Real World Economy

[PaulSR]

Hi all,

I might be changing my job in the new year. At present I work shifts so traffic isnt too bad...even for the m6!

My new job will be a 9 to 5, so I will be commuting in rush hour traffic. My current VW Tiguan is suprisingly good on fuel, mainly because I can set the cruise for about 60 and chill from Walsall to Solihull. However, I dont think it will be so good come the start-stop of rush hour!

So, Im looking at a prius to cut the costs of the commute. Doing research I have found unrealistic tests, such as Clarkson racing it and comparing it to an M5, or the Times doing a cruise which dispite saying will be through town and urban areas, it seems that its not at rush hour and the majority does seem to be on the motorways.

So, my question is to those in the rat-race...doing the rush hour start and stop commutes...

How does the economy compare to a normal car? Especially if you have experiece of small diesels such as in the Polo of Fiesta?

Also, If im stuck in largely stationary or slow moving traffic for 5 miles, can i set it to just use the Battery and after the 2 miles of Battery charge is used does it then start the petrol engine to charge the Battery AND still keep running on electric, or does the petrol engine start and provide the power for the wheels directly?

Cheers!

[Grumpy Cabbie]

I might be changing my job in the new year. At present I work shifts so traffic isnt too bad...even for the m6!

My new job will be a 9 to 5, so I will be commuting in rush hour traffic. My current VW Tiguan is suprisingly good on fuel, mainly because I can set the cruise for about 60 and chill from Walsall to Solihull. However, I dont think it will be so good come the start-stop of rush hour!

So, Im looking at a prius to cut the costs of the commute. Doing research I have found unrealistic tests, such as Clarkson racing it and comparing it to an M5, or the Times doing a cruise which dispite saying will be through town and urban areas, it seems that its not at rush hour and the majority does seem to be on the motorways.

So, my question is to those in the rat-race...doing the rush hour start and stop commutes...

How does the economy compare to a normal car? Especially if you have experiece of small diesels such as in the Polo of Fiesta?

Also, If im stuck in largely stationary or slow moving traffic for 5 miles, can i set it to just use the battery and after the 2 miles of battery charge is used does it then start the petrol engine to charge the battery AND still keep running on electric, or does the petrol engine start and provide the power for the wheels directly?

Blimey, where to start. Well, I use my 2009 Prius as a taxi because I spend most of my days in town, in slow moving traffic. The car varies between low 40's to mid 50's depending on traffic and how you drive it. I've found my worse figures were on night shifts when all the lights are on, heating blasting away etc as these seem to eat into the Battery causing the engine to kick in a charge it up more often.

Check out my 'fuelly' link below to have a nosey at my fuel stats. I have added the average speed for each day to show what the traffic was upto that day and there are now 2 full months worth of figures. Things are getting worse now winter is coming as this affects things by around 5 mpg but a nice day (like today) puts the figures back up. If I get a long run then my mileage goes up but then comes down again if in traffic later in the day. If I am stuck in heavy traffic all day I get about 44 mpg. If I get a long run on an A road I get about 58mpg. Motorways - 55mpg at 70mph and as I never speed I don't know what it would be at 80mph but would guess it would be 50mpg . But as I mentioned earlier, getting 58 mpg on a run is great but is then lowered when I sit in heavy traffic where I get 44 mpg, averaging about 50mpg for the day.

Regarding your comment about being stuck in traffic. The car will run mostly on Battery in crawling traffic but when the Battery runs down the engine will kick in to charge it up. It is all quite seamless and almost has a mind of its own. I would recommend a test drive as it is quite hard to describe it exactly as there are so many variables - and I don't want to bore you more than I already have. I personally took two extended test drives before I bought the car and drove all my daily routes to get a feel for the economy.

My total average is 48 mpg which is still a heck of a lot better than the 26mpg I got out of my last cab. Hope some of this helps

[PaulSR]

Many thanks for that full answer!

I think a test drive is needed to experience it for myself. I did pop into the toyota dealer in Wolverhampton today, but not a gen 3 prius in sight

[johalareewi]

Pop over to the Prius chat forum. There is a lot on there although mostly from the USA because they have loads of Prius gen3's. Just be aware that USA gallons are smaler than UK gallons so their MPGs are lower than ours! Also, they call the gen3 a 2010 Prius (not a 2009 Prius).

http://priuschat.com/forums/

I have had my Gen3 for almost 2 weeks and the daily commute of 20 miles has a lot of getting stuck in traffic. The MPG I get on the commute is higher than driving up and down the motorway. I guess doing stop start driving gives the Prius lots of opportunity to save fuel but doing 70 on the motorway is almost 100% petrol engine.

You really do need get an extended test drive. You can then see how the Prius suits you.

You might also want to try a gen2 if you cant get hold of a gen3 although they are very different.

[johalareewi]

How does the economy compare to a normal car? Especially if you have experiece of small diesels such as in the Polo of Fiesta?

I would check the fuelly.com stats. Small diesels might get better MPG but...

1) They are small (the Prius is a family car)

2) Unless they shut the engine down when stationary, the Prius will get better MPG in stop/start traffic.

Also, If im stuck in largely stationary or slow moving traffic for 5 miles, can i set it to just use the battery and after the 2 miles of battery charge is used does it then start the petrol engine to charge the battery

You can set the Prius to EV mode which is electric only. If the main Battery gets too flat, the petrol engine will kick in.

The best thing is to let the Prius do it automatically. In start stop traffic it will use electric over petrol when possible.

AND still keep running on electric, or does the petrol engine start and provide the power for the wheels directly?

The Prius uses both electric and petrol engines together all the time. It doesn't have a conventional clutch/gearbox setup but has a planetary gear system where the wheels are always coupled to the engines. Either (or both) engines can power the car or the electric engine can become a generator. You can see what is going on using one of the on screen displays.

Get a test drive!!

[Sagitar]

Get a test drive!!

W.H.S.

In addition, do some research on particulate filtration problems with diesels running in urban conditions.

[martswain]

27th July to end of October = 53.5 mpg

Since 26th Nov until today = 49.9 mpg

I live in Troon, Scotland.

My journeys have not changed at all and aircon was mostly ON during the first period, but recently only used when needing to demist the windows.

Cabin temperature always set to 22 C.

I just let the Prius do it's own thing regarding Battery management.

[johalareewi]

In addition, do some research on particulate filtration problems with diesels running in urban conditions.

There is that as well.

Aren't the EU making diesels have particulate filters which also reduce the MPG?