Mods for increased fuel efficiency

In all honesty there is not much to do to the c to improve fuel efficiency. I wouldn't bother removing the spare either. The fuel savings are imperceptible and a can of fix a flat will not fix a blow out.

1. Keep the car free of extra weight like tools and such.
2. Keep your tires properly inflated and stick with LRR tires
3. Use the AC and heater as little as possible to ensure you and the HV battery stay cool. See my post on the subject
4. Master all of the techniques you need to tackle road situations as efficiently as possible. Join forums like Cleanmpg.com and EcoModder.com.

The single largest gain to be had is through driving technique. These cars are already so optimized that mods just don't seem to help much.

 

Damn new software hates my iPad.

As I was saying, grille blocking is effective when temps drop to 40F and below. Higher than 50F and the gains are lost and you have to be careful with overheating.

A PHEV conversion is great and can really increase efficiency if your commute can take advantage of the battery power. The drawback is cost. The kits are somexpensive that it doesn't always pencil out.

 

This will help get you started despite much of the talk centering on traditional ICE cars.

Pulse and Glide technique - CleanMPG Forums

 

Just for reference, I have a Prius HB, but the basic installation should be the same. I kept my grill blocking on until the weather started getting into the 60's.

What I did was get some pipe insulation from Lowe's ($1) and cut the length as needed to match your front grill. The idea is to mount the pipe insulation by surrounding the horizontal grill piece as if it were a pipe. You will have to cut perpendicular slits to match the vertical grill sections. Just stuff it in. I didn't even use any tie wraps to keep it in place. The first time you fabricate these it should take about 10 minutes. The hardest part is lining up and cutting the vertical slits. After that it literally takes about 1-2 minutes to install and 30 seconds to un-install.

GOOD LUCK!!!

 

I did this to my Prius C and made a video about it. I pretty much got really high quality copper wire 6 AWG and installed it on my Prius C making a straight negative connection from the negative battery terminal to the engine AC to AC transformer and engine block, as you know the spark plugs and other sensors are grounded to the engine metal. Usually the battery is conected to the body of the car that is a horrible conductor for electricity. And it has to travel trough all that metal before it gets to the spark plugs and other essential sensors that need grounding. by making a straight connection with a better conductor you increase the responsiveness of the engine over all.

Increasing fuel efficiency With Grounding Wires In A Prius C - will it break the car?

 

Nice mod but I don’t think this actually increases mpg. I say so because the 12v battery does nothing while the car is already on, unlike a normal car, it just turns on the ECUs, the spark plugs don’t run on that circuit. I could be that your 12v battery is weak and by doing this mod you have effectively made it easier for it to be charged while the car is running and so the inverter isn’t struggling so much to bring it back to good voltage. It is known that an old 12v battery on a Prius will decrease mpg because of this.
Good mod nonetheless, thanks for sharing.


iPad ?

 

Try the red bullet

 

Hey Marcial, I'm technically not an electrical engineer yet, but I'm pretty sure running a ground cable straight from the battery will do almost nothing. Grounding completes the circuit, it just allows the electricity to run through one end (The positive end) to the other (the ground), where then the electrons are generally stripped off into the environment. The battery doesn't have to be grounded to the same thing as the things running off of it and visa versa.

P.S: I average 58+ MPG on my 2016 C, the best way to increase MPG is to change your driving habits.