the width of one expressway lane and it is both ways, not one.

 

I think that about half the price of gas here is tax. When gas prices were very high, and were going over 200yen/liter, there was a temporary move to make gas free of taxes to reduce the price. It dropped then to 110 or about that. (Regular price and normal sales tax)
Of course, once prices dropped just a little bit all taxes were brought back.

To me the mileage isn`t something rare. Japan is small and commuting is usually done by public transportation. So cars are often only used for leisure. Cars driven only on weekends are common.
Even with using our previous car for my commuting, and then for leisure - it was 71000km after 7 years. It would have been much lower, but one year we had to drive daily to a far hospital for 6 months straight - which tripled the use for that year.

Farms would count to me as using for work / running a business.
There are plenty of home centers here selling raw materials, and many people enjoy building their own things... But if there is no other reason (like use for work / farm) to own a large vehicle other than that convenience people do not. The DIY places here will deliver everything to you or you can borrow one of their large trucks to carry the things to your house.
There are a lot of good reasons to own a big truck I think, but at the same time it seems like I always hear almost everyone owns a big truck.

This is what happens with regular roads. For the expressway, it is a toll road so they have the money to build tunnels. I always find the toll roads boring - they are like tunnels even when they are not, with huge concrete walls to contain noise. We usually drive the regular roads. Over mountains it is usually 1.5 lane - just room for two cars to pass each other but no line in the middle, and many many very tight turns.
A recent road we drove while on a weekend trip. (Just regular map, not street view)
Some of them are very scary, with no rails on the side and a sheer drop. So no one goes so fast on them.

I apologize. I have no idea why it is a bad link... I will try in a different spot on the same road. Maybe you can see it now?
Two lane road and one lane two-way road. If these do not work also, I suppose I will give up.

Here, officially it is a limit. But it is very very rare to be pulled over for breaking the limit only. It is usually something in addition to another problem. Like, dangerous actions - plus speeding. Or as something to make it a heavier offense if there is an accident. If you were speeding at the time, it is far worse.
I don`t think that in general cars are more narrow... Unless cars there are much wider than I thought. I think the 2010 Prius is on the narrow side of normal here. There are very narrow cars, but the mid size isn`t really. Also, semi-trucks will drive the same roads. I think the lane width is just large enough that a semi sized truck will fit perfectly into the lane without space leftover but without sticking out of the lane.
On regular roads there will be special bending of street signs so that mirrors on large trucks will not bump them.

 

Now a revisit to this thread.
I finally finished the first tank of gas. 102km driven by my husband and 694km driven by me. Calculated from the first time we put gas in (I don`t know how much was in it when we picked it up at the dealer) it was 20.7kpl (Display was actually very close at 21.3).
I am very pleased with a first tank getting that in cold weather! Still with no long driving, only kind of short trips in the city with stop-and-go.

After my husband came home from his business trip, I picked him up then he drove home...(After refilling the tank) The next trip we reset the trip counter and checked his mileage.
For an 80 km trip he got 17.4kpl displayed - and he even started with the battery quite full from his drive home the night before.