realistic mileage for my commute

(I intend to make unfounded statements in this post that are just my opinion, no one knows what was in the minds of the designers except the designers)

While owners of the Prius often buy it for it's good gas mileage, I remain unconvinced it was designed to get good mileage. I think it was designed to pollute the least; one of the ways to emit the least amount of unburned hydrocarbons is to take in the least amount of hydrocarbons. Good gas mileage is a byproduct of one of it's emissions strategies.
When you first fire up a Prius it has other priorities: Protecting the gas engine from startup stresses, protecting the HV Battery from over and under charging, and reducing pollution by warming up the catalytic converter. None of these strategies help short term gas mileage, but they help long term, the car lasts longer and the world is less smoggy.

Once the car is 'warm' it starts to conserve gas as a pollution strategy. (the buzzword here is stage 4, earlier stages have different priorities) As a frugal owner, you hope for an early stage 4. I am doubtful that any trick will warm the Prius up enough in 2.8 to 3.1 miles. (I rarely go such a short distance, so I am not positive)

(You see the interest in grill blocking and Engine Block Heaters, they will hurry along stage 4)

So the first answer "How is this different than a Camry or any other car?" Every 'normal' car ever gets bad gas mileage in the first miles, you just did not have that info is so much detail as in a Prius. I make two promises:

1) Except for an Electric car, every car will pollute more than your Prius on any route you pick.
http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...sight-civic-hybrid-jetta-gas-tdi-wrx-sti.html

2) Except for an Electric car, every car sold in the USA will get worse Gas Mileage on your route than the Prius. (there are tiny cars sold elsewhere that do not meet US safety or emissions requirements that get slightly better mileage)

Had we discussed BEFORE you purchased a Prius I would have advised waiting for an electric car, 40 to 100 mile range pretty much dwarfs 3.1 miles each way. Now you already have a Prius, so be happy you have the best possible gas engined solution.

(I used to live in Western Washington: Between July the 5th and the first day of school, in what might loosely be called 'summer' your gas mileage will rise, as the temperature will rise above 55 F, and the precipitation will be reduced.

Western Washington perpetual weather forecast
It will rain from the thursday before the first high school football game until Dec 27, missing a white Christmas
Dec 27 it will snow (once a decade this will last a week as the wind is from the east, but if the wind is from the west)
Dec 28 it will rain until the fifth of July, ruining the fireworks
From July 5 to the thursday before the first high school football game, it will be sunny
Those football jerseys will bean unreadable brown all season)

 

You may be thinking, if everything Jimbo says is true, (and I can't promise it is) how did the EPA do so well?

The EPA test route is 44 miles long and the car is allowed to warm up before the test.

They cheated.

(by the way, in Google Maps, if you click Terrain, you get topo lines)

 

Honestly, I think it is a testament to your driving that you are able to manage 42 mpg with that type of commute. Those are some really short trips. Almost to the point that you might consider buying some "gas extender" to prevent the gas from getting old and gummy in your gas tank (only half joking with this).

You may be able to "pulse and glide" up the hills, but it won't be efficient (my guess). You can try your initial acceleration to get up to speed and well over the speed limit at the foot of the hill, and then let the momentum slowly bleed off as you go up the hill. This may or may not be possible. The analogy is that from the perspective of a bicyclist, you want to pedal harder before the hill, so you can keep some of the momentum going up the hill.

quick editorial - if you have a place to plug in, you would be an ideal candidate for a plug in hybrid.

I think you should consider grill blocking. It will help the engine warm up even faster and get you to stage 4 more quickly (less cool air blowing over the engine block cooling it off). Your commutes are so short, that your engine barely has enough time to warm up (much less....overheat....ever).

The Electric block heater would help, but the energy to warm up the engine has to come from somewhere (although, likely less polluting than the processing and burning of gasoline).

The only other way to help out is to try to figure out "alternate routes" that might bypass the hills. I realize that this may not be convenient or even possible.

Still, in the end, you are getting nearly 133% better gas mileage than the Jetta, and you'll likely fill up about

 

Your mileage is expected (or better than expected) for that type of commute.

People who get 60 mpg + are people who drive more than 30 miles a day (never above 65 mph), generally with few stop signs or stop lights, have their tires pumped up above 44 psi (the recommended top limit according to the tire sidewall) and don't use the heat or A/C extensively. The real key requirement is the first one - longer trips.

As I've said before, MPG isn't as important as GPM (gallons per month).

 

Bluntly here is the real situation. With your two short commutes there is no way for you to get upwards of 50+ mpg in a Prius. 70 mpg is out of the question.

But as Jimbo noted you are far far far far ahead of any other vehicle on the roads today no matter how efficient it is. Until you can get a PHV or BEV to eliminate all liquid fuel usage on your commutes you're 'stuck' with only getting low 40's instead of low 20's like most others are getting.

OTOH with such short commutes you aren't using anywhere near the absolute volume of fuel as others who are getting 50+ mpg.

