29.8 mpg? That's it?

Good stuff... I hope that your MPGs are improving with each of your drives. Like others have said, you should start hitting above 45, 50 MPG with little effort. My wife drives the Gen II Prius with about the same mileage commute as yours (although her route is the 405 to 605 to 105), and she's been getting about 50-52. I was quite surprised that she's getting these numbers as she doesn't use any hypermiling techniques at all. In fact, her motto is "as much speed as possible," and she actually gets mad at me for lifting and gliding to a red light... She's just crazy in that sense.
Anyways, I hope you are enjoying trying to squeeze the most MPGs out of your Prius as I am. It definitely takes a different mentality to drive more efficiently, and it's almost a challenge trying to beat your best (well, at least for me it is).

 

"Very good, Grasshopper."

Bob Wilson

 

Stay int ECO mode. I do. If you get into trouble or need the power, just pedal to the metal and your off. I went on a 58mile tour today and my MPH average was 56.2. Everything has to break in.... it only can get better.
when in ECO mode, keep a steady speed. Then push the PWR switch without moving your position on the gas pedal and see what happens?

In my case, I find that the engine will kick in and bring me up another 8-10 mph at first. After several changes in my driving style and pedal pressure,I am able to switch to power mode with hardly any mph gain. The transition is smooth and I am ready to move out as necessaryand get that TT off my back.

 

Word of the day: Perspective. Your 30mpg is not unreasonable for the conditions you describe. The real "problem" is that the Prius sticks the MPG right in your face. If you drove another car under the same identical conditions, you would expect a similar percent reduction in fuel economy, but you wouldn't notice because there wouldn't be an MPG readout shoved in your face. So try not to get frustrated and just compare your car to the other mid-sized cars on the road getting MPGs in the teens.

When the weather changes and your commute situation improves, you should see 50mpg without trying too hard.

 

From originally having the truck and moving to the prius, you feel probably your not moving as fast or as quickly as you would like. You are, it's a learning curve and I am sure you really could hear the result in the truck when you pushed the pedal....that's the difference. Learn to want to hear "quiet" and then your doing well.

It will all come in time, and with practice and it should not take long but you should see the improvement. You already have at 50.2. You will see that grow some as you learn the Prius. It's a really cool car as you already know loaded with technology!

Just enjoy it and do your best and it will take care of you in return.

 

Hello, please make sure to let me know. I will be interested in joining LA meet. I travel on 405 daily. I am getting between 62 - 55 depends on the traffic and my own mood for speed.

 

I get whatever I can regardless of the driving mode... ECO, normal, PWR just changes the sensitivity of the accelerator pedal.... full power is present in all modes. If you set in PWR and don't want the energy bar to go quickly alll the way to the right in the HSI screen, then you have to be gentle accelerating.

 

i'm on the 405 too

i drive a Black Gen II with a "got mule" magnet on my fuel door ... oh, and i look like the uni-bomber

if you see me ... honk your horn and wave

 

just wait and watch how you get obsessed with watching numbers Iphone has gas buddy that lets you record each fill up..it awesome and free

 

I don't know HOW you managed that number. I've never managed to hit anywhere in the 30s, and if I end up ANYWHERE in the 40s, I'm not happy.

I do have a Gen II (2008) though.

-Brad

 

I manage to get 49 mpg going up and down the Ozark mountains, hitting some of the hills at 70 mph. Hard to believe someone actually gets less than 50 mpg in these cars on a straight or just level road. Stop and go traffic and I'm in the 60+mpg.

 

42 is consistent for mine at almost 6k miles.

 

It's easy to do if you reset the MPG indicator then proceed to drive like an idiot for a short distance. Over the full tank though the number will creep up to the high 30s or 40s once you start driving in an appropriate manner again. Unless you just live in a really MPG compromised area. In that case you're just screwed. lol

 

I have almost 700 miles on my 2010 Prius. I've been commuting to work through Manhattan 5 days a week and my total average MPG is 43. I am not surprised by this because my average MP Hour is only 10! This tells me that bumper to bumper traffic is not where Prius excels. It's still better than most, but you may not get to 50 MPG.

 

I must disagree. Relative to traditional cars, the Prius really shines brightly in these conditions. Your MPG is down only slightly from what a Prius can do. A regular car, which starts at half the MPG of a Prius in flowing traffic, suffers a proportionately worse hit in stop-and-go.

In traffic jams, the Toyota and Ford hybrids outshine anything that isn't purely electric.

The few traffic jams I face are opportunities to increase my MPG, further widening the gap between Prius and non-hybrids. But not all congestion is created equal.

 

I just averaged 27 mpg. I filled up my 2010, zeroed the trip meter, then drove 15 miles home. However, home is almost 2000 ft. higher than where the gas station is!
Second tank, 46.5 on the first and 45.5 on this last one; a little over 300 miles on each fillup. Of course, there's break-in and it's been cold - well, California cold anyway (37 degrees F at start up this morning). The computer says I'm getting 47.5. I've been using "normal" mode. I haven't used the AC.

 

Hello Fuzzy,

Its true - other cars can't compare to the Prius. But I think that in the type of bumper to bumper traffic where you can only average 10 miles per hour, two things will happen: you will constantly rely on the engine to recharge the battery and you won't get much benefit from regen breaking. This is why I don't think this type of driving represents the ideal condition for a Prius. If it was, I'd be getting 50 mpg. I'm still happy to get 43 though.

 

One thing I noticed during a long stop and go traffic jam was that I saw my MPG went up until the battery went down to two bars. And once the battery went down to two bars my MPG started falling down fast. So I had to accelerate and brake a few times to charge up the battery little bit and after that MPG started going up again. So, I think it shows you'll do better in stop and go traffic for a while but if it's too long and when your battery's low, your MPG will decrease fast. But in overall I think Prius gets better MPG in slower traffic than in high speed highway traffic.

 

I have been getting around 50 mpg with my 2010 Prius II since I picked it up 8/31/09. Use the ECO mode mostly, have a 13 mile commute, plug in the block heater to get the coolant temp up to 85-100 when I start the engine on cooler mornings. Got only 46 on a 200+ miles drive into the wind and rain, then 55 on the ride back, with the wind and a sunny but cool day.
I agree that the 10 mph speed is not ideal - 45 to 50 steady seems good. My wife's 2007 Prius gets better than mine mostly, large due to her commute - a few miles longer (more time with engine at normal operating temp) and a 45 mph speed limit with few traffic lights.
Just my thoughts - Tony