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Wow, you guys are good. Can I ask another?

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Fuel Economy' started by TorontoSusan, Nov 17, 2005.

  1. TorontoSusan

    TorontoSusan New Member

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    Thanks for answering my ICE question so darn fast! You've given me confidence, I'm gonna try another or two. (I've only had my car for 30 days, so I'm a newbie)

    I was searching the site cause I was getting 99.9 in my mileage and I wanted to know if others experienced this. I found the thead: apparently I'm not alone. Why does this happen? What does it mean? Does it mess up my milage calculator?

    And now that the colder weather is here (damn near freezing), I notice my ICE (heh, heh) is on more than it used to.. Even turning the fan off, the engine kicks in more than it used to and the mileage takes my breath away. It takes me about 10 miles or so before it goes back to 'normal'. I take it this is due to the colder weather and heating the engine?
     
    #1 TorontoSusan, Nov 17, 2005
  2. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Actually, when it shows 99.9mpg that's just a default number for any mpg above 99.8mpg....you may actually be getting infinite MGP at that moment!! Remember, if you're moving, but your ICE is off (and you should know that feeling), or even if you're running at ICE at idle your instantaneous mpg will be infinity. But that would cause a serious calculation error. So the computer just uses 99.9.

    Don't get too hung up, right now, on that instantaneous readout. You'll do better by watching your trends on the consumption screen with those 5 minute bars to tell you how you've been doing.

    Yes, cold weather will have quite a negative impact on mileage. I, too, got my Prius in the month of Oct. ('03) and had some frustration with mpgs in the 40s. Summer is a very nice suprise b/c your skills at driving will be good by then, the car will be broken in by then and the warm weather will really help your mileage.
     
    #2 efusco, Nov 17, 2005
  3. TorontoSusan

    TorontoSusan New Member

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    oh, cool ... thanks so much for the info - it was worrying me. By the way .... I married a Fusco - Michael. He's from the Niagara Falls branch (Cda side!)
    Thanks ...
     
    #3 TorontoSusan, Nov 17, 2005
  4. hdrygas

    hdrygas New Member

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    You car is just trying to keep itself and you warm and keep emissions down. I have a commercial after market digital gage and scanner that attaches to the computer system and reads data off the CAN bus. I get all kinds of readings over 99.9 but when the ICE is off and MG1 and MG2 are also off (called glide mode no energy transfer) I get 9999.9 mpg! Means the same thing I am moving and not using energy so actually it is infinity but computers do not handle infinity well so they are programed to display something else when they encounter that concept so they don’t grind to a halt. Just a bit of programing so the computer can continue to function and still count 0- 1-2-3 etc. or 00-01-10-11 etc.
     
    #4 hdrygas, Nov 17, 2005
  5. MNPrius

    MNPrius New Member

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    So - another newbie here :huh: I was getting somewhat distracted by instantaneous readouts but I'm getting better. I, however, do not understand the consumption screen. Do I want the little car symbols or not? :unsure: I've read the manual, but I'm a bean counter not a scientist.

    Thanks fpr any insights....
     
    #5 MNPrius, Nov 18, 2005
  6. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    Little cars are bad...in a good way. IOW, you have to stop your car sometimes, and when you stop your car it's better to regenerate some energy in the process of braking than to waste it all as heat. that regenerated energy is represented by the little cars.

    But they're bad in that it is better to not have to slow at all. Even with regen braking you only capture a fraction of the energy and it takes much more energy to get back up to speed than it would have taken to maintain that speed if you hadn't stopped at all.

    Thus, it's better to learn to anticipate stops, increase following distance behind other cars so that when they have to slow (say for a car turning in front of them) you don't need to slow much, if any, too. Taking a route with fewer stops, etc. is Ideal.

    On my 13 mile commute, when I go home late at night/early morning hours, I can often make it home with only 1 1/2 to 2 regen cars showing for the entire 25 minute drive despite a minimum of 5 stop lights and 4 stop signs. When I do that I know I got great gas mileage that trip.
     