 

Hi Draheim,
I grew up living at 8034 NE 13th street so I know your hills. I drive a 2010 in Vancouver Wa so our ambient temperatures are similar.

Yes, with care you should expect to do better that 42mpg. Do grill blocking. That is the biggest item.

I have a steep hill in Vancouver comming home also. What I loose going up I gain back comming down.

I would not worry so much about Pulse and glide going up. But do be careful about conserving when going down. Figure out how to minamize the use of the brakes as much as posible, and try to time the lights.

Enjoy,
Dan

 

http://priuschat.com/forums/gen-iii...62556-2010-prius-grill-blocking-strategy.html
This thread starts with theory from Ken in Japan, by page two you start seeing pictures of completed grill blocking. If I was you I would completely block the lower grill and leave the upper grill open. When you take a long trip, unblock one row of the lower grill. If you go east of the cascades in summer, unblock it all.

http://www.homedepot.com/Building-M...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

Three of these and some tie-wraps should do it. About $10

http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

You will have enough extra tie wraps to block and unblock for years, it is not like it ever gets hot in Seattle, and you are only going 3 miles most days.

 

I was visiting Bellingham last July 5th to 31st (I know it is not summer before the fourth) to help my daughter move, so I was there! I will be in Western Washington again this May 5th to 19th. I am plotting with Rae Vynn to have a Prius get-together.

PriusChat Forums - View Profile: Rae Vynn

 

Hi Draheim,
I block a little more agressivly. I have a ScanGage to be able to see the ICE temp.

Is your care parked in a garage at night or is it on the street? I am in a garage so I start trips with the ICE close to 60degF.

Thanks,
Dan

 

As someone who has lived in Western Washington for 14 of the last 15 years I find this weather forecast amusing and, for some years, accurate.

But, violating a rule that I was told to follow when I first arrived (supposedly to keep more Californians from moving here), I will divulge that we don't always have lousy weather . In fact, there have been several nice years where we actually had a moderately warm summer and it didn't rain on the 4th of July. :usa2:

That said, I'd really like it if we don't get a repeat performance of the 100+ degree days we got last year. In the land of "no a/c in our houses", that was brutal.

 

it will be interesting to see your mileage when you take one of these trips.

 

i have a 14 mile round trip commute. not very hilly, 10 miles at 30-40 mph, 4 miles at 55. with a/c or heat, it's low 50's and without, it's 60-61 mpg. i think any shorter and i mileage would suffer. i accellerate moderately, try to pulse and glide and drive the speed limit. coast up to lites (i only have 2) etc.
i can only think the difference in mpg for people is distance, terrain, driving habits and weather.

 

Don't forget to read the stickies at CleanMPG.com about Beating the EPA and Prius.

While I have had a few 70 MPG outings near Seattle, they involved much longer distances than your commute, outside peak hours on routes with fewer traffic lights or better than normal luck on timing, and the most recent was in September. Weather hasn't been sufficiently warm since then.

My normal commute starts with a two mile downhill coast, dropping 450 feet, and needs a few more miles on the flats beyond to fully warm. That is longer than your entire one way trip. At 36 miles per day, the warming weather is now pushing more than half my round trips above 60 mpg. No 70 mpg commutes yet, though I was not employed during last year's best driving weather.

My digital topo (Garmin) shows a 164 feet change in a hair over 1 mile, for 3%.

That one is steeper, 11-12% in the two blocks from Fremont to Dayton. 170 foot total climb to Greenwood, drop it all by 8th NW, then climb it again along 15th. My route has more total climb, but much less average slope.

I personally don't do any P&G uphill. This is a legacy from an older manual transmission AWD car, with so much drag that glides are impractically short unless coordinated with shallow rolling hills, gliding on the downhill pieces. In the Prius I will do P&G on flat roads, especially where it can be somewhat coordinated with stop-and-go traffic. Just get used to having more impatient people cutting into that wider than normal gap between your front bumper and the brake lights ahead.

EPA City refers to a specific test profile, though the window sticker number is discounted from the actual test result. The CleanMPG sticky mentioned above shows the time and speed profile, and has some other figures about it: 11 miles, 31 minutes, 23 stops, lab temperature 68 to 86F, etc.

The EPA ratings have been revised downward -- 'made more realistic' -- several times during my driving life. But they just cannot keep up with increasing congestion, increasing numbers of traffic lights, and a driving public that continually readjusts its habits to make use of their bigger engines, heavier lead feet, and greater impatience.

 

Recently we even had a summer that was sunny and dry on Memorial Day, July 4, and Labor Day. Absent serious AGW, that is expected about once per generation?

I picked the right year to get one of those very efficient ductless mini-split heat pumps, which were being offered with double-dip incentives. (Don't know if the regional incentive has been used up, but the federal incentive is good through December.) The AC was on for 3 and a half days, and it was wonderful.

The heating bill plunged this winter, though I don't know how much credit belongs to this efficient heating plant, and how much to the abnormally warm winter. It wasn't from a reduced thermostat setting -- after decades of a cool house, my aging metabolism is requiring the thermostat to be turned up a bit more each year.