What's the goya on the real Prius MPGs?

[Jus-A-CMax]

I am curious, what is the real MPGs with the Prius?

 

I have driven my neighbors 2010 Prius more than a few times and in one instance, the tank was 1/3 and I had a run from San Fernando to Thousand Oaks (off de Arboles) and back, a few local street driving (less than 5 miles total). Now it about a 77 mile round trip and I know I barely made it to the Pacoima Costco with vapours in the tank. At that time, I didn't know its got a little bitty tank (10 odd gallons) but at 1/3 tank should have been more than plenty to cover that trip since 1/3 is about 3 gallons and it does 40 miles per gallon, then it should have covered 120 miles at least. 

 

No, I didn't fang it and I did not even know if it had a sports mode button or not.

 

So, I know some of you are Prius drivers, whats the real mileage for the Prius? 

 

Also, how does the Prius stay efficient at > 65mph as I often see them fang by at much higher speeds - are they burning or is that car still optimizing? Their EV is suppose to shut off around 40mph or less.

 

Just curious, not wanting to start any flame wars.

Edited January 11, 2013 by Jus-A-CMax

[F8L]

You can look at Fuelly.com to get an average for the Prius and you can break it down by year if you like.

 

http://www.fuelly.com/car/toyota/prius

 

The GenIII (2010-2013) averages about 48-49mpg over the course of a full year (summer highs and winter lows).

 

Driving at an easy pace of 60-65mph in the summer can easily net 55-60mpg. Trips at speeds of 75-85mph drop you into the mid-high 40s.

 

My last trip from Sacramento to LA (396miles) in 50F temps and some pretty bad rain for the first 80 miles ended at 45.7mpg. I did my best to stay at 75-85mph. My GenII Prius did the same trip in similar weather but less rain and ended at 42mpg.

 

 

 

So to answer your question. The Prius will still average low-mid 40s at 80mph+ assuming you don't have a bunch of very short trips on that tank AND you don't have aftermarket 17" wheels with non-LRR tires. Those kill mpg!

 

With good tires and well placed glides averaging high 50s to low 60s is pretty easy during the summer.

Here is a thread on my other forum where some of us battle it out. :)

 

http://priuschat.com/threads/top-20-mpg-record-holders.112709/

Edited January 17, 2013 by F8l

[Jus-A-CMax]

F8I, nice to hear from an owner and thanks for the links, I will certainly check it out. 

[F8L]

F8I, nice to hear from an owner and thanks for the links, I will certainly check it out. 

 

You're welcome. Anything I can do to help the owners of these awesome new cars (CMAX). :)

[J**2]

Any data on Energi driven in auto mode at 55 with econo cruise ?

[Laurel]

F81 I think your user name should be F18 as you are flying with those speeds!  If the RCMP caught me going 136 kilometers per hour they would throw me into the pokey.

[Tdefny]

I don't know about a modern Prius, but my '02 has a guess gauge where a gas guage should be. It looks like it should be accurate, but is very non-linear, so 30% is really about 100 miles of range. I always fill the tank when the miles driven is about 10 times the indicated MPG rather than trust the guess gauge. Also, "EV" stops at around 42 MPH, but the traction motor can contribute a percentage of the power at any speed. In fact, it is constantly doing it. The Prius is really good at this.

 

It is hard to tell on the Energi because I always start with a full battery.I have been meaning to try it on a long run withoutj a charge, but it feels wrong to not use the battery if it is there. As nearly as I can tell, the non -EV mileage is low to mid 30s, but I have had trips that looked more like the mid 40s. Including EV, I have been averaging close to 50 MPGe and I am happy with that. Fuelly reports a higher MPG but it doesn't account for the electricity. Not a fan of pulse driving, I use Eco cruise whenever there is enough road to set it.