Is a Prius right for me?

I am guessing around near 50 in the summer w/o any special hypermiling techniques. Lower in the winter of course.

What would be your max speed and for what distance?

Welcome aboard by the way!

 

It would be very hard to calculate based on what you've provided. It's still going to depend on HOW you drive within these different stretches. Not sure if you can get 50 but I'd be willing to bet you could at least get 45 with little effort. 50 is certainly possible but will take more effort on your part. The Prius is not a magical vehicle and requires work on our part.

I'm sure you'd love the car and I'm sure it would get better MPGs than most all other cars on the market!!! Good Luck!!!

 

You should meet or beat 50, unless you are aggressively into the gas pedal and brake pedal in that stop and go. Expect to fall just short of 60 mpg at a steady 60 mph on the flats.

Learn to glide using the Hybrid System Indicator bar (just keep gas pedal slightly depressed to avoid regenerative braking the system assumes you want when foot off the gas completely). This way, when you need to slow or you are descending, you burn no gas and incur no waste from converting momentum back into stored electricity.

But even without technique, you'll be fine.

One caution, in deep snow, the plastic shields under the car can get damaged. It handles snow fine, until it drags bottom. Then the crusty stuff is a problem.

 

Not trying to split hairs, but achieving 60 MPG really takes some work and I'd consider those type of results rare. Certainly obtainable but not common.

 

That is at cruising speed, not a full trip. The 60 at 60 result is a dream, I agree, but not by a wide margin.

 

1. you go more than 5 miles each way
2. you keep track of things to 2 decimal points

=> Yes, the Prius is right for you.


I went from a Subaru Outback to a Prius nearly 6 years ago, and I haven't looked back! I doubled my mileage (halved my fuel bill) and I have a much shorter commute than you, meaning that for most of my drive the car is still warming up. For best mileage, read up on pulse & glide, but initially all you need to know is to accelerate normally and brake lightly (coast when possible).

 

the only thing you said that concerns me is "i am hammering my subaru"

 

That is enough commute to make a Prius worthwhile.

Check this post for warning signs.

http://priuschat.com/forums/newbie-forum/94450-considering-prius.html#post1334003

 

A Prius would work well for your commute. Mileage will vary depending mostly on how fast you drive for the highway leg. If you are one of those 80 mph commuters you will never see 50 mpg. If you are a 65 mph highway person you could easily see 50 mpg.

Tom

 

Yes. Those climbs will hurt mileage, but the extra distance will help make up for it, especially given the usual upper 60 speed limit. I don't like the sound of "burst", though. It sounds like you could do better (whatever car you are in) if you could learn to follow the two golden hypermiling rules (anticipate and buffer) and try to flatten those mileage-killing "bursts" you wrote about.

 

I live in LA and I just drive the car, keep up with traffic and don't worry about mileage, well I do a little, cause it's kinda fun but not much and my fuelly tells the tale, probably what you could reasonably expect.

 

Climbing should be no problem, though nothing will get good mpg during the actual climb. Descending slopes of less than about 2% grade are perfect, allowing the Prius to recover nearly all the fuel penalty of the climb.

Your steeper descent may be long enough that the battery fills up with regenerated energy, so the engine and brakes must throw away the remaining regeneration potential, hurting overall mpg slightly. But compared to traditional cars, which throw away all the descending energy all the time, this factor will be small.

Handled intelligently, the Prius can crush the Subaru here. (I still have a Subaru).

Not likely in winter, though some still do. But come spring, your odds are good if the highway portion doesn't demand speeds above 65 mph.

The earlier '60 at 60' comment refers to what the car ought to achieve on flat ground after the engine is fully warmed. The mandatory twice-daily warmup cycles, AC use, long steep descents, and higher speeds will inevitably drag down the average. But that still leaves plenty of room to get 50mpg, especially since you can spread out the warmup penalty (which hurts all cars except the true electrics) over a fairly long commute distance.

Do read Jimbo's list of who won't have a good fit with a Prius.

 

50MPG is an EPA rating, and most drivers here are getting better then that.

to OP: on my daily route I have a couple similar hills (a little bit shorter) and they don't kill MPG that much.. My MPG is in 58-60 in summer, 53-58 in winter. My wife gets ~5MPG less on the same route, driving slower (!). What you get will depend on how you drive and tire pressure.

BTW I am not a hypermiller, I drive faster then avg. Trick is to look ahead and take action in advance good luck

 

you will probably see the best MPG on back roads and in traffic. My 34mi commute has the mixture of 3 and that is the case. Also MPG usually drops after the start due to warm up but starts going up after 5-8mi. You should do good your commute is long enough

 

i live in bergen county NJ

my commute is 8 miles to work 8 miles back through stop and go traffic with a few short runs at 35 mph during the commute.

driving gingerly i can get, in summer, 51 ish.
in winter,remember 10% ethanol and longer engine warm-ups, 43 mpg ish.

driving to atlantic city and back, in summer - garden state parkway, i can get 60 mpg if i observe the speed limit and use cruise control.



i also came from subaru outback sport, had 5 subarus in a row.

getting 16-19 mpg sucked.

awd is overrated. i only miss the subaru for 3-4 snow days out of 365 days in a year. they do plow the roads. if i want more traction i could get winter tires but, don't need them. as good as a subaru is you won't look back. if you really want/need an awd hybrid you could wait until their hybrid comes out for the 2013 model year. don't count on them doing it in time though. subaru "evolves" very slow.

 

Right on, congratulations. Enjoy the ride!

 

Great news, welcome to the club! Hope we see lots of you around on PriusChat.