Not getting near the "proper" MPG

That sounds about right if you're in a cold weather locale and you're making many short trips. That could also be right if you're in a warmer locale and liken yourself to a Gordon or Earnhardt.

Have you changed your driving style at all? There's oh so much here to read on how to improve your mpg, but what it seems to boil down to is "don't accellerate into red lights", "glide as much as you can", "avoid short trips", and "slow down".

My car, which makes many, many short trips in single-digit temps, shows about 38-40mpg nowadays. In the fall, still brand new, I was getting 58mpg for a tank. If it's cold, give it time; if it's not, take your time. The car does indeed work!

Brad

 

@ -10 F, I'm getting 35 MPG. @ +60 F, I'm getting 48 MPG. That's a span of ONE week here in South Dakota! Don't sweat the cold weather MPGs (pun intended). Your neighbor's car is getting worse and they don't even know it. At least the Prius lets you know and actually teaches you to drive efficiently. Love my Prius.

 

Why, yes...

http://priuschat.com/forums/kb.php?mode=ar...26c4aeab71b2702

 

After a spell of bitterly-cold weather (20 to 30 below zero F) with my 10-minute commute and 5-minute warm-ups I am averaging 31 or 32 mpg for the current tank. That's actually a bit better than my worst tanks last winter when the car was brand-new. But there's been some above-zero weather on this tank too.

John1701a reported a tankful around 41 mpg recently. Depending on your weather and driving conditions, 39 ain't bad.

 

With the recent -30 to -40 temps, a few blizzards, and the snow routing in effect, my normal 10-15 minute commute now takes +40 minutes. Bumper to bumper, walking pace, a sea of brake lights.

In U.S. MPG, I'm getting 25-30 MPG under these extreme conditions. In contrast, my 2000 GMC Sierra would get around 4 MPG.

Extreme cold and slow city cycles really whack your fuel economy, and it doesn't matter what you drive. I'd love to hear anybody claim their car gets BETTER fuel economy at -40.

 

The stems from the now grossly-unreal estimates the EPA provides.

First, people have no clue what "city" actually means. According to the EPA it means any driving you do that isn't a non-stop, high-speed cruise... not an actual downtown area filled with skyscrapers & stoplights every few feet. Regardless, Prius does still in fact do better than traditional vehicles in those conditions. Realistically, "suburb" is the type of driving that will provide the highest MPG.

Second, the temperature has to be a minimum of 68F and you must be using summer-formula gas. Without that same criteria the tests are performed with, you're basically screwed. All vehicles get lower MPG with winter-formula gas and colder temperatures.

Third, there's a popular misconception that using only electricity for acceleration will yield the highest MPG. But in reality, that limited supply is more efficiently used for sustaining a city or suburb cruise instead. In other words, you can cause lower MPG by accelerating to slow.

Lastly, ask yourself what you got under the same conditions with your previous vehicle. You'll be pleasantly surprised by how much better Prius actually does.

 

Check out the EPA test: http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/how_tested.shtml

There's no WAY anyone gets EPA numbers in the cold and snow. We all drive somewhere a little less ideal than these labs (sarcasm). And who's driving 48 MPH on average on the highway or 20 MPH in town? No one. But, all cars get tested this way.

Many, many factors exist in each individual's MPG figures (hills, weather, roads, traffic). If I drive 45 MPH on a particular section of my commute, I can see 65 to 70 MPG. Alas, that section only lasts a mile. Plus it's flat. Plus it's 60 degrees F. Plus the engine is warm by then. Plus it's a new road surface. I can see where the 60 MPG figure can happen...in a lab. Love my Prius.

 

I say the EPA got it all wrong. With temperatures ranging from 30 to 70 degrees, I am getting tanks ranging from 55.7 MPG to 58.5 MPG. Currently I have 59.9 @ 290 miles on the tank. They really missed the boat on these estimates. My driving is mixed city and highway. I don't commute on the interstate. My commute is about 35 miles and I have a few short trips during the day. Go Prius

 

I asked this very same question in the past couple of days, and the answers are all different, there is no "best practices" that is agreed upon in this particular topic from what I can tell.

