Mileage and the EPA

Hey Yoda,

I'm on my second tank. My first was 40mpg. I'm halfway through my second and am at 44mpg. Part of the increase was learning how to use the gas pedal effectively. I'm hoping to average high 40's eventually.

 

If your commute is short, or you move north of the arctic circle, your mileage will probably never improve much. Otherwise, there are a lot of things you can do, or that will just happen, to increase your mileage. See:

http://priuschat.com/forums/kb.php?mode=ar...d48b612f1167dd9

 

welcome to PriusChat yoda!!

trust me it will get better. you can see by my signature that i am getting great mileage. but it wasnt always that way. you will get better trust me.

 

Drivers side, don't forget to pull the hatch release before you get out of the car to fill up. Give us a general idea of where you are. It does make a difference and we can help. Evan something as general and New England or Pacific North West will help. Yes there is a break-in and it is important. Also you are using winter gas if you are in the north but with summer gas things will get better. Details, details.

 

Set the MFD to display the "Consumption" screen and pay attention to the bar on the right hand side that displays the instantaneous mileage figure. You will be amazed how fast your driving habits will change to be more fuel efficient.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(coloradospringsprius\";p=\"80006)</div>

North of the artic circle? What might you possible mean by that

I just hit 3000 km (about 2000 miles) and what I get is usally 45 MPH.

 

The type of driving you do and the terrain you cover will affect the MPG. One way to work I go up hills and the way home I go down them. TO work I average 44 mpg and on the way back I can get 60+.
Now if you live an Florida I bet you would get great gas MPG.

Blue

 

Well, there too, it all depends. If you do short trips <10 or even 20 miles, then

1. you are using more fuel to warm up the ICE and catalytic converter

2. you are using more fuel to charge the battery to keep up with high AC demand.

Right now, I have been using an open window much of the time, and my commutes are 48 miles one way. Even my weekend travels to/from church is 28 miles.

The Prius will be more sensitive, and more obvious to conditions that rob economy in any car.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(DanMan32\";p=\"80116)</div>

DanMan is exactly correct, as usual. If your car has an EPA rating of 20 mpg and you're getting 16, the tendency is to think it's pretty close, even though it's 20 percent low. If your Prius is low by the same 20 percent, it's 44 mpg instead of 55 - and THAT seems like an issue.

 

My first few tanks were around 7 L/100km (Approx 40 MPG) but then we had a very cold winter that started early and lasted a *long* time.

At the worst my fuel consumption went up to 10L/100km or only 28 MPG. This was at -40, snow routing in effect, after a huge blizzard, so the commute took over twice as long and the traffic was moving inch-n-stop.

FWIW my 2000 GMC Sierra would give around 5 MPG under similar conditions.

After I put on around 8,000km, the fuel economy seemed to get a lot better. Right now, with temps of +10 to +20 C, my MFD claims an average of 4 L/100km or 70 MPG. That's almost 60 MPG in U.S. gallons.

The local dealer wasn't kidding about break-in being so important. They were really insistent on *not* changing the factory oil until it had at least 5,000km / 3,000mi on it, and they prefer 8,000km / 5,000mi before the first oil change with the Prius.

They also suggested waiting at least until 10,000km / 6,000mi before switching to a synthetic, and they prefer 16,000km / 10,000mi.

Since they've been right about everything else, I will be waiting until 16,000km minimum before putting in Mobil 1 0W-30. I hope to gain 2-3 MPG, which is consistent with what other owners of high fuel economy cars (Honda Civic, Toyota Echo) have reported.

Asides from break-in, you will quickly learn how to "correctly" drive the car, and the MFD will be your guide. Unlike most cars, the MFD provides immediate feedback to your good *and* bad habits.

Hope this helps.

 

Same thing in Finland. When it was very cold, I had always 7.5l/100km (at least within th efirst 10 kms or so).

Now it's a bit warmer (above 0C) and I am getting 5l/100km.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dontcheff\";p=\"80089)</div>

Admit it - even YOU have a bit of a trek to reach the arctic circle. But I'm donating five points to you since you live within reasonable driving distance!

(No, I have no idea what points are for. I was hoping that maybe they could be traded in for the anxiously awaited hybrid Hummer, but apparently that's just a dream. On every level.)

 

You wanna get a hybrid Hummer?

If you can buy a parking space for that "ship", I will donate you all my points