Prius not for "little old ladies"?

My daily commute is 18 miles one way, all city streets (22 stop lights) and I'm averaging 57 mpg... I don't consider 18 miles a long commute, maybe it is for other areas, but here in Atlanta, it's a fairly short commute!

 

Well, I'm a little old lady (presuming that being short and getting notices from AARP puts me in that category!), my commute is 8 miles each way with 5 traffic lights and I often have a stop enroute. Some days there are other short trips (less than 10mi RT) with multiple stops, once or twice a week there may be a longer trip (25-50mi RT). There have been a few summer road trips to VT (250mi+ RT).

My MFD currently shows 60.2mpg. Over 20 tanks in the last year, my mpg has averaged 52.4 (calc'd). I'm happy, considering that includes the drops in mpg caused by the winter and the husband driving the car.

 

My daily commute is 4.5 miles with 9 traffic lights. Limits between 35-45 mph. And they all seemed to be timed so that you hit at least 80% of the lights on RED. I go home for lunch everyday and still average around 42 with the AC set to 77. I can get closer to 48-50 with the AC off when it's not winter. Even if you don't hit 50 mpg, where else are you going to find a car that gets you even 40 mpg with the short trips around town?

 

it matters less how long the trip is, but more whether the engine is warm. I combine errands with a passion, and usually hit 70 mpg in temperate weather.

Trips over 15 miles total starting from a cold engine will return much better fuel economy than a regular car; 10 - 15 miles, I guess mid 40's mpg, and less than 10 miles, low 40's in the summer, high 30's in the winter. I'm probably erring a little on the low side, meaning the car will do a bit better than I wrote in the summer unless AC is abused.

 

Short trips will really hurt mileage, but not as much as they will hurt the mileage of other cars. Short trips are hard on everything except EVs.

Tom

 

Here's a math problem:
A warmed-up conventional car gets 29 mpg and a warmed-up Prius gets 51 mpg in city mileage. If on a short trip the Prius gets 35 mpg, what mileage would the conventional car have to get over the same trip for it to have a "warm-up penalty" no worse than that of the Prius? Give the answer to the nearer 0.1 mpg.



Answer: 23.0 mpg



In other words a Prius is still good on short trips. I've seen wildly varying numbers, from 28mpg to 50mpg depending on the terrain and temperature. The misleading number differences using mpg confuses people who can't do math, including auto journalists.

 

Most of my trips are around town totaling 7 miles rt. I am showing 55.5mpg on my HSI. BTW, I am one of the "little old ladies"

 

my commute is 7 miles one way, mixed back roads and highway. it's 90% of my driving and i get 55-60 winter and 60-65 summer. getting 65 on this tank after 600 miles.

 

My commute is about 3/4s of a mile. I ride a bike. I can do it on about a bottle of beer, when the day is over.

 

You are suggesting that warm-up aka short trips is equally detrimental to HV and regular ICE fuel economy in similar proportions. I'm not so sure this is true, because the regular ICE will reach optimal operating temperature quicker.

Regardless, I have to admit that my reasons for shying away from recommending Prius to short-trippers has more to do with owner satisfaction rather than fuel savings. It is a rare person who can say "isn't it great ? My Prius gets 30 mpg in this harsh drive cycle." Or put another way: "Woohoo! I used to spend $10 a week on fuel, and now I only spend $5ish."

 

They have a challenge, the 'warm-up' tax. This can be mitigated by:

• block heater
• transaxle heater
• plug-in system - the smallest unit

Bob Wilson

 

Is the question whether, dollar wise, you should buy the Prius verses something like the Honda Fit if you are only going to the grocery store, church, etc. (I assume within 1-2 miles from home)? Or just for gas milage?

I like my Prius for going anywhere, so I'd tell you to buy a Prius, unless you are hauling 5 kids and a bunch of backpacks and soccer balls for school. But I don't know whether, dollar for dollar, it would be best for your situation, because the Honda Fit costs around $15,000 and the Prius II costs around $22,000. You can buy a lot of gas with those $7,000.

I'll let somebody else do the math for you.

Dumb Mike

 

I live in a suburban/city area with lots of traffic lights and stop signs. More than not, there is traffic behind me that causes me to accelerate faster than I would want to for fuel economy purposes. My commute to work is less than two miles in each direction. Even in the summer, my engine often doesn't get up to temperature on the way to or from work. My other driving is typically 3-7 miles in between stops. Sometimes I may travel up to 15 miles in between stops, but even this trip can have a lot of stop and go. Ninety percent of my driving is like this. With this kind of driving, I have averaged 52 mpg over about 5,000 miles.

When I do go on the highway at 60 mph, I still average about 50-55.

So, I guess my point is the Prius isn't bad no matter what kind of environment you drive it in. Folks who are only getting 35 because of short trips are too heavy on the pedals, and they would experience bad mpg no matter what kind of vehicle they drive.

 

Love it

Although, your mileage calculated in $'s, depending on brand of brew, might be 2 bucks a mile. I'm getting a headache trying to figure out the gas/cold one ratio.

 

my drive to work is about 4-5 miles. I live in a smallish town and 10 miles will take you almost everywhere. the Buick LaCrosse I traded in said there was no warm up period, just start it up and drive away.

so I take it there is a warm up for the Prius motor?

 

No warm up. You just get in it and drive. But like any internal combustion engine, it will be less efficient when cold. That was true with your Buick as well.

Tom

 

Wait for the Prius Plug-in, or install the after market plug-in additions.

 

I'm almost positive your LaCrosse and all other ICE-based cars have a warm up period. You'd notice is via a faster idle speed at startup than when the engine's warm. The thermostat also should start off closed and open up once a certain temp is reached.

 

My commute to work is only 3 miles in traffic and I still get 56.5 mpg UK, which is equivalent to 45.2mpg US if my calculations are correct. So I would recommend the Prius to anyone who does short journeys. I reckon the high milers who use the motorway/freeway most of the time could be better off with a diesel car with a manual gearbox though.