Is this mpg typical?

Sounds a little low--but then, I don't know what part of the country you live in. In colder weather, MPG for all vehicles takes a hit, especially on short trips. You should get significantly better MPG as you get more miles on the car, in warmer weather, and on trips longer than 5-10 miles.

Edited to add: Make sure your cold tire pressure is about 40psi on rears and 42psi on fronts. It will ride a little stiffer, but should increase MPG be at least 3-5 MPG

 

You've pretty much got everything going against you:

1. The first tank is usually lower-than-average MPG
2. Short trips (which it sounds like what you're mostly doing) are a killer on your MPG
3. Cold weather brings the MPG down

90% of my trips are about five miles or less, and I'm currently getting 38 - 40 MPG (I was getting 42 - 45 in October).

 

tire pressure is key. higher tire pressures do improve handling when carrying heavier loads and will increase your gas mileage. and keep in mind, the Prius does take a bit of getting used to simply because it does drive differently than other cars. no gears makes judging speeds an art that will need to be developed.

considering the time of year (albeit, it will never be extremely cold very long in your area although i did see snow in San Diego and temps in the 30's and 40's this past week), the newness of your Prius, you are pretty much right on track.

remember, due to terrain, gas types, traffic, etc, some will never get much above 45-48 mpg.

 

Your mileage takes a hit from the hills (as does mine for short trips here in hilly Cambria.) You will also become better at driving lightly and anticipating stops. Very slow traffic jams are great for MPG: the car runs on electricity much of the time. But the quick surface streets don't do much good, because you need the engine to accelerate. Once you get above 42mph, the engine stays on (using little fuel, but some.)

My lifetime MPG at 10500mi is about 43.

Remember that the important MPG figure is lifetime, averaged over all of your fillups. I've had tanks vary from 30s to 50s, but much of that is due to inaccurate fillups. You can't get every gas pump to fill to the same level. In an 11-gallon tank, even a quart makes a difference in the calculation. That's why "lifetime MPG" makes more sense.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(newblue07 @ Dec 26 2006, 12:10 PM) [snapback]366716[/snapback]</div>

Yes about average. Despite the sticker 60/50 and the claims of others, your average mileage range will be 37-42 regardless of intown or highway. For the most part using two 2007 Touring Models, we get 37-41 intown and maybe 40-43 on the highway. The original 60/50 must have been done on the Bonneville Salt Flats with no wind. The Prius is a wonderful car but the mileage is not even close to the claims. No one on this forum is doing any better with a stock dealer supplied Prius. B)

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DaveinOlyWA @ Dec 26 2006, 12:43 PM) [snapback]366738[/snapback]</div>

Sorry Dave but I do not believe you. Your mpg claims just are not substantiated by other posters.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DaveinOlyWA @ Dec 26 2006, 12:43 PM) [snapback]366738[/snapback]</div>

Have you seen a significant increase in MPG and Handling with higher PSI in in the tires. 40 PSI on the rears, and 42 PSI on the front tires?

I have been considering doing this, but wanted further reinforcements before doing so...

 

The link Tony offered, and the advice of <strike>all</strike> most* here, are great resources. I suggest you continually search for, study, and practice "hypermiling" techniques described here and elsewhere. You will find useful information on these sites too:

www.priusonline.com
www.cleanmpg.com
www.greenhybrid.com

It will be a work in progress. I've had my car for a little over a year, and it's been only in the last 3 or 4 months that I've felt I've come close to optimizing my fuel mileage for my driving conditions. (My current tank is at 56 MPG.)

My experience is probably comparable to Tony's, though more limited since I haven't had my car as long. If you look at his data, you will see what appears to be a subtle, gradual, but significant improvement over time.

*EDIT: I scanned through this thread too hurriedly before posting this, and didn't thoroughly read Prius 2007 Touring Duo's post. I have responded separately to that below.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Prius 2007 Touring Duo @ Dec 26 2006, 02:38 PM) [snapback]366862[/snapback]</div>

For the a summary of the EPA test procedure from which 60 city/51 highway came from, go to http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/how_tested.shtml and http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fe_test_schedules.shtml. They don't even drive it on a real road, but rather a dyno.

I'd disagree w/the above w/your other assertions though. My lifetime mpg so far is ~45.7 mpg. If I average what the MFD indicates, it's ~46.5 mpg.

FWIW, when Consumer Reports tested the Prius on their driving cycle, they got 35 city, 50 highway and gave it a 44 mpg overall. See http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/cars/bu...s-206/index.htm.

 

Oh, good, I'm not the only one. One of the selling points of the Prius is that it supposedly gets much better gas milage in the city than on the highway; however, I find the opposite to be true. On the other hand, when I'm on the highway, I usually drive a couple of hours nonstop, as opposed to five and ten minute hops in "the city".

 

My advice on mileage: don't worry about comparing your mileage to what others get. It is SO dependent on factors beyond your control, such as terrain, length of trips, temperature, etc. that what you get is what you'll get for You driving it on Your Commute in Your Town with Your Weather. Although driving styles will affect it to some degree, it is much more dependent on the other factors.

Of course it's still fun to see how your driving affects the cumulative mileage. I reset mine every fillup and sort of compare to see how each trip affects the average as I go along. After a while you'll start to get a feel for how the different factors affect your mileage.

