Sooooo close

I wonder what happens when you factor in how many MPG's your wife is getting on the < 10 mile trips in the "other" car...

 

Summer is coming. I will get back into the 60's. I guess I should be happy I don't live in the upper Michigan or Minnesota. Could be worse. My son had snow in Helena today. Still I am jealous of you warm climate guys... at least until summer comes then I am very happy to be in the PNW.

 

Gotta admit that those short weekend errands (Home Despot, grocery store, etc) seem to play havoc with one's nice commuting mileage. At least when my wife takes the car, she tries hard to be nice to the mileage, and usually is pretty successful. Although I've been catching up to your average FE, I'm heading into summer in Phoenix which will stop that trend dead in its tracks, Eric. I'd say my calculated mileage over the last 3-4 months has been around 59 mpg. My MFD would argue that it was more like 62 mpg. I wonder if the weather will stay cool long enough for me to pull even with your FE...? Currently halfway through a tank at about 370 miles, MFD reading 63, so thats probably around 60 mpg calculated. Not likely to catch you on this tank, but maybe in two more?

 

How badly will the AC hit my MPG? It is electric, not "belted" on drive train, correct?
Figuired the Phoenix poster would have the same issue I do-I am in Vegas-about the same weather. (But its a dry heat- hahahha)
In my old Accent, I averaged about 33 in winter, 29 summer. Bought my beautiful Pri in Jan, and have been averaging about 49--50, but I am amost all freeway, and tend to go about 70 most of the time.
When "winter gas" turns to summer son, is that a noticable step up as well? Also still have just 3K miles on it- heard 5K is another large improvement in MPG after break-in. True?

 

Maybe she could tow the Prius on those errands too, I'm sure that would help out quite a bit.

 

I could understand if you said wife encouraged to WALK unless trip > 10 miles. Shouldn't the overall mpg be a combination of both cars to accurately figure how much fuel you use or can save?

 

The other car maybe gets pretty comparable mileage for short trips, and using it instead may help the Prius last longer, doing more of what it does best.

 

The AC usage is a killer, maybe as much as 10-15%, if I interpret all of my changes in mileage between last summer and this winter to be due to less AC use. In reality, the car also broke in around 3000-5000 miles, so that needs to be taken into account.