I DID IT!!

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Roger3125 @ Jun 7 2006, 10:58 PM) [snapback]267702[/snapback]</div>

the key to good mileage around town is to accelerate moderately and anticipating red lights and stop signs....look way ahead...if a light turns yellow way ahead, take your foot off the gas (and check your rear view mirror for that SUV barrelling down on you). I can easily get upper 50's all the way to 61.8mpg on my 25 mile trip to work in the morning (with no a/c).

leave 10 mins earlier for work and you can relax your driving style.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(bagwell @ Jun 8 2006, 06:02 AM) [snapback]267808[/snapback]</div>

This is an interesting thread, and I apologize for being late to the party. Oddly, with numerous Toyota associates at our SoCal HQ driving the Prius, I've yet to find any coffee room conversations re maximizing fuel economy on our commutes. Have picked up some hints here--love the wax idea!!; low oil level though here is forbidden discussion--but what are the basic/minimum driving characteristics to boost MPG past the 50 mark and on to 60? At a consistent 42-43 MPG on an '06, I'm a long way from that range!

I, too, carpooled in the pre-Prius-in-CA HOV days and always ribbed my carpool partner about driving like grandma. Seemed almost hazardous on the 405. Besides a mental attitude adjustment about not feeling like I need to rush all the time, how about helping tmsusa here with the other basics. And is it really possible doing 90-mile daily roundtrip commutes via LA/Orange County 405 HOV lanes??

Thanks all.

 

I have given up on trying to get great(er) mileage. It seems if I baby the Prius, I get the same or less mileage, if I drive like a maniac, I get good mileage... So unpredictable!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Roger3125 @ Jun 7 2006, 10:58 PM) [snapback]267702[/snapback]</div>

There's plenty of information here in various threads, look in the sticky posts of this Fuel Economy forum to start.
Basically, you are correct, the battery doesn't do most of the work below 40 mph. However, 40 mph is the fastest it is possible to go without the engine turning at all (when coasting or in battery-only mode), so that probably got misinterpreted at some point.

The battery and engine work together, depending on power needs, battery level, and engine temperature. If you're taking short trips around town, your engine may be spending most of it's time warming up. Since you're from O.C. however, that shouldn't be a big problem, it should warm up in just a couple minutes there. It's probably more of a matter of sudden starting, sudden stopping, and A/C (<10% drop). Try keeping a little extra distance between you and the car ahead, and coasting whenever possible. In lighter traffic you can use the pulse-and-glide technique, this works well on small hills and without impatient people behind you. Also you have an '06, so the car may not be really broken in yet. I've heard the mileage increases at about 5K miles and again at 15K or so.

It looks like I'll finally break 50mpg for my commute on this tank! I did 52 mpg on a trip recently, where I averaged 70mph, windows up, no A/C. Coming back we needed A/C and had a head/crosswind, and that averaged about 47 mpg. My commute is only 7.5 miles (<20 minutes), so in cold weather I spend a third of that with a cold engine. Now in warmer weather my economy is improving, and I've got about 3K miles on my car. My readout is currently at 54 mpg, but I doubt my final computation will meet that.

 

For clarity sake i do look ahead and try whenever possible to coast to the stop sign or light. I understand now why the engine is still running below 40 mph and I thank you for that information.

However, though mentioned a thousand times, can someone again explain to us hard of hearing folk just what the slide and glide (or whatever its called) is?

Thanks freinds
Roger

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TMS USA @ Jun 9 2006, 10:56 AM) [snapback]268692[/snapback]</div>

First of all a late congrats at going over 60 feels good! Now too our friend at TOYOTA welcome good to have you here! I am now on my fourth tank over 60 now that summer has been creeping in here in the PNW. As for our friends at TOYOTA, look around here for the tips. I don't think that the block heater and radiator blocker will be of much help is SoCal. You can go well over 50 on the freeway but to get into the ultra-miler group you may need a way to use the back roads and byways. I have 4 or maybe 5 ways to get to work each day and the best for milage and strangely enough time is the route that is under 40 mph. I will give you the point that my commute is about 9 miles, and taking the freeway adds .2 miles to the commute. I am now in the quest for a 65 mpg tank. You do not have to drive like a grandma, at least not mine, but you do need to cut back a little bit on acceleration and a lot on anticipating traffic and lights to coast to a stop and slow down. You need to give yourself more space between you and the car in front of you so you can drive your drive and not theirs. Give in to the Zen of the Prius and enjoy! You might just arrive more happy, more calm, and ready for your day, or evenings!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(hdrygas @ Jun 13 2006, 09:26 PM) [snapback]270964[/snapback]</div>

I like the idea of giving myself up to the Zen of my car! Those are attractive payoffs. But, alas, I am an HOV lane addict and looks like to get into the "big leagues" I would have to get off that stuff to do it. I already have what must be delirium tremors at the mere thought. The added "rush" of strategically maneuvering my Prius at the green onramp traffic meter and accelerating until it sounds like my mom's old Singer so as to slice across six clogged traffic lanes and dart into the HOV would just be too much to give up.

