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Oh! What I'd Do to get a Longer Daily Commute!

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Fuel Economy' started by a priori, Jun 16, 2009.

  1. a priori

    a priori Canonus Curiosus

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    I have a four-mile commute -- one that many people would love to have. If I didn't need to drive to clients, or run errands at the end of my day, or go to court, I'd just ride my bike. OK -- I do ride my bike on some days, but I tend not to during the cold wintry days, the really wet days or the super hot days. (In Northern Illinois, though, that doesn't leave many days!!)

    I've already noticed in my 2010 that mileage is significantly better for my short commute than it was with my '07. How much better? For the past 300+ miles of simple commuting and errand-running (no trip farther than about 8 or 9 miles except going to the Chicago Prius Group meeting this past Sunday), I'm getting FE of 62.5.

    Last night I had to run a quick trip up the river. It was a 15-mile trip; about 30 miles RT. I had to stop on the way to get gas (547.9 miles at 59.3 MPG), and I reset my Trip B. Here is the MID readout after I got home:

    [​IMG]

    Wow! If I did this everyday . . . Well, better that I just use less gasoline overall, but it sure is fun dreaming about a 70+ tank just from a 15-mile commute! (Of course Jimbo has that on a really bad day!!)
     

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  2. renpriv

    renpriv New Member

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    Wow that really is amazing.

    It's good to hear from someone else who has a short commute.

    Like you my commute is just over 7 miles each way. With all the reading about the hit on mileage when the engine is cold I was beginning to wonder if my daily commute would stop me getting very good figures, but I guess I will be ok :) My journey time is anything between 23 & 30 minutes.

    How is the traffic flow in your journey? Mine is pretty good really with very few snarl ups. Max speed limit is 40 MPH, min 30 MPH. On a good day I can get about 35MPG in my current car, so hopefully I should see much more when I get my Prius.
     
  3. a priori

    a priori Canonus Curiosus

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    My time is typically less than 10 minutes. I have one four-way stop, one two-way stop and three stoplights (roundabouts would be great additions!), and most of the time I'm on four-lane roads with speed limits between 35 and 40. Very little traffic, typically.

    Your extra time on the road and more congested traffic should lead to better MPG performance from your 2010 Prius.

    All the best!
     
  4. renpriv

    renpriv New Member

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    Thanks for replying so quickly. I am so pleased to hear the good news.

    Hoping to get my first drive in a couple of weeks at a pre lauch event held by Toyota...... I can't wait :cheer2:
     
  5. john1701a

    john1701a Prius Guru

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    75.4 MPG was quite a surprise for me (doing 15.1 miles with an average of 48 MPH).

    It's pretty amazing how refined the new model is.
    .
     
  6. a priori

    a priori Canonus Curiosus

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    That's surprising to me, too. I know I don't really use hypermiling techniques (just sensible driving), but you are even more of a "drive it like a regular car guy."

    Great mileage!!
     
  7. raidbuck

    raidbuck New Member

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    I noticed it said AVG 22 MPH. Is that accurate? Is that really the speed you drove? Or does it include times stopped at lights or a rest stop on the way?

    Thanks,

    Rich N.
     
  8. ggood

    ggood Senior Member

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    I'm only getting about 42 for my short trip driving. Maybe I need to fly a priori down to Houston to give me driving lessons! :D
     
  9. a priori

    a priori Canonus Curiosus

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    That MPH reading takes into account the entire time the car is in Ready mode. So it keeps clicking along at every stop light, rail road crossing or traffic jam!

    Houston? In the summer? :eek: Whew! What kind of big bucks are you payin' me? When it gets all the way up above 75 and humidity hits 70% I'm dying! Houston? I really doubt I'd live through the experience!! I have a friend who lives up here who just can't stop talking about how great it was to live in Houston. Well, he loves that heat and humidity thing, anyway. I think I'd like to try Houston in the spring or fall!

