the real Prius gas mileage

I actually get slightly better numbers with our Jetta TDI diesel wagon.

I get spot-on the Canadian government official fuel economy numbers which are 38 mpg city, 51 mpg highway. To get numbers like you do with your Prius I would have to be speeding. My average fuel consumption is actually pretty close to your Prius highway mileage, but my typical drive is heavily biased towards freeway driving. I get a 1200 km (750 mile) safe range out of one tank of diesel. Right now with the latest fuel crisis brought on by Katrina, gasoline is $1.35/liter up here, and diesel is $1.21.

The newer Jettas are heavier though and get slightly worse mileage on the same engine.

Still, the TDI engine is only a $1500 or so premium over the base gas engine.

Mike G.

"A couple of hypermilers there ran a Prius marathon and exceeded 100MPG!".

That's truly impressive.

But what matters is what your car consumes going about its daily tasks. I doubt this is a sustainable number in normal everyday conditions. I know many TDI nuts have done similar marathons and gotten nearly as impressive numbers in the 70-80 range, but we're talking long distances at 35 mph.

I think what's really meant by the title "the real Prius gas mileage" is "what can I resonably expect on a repeatable basis for this car in my normal driving cycle, driven at normal traffic speeds (or at least at the posted speed limit).

Mike G.

Just to see what would happen I drove my Prius like an idiot to fit in with the other locals. I punched it off a red light. Average speed through super-suburbia was about 55 mph. Ran up the Interstate at an average speed of 90 mph. Generally, I did everything to get the mileage down and had the air conditioner full blast.

(Note that I've read that Toyota discourages keeping up with the yahoo's on the Interstate that cruise along faster than 80 mph).

I got 38 mpg.

If I do the hybrid quickly accelerate to speed, coast, and charge driving I get up to 54 mpg. Still with the AC full blast (haven't seen winter yet).

I'm not sure what this says about your Prius or your driving ;)

I've been getting about 4.3L/100km (from Canada) in my 2004 Prius. The worst I've averaged was in January at about 5.2L/100km. I get about 850km on a tank, and the worst I've had was about 700km.

I'm doing over 50+ mpg and doing 100miles per day. There are some things you can do to bump up your mpg.
1. Drive with window close and no AC (highway)
2. Do not accerlate real fast
3. Drive at or near 55 mph (highway)
4. Draft behind a big car or 18 wheeler to get
the best mpg. (highway)
5. In the city learn to drive using the battery.
(this takes some practice but once you get it
you can get real good mileage). What I do is
accelerate to 35-40 mph then let off the gas
pedal and slightly step on it again such that
only the battery is powering the car.
6. Make sure you got good tire pressure.
Toyota recommends 35 PSI front and 33 rear
I think 42 PSI front and 40 rear work better.

Hope that helps some...please let me know if it does.

I've just reached 10K miles on my 05 Prius. I've averaged 52 MPG. I don't know city vs. highway, though I did get about 40 MPG on a 1200 mile trip going 80 with full A/C. Most of my miles are my daily 80 mile round-trip commute on stop-and-go LA freeways, which is pretty ideal for the hybrid. I drive pretty normally, not trying to be a hypermiler, but I've always driven fairly conservatively. Ironically, I expect my MPG to decrease now that I'm driving solo in the carpool lanes!

Yeap...when I drive my Prius...my psychology is so different because its all about how much MPG I get. I don't care about my speed or time it takes. I'm doing probably some 52+ mpg over 3000 miles. Even did 60.8 one day to work over a 46 mile stretch. I don't know about getting 60 MPG in town as rated by EPA but 51 on highway is definitely doable and 55 average is also doable. I don't know what the fuss is all about the prius not getting the EPA ratings cause if you drive at 55 MPG on the highway and use the Pulse and Glide method in city, I belive you can achieve those EPA ratings.... Now if only I could plug in my hyrid so that I can charge the battery while I am at work that would definitely increase my MPG.

Bob,

I think you can expect somewhere between 45 and 49 MPG. I've driven at 65MPH and still get about 51 MPG. When I drove on highway 5 in CA which has a speed limit of 70 but everyone goes at least 80+, I got an average of 44 MPG. Bottom line is that your MPG will still be pretty good but it also depends on acceleration and not only top speed.

I would definately wait. For the difference of $5000 you would have to drive a lot of miles to make up that difference. We ordered our 2005 Prius in July 2004 and were told that we would have a 5-6 MONTH wait. It was actually delivered in November.

We live near Buffalo, NY and are currently getting a solid 55 MPG combined mileage. We did see that in the colder months our MPG was down to about 45 since the gas engine was running more to get heat to the heating system.

