2014 Prius Four Eco Savings Record Confusion

Did you change the Fuel Consumption Display to Eco Savings? If not, it will display the fuel cost and not the cost difference.

 

I see the same thing on our Gen III. I think it is simply calculating the cost of fuel based on the price you plugged in with the miles you travel. Look at your numbers and look at the readout. Those figure's pretty much jive imo.

 

Let's be honest for a moment. Most of the dealers and salesmen that work for Toyota will admit that the "owners" of the Prius actually know more about a Prius than they do. With that said, it stands to reason that one should not believe all of the claims and hype that goes along with the car buying experience. With prudent observation along with taking with other owners as you are doing imo is the best way to find out the truth from the myths and bs that revolves through the sales world.

I will say this. I do believe the engineers and designers of the products Toyota produces understand them and do know what they are working with. When it comes to the folks who work on the floor in sales/finance I believe they are only there for one thing, a paycheck. They are selling cars and will say and or do whatever it takes to make that sale.

Coming from a Gen II Prius and moving into a Gen III Prius is a delight for myself. The quality and features are much more refined and considerably higher tech than the previous generation. All in all I think the Gen III Prius is a winner. I hope the Gen IV will be even better.

If I were in your shoes, I would bring this subject up with your service writer the next time you visit Toyota for your scheduled maintenance. Since all new Toyota's qualify for free maintenance for the first two years, it seems to me it would benefit you to take advantage of that offer. While you are there you can ask them about it and get them to clarify exactly how that part of the system is supposed to work.

The owner's manual is NOT real clear on what it does. It only explains how to input the data. I pulled my manual out today and studied it to see if I had missed anything. I did set it up the second day of usage before I added any fuel. That is why I said that mine is doing the same thing.

I know this doesn't really help you in your quest for exactly what is happening concerning this feature. What I can say though is that is more than likely working as it is designed to. I will also add that the a clearer owners manual would help on this particular part of the Prius. It is a very complex automobile and the owners manuals do not always cover every little detail even though they do try hard to do so.

Best of luck to you and enjoy your new car!

Ron (dorunron)

For the record, the only boasting I do is when someone asks me the MPG, I simply point at the readout on the dash. Nothing needs to be said after that.

 

I urge to set up a account on fuelly.com - Record your fuel usage there. The data you will compile over time will amaze you as well as demonstrate just how you spend and save on fuel over time. Plus it will give you a very good look at your MPG.

Not trying to be off topic, but you really should check out the site. It is also free to register and use.

 

I think I am confused. The Eco-savings you set in the settings menu only shows when you turn the car off. It shows along with the segment mpg, etc. It does not interface with the screen you are showing. As far as I know, the screen will only show fuel cost, no comparisons. I do not use it, however, and maybe you can configure it differently.

 

What will it do when turning the car off? When we turn the car off we see the trip miles, trip minutes, trip MPG and trip fuel used in $. I assume that the fuel $ calculation is based on the price I input after each fill up.

I agree with this, many things in the Prius aren't very user-friendly or intuitive. Perhaps some of it is a culture difference with a car designed by engineers who are from another culture which places higher importance on different features and aspects of the vehicle compared to US culture.

 

If you really want top MPG in your new Prius, learn how to hypermile. Links about that topic can be found in my signature below. The topic applies to Gen II, but can be applied to Gen III once you get used to the HSI display. Avoid the Power Band unless you really need it. Try to keep the HSI close to the middle of the display when the ICE is operating. The farther to the right the HSI indicator shows, the more fuel that is being injected into the ICE. Also don't run on battery alone (EV Mode) as there is no free ride in the Prius. All energy is derived from the ICE burning fuel and the conversion process always loses energy. Regeneration helps immensely when braking and gliding. Take advantage of that feature as you can, but remember rule #1 is go with the flow. Don't impede traffic, otherwise you might end up being a victim of road rage.

I am still breaking in our new 2013 that has less than 325 miles on it. I am currently averaging 50 easily around town with higher trip average once the system is in Stage 4. You can also learn about the various stages of the Toyota Hybrid System. Again, look in my signature below. Link on S4 explained.

And yes, you should win over the Volt if you drive conservatively and manage climate control effectively.

FWIW, my former lifetime average on our Gen II Prius overall came in at 53 MPG when measured on fuelly implementing hypermiling techniques. The Gen III is supposed to be more economical than Gen II was.

Best of luck to you,
Ron (dorunron)

I believe the $ calculation is based on the price as you wrote above. Once I entered the price of fuel, I was then seeing the additional data on cost of fuel used after shut down as you described.

I really appreciate this feature. It shows me actual cost's of each trip I make to help me in further managing my nickels and dimes and to further conserve. That is why I own a Prius, to conserve.

I honestly think the problem you are seeing is that not everyone understands how the designers made this feature work. From what I have seen it is used to show just how much money you are actually spending on fuel overall per month AND each trip. There are two different areas of the various displays on the Gen III where the price figure comes into play. One the ESR you refer to and two the screen that show after shut down before the screen goes totally blank.

I do agree with what hybridbear just said. It could boil down to the "higher importance on different features and aspects of the vehicle" as hybridbear pointed out.
Ron (dorunron)

 

I am not sure where we are in this discussion, but the Eco Savings screen says "fuel cost" where it should say "savings". You need to set the Comparison Consumption screen in the Display Settings screen to "Comp". I think you have it on "Eco Savings".

 

They are both in my manual. It is for a 2012, though.

 

This is the kind of thing that I dislike about toyota cars. I still like the car but they are not easy to understand how to set advanced settings. Toyota gets a thumbs down for this

 

Hmmm. Will have to study 2013 manual once more and poke into controls further. Thanks for the heads up on the oddball screen/feature.

Ron

 

Ok, just went out and played with mine. I can't get the setting to stay in the Comparison Mode for one thing, and I never see the screen that shows the savings, just the fuel cost.

Either I am missing something or I am doing it all wrong. Glad to hear you got your question answered though. Now I am buffaloed...

Sometimes things can be too high tech.

Ron