how does an inverter effect mpg?

ml3000 · May 17, 2012

I have a 200 watt inverter that plugs into a cigeratte lighter to charge cell phones and things. Anyone know how this would effect MPG? Also anyone have a speed vs MPG graph for the gen2? Just got the car and I'm going on a road trip.thanks

cwerdna · May 17, 2012

It's probably a very minimal effect, if measurable at all.

As for graph, see the NHW20 (what you have) line at http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-h...1-consumer-reports-mph-vs-mpg.html#post954643. However, there are many other factors that could affect your mileage such as your tires, their pressure, how worn they are (http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tiretech/techpage.jsp?techid=177), alignment, head/tail winds, elevation change, etc. Who knows if you got proper low rolling resistance tires, whether they're the right size and properly aligned?

See http://priuschat.com/forums/freds-h...elevation-profile-route-between-2-points.html re: elevation change.

Also, don't be so concerned about mileage. See http://priuschat.com/forums/other-c...eage-no-its-your-gallonage-really-counts.html. To quote from http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...mileage-gets-worse-in-winter.html#post1411488

Due to the Prius' typically high baseline mpg figure, the mileage drops may seem worse than they really are. To quote from Car and Driver: Mileage? No, it's Your Gallonage that Really Counts

There's a sneaky illusion in mpg numbers. Consider: If your pickup rated at 10 mpg gets only 9, you shrug and say it's off only 1 mpg. But if you drive a hybrid labeled 50 mpg and it drops the same 10 percent to 45, you complain of lousy mileage.

The illusion tricks you once again when you think of mpg instead of the fuel you actually burn. Hybrids are chosen by people who think saving gas is right up there on the list of American virtues with motherhood and voting. But when the hybrid gets 45 mpg instead of the expected 50, a 100-mile trip consumes less than a quarter of a gallon more than expected. Compare that with the pickup that gets 9 mpg instead of 10; its 100-mile trip burns 1.1 extra gallons.

The loss of 10 percent on the pickup's mileage actually burns five times the extra gas used by the 10-percent shortfall in the hybrid...
Click to expand...

Here are some sample calculations to illustrate the above:
100 miles / 50 mpg = 2 gallons used
100 miles / 45 mpg = 2.22 gallons used

100 miles / 20 mpg = 5 gallons used
100 miles / 18 mpg = 5.56 gallons used

So, if you had a 20 mpg vehicle that dropped to 18 mpg, you might not even notice it or dismiss it as noise. Yet, the 2 mpg drop in that vehicle actually caused ~2.5x more consumption.
Click to expand...

how does an inverter effect mpg?

ml3000 New Member

cwerdna Senior Member

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how does an inverter effect mpg?

ml3000 New Member

cwerdna Senior Member