Dang...people are getting srewd on the prius paying $5000 above sticker. That to me is just unacceptable. I love the car but I wouldn't pay $5000 over sticker to get it. That's like getting ripped off knowingly. I looked around when I got my prius last month and paid $500 under sticker price. I know I got a good deal but still feel like I could have done better...

Good job on getting $500 off an '05 Prius, Yudah, because I had to pay list and wait 9 1/2 months to take delivery. I was perpetually "third on the list" for months, you know what I mean? One unscrupulous dealer 40 miles away said he'd get me a car for $3500 over list and let me go to the "top of the waiting list" if I'd pay the premium, but I've now noticed he is now just a Chevy and Buick dealer and has lost his Toyota franchise (how long before GM go out of business and he loses their franchises, too?)

I got fed up with waiting, put in a 2nd Prius order at the dealer which replaced the unscrupulous one, and had both dealers literally telephone me at the same time (one on voicemail of course) saying my cars would be delivered the same day! Talk about a photo finish. The one would have been a 2 month wait, but the local dealer got the car first, so he "won the prize" of the nice profit margin (that GM, Ford and Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep dealers would kill for - you know, not having to bribe people with huge incentives and most of the profit margin to buy crap?)

The dealer 40 miles away gave me back my deposit no hassle at all.

I'm getting between 82 measured miles per gallon (!) using some hypermile techniques, though the computer said 51 miles per gallon on those two tankfuls. Overall, I've increased my overall average from 49.1 to about 52, measured US mpg, using some techniques which I presume are similar to pulse & glide. I've notice the same as you, Yudah, that going up to speed (about 40) and backing off will often let the Prius go to battery only, and increase mileage a lot in town - assuming the battery is charged.

folks,

Thanks so much for all the helpful advice. Having read thru it all I've come to the conclusion that my 2005 Prius is simply incapable of 50 mpg.

First a note on the difference between on-board mileage and gas tank mileage. I've kept track for over 15,000 miles. Gas tank mileage (combined town and highway) is pretty steady at 46-47, but on-board computer averages about 2 mpg higher. So, if I made the mistake of just reading off the on board numbers, I'd be nearly to 50, but, if I correctly check on gas I pump, it's not so good.

Second, ideas on how to change driving habits to get better mileage. I'm a mileage freak and pay close attention to coasting, not driving too fast (72 mph on interstate and slower elsewhere), etc. But this car won't drive on electric alone. Any light touch to the pedal and the motor comes on. Maybe I need an adjustment, but I don't think so cuz often the battery is nearly total run down. Driving around town as often as not the motor stays on at traffic stops to charge the battery! Maybe my battery has a problem? When I drive down hill to Santa Fe, the drop initially charges the battery fully, I then note that the car drives on electric alone for about 4 miles, but after that, it's back to the gas motor.

The real problem is driving around a small town where you never go faster than about 35 mph, and so never get into a high enough gear range to get good mileage. Coasting to a stop and then starting out again gives a net loss in mileage. Sooo, round trip to Santa Fe with battery charge boost, about 50 mpg, but driving around town, only about 35-38 mpg.

So I'll go ask my Toyota Dealer if there's a fix, but so far they haven't been all that helpful.

regards to all,
Chick Keller

I live up a very high, steep, and winding hill, and am averaging about 36 mpg for the one month I've had the car. Generally, the mileage is good going down, but going up, I simply cannot "pulse & glide" as suggested and still get around the turns going up. Most curiously, though, is that when I start my car in the morning and creep through my condo's parking lot using virtually no acceleration, my screen shows I am using around 3.0 mpg. What's that about? I'm in the tropics (Puerto Rico), so it's certainly not cold weather. I hope it's not one of the glitches that warranted the recall!

Pulse and Glide Marathon was conducted by Prius owners near Pittsburgh. The description is on the Toyota web site.

It is under the Hybrid Lifestyle topic.

http://www.toyota.com/toyota/html/hybridsynergyview/handraiser.jsp

I can get 60 miles highway driving when on level terrain.

The driver getting lower mileage in the city is simply not easing on the throttle. He is likely accelerating and then letting up and then accelerating. get to your speed and then ease up a little on the throttle. This engages the battery only and the car will run on battery only at speeds between 20 and 30. You always get 60 mpg if you do it right

I cannot get my '06 to get over about 41 mpg. I live up a fairly steep grade, but that means that half of the time I'm going downhill by the same amount. Are there any tips to getting better mileage going uphill? I also never seem to get much better than that even on flat terrain...I've adjusted the tire pressure - any ideas? I cannot seem to drive on battery or electric alone, because as soon as I even slightly touch the gas pedal the gas motor starts up. Help!

