2007 prius getting 25mpg

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Fuel economy complaints/queries? Please copy, paste & answer these questions, esp. if you're new | PriusChat

In the interests of being able to more efficiently answer common requests for fuel economy help (e.g. "help, I'm getting only 35 mpg", "I'm very disappointed w/the mileage of my Prius", etc.), please copy and paste the questions below then do your best to answer most of the questions below in your post.

This is required of users w/less than 50 posts. Many Priuschat members are eager to help give suggestions, tell you that your mileage is normal/abnormal, etc, but often, we don't have enough information and are left guessing, wasting time posting guesses or the same questions/responses, etc.

Please do your best. "Don't know" is ok. We might tell you to go back and check on some of them.


- Have you read This Thead Yet?

- What fuel economy are you getting and how are you determining fuel economy? (trip computer or manual calculations)

- What fuel economy are you expecting and why?

- What are the approximate outside air temps?

- How long are your trips?

- How much of it is city vs. highway? Roughly what's the average speed in overall and and of each segment? Is there a lot of stop and go driving?

- What region/state are you in? (if you haven't set your location in your profile)

- What's the terrain like of your drives? (e.g. flat, gentle hills, steep hills, etc.)

- Is your oil overfilled? (i.e. above the full mark on the dipstick)

How old is your 12v battery? What is the voltage reading of your 12v battery after sitting over night? (Method Here)

Have you had your alignment checked? Any pulling or abnormal tire wear?

- Are you using the factory tires and wheels? If not, please indicate tire make, model and size (e.g. Goodyear Assurance Fuel Max 185/65R15).

- What are your tire pressures?

- Make, model, year, engine and transmission of previous car? (e.g. 08 Honda Civic Si 2.0L 4 cylinder, manual transmission) What did you actually get on the same trips/commute? (Please give us actual numbers, not EPA ratings.)

- How are you trying to drive (e.g. trying to stay in electric only?) and how hard are you braking?

- Are you "warming up" the ICE (internal combustion engine) by letting it idle after powering on?

- Are you driving using D or B mode?

- HVAC settings? Are you using the heater, AC, auto mode, etc.? If using auto, what temp is it set to?

- If reporting a mileage drop, did anything significant change on your car (e.g. accident, hit a curb or big pothole throwing off alignment, oil change/other maintenance/repairs, changed tires or wheels, etc.) or your commute?​

 

Cold weather and short trips are bad, we are in the 30's right now with that combo.

 

It depends on how cold the weather is, and how short your commutes are.

 

jutting is not normal.

 

10min is too long for warmup. Normally you don’t really need any warmup before driving. But even in extreme conditions less than 4min is enough.

 

Having the heat on in the car makes the engine run more to provide heat to the passengers. You can see this as my HV battery is always green (well charged) in the winter. So that is one factor.

I suppose that could partially explain why living in warmer regions is harder on the HV battery. Winter seems to be a kind and gentle period due to the heater.

 

Bisco is right about the jutting not normal ...not sure what that is all about...but I'd check the brakes for sticking

 

Then in the winter you have to deal with the gas tank bladder. Your Prius will not hold as much fuel in the winter because of the gas tank bladder. I could only get six or seven gallons in mine when it was cold. In cold weather I was filling up at 300 miles. When warm weather came I could always get more in.

 

You can help that by just using minimum amount of heat. And blocking the front grill. One step above MAX COOL (16c or 61F) is easily warm enough in cold temperatures.

After car has warmed fully (which does take very long (especially if you don’t have warm garage)) you can get pretty much the normal fuel economy even at -28c or -18F. You can also see that the hybrid battery function just as in summer after everything has warmed up and heater isn’t used too much.