Brand new prius with poor MPG

As you will learn, and hopefully have read here, your mileage will vary depending on how, where, and when you drive. You will also learn to drive more efficiently as you get used to the vehicle. You also need to understand that most rarely drive in the conditions used by the EPA to generate their numbers.

That said, I suspect you are either making multiple short trips, are heavy on the throttle, are not coasting to red lights rather than heavy braking at the last minute (minimizes regen time), you are on hilly roads, etc. My mileage varies depending on my length of trip, time between stops, the speed I am traveling, the outside temperature, etc. For reference, today I achieved 48 mpg at near constant 75mph highway speeds. My 10 minute, 7 mile off highway final leg to work yielded 70 mpg. My current tank average is 46.3, showing that several short trips on uneven terrain have reduced my mileage. This is to be expected and is more than reasonable. It also makes my previous vehicle, a Grand Prix, look like a gas hog with its meager 23 mpg under these same conditions.

 

I picked up my Prius on Monday. Including today, I have put 110 miles on it so far. My current MPG is 51 and some change. At first I was concerned that my gas gauge was not working, because I was at 100 miles on the car, and it had not dropped one bar, eventually it did shortly after. Now I know the gauge is not linear, but this car is just amazing. I have to admit my favoriate feature is the SS/SE. Not having to pull keys out or even the fob out of you pocket is worth it's weight in GOLD to me.

I have my home automated with the X-10 system, so this technology is second nature to me, and I expect it. I also have a button programmed on my HomeLink to shut off all my lights in the house when I leave. What a great feature to have if you use it.

I've found myself driving pretty much like I did before in my 4Runner. The Prius has MUCH MORE POWER than my 6-cyl'dr 4Runner, but I am sure most of that is becuase of weight. I generally get up to speed, and just keep it there. I've always been very smooth when applying the Gas and break, I think that helps.

I think a big part of the fuel savings is getting the car up to speed and keeping it consistant. I wouldn't be suprissed if some people change their driving habits without even knowing over time. This along with the breaking period I'm sure combined will help push up that MPG number.

 

The short trips are the easiest way to drive down your gas mileage. The weekends usually cost me at least 2 mpg because of the various errands that I run, all within a very short distance to my house.

Jeff

 

Hills do seem to be the killer. I'm down in Santa Cruz and work at the UCSC campus...a short commute on a cold engine straight up hill. I don't get the whole downhill benefit when I return home because the engine is cold and is just getting warmed up when I'm almost on the flatlands again. Even so, I'm on my 3rd tank of gas since getting my car on April 15, and I'm averaging 47-49 mpg per tank, which is better than when I first got my car. I'd like to see it improve...and hope it will. As stated by others, driving style also has an effect, and with time you'll learn what's negatively impacting your mpg just by watching the two screens (energy and consumption).

Try taking the car out of town (less hilly) on a longer drive. Before I bought my car, I rented one for a weekend and headed straight for Pinnacles (National Monument). On that trip, which did include some up (and down) hill driving, I averaged about 52 mpg for the trip. In general, it seems that I got better mileage on the rental than on my own car. Mine is equipped with a #9 package (and the rental wasn't), so I sometimes wonder if there's extra weight that might have a bearing on things, but am hoping that it's just not broken in yet (my ODO is at about 1500 miles now).

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a message to this forum asking for help in understanding the consumption and energy screens. I got a very helpful response. If you'd like to read it, look for or do a search for a message with the subject something like "Help on the Arrows" as in the arrows on the energy screen.

Good luck and have fun.

 

The thread can be found here.

 

As you will see, it can be addictive after awhile. The focus is re-directed from the maniac flying past you and the moron slower than you. Your driving habits will evolve to maximize efficiency by looking far ahead for grade differences, accelerating up short slopes and cruizing down the other side, adjusting speed to avoid stopping at red lights, and use of EV vs ICE in different scenarios. Just remember the car is design to recapture a high percentage of the kinetic energy and returning it into potential energy in the form of a charge. Your enemy will always be speed, wind, and long uphills with short downhill stretches.

Regenerative braking will always generate more charge than cruizing down hill so ride your breaks when possible. And don't worry cause it's not actually using your brakes until you almost at a complete stop.

Good luck and may the WATTS be with you.

 

Just as a quick side-note, my average daily commute to work is about 12 km and takes me about 18-20 minutes. I find this isn't "quite" long enough to get optimal fuel efficency out of the Prius (the first 1/3 of the trip is basically just warming-up the car in cool weather).

The tradeoff of course is that a shorter trip uses less gas anyway, so I'm not thinking about moving farther away to get a better reading on the display (I usually hover around 5.1L/100km).

