City/Hwy mix

My commute to and from work is a 50/50 mix between city and freeway. Before buying my Prius, I figured that I wouldn't get really great mileage because of the amount of freeway miles that I rack up. However, it seems as though my mileage doesn't really go upwards much until I get on the freeway. Today, nearing the fill-up zone of 450 to 500 miles, I was averaging a rather dismal 52.3. By the time I got off of the freeway and was back to city driving, my mileage had improved to 53.5. Some of it may be that I'm getting somewhat low on fuel but I find it interesting that freeway driving seems to give me better mileage, especially when driving TO work. The drive home doesn't fare as well.

 

Yeah, I forgot to include a few things. The entire one-way trip is thirty miles. I have to drive probably six miles with several lights before getting to the freeway. The trip home, I'm on the freeway after only a couple of miles and a couple of lights. Currently, with construction on the exit ramp close to work, I detour so that I put up with several more lights and more city driving but the detour, oddly enough, is a couple of miles shorter. A lot of the commute's miles are freeway and I drive either 70 mph or below depending on traffic. I know, I said it was 50/50 but I think that I meant that in terms of time rather than mileage, now that I think about it. The first several miles before turning in to freeway are in a 50 mph zone and it increases to 60 then 70 within a few miles. By the time I'm really on the freeway, the car is definitely warmed up going to work.