Prius gas mileage?

Question

i just recently bought a new 07 prius and im not getting 50 or 60mpg like toyota advertises. I drive really really conservatively, (if you drove behind me you would over take me and flip me off and youll be really pissed cuz i accelerate really slowly) even then i only get like 45mpg. I dont drive faster than 65 mph on the freeway either. and for the most part i dont have the ac on. How much mph are you guys getting? and i heard some ppl r suing toyota for this. can i do that? i spent a lot of money for this and im really dissapointed.

Answer 1

Driving slow is the wrong thing to do. Even in a gas car, you need to accelerate normally then glide as much as possible. I found a huge difference with my old Ford V8 when I drove slow/steady vs Fast/glide. I could get up to 35mpg when I pulse/glide and that was using a 4.6L V8 engine!
Check that you are using the right gas and good gas!
Others can get this mileage from Toyota, I'm sure you can too.
You must also wait a little until the engine finishes it's break in period.

I think many here are biased to Honda and are upset because of the following.
http://www.leftlanenews.com/civic-hybrid-owner-sues-honda-for-false-mileage-claims.html

Answer 2

Many factors will cause a hit in mpg:

- If where you live has a lot of hilly terrain, it will cause mpg to drop a lot, because the ICE will need to be on quite a bit to power the Prius up the hills.

- If where you live is cold, the ICE will take longer to warm up. Gasoline engines work at best efficiency after it has been warmed up. A cold engine will cause a hit in mpgs.

- Tire pressure. Low tire pressure will cause a hit in mpg. Prius owners find the pressure range between 36 and 42 PSI work best.

- Make sure your parking brake is disengaging properly. Dragging parking brakes will cause a hit in mpg, not to mention it might damage your mechanical brakes.

- Learn to pulse-and-glide. When driving on the highway, I would speed up to 65mph, then back off slightly on the gas pedal so most of the motive power is coming from the electrical motor. I get great mileage this way, without pissing off anyone behind me.

Remember the mpg ratings are NOT Toyota's ratings. They are EPA ratings. So if you are not getting the mpgs on the window sticker, blame the EPA, not Toyota.

The EPA has revamped its ratings for 2008, and you are getting the right mpgs according to the new EPA ratings.

I live in the NYC metro area, and in the spring, summer and fall I average 52mpg. During the winter the mpg drops to 46 or so due to the cold engine I mentioned above. My tire pressure are 42psi front 40psi back.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

I work at a Toyota Dealership, almost everyone one of our Prius Customers report an average of about 51 MPG, your mileage should improve over time, but not a lot. Do you drive in one of those urban areas, where your idling along more than moving on the freeway, like LA or someplace? If so your mileage will suffer no matter what you drive.

Answer 4

I know you asked about the Prius... but I own two Yaris' and I get 42-44 mpg. It has the same size gas engine as the Prius, but no electrical motor. I think the Yaris is the better value.

Answer 5

Another thing no one has mentioned yet is to make sure the oil level isn't even slightly above full because if it is the crankshaft counterweights dip into the oil and foam it up and that kills your mileage. Anywhere between add and full is OK but 1/4 inch (~6mm) below full seems to be the sweet spot in the too high=mileage loss and too low=not as much additives for neutralizing acids etc. range.

Answer 6

Your question is a really common one.

I'm averaging over 60mpg with my '07.
My Mom averages 55mpg with hers and she doesn't pay much attention to mileage...she's just a lead-foot!

Some tricks:

Air up the tires...44 psi in front, 42 psi in the back.

Turn off the "auto" on the air conditioning. Just manually turn on the heater or A/C when you need it. It's not as convenient, but it uses a lot less energy.

"Granny driving" usually makes mpg worse. It's counter-intuitive, I know. Accellerate pretty quickly and then pulse-glide. (It's fun!)

There's a lot more at www.priuschat.com

Don't worry--you'll figure out how to get great mpg.

Answer 7

I have had my 06 Prius for almost 15 months. I have a bit more than 31,000 miles on it. I get 48.8 mpg by the car's calculations and a tiny bit over 49 by mine.

Answer 8

"How much mph are you guys getting?" - well, I'm going about as fast as the spedometer says on my US NHW20 Prius, according to the mile markers on the road and an independent handheld GPS unit. If you're in UK/Europe, your spedometer may read about 5% too high per EU regulations. If you want to go faster, press harder on the accelerator. (gotta watch those typos! ;-) )

US 2004-2007 EPA ratings were: 60MPG city, 51MPG highway, 55MPG combined.
Under the new EPA testing schedule, the 2008 (and the 2004-2007 have been revised to be): 48MPG city, 45MPG highway, 46MPG combined.
So, it sounds like your MPG is just fine/expected. It could be improved, but at least you're now getting the EPA numbers.

Toyota, like all other manufacturers, are REQUIRED by law to publish the EPA test numbers on the window stickers. So don't blame Toyota, blame the EPA for having such outdated and unrealistic tests. (The EPA just added some new tests for the 2008 model year to help with the MPG inflation that ALL cars, not just the Prius/hybrids, used to have. All cars' reported 2008 MPG have dropped, by about 15-20%.) The EPA tests are done the same to all cars, so that you can compare one car against another under the same driving cycle. Governmental test cycles are really only good for comparing one car against another (standardized tests), and not what you can expect in your real-world driving (as your idea of "city" driving may not be what the government test uses as "city" driving).