Over a longer 25km trip out to a different work site, the fuel economy really jumps as the car is fully warmed-up.

Dave

 

The true measure of efficiency is in gallons per year.

 

I agree with just about everyone. We got our Prius 10 days ago and have put about 560 miles on it. So far, we're averaging about 4.6 L/100km or 51 miles per US gallon.

For the first 100 miles or so, the numbers were disappointing, but it gradually got better. I think it got better because a) we took a few long trips out to the countryside to visit friends, and B) our driving behaviour has altered dramatically.

Although we aren't obsessive (at least I don't think we are), I find that I am now making different choices when I drive. In our town, we have a road called "the parkway" that runs along the river and another road called "the highway". The limit on the parkway is 60 kph (37 mph) and the one on the highway is 100 kph (62 mph). I now find myself choosing the parkway more often, because I can stay in electric for a longer stretch of time, and even when I'm not in electric, I get better fuel economy numbers. The view is also nicer. :mrgreen:

Both my husband and I have a tendency to treat the screen as an interactive video game where the goal is to keep litres per hundred kilometres as low as possible. I don't know if this is good or bad, but it's what we seem to be doing.

We get sad whenever we have to take a trip of less than 15 minutes. We know it will bring our numbers up. (On cars with displays in litres per hundred km, low numbers are good and high numbers are bad!)

The hills in our town are gentle (especially compared to San Francisco), and we're not into air conditioner weather yet. These factors might also be helping our numbers.

Don't despair. Your numbers will very likely get better with time.

 

I've had my 04 for about 6 months now. First, the numbers did get better as the car "burned in" over the first few months (I don't know why this is.) Second, my driving habbits have changed a little. I mostly drive freeway miles (about 100 per day) and so far, the biggest change is that I tend to drive closer to the speed limit (58 in a 55 zone and 68 in a 65 zone.) I think the change came about because I graphically saw the miles / gallon numbers drop at higher speeds (no computer display in my old car) and I think I am enjoying driving more now, so I'm not in as much of a hurry. My miles per gallon over the last few warm months is 52. Lifetime is 48.7.

Rick
04 Salsa Red BC
Maryland

 

not to worry , the same happened to me. my mistake was topping of the tank after the automatic stop. it is not required. i am a bit older and i have always put a bit more in the tank after the automatic shutoff. i remember in the seventies when we had gas lines. of course they seemed to just go away when it hit a $1.00 a gallon......oh yeah, i am averageing about 45 to 47 miles per gallon now. i always fill up when it is down to two bars . i don't like to let it get any lower than that. remember easy does it from the light and when your crusing nice let up just the slightest from the gas and then just a very light touch on the accerator will keep you going. it will probably keep the traffice tickers away also. just another benifit of being a prius owner.. :roll:

 

MPG<<60

Okay.....

I've had my car since early april 2004 and my commute is approx 2 miles.
My MPG works put to be 41 MPG... all things considered.

Based on EPA estimates.... this blows chunks..... based on 20 MPG experience average rating of the vehicle I replaced.... it's a major win.
If everyone did the same.... be it hybrid or some other mechanism...
Well... there'd be a heck of a lot less demand for oil from OPEC...

FWIW I hand fill my Prius just as I did the POJ Mercury I replaced with the Prius. Filling up on 11 gallons every month sure beats putting 22 Gallons into the tank every 3-4weeks....
cas

 

casc,

As DaveG has reported here, and others have reported in other posts, short trips are gas milage killers. The ICE has to run continuously until the catalytic converter is up to operating temperature. Having a 2 mile commute, you shouldn't expect high MPG numbers, and very few people are matching the EPA ratings. I agree with DaveG that you shouldn't move further from work just to get better milage, just be glad you get better milage that you did before.

 

I started out at 38mpg's and now I am at 52mpg's with 5200 miles.The Prius will learn and so will you

 

The only other comment that I think should be added is that if poor MPGs continue for some time, bring the car in for service and ask assertively for an alignment (most dealerships have some sort of one-time alignment warrenty).

I know of a few cases where this worked wonders for people, but hopefully you will not have to get an alignment.

There is also speculation out there that the cars are deliberately being misadjusted in delivery, but I'm not that pessimistic.

Good luck all.

~Andrew

 

Slight hijack, but if your commute is only 2 miles, couldn't you walk (or if that takes too long, bicycle?). At least when the WX is good.

Brian

 

Since we're hijacking the thread right now I just wanted to say...

Ha!
Only a pilot would use the term "WX."
Just wanted to say hello Whisky Papa.

~Andrew

 

If I only had a two mile commute, my bicycle would definitely see alot more use.