1. Attachments are working again! Check out this thread for more details and to report any other bugs.

First Tank MPG

Discussion in 'Prius v Fuel Economy' started by PR!US, Mar 11, 2013.

  1. PR!US

    PR!US Junior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 4, 2013
    5
    0
    0
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Three
    2012 v Three our first tank average MPG was 39.7 car is still new @500miles mostly city driving. We would be happier if we can get around 42 or more:(! Maybe It will get better when we master the technology and the driving habit .

    BTW, Love our Prius v....
     
  2. Jack Cannon

    Jack Cannon Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 29, 2013
    25
    1
    0
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    First Tank MPG:

    You hit the nail on the head on both accounts. My first tank revealed 38.2 mpg at about 650 miles. But, after practicing "mastering the technology" as you put it, my second tank registered 44.4 mpg. How did I do it? I read some articles about "HOW" to drive a hybrid and one point stood out among the others: "Try to coast as much as you can instead of keeping your foot on the pedal as in non-hybrid vehicles. That was the key. I kept seeing 99.9 mpg when coasting, even though I wasn't losing my place in traffic. And, when traveling at low speeds, that 99.9 comes up a lot, with just a little weight on the gas.........almost like letting your foot rest on the pedal without pushing too much. I have a lot more to learn but my Prius v (five) really surprised me. And, also without the winter, frosty mornings, defrosting didn't enter into my mpg equation on the second tank.

    Jack
     
  3. PR!US

    PR!US Junior Member

    Joined:
    Mar 4, 2013
    5
    0
    0
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Three
    Thank you Jack, greatly appreciated all the inputs! I guess I will hear a lot more " Horning..Beep Beep" at me than usual. I did too read quiet a bit about how to drive the Prius and I am getting the hang of it, so the better days are yet coming.

    Dylan
     
  4. Richard Bresowar

    Richard Bresowar New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 7, 2013
    16
    1
    0
    Location:
    Gonzales, Louisiana
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius
    Model:
    Three
    My wife has a 2012 V 3, drives it like a normal American (terribly, accelerating to stops, never coasts at all) and gets 43 lifetime on the car computer, which is probable close to 41 real MPG. I have a regular Gen III 2013 and am getting about 50 MPG real about 52 on the MFD.
     
  5. The Electric Me

    The Electric Me Go Speed Go!

    Joined:
    May 22, 2009
    9,083
    5,798
    0
    Location:
    Undisclosed Location
    Vehicle:
    Other Non-Hybrid
    Model:
    N/A
    I "think" what I've learned is to allow for the "Synergy" in the Hybrid Synergy Drive.

    The first week of ownership I was driving the Prius way too conservatively, really trying to promote EV or battery drive as much as possible. So I was really forcing the Prius into a Battery or Engine Recharge scenario.

    As I've lightened up a bit...and actually started to drive the Prius a little more like a "normal" vehicle, I think I'm letting the synergy do the work. I find the computer is actually better at knowing what energy source to choose in whatever situation and the system itself is better at knowing what resources to blend and tap.

    You still of course benefit from hypermiling techniques and not driving like you are in a NASCAR race, but so far I'm actually finding benefit in NOT thinking about it as much as I was, and simply driving.
     
  6. Minishark

    Minishark Junior Member

    Joined:
    Jun 4, 2013
    9
    0
    0
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    First tank: 40.1 mpg, 405 miles. I think I'm doing better with the second tank.
     
  7. Maz94protege

    Maz94protege New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 5, 2013
    18
    5
    0
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Three
    Not bad, My MPG keeps going up, the last tank (as viewable in my signature on fuelly) was mid 30's. Car was loaded down driving around 70-75mph hwy coming back from the beach. But i've been very happy with the results so far, car still has under 1200miles.
     
  8. Aran

    Aran New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 25, 2013
    24
    1
    0
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Two
    We just got a 2013 Prius v 2 and had been getting a max of 43, averaging between 42 and 43 with a mix of highway and hilly moderately traffic-lighted roads. For comparison, we'd come from a 2010 regular Prius (also lowest model) and doing mostly highway driving I'd get around 49 mpg.

    We got the v on Saturday. Last night I read up on maximizing fuel economy on this site and since then I've driven 33 miles and am running at 55 mpg. If I'd found this forum with the previous car, I'd have been upwards of 60 for sure!

    I think I intuitive utilized "Pump and Glide" without even realizing the technique, but since I've started playing with Eco mode more and Power on hills (I'd already been coasting near the peak of hills) and major highways I've been seeing huge changes in mpg...an increase of 13 (and more with practice).
     
  9. Rokeby

    Rokeby Member

    Joined:
    Jan 21, 2008
    3,033
    708
    75
    Location:
    Ballamer, Merlin
    Vehicle:
    2008 Prius
    Don't forget that there is a 5000 mile 'wear-in' period for the car.
    This includes the tires, and all the mechanicals that have moving/rotating
    parts.

    At least in the Gen II, wear-in was good for +3-5 MPG.
     
  10. Aran

    Aran New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 25, 2013
    24
    1
    0
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Two
    I'm confused because it appears I have a higher calculated MPG than displayed, where most people get the opposite.
    I just filled up after depleting our first tank.

    Drove 503 miles, filled with 10.11 gallons, range showed 13 mi. left. Avg. mpg showed 48.0, but 503/10.11 = 49.75.
    Am I missing something?
     
  11. Chazz8

    Chazz8 Gadget Lover

    Joined:
    Sep 19, 2008
    744
    234
    61
    Location:
    Central New York
    Vehicle:
    2012 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Five
    Hi Aran;

    This happens to me occasionally. For me, I have tracked it down to inconsistent fill ups. I find it difficult to fill up to the same level every time. When I fill it up more than usual, that fill-up in fuelly will have higher MPG, relative to (or just plain higher than) car reported MPG. The next fill-up when I hit normal fill level, fuelly reports a much MUCH lower MPG relative to car reported MPG. It all averages out in the end to %5.8 higher MPG reported by car that calculated at the pump for my 2012 prius v (wagon) 5 w/ ATP, 17 inch wheels.

    Now I can get fuel level in gallons on my ScanGaugeII, and I'm consistently filling to 11.6 gallons and my fuelly MPG stats are more stable relative to car reported MPG.

    Check out fuelly.com if you want to track fill-ups and ongoing MPG statistics.
    Search on ScanGaugeII if you want to learn about that gadget that can act like extra instrument gauges, or for reading error codes from the car, or for turning reverse beep into a single beep.
     
  12. Aran

    Aran New Member

    Joined:
    Jun 25, 2013
    24
    1
    0
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius v wagon
    Model:
    Two
    Excellent. Thanks! Does the fact that our car's a lease affect the feasibility of using Scangauge? What's the installation like?