I have two hybrids, Civic 06 (~9200 miles) and Prius 05 (~5400miles). I like to drive the civic much better.

I drove the civic from North carolina to texas and back total 3800 miles. it cost me $150 for the trip. average gas price $2.85/gal

I always get 55-60 MPG for both, the civic is 1-2 miles more than the prius.

I drive with my finger on the cruise control more than the foot gas pedal. I try to maintain 1-2 miles aboe the speed limits. people pass me by all the time, but I don't really care.

The toyota prius won the PR war, but I don't think much about Toyota, I believe they are over rated.
I recommend everyone to buy the civic hybrid

John,

I am going to purchase a new car in the next few months and was thinking about the Civic Hybrid. Since you own an 06 and drove to Texas, what do you think about the air conditioning? I live in hot Arizona and it is very important that it has a strong ac. I drove a regular 91 Honda civic and the air conditioning was not the greatest, but I still prefer Honda over Toyota, since I've owned both. Also another concern I've heard about the hybrids is that the batteries don't last as long or do as well in hot weather. Does anyone know if that is true?

Here's a site that has a large number of real-world mileage points on the Toyota Prius.

http://www.gasaroo.com

The Prius is on the front page.

I've had an 06 Civic Hybrid since January, and constantly carpool with a colleague who has a Prius. There are strong and weak points about both cars... when comparing the two, I eventually went with the Civic. The Prius may be a bit more hi-tech and innovative on paper, but in the end, the Civic was a much better fit for me. Everyone's size and shape are different, but I can't stand the hard plastic arm rests on the Prius that constantly hit my knee (oppsed to the Civic, where my knee hits nothing because the arm rest slant up slightly, and there's plenty of room). The Prius can go in all-electric mode more than the Civic can (the 06 Civic can go in all electric mode, but not from a stop like the Prius -- only while coasting or already moving). I have nothing at all against the Prius, and think it's a great car, but for me, the Civic is a much more comfortable, better designed cabin, more fun to drive, and a lot nicer looking (subjective of course). The MPG isn't all that different either. The Prius seems to be a bit more in a narrow range with the MPG, whereas the Civic can vary widely depending on the type of driving. For instance, if you do a lot of slow street driving with AC on, the Civic will get worse gas mileage than the Prius. But when all is said and done, the difference for most people in the end is minimal. My average fuel economy for my HCH over the last 1/2 year is 48mpg (mix of all types of driving, AC on only when driving streets not freeways when it's hot). However the last two weeks I had to do a lot of long freeway drives (OC to LA multiple times, OC to San Diego), and for the last two tanks, when I filled up at the gas station, it was 57.1 and 58.8mpg (since it was all freeway driving, I tried to stay in the 65 range -- from 60 to 69). That's not "usual" driving (it's usually more a mix) but as I said, my average MPG from when I got the car is in the 47-48 range on the 06 HCH. On my friend's Prius, he gets only about 2-3 mpg more, and for me the HCH is much more comfortable.

When both cars came out a few years ago, I thought "boy, did Honda drop the ball on this one.. the Prius is so much better designed." Well in the end, I chose the Honda (surprising myself). First of all the 06 HCH is much better than the earlier ones, but it's not just about design on paper and numbers, it's mix of everything, and for me I found the Honda HCH to be exactly what I wanted. Back in Dec/Jan, HCHs were hard to find, but I could buy Priuses at list price (had a few dealers call me, and I told them I decided against the Prius). Again, the Prius is a fine car and may be what some people want (for instance, if you need to tote long things like a string bass or something you'll need the Prius because of the hatchback) but I found the HCH to be much more comfortable, almost as good on gas, and fun to drive.

Please stop driving like an old lady and post the real fuel consumption of everyday driving. Personnaly I don't beleive in hybrids I'm more a diesel buyer. Hybrids are too complicated has too many parts that can fail and it's excessively expensive to repair plus most of the job must be perform by a Toyota technician.

For maybe a couple of mpg less I prefer diesel the only complicated thing it's the injection system the rest is well known by most people.

For the ones who live in colder climate the engine of an hybrid car will run until it's warm up or the battery is fully charge don't expect great milleage when it's cold.

But still I can't believe why hybrid drivers are so cheap they pay big bucks for a car and then squeeze a penny on gas. Buy a corolla save 10000 to 15000$ when you buy it and with the money saved drive your car for years for free. A corolla will do a little bit less mpg than a Prius same apply for a Civic.

Anyway it's a matter of taste and understanding.