Your Weekly Communte to Work

counting the usual side trips i can usually go between 2 and 3 weeks. last time i filled up was oct 28 before i drove 150 mi round trip to a meeting. i'm anticipating filling up on friday- a little sooner than usual because of that extra trip.

i usually run between 400 and 500 miles, depending on how much gas i got in the tank last time and mpg. of course

cost is in the mid $20s range.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Hopeful Future Prius Owner @ Nov 7 2006, 09:21 PM) [snapback]345222[/snapback]</div>

@ the price you're stating your looking at around $19 to $23 depending on gallons needed. I keep an accurate log and the last 7 fillups have been with 2 pips left on the guage. With my car 2 pips means I have anywhere from 3.1 to 4.25 gallons in the tank. I for one have never made it to 500- wish I could. The highest I've come is 450 and that was last May. I do a lot of highway trips and tend to catch myself hitting 70 mph fairly easily. If you want to achieve the high miles you need to go 55- 60.

Word of caution, don't take chances with running out of fuel. It just isn't worth it. Just fill up when you get to 2 pips or X amount of miles. In my case I usually fill when I've gone 415 miles on the trip ODM (on average). There has been some situations where the dang bladder has really screwed up my calculations. Also pumps are a big concern. The older pumps cut off early giving you the impression of a full tank. The guage may also show this. You really have to look at the number of Gallons required to fill. Once you get a feel for this you'll be able to tell when the pump is messing with you. I usually go to Shell and use the newer style pump. Their older pumps cause me issues. One other tip, when fueling go 2 clicks on the pump handle. Don't fill at the full rate. This causes problems for me where the pump shuts off early. I think the bladder doesn't expand fast enough -just a theory.
BTW- I dread getting fuel in Oregon. They have attendees. Each time I get a fill up in OR I get maybe 350-360 per tank (7 G...with 2 pips left). When I fill myself (in Washington) I get on average 415 and about 8 to 8.5 G fill with two pips left.

Sorry for the long ramble.... On average I go 1.5 to 1.7 weeks before refueling. If you would like a fancy spreadsheet which shows the impact of gas prices, miles driven, car loan payments and even does a comparison to your old car let me know.
-b

 

550 miles+ per tank, 1 week between fills, commute ~100+ miles each day. Each fill 11.1+ US gallons.

I always go 50 miles past the blinking pip.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Hopeful Future Prius Owner @ Nov 7 2006, 09:21 PM) [snapback]345222[/snapback]</div>

My commute is similar, 250 miles per week, approx 5 gallons or so, seeing like 52 mpg this week. I fill up every week, since I fear I might forget to get gas otherwise 2.29 last time I bought gas.

 

My round trip commute averages about half an hour a day. I work in several different offices, and some days it's down the hall to the right, and some days it's about 20 minutes one way. I need to refuel about every four hours, so I carry provisions with me just in case. Traffic's not usually a problem.

 

Round trip miles per day: 42 miles
Last tank: 800.1 miles
Calculated mpg: 70.0
Gallons: 11.437
Cost: ~$22

Thanks,

Chris

 

I try not to fill up more than once a month, of course I am only doing 20 miles round trip a day to work and little trips to my favorite watering hole.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Hopeful Future Prius Owner @ Nov 7 2006, 10:21 PM) [snapback]345222[/snapback]</div>

I commute a little over 40 miles every day. I usualy get over 600 miles per tank to the blinking pip, but have gotten 700 once. I don't go more than a mile or two after it starts blinking. Last week was all travel on interstate hiways and around Atlanta's busy 70 mph+ roads, so the last tank and my next one will only be between 500 and 600.

 

I don't have a Prius...or even a hybrid...or even a car with less than 8-cylinders [nervously looks over shoulder for E.L.F. torch-bearers ]

It's a 23 gallon tank, it gets 13.2mpg in real-world city driving. Yet, I only fill it up once every four to five weeks. Since I can't yet afford a fancy new fuel-efficient car, I do what I can to mitigate its gluttonous consumption.