    Why not drive up to Illinois? See how things can be green even without ridiculous humidity. See a large body of water that is fresh and cool (and cannot flood miles inland). Wear a jacket at night, even!:)
     
  10. ggood

    ggood Senior Member

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    I actually went to the Prius Connection event there, and greatly enjoyed the museum and the pizza! I suspect part of my problem is running the A/C to beat back the sauna outside! :D
     
  11. a priori

    a priori Canonus Curiosus

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    I'm certain you are taking a "hit" by running the A/C, but what options do you have? Is it worth it to you to sweat out the extra MPGs? If so, great, but if not, then why worry about it. Wait until you see my FE numbers for the winter, then you won't be jealous of anything!!
     
  12. HTMLSpinnr

    HTMLSpinnr Super Moderator
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    I've got a similar impressive 70.3MPG after 15.7 miles driving to work, max speed 55mph. Tires at 40/38, and about 750 miles on the car. After the return trip and another trip I'm still at 56.3mpg at ~80 miles.

    [​IMG]
     

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  13. FireEngineer

    FireEngineer Active Member

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    Do all you people carry cameras with you at all times?

    I drove my former commute today; 18 miles one way, Chicago city strrets, 64 stop lights and 4 stop signs, 60F outside. Ended at 76.8 for that segment. And that included going up 6 levels of a double helix parking garage in BATTERY only.

    Wayne
     
  14. JimN

    JimN Let the games begin!

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    High numbers for short periods are nothing special. The downside is once the battery is sufficiently discharged your FE will tank as the ICE runs just to charge it. On the last leg of my commute I routinely get way over 100mpg because my battery is green & the speed limit in the parking lot is 5mpg.
     
  15. billklug

    billklug Junior Member

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    I'm Jealous! My commute is nearly 200 mi per day (round trip, thank goodness). I have a llittle over 400 miles on this tank and am *only* getting 53MPG (a whole heck of a lot better then my 2002 Gen 1 EVER got). I made the mistake of calculating how much time I spent in my 2002; dang near 10,000 hours (that's almost 5 years of full time work!). It will be much more fun in the 2010!
     
  16. billklug

    billklug Junior Member

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    I'm Jealous! My commute is nearly 200 mi per day (round trip, thank goodness). I have a llittle over 400 miles on this tank and am *only* getting 53MPG (a whole heck of a lot better then my 2002 Gen 1 EVER got). I made the mistake of calculating how much time I spent in my 2002; dang near 10,000 hours (that's almost 5 years of full time work!). It will be much more fun in the 2010!
     
  17. billklug

    billklug Junior Member

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    I'm Jealous! My commute is nearly 200 mi per day (round trip, thank goodness). I have a llittle over 400 miles on this tank and am *only* getting 53MPG (a whole heck of a lot better then my 2002 Gen 1 EVER got). I made the mistake of calculating how much time I spent in my 2002; dang near 10,000 hours (that's almost 5 years of full time work!). It will be much more fun in the 2010!
     
  18. a priori

    a priori Canonus Curiosus

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    Gotta love it! I'm not quite broken it yet, so I don't really know what to expect. At 2,400 miles, I'm starting to get there. I'm expecting to get slightly better until oil change/tire rotation at 5,000, then a drop until I'm back up to about 7,000. By this fall, I'm hoping to see a couple of 60 MPG tanks!

    Who doesn't?

    Show off!

    The whole point of my post, Jim, was that the trip I took could easily have been my commute. It wasn't a complete round trip, but it was close enough. If I counted the early part, the number may have been (probably would have been) even higher. My SOC start and stop was pretty much the same -- I didn't start with 8 bars and stop with 2 -- so I think this is a repeatable number. It won't be for me, because I drive only a quarter of the way to get to work!
     
  19. billklug

    billklug Junior Member

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    Shoot. My computer must be a mess. Had no intention of posting this THREE times. Jeesh!! So Sorry. If I could figure out how to delete, I would.
     
  20. a priori

    a priori Canonus Curiosus

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    And I though you were just triply jealous!:D