One Month Review

Ok, I've had my Prius for a month and here are my tanks so far as a comparison for others:

TANK 1 (far left): 371.9 miles driven, 51.7 mpg. Drove from Long Beach to Las Vegas and around town in Vegas. NORMAL mode. I believe MPG's suffered due to high speed.

TANK 2: 284.5 miles driven, 42.7 mpg. From Vegas back to Long Beach. Suffered MPG's due to severe side and head winds along with high speed. NORMAL mode.

TANK 3: 490.2 miles driven, 62.3 mpg. Commute up and down 405 freeway in rush hour traffic (31 miles each way). ECO mode with a strong focus on getting good MPG's.

TANK 4: 454.7 miles driven, 52.5 mpg. Commute up and down 405 freeway in rush hour traffic (31 miles each way). NORMAL mode with NO focus on MPG's.

TANK 5 (current tank): 91 miles driven so far, 56.2 MPG. Commute up and down 405 freeway in rush hour traffic (31 miles each way). ECO mode with NO focus on MPG's.

OLDER TANK NOT IN PHOTO: 437.7 miles driven, 57.7 mpg. Commute up and down 405 freeway in rush hour traffic (31 miles each way). ECO mode with a strong focus on getting good MPG's.

 

Great MPG's Rob !! Especially that one tank, although I guess it would have been right at 60 calculated. I'm sure if you're on level ground in rush hour stop and go traffic when you can use electric a lot at very low speeds, it's possible to get real good MPG's if you're not using the air a lot.

Even so .... while your one tank is excellent ... it's a far cry from regular mid-60+ tankfuls and 70+ trips that some have been claiming.

Thank you very much for posting. Excellent MPG's.

You should try www.fuelly.com for tracking your mileage. Very nice site if you don't already use it.

REV

 

My data is posted here:
CleanMPG, - Garage An authoritative source on fuel economy and hypermiling
I can't post photos of the last five tanks because I didn't take pictures of them (why would I? - I know what the numbers are).

But attached is a photo from a trip CT to Boston. I took it only because I was surprised and I had my camera with me (I don't have data on my phone). Average speed of 37mph is misleading: I was stuck a looong time in traffic near Alewife station in Boston, normally average is 48-49mph. Next trip was 73.0mpg but I didn't bother with a photo because it was about the same as 72.5mpg.

I've been at this mpg thing for five years. You??

But hey, if you don't want to believe me don't. I think Ken in Japan has gotten 117.5mpg: do you disbelieve him too?

P.S. I also attached a photo of the Insight-I from a trip across CT. Five years of data from that car is posted here:
CleanMPG, - Garage An authoritative source on fuel economy and hypermiling

 

Do I believe that someone can routinely get mid 60's to 70's MPG? Yes. BUT only if they drive for it and only it and nothing else.

You are NOT going to get 70mpg driving 65 mph down the freeway with the air conditioning going. I don't care HOW good of a driver you are.

You'll get 70 mpg by doing crazy stuff. No A/C. Drafting. Driving down secondary empty roads with a 45 mph speed limit (and then only going 40). Taking the "attitude" that time is meaningless and that MPG's are the only thing that matters. And ignoring the fact that the "secondary" road was 11 miles LONGER than the main route that you avoided to "save mpg's"

Likewise, if you only drive 55 mph on the freeway (causing everyone else to yell at you) you might get in the high 60's for MPG.

So, for me, a photo showing someone got 70mpg on an entire tank isn't enough unless I know they didn't go 130 miles out of their way during that tank on some lonely secondary road on some quest for highest MPG's.

 

May not be good enough for you, but that only matters when you become emperor of the world.

 

Hi Insight I !!

I'm truly glad you posted ! I see you have 72 mpg ... but only for 129 miles. That's klind of cherry picking as I mentioned, and as good as it is ... it doesn't represent real world day-in and day-out mileage. You mentioned the last 3 tanks you had were mid 60's MPG. I'd like to see that for full tank usage. I know it's easy to get carried away, and everybody wants to report high numbers, but I don't believe your numbers are real world. Do I believe you GOT THOSE NUMBERS at some point ? Sure I do ... I've gotten them too for certain conditions as well, but over a full tank .... they're always WAY down from those numbers, and that's truly what average MPG is ... not a cherry picked super-result that can't be attained consistently.

Please post a pic of your computer's trip meter display like mine if you care to for the last 5 tanks or so. I think that's how many are displayed. If you show consistent mid 60 MPG full tanks .... then you're obviously way up on me in the hypermiling efforts.

Take care and good MPG's !

By the way, You didn't need to take pictures of the last 5 tanks ... you could get in your car right now and do it (see my pic and the next poster's pic). The data is stored in the car's trip computer ... just take a pic of it.

REV

 

You are optimistic

Just watch out: in a garage, underground parking, ferries, basically anywhere there's a ceiling. That sucker will collide with something sooner or later.

It doesn't really "give" anything: the power is all there in any of the modes, you just have to push the pedal further down in normal or ECO. I've just switched from ECO to normal for a few weeks now, got tired of the pedal effort in ECO.

 

Sorry, forgot about the history on the tripmeters. Here you go. As you can see from the mileage, they are FULL tanks. The bar on the right is the current tank which has only 92miles on it so far. It's high because I gassed up partway to Boston, so it started with a warm engine. The final average will probably be more in line with the others.

You won't ever get good mpg unless you believe it's possible.

@skierrob: No A/C is "crazy"??? As I posted elsewhere, I found that using A/C at 78F, recirculate, auto fan, doesn't impact my mpg much in the temps around here. Maybe at 110F. I don't draft: it's stupid. No I don't go out of my way, I'm just getting from A to B the shortest route. I agree 65mph won't get you great mpg. Try driving 50-55mph in the right lane for a while. I find that it's not a problem.

 

That is AWESOME MPG's Insight !! I truly commend you and apologize for doubting you.

You are using some techniques though, that I could never do ... like driving 50 mph on interstatesand keeping the air at 78. I go to my house in OC MD 3 or 4 times a month, and it's about 220 miles one way almost all highway. I drive 55 in 55 zones, and 65 in 65 zones the whole way with the air at 74, and I get around 57 and change indicated on the computer. That's the slowest I'll go and I don't care about the extra 8 mpg, although I could probably get into the 60's if I went 50 the whole way.

Thanks for posting ! I really appreciate it. My local commuting and driving has lots of hills and rural roads, so I only get around 48-50 in the summer ... as soon as it cools down a little and the a/c isn't needed I expect to be back solidly into the 50's. You are a hypermiling master !!! I bow to your expertise !!

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Thanks for the note. It's nice to know that you have 8mpg in your pocket should you need it, say if gas prices shoot up.

I certainly don't think I'm a master at it. People like Wayne Gerdes at cleanmpg.com and Ken in Japan are the masters. The role they serve is to show us what's possible. Then we can decide which of their methods we're OK with using.

 

Great points ! Sometime when I'm alone I may try 55 the whole way ... my wife complains when I only go 65 in a 65 .... she'd be doing 80. It would be nice to get into the 60's, but when I get on the road to the vacation house ... I just gotta get there.

Seacrets awaits .... Jamaica USA !!!!

Seacrets® - Vacation-Entertainment Complex

Take care !

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I thought you meant "The Secret" and I automatically thought of the Weeds Prius commercial lol

*warning strong language*