"In town" driving

You should avoid using the electric mode at all times; the electricity stored in the hybrid battery is used to aid accelleration, so if you are lacking power, then you will get lower fuel economy. The best strategy to use all the time is:

Accelerate slowly - about the same speed as a large pickup truck or SUV accelerates. Get up to 40-45 mph, then let off the pedal entirely; wait for the speed to drop down to about, say, 33-35 mph, then start to slowly accelerate again.

Using this method today I achieved 50mpg in city traffic, with the A/C going at medium speed, 68 degrees, and even then the battery became green at two different points on the trip!

 

You need to buy a tire gauge and check the pressures when the tires are cold, after the car has sat for many hours or only after you've driven a very short distance (say <2 miles w/no highway driving). Inflate your tires w/your own air pump or one at a gas station. Don't use the tire gauge on gas station air hoses as you have no idea what condition they're in.

In your 2nd case, you have a huge margin for error since the distance and sample size was so small since the reset. Since you moved the car 10 feet, the ICE may have turned on, burning up a disproportionate amount of fuel to move you only 10 feet.

 

Pulse and Glide plus Warp Stealth in the Prius II for maximum FE … - CleanMPG Forums is a more detailed guide about pulse and glide. I'm not that nearly hardcore to do the calculations and my commute only has 1 segment where I could P & G for <2 miles. The rest is at speeds that are too high.

The rather dense PDF at http://priuschat.com/forums/knowled...perating-mode-availability-reference-aid.html might be interesting for you to know what people have discovered. Unfortunately, without something like ScanGauge, you won't be able to tell the IGN nor coolant temperatures (FWT on ScanGauge). Also, just because there are no arrows coming out of the ICE on the MFD doesn't mean it's off. The Prius has no tach but you can see the ICE RPMs on ScanGauge.

(I got a ScanGuage II just a few weeks ago and am just getting the hang of things and having a hard time finding time to digest all the info out there.)

 

Ok, I just had a quick look at the CleanMPG guide..... I have a question. Are they saying you should accelerate entirely under the power of the ICE, no electrical assistance involved at all? And then do a warp stealth glide? Wouldn't that take forever? I do the ICE + electrical acceleration at the lowest rate possible and that is real slow as is.