Total Mileage Between Fill-Ups

Filled up at 1 pip (not blinking), traveled 372 miles on 8.3 gallons.

 

I would guess that your delivering dealer didn't tell you about the fuel bladder inside your tank. When your Prius is new the bladder is also new and it needs to be broken in for a couple of months. The initial tanks will be off a lot, don't worry about it. Just do this create a spreadsheet and keep all your receipts and note the odometer readings at every fillup.

Then after 6-12 months you'll find out that you are averaging 47.5 mpg just like every other Prius, YMMV of course. If you are fortunate enough to have perfect driving conditions you might be able to average 55-65 mpg. Drive with a leadfoot or take only short hops and you might only get 40-44 mpg. But after a reasonable sample plan on 47.5 mpg just like everyone else.

 

Real world driving, simply driving it and using the cruise, maintaining traffic speed. 8,000 miles to date.

Honest average, my wifes work car (Mail Carrier 0-20 mph, 350 stops in 30 miles) 50% / Normal driving (55-75 mph) 50 % .

Winter avg. temp 10 (f), Range 200 miles+, 7 Gal. (bladder shrinkage) = about 30 mpg.
Spring avg. temp 45 (f), Range 300 miles+, 8 Gal. = about 40 mpg.

She has never put more than 8 gal.s in. Typically fills up with 1 steady pip.

Still dbl. mileage of the '93 Plymouth Acclaim it replaced.

 

The advise is, DON'T presume the dealer filled it all the way. Remember, sometimes the bladder tank will cause the nozel to shut off prematurly. Wait until you fill it yourself ... then after a couple fills after that, you'll be able to determine how much you're putting in, and how far it goes.

AND MOST IMPORTANTLY ... let your new Prius get broke in before you panic over mpg's ... your first couple thousand miles will help you develope a learning curve for anticipatory driving / higher mpg's ... so don't take the first few tanks too seriously.

 

my very first tank was around 400 miles, next tank closer to 450. Since then, I'm in the low 300's at best. Dead of winter closer to 250, and now I'm getting back to around 300 again.

Never spent more than $28 for a tank though. Usually I can't even squeeze 8 gallons into the tank. And several times I've had the beeping fuel gage.

Is there any suggestion anyone has regarding increasing the number of gallons I can squeeze into the tank? I even top off (despite being told not to) but sometimes, I am at one blinking pip and can barely get 7 gallons in. I KNOW the tank's gotta hold a lot more than that, but I don't want to run out of gas by testing the one flashing pip.

 

Just filled in after my 1st tank - got 343 Miles @ 40.36 MPG. My miles are all mostly city miles (Bumper to Bumper + 5-6 Traffic lights in my 2.5 mile commute). Hoping it will get better with the summer and after the break-in period

 

Yeah, my economy was so pathetic I didn't even want to calculate it that time. So next fill-up I will give all the stats. Should be excellent! The gas was probably winter-mixture but the temperatures are going up, and that should really help out. I am only down 1 pip, but already up to almost 200 miles. It seems to take forever for the first pip, then it goes real fast. I guess this is due to the bladder.

 

2008 Prius with about 2800 miles. Last tank (yesterday) 8.09 gallons, 1 pip showing, 416 miles about 51.3mpg. The computer was very close to this pumped in calculation. My commute route is 13-14 miles of city driving with some stretches allowing 2-3 miles of 45mph cruising if I catch the lights. I paid 3.39/gall and $27.51.

My method is to get up to the posted speed limit plus an extra few miles an hour and then pull of the accelerator pedal and try to keep the moving consumption bar graph over 50mpg.

Kelvin

 

Oops edited out double post

Kelvin

 

Ditto on what others have said about break-in. My first two tanks were 47 and 41 mpg, so your right on track. Since my car's broken-in my numbers have turned a sight better than 41, but I'm a rather unusual driver.

Here's my tank data based on the FCD values:
Hybrid Mileage Database - GreenHybrid

11011011

 

After the break-in period your MPG will improve. Also now that we have warmer weather you should see an improvement in your MPG. I just had my best tank ever with an MPG of 64.1 which is a great improvement over my winter average of 55.3. Continue to read suggestions on PC and adapt them as they best suit you.

Good luck,

 

Glad I read this thread. I was very disappointed today with MPG @ my 3rd fill up. I was down from about 48 mpg to 43 mpg. Now I don't feel so bad with break in time. Also this tank had mostly 10 - 15 mile trips where both tanks before had at least one trip of 70+ miles one way.

 

Thanks all..I am much more encouraged with this tank. The fill up troubled me, struggled to get 8 gal in it. But I'm 320 miles into the tank with 4 (i think) pips left, currently avg 50.8 MPG, was at 52.5 until this past weekend. I think I should get well into 400 mile range on this tank.

 

I just drove home from Alice Springs Central Australia to Adelaide. Filled up at Alice springs, added 36 litres at Coober Pedy went to Roxby downs on the way which adds about 170km, added another 36 litres at Pimba near Woomera then to Adelaide where I still have about 10 litres in the tank, the gauge reading about half. No economy driving involved, cruise control used extensively and all driving at the speed limit. The open road limit in Northern Territory is 130km/h and in South Australia 110km/h. 3 people in the car plus luggage. My wife doesn't know what travel light means.

Had a great holiday and the Prius was fantastic, even on soft sandy roads and I didn't let the tyres down below 42/40psi.

 

Just put tank #2 in this morning. 8.26 gallons the display read 510miles, which calculates out to 61.7mpg, display read 52.4mpg. Now I've read about the discrepancies between calculated and display mpg, and usually being off 1-5% but thats a 15% difference. hmmm....

 

It probably will get better with the warmer weather. I got 497 miles on my last tank and it just turned to 1 pip at the gas station. Also noted that I was able to put more tank in the tank that fill-up and I'm already at 400 miles with 3 pips still left.

 

Can you describe your specific driving style? What kind of driving is involved in those 497 miles? Highway? city? Country? Constant P+G?

Reason i'm asking is - on my first tank, I got 352 Miles... at 46MPG so i'm trying to compare my driving to someone getting better mileage... While the typical response to this question is "Read the guides" i'm more interested in your specifics...