mileage tips under challenging circumstances

My sense is .... that is pretty good advise (as much as I hate to suggest the Prius is not the best solution).

BUT .... the Leaf will not be available for some time now, so happiness and satisfaction need be found with his new G3 until such time as a Leaf is available, and at a reasonable cost ... which I suspect could be quite a way in the future, especially if gasoline continues to increase as it seems to be doing.

Good Luck.

 

Has anyone tried night time home-charging of the existing traction battery? With such short trips, it seems to me that starting out with a full TB would make a measureable difference. Could this be done cheaply?

Just a wild thought.

 

The Enginer PHEV system will do this. It costs $2k to $3.5k so not cheap for a charger but it is low cost for a PHEV system. It also extends EV distance.

Thanks,
Dan

 

I would first ask why OP wants to maximize MPG. If it is just to save money, skip Scangauge. At just 3000 miles per year in a Prius at current gas prices, the payback time is many years. Most of the possible MPG increase can be achieved without it, using the free advice in this thread.

But for competitive hypermilers, a ScanGauge or similar engine monitor is essential. Other drivers who want to save fuel for fun and sport, and want to shorten their learning curve, will achieve high MPG faster with it than without.

All my fuel savings efforts recouped the cost of my ScanGauge in about 7000 miles. But that was with $4.50 gas, in a car that consumed twice as much fuel as a Prius, and didn't have a built-in mpg gauge. OP will lilkely need 20,000-30,000 miles --- 7 to 10 years --- to achieve similar payback.

 

Actually, some smart guys have found the way to have MG1/2 temps and coolant temps with Smartgauge. See here:
https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AiHL0r_2nhUEdF9lVVBxOVNoN3Zva3E0NmdZTUR1eVE&hl=en

My suggestion are 1) use ECO, especially in winter, and 2) wait that ICE ends his warming cycle, prior to start driving. Personally I've been improving my winter mileage since I started with the above simple precautions...

Regards

 

how would you know that the ICE is done warming up? And isn't leaving the car idle wastes gas?

 

If you're looking to reduce your carbon footprint, the important number is not the MPG, but the GPM (gallons per month). You're doing great in that respect.

I also have a short commute (7 minutes) and have done the things people have already mentioned (except the 3rd party plug-in upgrade) - grill block, EBH, scangauge, tire pressure. Each one helps a bit, none is a miracle cure. The EBH helps the most, at least in temps below 60'F, but I can't plug in the heater at work, so it only helps half my commute. I'll put my numbers in a spreadsheet when I have the time, but it looks like it improves my mileage up to 20% (10% when you consider the return trip, maybe 6-7% overall because it doesn't materially affect long trips or weekend trips where I can't heat it up beforehand).

You might be a very good candidate for an all-electric car, I think your area will be one of the first to get the Nissan Leaf.

 

You can probably tell it's done if the ICE shuts down when you stop (assuming the heater is off). You might want to consult http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...-discussion/76501-gen3-warming-up-stages.html. Unfortunately, you need a tools such as ScanGauge to monitor coolant temp and ignition timing. Luckily, those are standard to SG (already can be displayed from the factory) and don't require people to discover XGauge values.

For reference, the 2nd gen's "5 stages of operation" PDF is at http://priuschat.com/forums/knowled...perating-mode-availability-reference-aid.html.

I think that letting the car idle w/the ICE running wastes gas, but I could've sworn that ken1784 had a post (can't find it) where he said Japanese hypermilers sit and idle until the ICE shuts down. If they do and it helps, the logic is lost on me.

 

From memory the Japanese hypermilers allowed the ICE to start whislt parked. It would then run lean and hot, this helped bring the catalyst up to temperature using the least gas, taking about one minute.
With the stop and go traffic there may be a few mpg to had from leaving longer spaces and gliding more often, Driving without brakes as CleanMPG.com will say. It is a real art but calculating your average journey speed gives you a good idea of what to aim for as a max and a min. Most importantly have fun trying.

 

If your commute allows it, you may want to check out this instead of the leaf: 2009 Zenn for sale.

This assumes it is all city streets and not more than 35mph.

 

All of the replies mentioned are excellent strategies...another one is to park in a garage if you have one. Your battery (the 12volt one) needs some longer exercise trips or battery tender to maintain good health.
Also remember that your Prius will be a real easy seller/high value trade when you move to a Prius EV in a few years.:welcome:

 

Or you could just relax, secure in the knowledge that your Prius is doing better than would any other non-electric car under the same circumstances. Plus you have the reliability and long life of Toyota's hybrid drive system.

But definitely check the tire pressures at least monthly, and keep them as high as you can stand it, up to the maximum value shown on the side of the tire. It's probably the most overlooked MPG measure and one of the easiest. Digital tire gauges cost $7.

 

I'm guessing they have access to EV mode, and once you get to stage 1b, EV mode is available. Also, I've noticed if the engine's warm when I start up (above 157'F), I don't always need to go thru all the stages before I'm in S4. My scangauge will show 0 engine load while moving and I haven't stopped for 3-5 seconds and I haven't gone over 34 mph. So maybe if it's warm enough before you start driving you skip the intermediate steps? If so, then this engine warm-up time only is useful in warm weather (for mpg purposes). This could particularly be true if you don't have opportunities to stop for 3-5 seconds once the engine is warm enough, a problem I sometimes face.

 

In the 5 stages document cwerdna references, there's also this note:

 

Great info but my question is still not answered about how long does it take to warm up the car? Considering I don't have SG or any fancy toys how do I know if my prii is warm enough to drive or if it has reached the temp as stated in thi thread?

 

Once you press the power button and get the READY light, your Prius is ready to drive. The computers will choose the best strategy for engine life, battery life and fuel mileage. Sitting, going nowhere, will not decrease energy use.

I am not an advocate of high MPGs, as such. I always prefer to use less energy when the two conflict. Running a EBH for 3 hours for an 8 minute drive is unlikely to use less energy, even though you will use less gasoline and get better MPG. A 25 mile route that gets 55 MPG is not using less energy than a 20 mile route that gets 45 MPH, it is just putting better numbers on your dash.

 

+1 What Jimbo said.

 

so what is this stage 1 and so on all refers to?

 

Once you turn on your Prius, it has different strategies while it is warming up. On any car made since about 1988, the catalytic converter has to warm up to operating temps to reduce emissions. The computers will try not to put too much load on a cold engine, favoring using battery power. Using battery power always involves conversion losses. (Unless you have a Plug in Hybrid)

So as the car warms, different strategies or stages are tried to minimize wear and pollution while providing power. Once warm, the strategy favors less emissions via less consumption of gasoline. (owners like this stage) The only way to get warmed up is to run the engine, so you might as well run the engine usefully. (The whole point of the coolant thermos on Gen II is to warm the engine quickly. Gen III has an exhaust heat recapture)

Some owners try to trick the Prius into getting to later stages early by defeating sensors, but that has to come at the expense of the durability of the engine and battery, and the pollution generated. Your Prius computers are doing their best that the Toyota engineers knew about when they designed them. Since they would have to re-certify the entire EPA test again, I suspect no updates to the software are released by Toyota.

An after market Engine Block Heater does not defeat the sensors, your car engine really is warmer sooner. Same with grill blocking and engine insulation, the engine really is warmer, so it can go to the next stage

I had not heard the trick of idling in a 'lean' state (less gas than usual mixed with the air, as you are not trying to make power, just heat) to heat the Catalytic Converter. I can see that working if you have an EBH to warm the engine as well. I am/was unaware the computers had that strategy built in. (We all get to learn at Prius Chat!)