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Overall, how close does the v get to EPA?

Discussion in 'Prius v Fuel Economy' started by acdii, Feb 28, 2013.

  1. acdii

    acdii Active Member

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    When you all got your v, and before swapping tires, or any other mods, as it comes off the lot, how well does it do when it comes to fuel economy? What percentage would you say the difference is between what is on the sticker vs real world?

    When I look on Fueleconomy.gov, there are only 19 2012 listed, however, they are showing better than combined EPA.
     
  2. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    The problem w/"real world" is that everyone's "real world" is different.

    Some guys will be a hypermiler, others will be a speed demon and drive 80+ mph all the time, some other guy will have short city drives w/lots of idling/stopping in cold weather w/the heater on (low mileage, ICE running to provide cabin heat), etc. The mileage figures will be all over the map, yet this are ALL real world, for each individual.

    As I posted at BMW to Prius Hello Prius Family | PriusChat

    At the time I posted the above, I was live in WA state (much colder) and had very short drives. The long commute was my former Bay Area long (for me) commute. I described them at BMW to Prius Hello Prius Family | PriusChat.
    These were "real world" for me. Yet there were huge differences, percentage-wise.
    (BTW, the EPA numbers in my quoted 2nd post were the old (pre-model year 08 EPA numbers and were valid at the time of the original post). Revised values per adjustment were became 17 city/24 highway for both w/20 and 19 mpg combined for the Maxima and Z, respectively. Must've been some rounding goofiness that caused the 1 mpg difference in combined but none in the city/highway numbers.)
     
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  3. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    Even a site such as fuelly.com which shows you 'real world' MPG from real owners, has selection bias, if you don't care enough to drive well, will you care enough to document each tank of gas?

    Toyota Prius v MPG Reports | Fuelly

    (Ignore the 2010s, Toyota did not make a 2010 Prius v, but in 2010 the Prius had a trim level V)
     
  4. acdii

    acdii Active Member

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    That is true. I am curious how close the Toyota gets to their sticker compared to what Ford claims. From my experiences with the Toyotas they are dead on EPA.
     
  5. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    Yep. I've tried to point that out to others on another board, to no avail. :rolleyes: There are very few entries for guzzlers like Yukons, Tahoes, Suburbans and Escalades even though they don't sell in small numbers.
     
  6. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    And those Tahoe drivers who do report will be the most frugal.
     
  7. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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  8. Guill

    Guill Member

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    In my experience the v can easily achieve it's EPA MPG ratings. My wife is the primary driver of our v and she's definitely not a hyper-miler yet she has no problem averaging 40+ mpg each tank.
     
  9. Jack Cannon

    Jack Cannon Junior Member

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    Hi. I have only put about 960 miles on my 2012 Prius v 5 (with 17" Toyo tires) and do mostly city driving (85% of the time), but my mpg is much lower than expected: 38.2. I also drive with a light foot and try to "coast" as much as possible, although where I live is flat terrain. I am also aware of colder weather driving during early morning startups, so I'm not oblivious to what is going on when being concerned about my new Prius v 5 gas mileage. It's just not what I expected.

    Jack
     
  10. cwerdna

    cwerdna Senior Member

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    ^^^
    If you want FE help, start a new thread in the appropriate area, answering Fuel economy complaints/queries? Please copy, paste & answer these questions, esp. if you're new | PriusChat.

    Coasting is not necessarily good, because of regen losses. You're better off gliding (minimizing power going in and out of the HV battery).

    FWIW, The Most Fuel-Efficient Cars | Best Cars for Gas - Consumer Reports is what CR got on their tests (last page of http://www.consumersunion.org/Oct_CR_Fuel_Economy.pdf describes their tests vs. the old EPA tests).
     
  11. ImeanGreen

    ImeanGreen Prius v Five BP Brigade #236

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    Give it more time. I did not see my MPG go up until I got 4K on my regular prius and plus, it's winter time. Gas mixture is not the same as summer time gas mixture and add the temperature factor. Witht the 17 in., expect to loss 2-3 MPG.
     
  12. mikefocke

    mikefocke Prius v Three 2012, Avalon 2011

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    Bought in November as temps were still moderate and first few tanks were spot on EPA as I drove looking at guages. Winter now and I drive it less for MPG and more like a normal car and getting 10% less so my fuelly average looks low plus I'm doing a lot of cold start and drive 1 mile trips in it rather than use the golf cart and those trips kill mileage because the ICE is always on trying to heat the cabin. Not upset at all, on my prior CRV I'd be getting half what the v gives me.

    I think the v's EPA numbers are legit and achievable given year round use.
     
  13. acdii

    acdii Active Member

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    That is what I am noticing. I dont know how Toyota does it, but it seems that every one of their cars can meet their EPA stickers when driven right. I had similar results road testing the TCH and TAH, both hit their numbers.

    Now I know why I liked the Avalon so much, its my initials! :D
     
  14. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    Under promise, over deliver. I really like companies that can keep their promises.
    (I worked for 14 years at a gold mine, gold companies that over promise are vilified. Bre-X - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)
     
  15. Jzerocsk

    Jzerocsk Member

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    My worst tank since getting it in December was 40.2 calculated during a cold snap in mid-January. I don't do much hypermiling, but I am a pretty slow/conservative driver in general, and I live in a fairly flat, temperate area of the northeastern US. The EPA combined rating is 42MPG and I think you would have to try hard to not get within 10% of that. Psychologically, numbers below 40MPG seem shocking, but anything above 38MPG average seems realistic. If you find yourself pulling numbers this low, bear in mind that you're driving a car that has more cargo space than a lot of compact SUVs that can barely break 30MPG.
     
  16. 1911Tex

    1911Tex Junior Member

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    '13 v five: I am a conservative driver; i.e., stick to speed limits, accellerate keeping up with traffic from a stop, then when reaching the speed limit, I release pedal, then push back to maintain speeds. 43-45mpg consistantly, averaging city and highway about equal, sometimes higher, but not less. Great car!
     
  17. btcompute

    btcompute Junior Member

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    In the 10 months of driving my V three, I have an overall average of 47.7 mpg. That is based on actual calculations at the pump, not the number displayed on the car's dashboard. I am not a hyper-miler. Most of my driving is somewhere between suburban and rural. I live in central NH. Maybe 25% highway driving. During the summer, with summer gas and summer tires I was typically getting 50 - 52 mpg per fill up. Now in winter weather with snow tires and winter gas, I'm averaging about 40 - 45 MPG.
     
  18. socal13

    socal13 livin in the foothills...

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    I have noticed that the actual calculated mpg at the pump is always lower than the dashboard mileage...
     
  19. JimboPalmer

    JimboPalmer Tsar of all the Rushers

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    That varies by model and generation. Over enough fillups my Gen 2 was only about 1% optimistic, but my v is about 5% optimistic. My 'lifetime' computer MPG is 42.1, but fuelly is 39.9
     
  20. acdii

    acdii Active Member

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    Of all the ones I owned, only my 2010 FFH is accurate, if not slightly below actual.