Thanks so much for great suggestions, though. I'm weak and will retreat to the sewers of HOV highs, having to shamefully accept a 43 instead of a 60.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TMS USA @ Jun 9 2006, 12:56 PM) [snapback]268692[/snapback]</div>

One tip I haven't heard often that has helped me get way beyond 50 mpg is proper handling of hilly areas. My daily commute takes over the west hills of Portland (~600 foot vertical gain/loss both ways). While I've heard many that claim they loose mileage because of hilly terrain, I've managed to turn mine into a gain.

What I've found to work (depending upon traffic conditions) is to charge up this hill rather quickly figuring that while it may decrease my mileage about 3-4 mpg, it greatly decreases the amount of time I spend in this lower mileage range. On the backside of the hill, I slow down braking ever so slight, barely touching the gas pedal and rarely enough to use power from the battery. If traffic runs JUST RIGHT and the downhill speeds are between 20 and 40 mph (too fast and I get little charge, too slow and I waste charge in stop-and-go traffic), I can hit the bottom of the hill with the same mileage as when I began my climb and a battery charged to the maximum. This full charge I then use to get through the worst congestion of my commute where I can run for 5-10 minutes (2-3 miles) on pure electric.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(IAO @ Jun 4 2006, 01:02 PM) [snapback]265617[/snapback]</div>

Both of you should kick the habit.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TMS USA @ Jun 9 2006, 01:56 PM) [snapback]268692[/snapback]</div>

I wonder how much of the high mpg achievement results from the very presence of the MFD screens.
I wouldn't be surprised, if these displays were available on conventional ICE cars, that the drivers would join us in playing the mpg video game and boost their economy by developing conservation driving skills.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Roger3125 @ Jun 13 2006, 12:34 AM) [snapback]270369[/snapback]</div>

Hi Roger,

It is called "Pulse and Glide" (P&G) and I will try to do a quick summary here. (You can also search on "pulse and glide", as this is covered elsewhere on this site and at greenhybrid, cleanmpg, and others.)

A quick history of my own experiences(skip to next paragraph if you're in a hurry). I came across green hybrid when another group referred to it as having a mileage database for the Prius II. The top mileage on that database is for a car named "Silkshorts" with mileage at 71.8 MPG and the highest tank at 119 MPG. I thought, "You have got to be kidding!" Well upon further research, this was done by 5 drivers working in 4 hour shifts driving the same Prius for 48 hours continuously on a single tank of gas (1400 miles!) at between 30 and 40 MPH in an attempt to set a mileage record (Prius Marathon). I decided that I could do better than my lifetime average of about 50 MPG over 43000 miles by trying pulse and glide. Since I have been using P&G my average MPG is 65 MPG and by best tank 70.8 MPG (this is for my last 3 tanks over 1781 miles).

At speeds under 40 MPH (with the car warmed up) you get better mileage by accelerating briskly to a target speed (the "pulse") and then letting off the gas and then pressing gently on the accelerator until you make the green arrows disappear from the energy monitor screen, you should have no arrows and you simply maintain this pedal position (this is the "glide") until you slow to say 33 MPH and then you pulse again. If you have a lot of hills you would try to time the pulses with the uphills and then glide on the downhills. This technique is combined with all of your other high mileage techniques. The one thing that changed for me is that I tried to accelerate too slowly before and this resulted in spending a lot more time with the internal combustion engine (ice) running. With P&G you accelerate a little harder, but then spend more time with the ice off and instantaneous fuel economy (ife) at 99.9 MPG while the car is gliding. During the pulse you can either aim for a certain ife such as 25 or 30 MPG or you can use what is sometimes called "deadband" acceleration. Deadband is where you have pink arrows from the ice to the wheels and electric motor and orange arrows from the electric motor to the wheels, but NO ARROWS to or from the battery on the energy monitor. This is a little tricky and takes some practice, if you press too hard you get an orange arrow from the battery to the electric motor, not hard enough and either no orange arrows to the wheels or maybe a green arrow to the battery. Above 40- 45 it is almost impossible to get to this deadband state and I usually just aim for 30-35 MPG ife or I get almost into the deadband state with a green arrow going to the battery.

Over 40 MPH and up to about 55 there is another technique called warp stealth or high speed glide, this is similar to P&G except that you cannot get the blank screen during the glide above 41 MPH, instead you accelerate to say 55 MPH and then let off the gas so you get green arrows, then press gently on the gas until you just get the orange arrows and then hold the pedal there for your "high speed glide". Some claim this works no better than cruise control, or maybe a little better if you have some hills. Try for yourself. Over 55 probably it is best to stick with cruise control and the slower you can go on the highway, the better your mileage will be.

One last tip is to increase your tire pressure as much as you can tolerate up to as much as 50 PSI is fine, but if that makes you nervous try 44 F/42R. I have gone up as much as 58F/ 56R, but the ride is pretty rough at that pressure and you might lose some fillings.

Dennis