For more info on the EPA tests, see:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/ratings2008.shtml
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/how_tested.shtml
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fe_test_schedules.shtml


there's this published MPG information from Toyota:

Tips for better Prius Gas mileage (near end of Spring 2004 newsletter):
http://www.toyota.com/html/hybridsynergyview/archive/pdfs/priusview5spring2004.pdf

Maximum MPGs: How to Get the Most From Your Hybrid:
http://www.toyota.com/html/hybridsynergyview/2005/fall/mpgs.html

Prius Fuel Economy: Explaining the EPA Ratings
Toyota explains what the EPA ratings actually mean, and lists ways to improve your MPG
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/toyota-prius/message/71431
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Prius-2G/message/2742
http://www.priusonline.com/viewtopic.php?t=1079

Prius Fuel Economy Factsheet:
http://www.toyota.com/images/vehicles/prius/Understanding_Fuel_Economy.pdf

Can I expect to get over 50MPG in the new Prius? (see question #6): http://www.toyota.com/vehicles/2005/prius/faq.html
http://www.toyota.com/vehicles/2007/prius/faq.html
Can I expect to get over 45MPG in the new Prius? (see question #6):
http://www.toyota.com/vehicles/2008/prius/faq.html

Fuel economy explained: Tips for improving fuel economy: http://www.lexus.com/hybriddrive/fuel_tips.html
Fuel economy explained: About EPA Mileage estimates: http://www.lexus.com/hybriddrive/epa_estimates.html
Fuel economy explained: Why your mileage will vary: http://www.lexus.com/hybriddrive/ymmv.html
There are also more MPG tips in your Toyota Prius Owner's Manual.


More MPG tips are in the Prius User's Guide:
http://john1701a.com/prius/prius-userguide.htm

Gas Mileage Tips from the EPA:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/drive.shtml

There is a Prius MPG calculator for the Classic NHW11 Prius in the toyota-prius yahoogroup's FAQs, but I don't think anyone has recalibrated it for the 2004-current (NHW20) Prius yet, but it should give you some ideas where you might be losing your fuel economy:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/toyota-prius/message/6299

I believe that there is a calculator available for the Palm for the NHW20 at http://www.privatenrg.com/

meanwhile, on the topic of published EPA ratings, I suggest reading the following articles (with plenty of citations for source data):
http://www.bluewaternetwork.org/reports/rep_ca_global_fuelfalsehood2.pdf
"FUEL ECONOMY FALSEHOODS: How government misrepresentation of fuel economy hinders efforts to reduce global warming and US dependence on foreign oil" by the Bluewater Network, 2002
and
http://www.ewg.org/reports/realmpg
"Real MPG - Putting the Truth in Your Tank" by the Environmental Working Group.


Other than your wierd driving habit of going as slow as possible, we need more information about your car and your driving and location to know how to help you achieve better fuel economy. There are a LOT of variables. (Main tip for Prius driving - just drive it! however you'd drive a regular car, do the same for a Prius. same fuel economy tips apply.)

It's more helpful if you tell us what your tire pressures are, when you last had service (and how that went, i.e. what grade of oil and how much did they put in, or is it new and still overfilled from the factory?), what the weather is like in your area, the terrain, speed, and length of your usual trip, how much cargo you usually carry, and what your temperature controls are set to... along with your driving style, and how your previous vehicles fared against their EPA numbers. What "gear" are you usually in - D, or do you ever have need to switch to B? What octane of fuel are you using, and is the fuel in your area E10? (E10 will lower fuel economy but give cleaner emissions, and using higher octane fuel than the owner's manual states will lower fuel economy (and may even give a Prius a check engine light).) Do you coast a lot, or are you using the brakes a lot (how many regen leaves do you get?)?

there are a lot of factors, and chances are, if you just got your vehicle, you probably have your tire pressures set below the Toyota recommended (minimum) of 35psi front, 33psi rear (dealers like to set them too low during prep or services), and your oil is overfilled.

There's also some break-in period with a new Prius, whereby after that the MPG will go up. That could be as much as 20,000 miles, depending on car/driver. It's unknown if that breakin period is for the car to loosen up and scrub off some of the tires, the car learns your driving habit and changes accordingly, or if it's the driver learning how to drive more efficiently (the Consumption Screen helps here).

Answer 9

The old testing procedure or determining mpg was really stupid. They sit the cars wheels on a drum and have a computer accelerate them and decelerate and idle and a bunch of other stuff to supposedly "simulate real world driving situations." A hybrids engine turns of during the idle phase and that makes the mpg go up. also their is no air resistance when the car is sitting still. thats why they claim such high #'s but you're not getting, much gas mileage. Toyota knows how stupid most everybody is and so they claimed to get 60 mpg and now all those retards including you that bought one are mad. my advice? get a diesel like a VW jetta more room better gas mileage faster last longer better resale.

Answer 10

You willget no better than 45MPG in a prius no matter how you drive.

You really need to know how to drive it to get that much.

Sounds like your getting the most you will from it.