Just enjoy, and don't forget to look where you're going instead of staring at that little screen!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(newblue07 @ Dec 26 2006, 12:10 PM) [snapback]366716[/snapback]</div>

Welcome! First, check your tire pressure. When I went to 42/40 my tires were low but they didn't look soft. With all the variables during driving, I believe but can't prove increased mpg but it should increase tire life. Second, I believe my biggest improvement came from changing my route. Riding the slow lane between 40-50mph (speed limit is 50-55 and I stay with traffic) has significantly increased the mpg on the display. Third, join greenhybrid.com to track your mileage. You'll see lifetime values all over the place. The mpg game isn't really between you, me, and everyone else. It's about learning what you can do to get the best performance you can out of your car on your route.

The first 5 minutes of my trips are always around 25mpg. The rest of the trip brings my average to 49+ mpg over 8331 miles.

IMO I agree with the others. I think your numbers are a shade low and will improve over time.
Good luck with the car.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Prius 2007 Touring Duo @ Dec 26 2006, 04:38 PM) [snapback]366862[/snapback]</div>

What ? :blink: :blink:

They are substanciated by myself and hundreds of others you'll find posting at the GreenHybrid and CleanMPG databases.

If you care to take a stroll to any of the Prius or HCH-II forums at GreenHybrid you'll see that "proper" tire pressures can transform a mileage experience from mediocre to EPA matching. Of course there are many other factors that impact the observed FE... but this is one that can net measurable results for any owner regarless of their circumstances or driving attitudes.

Cheers;

MSantos

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(newblue07 @ Dec 26 2006, 09:10 AM) [snapback]366716[/snapback]</div>

Your mileage will improve as the tires break in (I think that's actually the deciding factor, but have no proof; other than people often take a mileage hit when they first rotate the tires). Pump 'em up to 42 PSI in the front and 40 in the rear.

I'm in Oxnard, and drive to Simi Valley for work ... 40 miles each way. I go up the Conejo Grade every morning, at 70 mph, and only go below that speed on the way in to work if traffic interferes. There's very little flat driving on my route in the morning. On my way home, I cut through Santa Rosa Road to avoid the 101, and the road is curvy and "city driving". My ten tank average when I first got the Prius was around 45, and now that I have 20,000 miles, I'm getting a consistent 47.5 MPG without really trying to get good mileage.

I notice you're in SoCal, so you get the benefit of our warm weather year round. You'll learn some of the tricks that become second nature ... lightly pressing on the gas pedal when you want to coast, for instance, as the Prius starts braking with the electric motors if you pull your foot completely off the pedal. You can go crazy with the hyper mileage thing if you want, but for me, the right air pressure in the tires and learning a few of the tricks like "lightly pressing" when you want to coast was the way to great mileage.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(newblue07 @ Dec 26 2006, 12:10 PM) [snapback]366716[/snapback]</div>

Not much to add except to agree with the majority opinion here.

Check the greenhybrid.com website cited above to see that the median (typical) Prius driver posting there gets 48 overall. That's about what my wife gets with mostly suburban short-trip driving here (northern VA). Your 12 mile (one way?) trips don't sound that short to me so I would expect to see slightly better mileage, but I don't face the hills that you face.

Tire pressure increase definitely helps, and 42/40 front/rear pressure had no noticeable impact on traction or handling for my wife's Prius. With higher tire pressure, you may notice (as I did) that the car slips into all-electric (stealth) mode more readily, which shows that it's taking less force to propel the car down the road at moderate speed. Cold weather definitely hurts mileage, as the ICE will continue to run to produce heat rather than motion. Some here turn off the heat to keep mileage up. I do that when I'm driving by myself. I'd say on average the cold weather yields MPG that is 4 MPG below my year-round average. But it doesn't get very cold here (and this year has hardly gotten cold at all here in VA).

On driving style, mellow is good, but not too mellow. As I understand the rules, you want to use the electrc mode to extend your "coasting" with the engine off, but you do not want to use it for (e.g.) extended slow acceleration. This is explained well in the mileage threads cited above. Basically, the round-trip of electricity into and out of the battery wastes 20% of the energy -- you only get a positive payback on that if you are eliminating what would otherwise be miles driven with the gas engine at inefficiently light load. The upshot is that if you can drive the car with a good load on the gas engine -- e.g., when accelerating from a stop light -- then do so -- use the gas engine for that -- bring the car up to speed, then flick the gas pedal off for a moment to shut down the gas engine (called forced auto-stop by some), and coast with electric assist.

Again, the point is, don't accelerate slowly to prolong the all-electric portion of the aceleration. Instead, use electric (stealth) mode to displace the use of the gas engine when you're just crusing along at constant moderate speed.

But basically, if you just drive the car moderately, you'll get decent mileage.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Prius 2007 Touring Duo @ Dec 26 2006, 05:38 PM) [snapback]366862[/snapback]</div>

You need to spend a little time on this forum. If you do you will see that MANY other posters achieve mileage comparable to Dave's, even better. And you will discover how it's done. Yeah, some may conceivably inflate their figures. But most of the veterans here are credible in every other way, so between that and my own experience, I have no reason to doubt them.

See this thread for one of many examples, with supporting - and compelling - photographic evidence on the third page:

http://priuschat.com/index.php?showtopic=27022&st=20

I see you're in Virginia. I'm in the Richmond area and the originator of that thread is in Virginia Beach. I'd be glad, and I'm sure he would be too, to show you how it's done.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(JimboK @ Dec 27 2006, 08:09 AM) [snapback]367102[/snapback]</div>

I'd help out too, but my mileage is only 48mpg. Although my past few tanks have been around 50mpg since I've changed my route to and from work.