New EPA Estimates

Now a majority of Prius owners will be able to exceed the misleading estimate values.

 

Thanks for posting that, Fanatic! WOW! Now even I exceed the EPA. :lol: Of course, my Prius should do even better now that it will never have to take any more trips under 15 miles each way. Whoopee!

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(TonyPSchaefer @ May 13 2007, 06:23 AM) [snapback]441011[/snapback]</div>

*bows before the 60mpg gods*

:lol:

Do the math on MPG costs between the Prius dropping 9mpg (55 to 46mpg) and a full size truck that dropped 1-2mpg (from 16mpg to 15 mpg).

Prius 55mpg = $600 in gas over 10,000 miles at $3.30/ga
Prius 46mpg = $717
.............................
$117

Dodge Truck 16mpg =$2062.5
Dodge Truck 15mpg = $2200
..........................................
$137.5

Dodge $137.5
Prius $117
...................
$20.5

So with only a 1 mpg change to a Dodge Ram 4x4 and a whopping 9mpg change for the Prius, it still costs the Dodge guy $20 more than the Prius with the new EPA changes. So if someone every tries to slam you for getting worse milage because of these ratings keep that in mind.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mpgFanatic @ May 13 2007, 01:24 PM) [snapback]441172[/snapback]</div>

It's not the EPA changes that give me less incentive it is the monetary difference. Saving $60 or less a year because of a 5mpg difference in fuel efficiency almost doesn't warrant the concentration and effort required to get that exra 5mpg. At least for me.

 

More and more Prius drivers meeting or exceeding EPA mileage.

Will we now experience a smug shortage due to overuse?

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ May 13 2007, 06:57 AM) [snapback]441025[/snapback]</div>

Definitely Daniel. You shouldn't get less than 60 mpg in the summer. Of course, you'd probably have to keep your speed down (even on the interstate) to do that.

Dave M.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(dmckinstry @ May 13 2007, 04:48 PM) [snapback]441285[/snapback]</div>

What really killed my mileage was that there are days when the only driving I do is to the grocery store. In fact, I seldom drive very far in a day. When I lived in Fargo, my daily commute was 10 minutes each way, including a stop at the grocery store on the way home. In Spokane I'm much farther from downtown, but I only go there occasionally. My short driving distances take a toll on my mileage.

So now that I'll be driving the Xebra for all my short trips, and the prius will only be driven on longer trips, its mileage will improve greatly.

On the other hand, The Prius burns more gas per mile on the freeway than it does on city streets, and most of my Prius miles will now be on the freeway to Coeur d'Alene. And I'm more like to drive 65 than 55. I'm not a hypermiler. The actual amount of gas you save driving 55 instead of 65 is small, even though the mpg number can look impressive.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(daniel @ May 13 2007, 07:53 PM) [snapback]441394[/snapback]</div>

Can you find back roads to Coeur d'Alene? I've been staying off the freeway going from Cheney to Spokane and dramatically increased the mileage. This is mainly for experimental purposed, and I'm definitely not a hypermiler. Especially if I driving to Seattle or Olympia.

Of course, as you say the actual fuel saving is much less than than the impressive increase in mpg.

100 miles at 55 mpg is 1.818... gallons and 100 miles at 65 mpg is 1.538 gal. Most people wouldn't sweat the difference of 0.28 gallons, even at $4/gallon. OTOH, 50 mpg vs. 25 mpg saves 2 gallons in 100 miles.

Dave M.

P.S. I have a friend who lives out near Pines. I asked him about his mileage this weekend, and he was only getting about 42 mpg. He usually does short distance driving, and if going across town probably gets onto I-90 as soon as he can. He's still happy with that.

 

Ok, I thought I posted in here already, but ohh well.

I already get better MPG on my '02 Prius than the EPA says the new Prii would get. Them lowering the estimates just makes my numbers look that much better. I guess it's meant to give the people a better sense of feeling though. To be honest though, the numbers don't really mean squat unless you know what they did to get them to begin with. Obviously if you drive differently than the EPA does then your numbers most likely aren't going to be the same.