ABC news report on Hybrids tonight

You don't have to search very hard to find people who are not happy with their mileage, just search on here there are several. Something will only be the darling of the media for so long. I think maybe time has run out for the Prius and Toyota. The mojo seems to be fleeting! :blink:

 

I still average 49 MPG even when it's cold out! And I don't drive like an old lady either! (No offensen to any old [more than 70] ladies) Who the hell is complaining?

 

Man.

I'm not really in the mood to bring up the same response that I always do on this subject, but I think you're horribly mistaken.

It has been well established that EPA mileage ratings are many times overly optimistic, and do not reflect the varied terrain, climate, and driving styles out there.

... but the real kicker is that most of the cars that people are used to do NOT have instantaneous mileage displays. The only time an average driver of a car without instantaneous readout ever thinks his fuel economy is when he fills up. For most people, they have short memories, so it doesn't occur to them that their "conventional" car falls way short of the EPA rating.

The Prius does have instantaneous mileage, and in a way, that instantaneous mileage is a disadvantage to them when combined with the buzz over the mileage of this car.

People see that, and assume the car is horrible, even though they don't think about all of the factors that hurt mileage... terrain, climate, short trips, driving style, tire pressure... etc etc...

The average mileage of the Prius drivers on Green hybrid : http://www.greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage...a-priushsd.html

is 48.0 MPG. That's still low compared to EPA, but that's reality. You'll notice that that is a real sampling. You'll find people who do less than 40 MPG on there, but you'll also find people that blow WAY past 60 MPG on there as well. So this is truly a case of YMMV.

My suggestion? If you're unhappy about your mileage, realize that you probably still do A LOT better than any other car in the exact same conditions, and if you had the patience, LEARN TO DRIVE YOUR CAR BETTER. I still manage 48 MPG in the dead of winter...

 

We have taken 4 Prius' in trade so far. In every case the driver was getting less than 40 mpg. I think if you really researched the avg mileage many folks are getting 48+ because they are driving to maximize efficiency and many folks are getting <35 because they drive like they are diving a sports car, or simply are not good drivers.

 

If they all had <40 MPG, then there is a distinct possibility that the terrain in your area is bad for mileage all around.

Another possibility is short trips. I only get 48 MPG this season, but there is no doubt that I'd be able to get well over 60 MPG if i didn't have the 3 mile commute in the mornings and evenings... ironically, I'd get better mileage if it were longer.

 

For some reason we are having people trade them in on Buick's. They will get 30+ miles per gallon in most cases, which makes them happy.

 

Man, has this guy not been reading articles on the Prius at all??? :blink: When was there a good article?

 

When gas prices were sky-rocketing you could not turn on the tv or read a newspaper without hearing about the Prius and 50-60 mpg. I know I was hyper-sensitive to it, but they were there!

 

All I've heard since I started reading them is how stupid we are for buying a car that will never pay itself back. Rarely (if ever) have I seen an article that says this is the coolest thing since sliced bread.

You are right, you are hypersensitive -- so much so that you only saw what you wanted to see...

 

During the summer I was averaging 47 - 50 mpg, however now the temperatures in the morning have dropped to 34 - 40 degrees C, my mileage has dropped to 40 mpg, which I attribute to the following:

1) In cold weather, with the A/C set to 68, the engine still runs more often than in warm weather, when the A/C is in use and the engine is potentially charging the HV battery.

2) I have a VERY unforgiving morning schedule. I drive 2 of my kids 2 miles to school, down a hill (about 300' vertical drop then a 100' rise), turn off the engine, then turn it back on to take my other kid about 3 miles away over the same hill. Stop the engine, start it again then drive about 4 miles ot the train station. When the temp is 34 - 40 degrees C.

3) Winter gas formula

I know that if I take a trip on the freeway or a longer trip (which I did during the summer, another contributing factor) my mpg will go up, so I'm not worried. I do believe, however, that the Prius suffers a greater mpg drop in cold weather than a conventional car, because it relies on turning off the ICE from time to time, whereas a conventional car runs the ICE the whole time regardless of the temperature.

 

I think it is classic media love it then leave it. The 24 hour news cycle tends to over-magnify almost everything, the economy, gas prices, violence, politics. It always seems to be feast or famine. Do you really think the problems at GM have been as bad as has been reported over the last 3-6 months? Or that Toyota has never made a mistake before and will never in the future.

 

I just filled up my Sienna and calculated that since my last fill-up, I've gotten 13mpg. I should be getting between 19 & 27. I have to agree that most people don't realize what crappy mileage they get if they're not paying attention.

 

I think it's criminal that the car companies misrepresent the mileage of their cars. It's clearly a conspiracy together with EPA.

I drive mostly in hilly terrain, very short city trips, with the A/C on and get 18-20 mpg with my 1989 Honda Accord. I was mislead about the mileage of this car! Oh well, maybe I'm still in the breakin period. :lol: :lol:

 

The whole rating system needs to be reworked. There are many vehicles that will not get even close to EPA ratings because of the way they are driven and there are some that get substantially better.

 

I was just thinking that this morning. We are due to get snow today, so I drove my old car because I don't want to risk my new car while it is still so new. I was speeding, flooring it, doing all the behaviors I lost when an instantaneous MPG meter was put in front of my face. I know the old car doesn't get anywhere near the same mileage as my Prius, but it isn't telling me what it's getting, so I never think about it. I just floor it, and pull into the gas station when I need to.

 

A bunch of whiny, dumb, people that can't drive normal cars either. The Prius is just their scapegoat.

It's like people that sue over being so incredibly stupid and to spill hot beverages on themselves.

 

This is exactly how I see it.

While the Prius is capable of achieving phenomenal fuel efficiency, it is also capable of suffering wild fluctuations if driven "incorrectly" or in extreme conditions. Since the technology relies on achieving the numbers through light load in a moderate climate, going outside this realm will have a much more significant impact than a conventional ICE car.

As for achieving EPA numbers, I cannot comment on the Prius as I don't have one (yet), but I have no problem at all hitting the numbers on my 10-year old Integra. It is rated 25/31 MPG (US) by the EPA for city/highway, and I have been tracking every tank of gas for the past 4 years (through Canadian winters and all), and through 50/50 city/highway driving I have averaged 8.20L/100km, or 28.8MPG (US). I have a surpassed 35MPG a number of times on highway trips; I believe my all-time record was 37MPG on a tank of gas! B)

All this on a car that is 10 years old and pushing 300,000km (187K miles). Granted, I am a stickler for car maintenance as I always keep on top of my tire pressures, oil changes, air filter and spark plugs.

It's all how you drive the car... unfortunately for the Prius, the cutting-edge technology in a sense backfires when a nitwit is behind the wheel. :mellow:

- Kevin