I take a GM hybrid-powered bus to the electric subway, and walk the rest of the way (only about a half-block).

See? So amount of gasoline expensed getting to work each week: 0 gallons.

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(VABeachPrius @ Nov 8 2006, 01:45 PM) [snapback]345654[/snapback]</div>

Um, whoa. I've never heard of a Prius getting those sorts of numbers unless someone's converted it to a plug-in. First I thought you were on Imperial MPG until I saw you were from Virginy.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Hopeful Future Prius Owner @ Nov 7 2006, 08:21 PM) [snapback]345222[/snapback]</div>

In the summer, I get 4 days to work and back, about 530 miles without worrying about it much at all.

Now that it's cooler out, I usually have to stop for gas at 3.5 days (as i leave work on the way home on the 4th day before I get on the tollway) because I'm getting slightly less mpg. loss of 4 or 5 mpg for cold weather lowers my range by about 50 miles and now I'm coming into the station about to start a blinking pip at 500 or 520 miles. Gas is more expensive near where I work, but I just hate to stop so often to fill up. Every 3 days is too much.

If there was a do-it-yourself conversion kit to get rid of the bladder thing and move up to a 13 or 14 gallon tank, I'd do it. It's really a pain in the butt to stop for gas so often.

 

WARNING!!! STOP!!! WAIT!!!

before you go searching for your 500 mile tank, keep in mind these points

1) your "full" tank from the dealer may register full, but may not be. dont assume 11 gallons in the tank. at this time of year, in your location, dont assume even 10 gallons (thanks for posting your location!!) in the tank

2) and most importantly. the blinking bar is a good indicator that you need gas and there MAYBE growing evidence that the 06's maybe more accurate in that respect than previous models. there has been a lot said about the "guess gauge" and the fact that older models of the Prius last bar started blinking at around 12%. that is an eighth of a tank. many could and did go 50-75 miles without a hitch. but with the new data loggers and the CANVIEW version coming out for the 06. the blinking bar may have been adjusted to start blinking at 6%. if that is the case, then now we are talking 30 miles MAX before getting gas.

take my advice, i lived in Michigan (albeit on the MUCH warmer side of the state: Port Huron) and the last thing i would want is being stranded in your home town with typical sub freezing weather and the customary 20-30 mph winds...

 

To add to that...

Don't believe the number you see on your mfd for mpg.

There are a couple people who have one that they claim is right on.

I stand by mine as being off by at least 2mpg, consistantly...

If mine reads 54mpg, I'll be 51-52 probably. Defainatly not accurate enough to climb on the tollway with a blinking dot.

 

300 - 400 miles typically. I fill up when it gets down to 2 bars.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Hopeful Future Prius Owner @ Nov 7 2006, 08:21 PM) [snapback]345222[/snapback]</div>

I drive 60 Miles every day, and I fill up on saturday and only pay $13 and the gas prices are $2.07 now, I wont miss the $66 a week with my 06" Sienna which I traded for my Prius

 

I drive 80 miles a day to and from work plus the other running around, I get about 6-7 days out of a tank. In the summer I was getting 480-500 miles to a tank, now that it's colder I'm gettting around 400. But in the cold weather it only takes a little over 9 gallons to fill.

Mike

 

well i got gas yesterday. gas up dates were

nov 14
oct 31
oct 16
oct 9
sept 27
sept 12


my commute is 5½ miles one way, but i do road trips frequently. i am a member of the Experience Music Project in Seattle about 60 miles away and average a trip to that area about once a month.

i have gone 20 days between fillups on my 04 (that was on a 515 mile tank too) before on a mostly back and forth to work period. the holidays are coming so will be driving and yes, the Prius is always first choice for transportation. as long as there is at least one kid in that back, the car does 5 people just fine. granted my family is not typical in that no one is significantly overweight. that helps a lot

 

40 miles round trip, 200 miles per week, 600 miles over 3 weeks was the best.
500 miles was the worst (that was 2 years ago, in the beginning)
But here, it's seldom cooler than 55 degrees in the winter mornings, and usually in the 70's or better in the afternoons