How should I be driving for best mileage?

We have no idea what you used to drive so it is hard to compare how quick your Prius is. Coming from tiny econoboxes, my Prius is large, powerful, and fast, compared to what I am used to.



As far as driving it, look out ahead of you so you never need to brake, and drive as you normally would. If you find that not driving like a maniac gets you to work at the same time, why worry?

 

Speed is a mileage killer for any car. If you drive 80 you will never get mileage as good as when you drive 60. It's a trade off, and you will need to judge what it is worth to you, and balance that against time and interfering with traffic.

Other than that, accelerate briskly to speed, avoid braking, anticipate stops, and avoid short trips for best mileage.

Tom

 

You didn't list the year of your Prius. I will assume that you have a 2011 (Gen III). If you have the ECO button turned on then it will feel like a slug. If you press the ECO button again the car will return to "normal" mode and feel like it has more power. For even more sense of power press the "power" button. No extra power but, it will fool you into thinking it accelerates faster. The simple way to max mpg is to feather back the gas pedal after you have reached your cruising speed and then apply just enough gas to keep your speed.

 

This video demonstrates Prius's driving modes and how to maximize your gas mileage!

 

That part of your post that I've emphasized is why you're seeing that although you think you're traveling more slowly you're arriving at work at the same time.

If you're hitting stop and go traffic on the highway it means the traffic ahead of you is determining how fast you can go. Driving faster just makes you arrive at the jam sooner. It's racing up to the red (brake) lights.

As Jimbo posted you want to avoid that braking and you do that by looking well ahead so that instead of braking you can let the car slow down gradually (the best way is if you can glide*). The earlier you get off the gas, the less gas you used. Even better** is if you can see it's stop and go and you can work out what the average speed is: you can then drive at that constant speed.

It sounds like you have a perfect attitude to driving.

Essentially, you can drive it normally and do pretty well. Unfortunately, what's normal to many people is actually incredibly wasteful. Don't race, but don't drive like grandma, stick to speed limits. Do all the "Free Money" economical driving techniques: leave space in front, concentrate and look well ahead so you can anticipate and avoid sudden braking; time traffic lights and yields so you don't have to stop; don't rush up to a light if you do have to stop; try to keep rolling instead of following the sheep in stop and go.

There's more if you want consciously to "hypermile", but just awareness and avoiding braking can ensure you get good mileage.

Oh, and don't deliberately*** try to drive in the EV area. Your charge ultimately comes from the gasoline and burning gasoline to charge the battery then using the charge to run an electric motor is less efficient than running the engine efficiently: the Prius software does quite a good job of working out whether it's better to use the motors, the engine or a blend of the two.

As others wrote it's mostly to do with the gas pedal. Power mode (which my wife uses) in the Prius is closest to "normal" cars, certainly our last two. In other modes, particularly in Eco mode (which I use), you'll have to push the pedal harder to get the same oomph you'd expect in your old car. The good thing about it, is that is gives you more precise control (and that helps efficiency), but the bad thing is that your foot will work a bit more. Some drivers actually find they get better mileage normal or Power mode than in Eco, probably because they're accelerating too slowly.

Also, the Prius has a 1.8 liter engine modified to run in a special way that emphasizes efficiency over power. In normal cruising it's fine but when doing something that demands more power, like accelerating or climbing a hill the Prius engine has to work harder than other cars' engines do. If you're someone who drives by sound you'll have to get used to the sound of the engine working hard. (The whine of the engine under heavy load makes my wife pat the dash sarcastically. )

* A glide is where the engine is turned off and you're neither braking nor using the motors to move the car. When you take your foot off the gas in a Prius it slows down like other cars, but only because it simulates it by applying a bit of regenerative braking. You can make the Prius glide by keeping just enough pressure on the gas that you see neither charging nor power on the display. In a glide the Prius retains its speed extremely well.

** The technique called pulse and glide is actually the most efficient way of driving, but you have to do it right, otherwise it's less efficient. In traffic it's also easier and better for flow if you maintain a steady speed.

*** As a rule.

 

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