    #6 efusco, Nov 18, 2005
  7. Mojo40

    Mojo40 New Member

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    Rumor is that Al Gore designed the Prius interface screens. The little green leaves in the shape of a car indicate the amount of regenerated (recovered) energy. Each little car-leaf indicates that you have recovered 50Watt-Hours of energy (enough to light a 50 watt bulb for one hour). This energy is then used to help accelerate the prius , run lights, AC, etc. Good driving habits, like taking your foot off the gas a long time before the stop sign win you lots of extra Gore-points (regenerated energy car-leaves). Note that hard braking exceeds how much energy can be recovered by the HSD, so the energy is lost into heating up the brake pads.
     
    #7 Mojo40, Nov 18, 2005
  8. Jack 06

    Jack 06 New Member

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    Then imagine those little car symbols are beans! Count 'em! There, see? :blink:

    Actually, they just tell you how much electricity has been regenerated by your braking/charging system. Thus you'll see more of 'em in most city driving and on downhills where you at least take your foot off the accelerator, or actually brake. Not as pertinent or interesting as MPG.

    C'mon, MN, you're an old hand by now...
     
    #8 Jack 06, Nov 18, 2005
  9. MNPrius

    MNPrius New Member

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    HA! Thanks to all of you with speedy & informative replies. Like Toronto Susan states - "you guys are good". I do a lot more "stealth stopping" than I ever have, when I can. (maybe I am an old hand :lol: ) But mostly there is too much traffic to let the car coast to stop -- you have to show your brake lights for the people !
     
    #9 MNPrius, Nov 18, 2005
  10. hdrygas

    hdrygas New Member

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    Efusco could you recreate the post you did in mid summer on the stages of Prius Mastery? I thought that was very insightful and followed my development to a high milage Prius driver. It was very good and I do not want to paraphrase it. I would like to see it in the Knowledge Base. It has followed my development as a Prius driver. Please. It was not just a random thought.
     
    #10 hdrygas, Nov 19, 2005
  11. VaPrius

    VaPrius New Member

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    The best estimates I've heard is 50% of the energy recovered -- perfect conditions with a perfect driver I'm sure. But in high traffic areas that is difficult and I'd say even dangerous (for the upset drivers zooming around you).
     
    #11 VaPrius, Nov 19, 2005
  12. efusco

    efusco Moderator Emeritus
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    I'll try to do that at some point. That was actually almost a year ago I wrote that.
     
    #12 efusco, Nov 19, 2005
  13. MarinJohn

    MarinJohn Senior Member

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    Evan's #3! Go Evan!! Yes, that was a good post indicating the chain of Mastery. Kinky.
     
    #13 MarinJohn, Nov 19, 2005
  14. windstrings

    windstrings Certified Prius Breeder

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    I too would be interested in getting a look at that too!...
    I too am a newbie and I wasn't around them....

    Make sure you post it quite flamboyantly so we"ll notice it!
     
    #14 windstrings, Nov 25, 2005
  15. Maikeru

    Maikeru New Member

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    Long time reader, but had to reply to this one because one point about Susan's orignial question was missed:

    She's in Canada, so 99.9 is L/100km, not MPG.

    99.9 comes up when the ICE is running and the car not moving.
    So she's not getting infinite mileage at those times, she's getting zero mileage.

    But still I wouldn't worry about it. It's just a quirk of measuring things by fuel conumption as opposed to mileage.
     
    #15 Maikeru, Dec 3, 2005
  16. hdrygas

    hdrygas New Member

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    When are you folks in Canada going to dump that metric system and join the rest of us!
    :lol: That trips me up every time! I bet you still get you beer at the pub in pints! B)
     
    #16 hdrygas, Dec 3, 2005
  17. Canuck

    Canuck Member

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    No, up here we consume our beer in gallons (imperial).Might as well enjoy the 7% at that rate 'cause you will make the same number trips to the "head" whatever your measuring system is. :rolleyes:
     
    #17 Canuck, Dec 3, 2005
  18. hdrygas

    hdrygas New Member

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    Amen Beer is not purchased it leased.
     
    #18 hdrygas, Dec 3, 2005
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