In following up the answers to my question about this topic, which can be found by searching for "sweet spot", with my brother, who has had an '04 for 15 months or so, his reply to me was that conditions weather wise are major factors in fuel economy, much more so that what the average driver is aware of. Drive appropriate to the traffic around you and check the energy display every seven seconds or so, just like you got trained to do with checking the rear view mirror, and learn what works for you in best mileage practice for the conditions you are in for the commute or typical routes you travel.

Now, when you are alone on the road, the Prius is a lot of fun to see how well you candrive to max out battery usage.

Note also that there is a braking effect that recharges the battery when you take your foot off the throttle and you have to have a tiny amount of throttle to "feather" it and get that hybrid system to coast, no engine, no discharge on the battery, no charging of the battery, the arrows indicators will be off, just like they are when you are stopped for five seconds when warm ICE conditions exist.

Have fun, I sure am.

 

99% of the time, you ABSOLUTELY should NOT try to get up to speed on electric only. First, without the EV button it is almost impossible unless you are going downhill. Second, physics is physics. It takes X amount of power to get a stationary object moving to some speed on a flat surface. It takes LESS than X to keep it moving at that speed. So if you have a 2 mile stretch of flat deserted road, you will use MORE gas to go those 2 miles if you get up to speed on electric only and hold it there as long as possible until the gas engine kicks in to recharge than if you get up to speed, then go to electric.

On the flat you should be able to accelerate to say 35 mpg with only the gas engine, ie no arrow from the battery, at a reasonable pace. If it is uphill, you will be using some battery. That is OK! Then when you get to a flat or slightly downhill < 43 MPH stretch, the car can use EV to maintain speed. Floor it to get to the next red light with the Corvette next to you and you will be draining your battery for no reason losing the electric power you would have used on the flat.

Use your cruise control. When the car is warm, it will go into electric on its own when the computer decides it is reasonable. This will show you the places YOU can try to get it into EV even without the EV button/mod.

First, there are some bizarre conditions under which the computer will choose EV. One is that if the car is warm, but not warm ENOUGH, you must go over 34 MPH after stopping for less than 5-10 seconds. When you have found those spots where the computer will put you in EV, get over 34 MPH then let off the gas slightly. Then push a bit on the accelerator. You can coast as well, for instance if you are on a 30 MPH road and want to go less than 34+. It will drop into EV if the engine is at the right temperature (we have no way to know the current engine temp). It will stay in EV for any speed from 1 to 42 MPH if you don't demand much acceleration. You have to be VERY light on the accelerator or the ICE will kick back on. Even slight hills will cause it to decide to start the ICE. Once it does, you have to get back over 34 MPH again.

The more stops and starts, the lower your mileage (just like regular cars). NYC driving will not get you anywhere near 60 MPG. OTOH, if you have relatively constant speeds without too high a speed, you should see great numbers. My best was 57.8 for 30 miles, 50-55 MPH a lot of the way and EV in use when I got to the traffic in town. Few stops until the last 3-4 miles and temps 55-60F.

My current tank shows 32+ MPG on about 100 miles. I got gas Monday night when it was +9F because I was down to 1 block on the gauge and figured I'd freeze more filling it Tuesday when the high was going to be about +2. 0 Tues AM, +1 Wed, a balmy +9 Thursday and -6 this morning. I have been driving my 'normal' pattern which yielded about 48 MPG when the temps were in the 60s. I have not been able to convince the computer to allow me to force EV as usual at the end of my commute below +18F even with 7 green bars.

Of course YMMV

 

http://priuschat.com/forums/703-miles-on-o...html?highlight=

You can look at this thread for the methods I use.

 

http://priuschat.com/forums/763-miles-on-o...html?highlight=

Here's another thread a little later. I never did get that 800 mile tank. It's verrry hard to maintain more than 60 MPG for a full tank in mixed driving. If I only drove 40 mph, then it would be no problem.

 

http://priuschat.com/forums/i-know-how-to-...html?highlight=

There's some good discussion here.

 

If it makes you feel any better... before it was cold here I got about 41 mpg with my still very new '05. With it being cold I've dropped down to 37-39 range.

So it's not just you.

 

I get pretty much the same in the Bronx NY (38-39 mpg). Cold, lots of short trips and terrible mileage. When i go home to Virginia (work in NY and live in Virginia) I can get 55 mpg. Same car, just different driving.