Concerning gas mileage

how many miles on her? and how many have you put on and how much gas?

 

tell us about your commute and how many miles per day/week/year. is it hilly there? what tyre pressure? how old is the 12v battery? what does the hybrid battery meter typically read? are in in below zero territory?

 

25 is pretty low, but short trips at 15 below could do that. the battery meter is the vertical icon with bars that go up and down based on the state of charge. it should hover somewhere in the middle, and go down to low if you're in creep and crawl traffic, or fill up if you're coasting down a long hill.

 

so far, everything seems good. how are you figuring your mileage?

 

Are you letting it warm up at all before driving? What kind of heat settings do you use? If you're only going a few miles in the cold, the car won't get to full operating termperature, having the heat on makes it that much worse.

 

I agree--if your driving trips are all pretty short (10 minutes or less), and the weather is cold, that could bring the mpg average close to 25. Driving in snow/slush also reduces the average. It takes about 10-15 minutes of driving to get the car into the later warm-up stages, when more typical mpg is observed. You can read about the warm-up stages in the pdf document attached to this thread:

Prius Stages of Operation & Operating Mode Availability -A Reference Aid | PriusChat

Also, don't forget to reset your mpg average, as it does not automatically reset when the fuel tank is refilled like the mile counter on the screen.

 

As soon as you get warmer day (40+ or so) and clear roads with little wind. Get it out on an open road and do a round trip of 20 miles or so using Trip B to measure that segment. Pick a speed and stick to it within reason. Windows up, no or minimal climate control. Report your results here, including speed.

Before that, if you shift to neutral, does it glide ok, or do you feel negative g's like a brake is dragging or the alignment is off? At 42 psi, it should glide like a dream. What tires do you have? Performance tires will hurt vs LRR's.

25 is too low. The Gen3 (2010+) handles short trips better and probably cold temps better, too. For reference, our 2010's worst tanks in dead of winter Wichita with some snow/slush plus short trips yield 39 mpg. 4 year cumulative is 51 mpg, so take comfort that you will do better 3 seasons of the year. But you are too low right now.

Stick with the car and with us and see what we can determine together. Good luck.

 

To reset the average mileage on the MFD, hit the reset button under the "Current" bar on the right. I don't think the Gen2 calculates mileage for the trip A and B.



25mpg still seems low, but its probably fine if the highway test turns out normal.

 

no. you have to keep your fill ups and total them.

 

another thought is to check the 12 volt battery. some have had new ones that were bad.

 

please read the threads in this forum.
Woohoo!!! Got her up to 50 mpg in Gen II Prius Fuel Economy

 

well done!!!