Short Journey Misinformation

[cbcdesign]

Now that I have had my Prius for a little over 5 weeks, I can positively report that the statement perpetuated by some that the Prius is no good on short journeys doesn't really have much merit.

Sure, you wont get 60-72MPGs but you still get fairly good performance.

I get around 43-45MPG and my trips in the main consist of small 0.5 to 3/4 mile trips to and from my most common destinations which is the bank and local post office.

I would have thought anybody that is contemplating getting a Prius and does the sort of silly little trips I do would be quite happy with figures like that.

[cootuk]

Our school run is a mile each way and we get mid 40s just doing that from cold.

Relatively speaking it is good, but it does trash the long term average.

At least I know there's no comparative figure for a modern diesel as they would be broken down with a gummed up DPF for our journey cycles (as our frienfs diesel did).

[Jan&tone]

Now that I have had my Prius for a little over 5 weeks, I can positively report that the statement perpetuated by some that the Prius is no good on short journeys doesn't really have much merit.

Sure, you wont get 60-72MPGs but you still get fairly good performance.

I get around 43-45MPG and my trips in the main consist of small 0.5 to 3/4 mile trips to and from my most common destinations which is the bank and local post office.

I would have thought anybody that is contemplating getting a Prius and does the sort of silly little trips I do would be quite happy with figures like that.

Try using ev mode and be very gentle on the gas pedal.... Your mpg's will soon go up!

Get in the car, press power button to start the car and immediately press the EV button. This stops the ice starting up, if the engine is cold you will only get to about 18mph before the engine cuts in, if it is warm and you are very gentle, you will get to an indicated 29/30 - try it, you may be surprised.

[kithmo]

Now that I have had my Prius for a little over 5 weeks, I can positively report that the statement perpetuated by some that the Prius is no good on short journeys doesn't really have much merit.

Sure, you wont get 60-72MPGs but you still get fairly good performance.

I get around 43-45MPG and my trips in the main consist of small 0.5 to 3/4 mile trips to and from my most common destinations which is the bank and local post office.

I would have thought anybody that is contemplating getting a Prius and does the sort of silly little trips I do would be quite happy with figures like that.

My commute to work is only 3 miles and I go home for lunch, so it's a 3 mile from cold am, 3 mile from cold to lunch, 3 mile return warm engine and a 3 mile cold engine home and with the very occasional run to the coast I've averaged over 52 mpg (actual) for the year.

At the moment I'm showing over 60 mpg on the trip in this warm weather (57.7 mpg actual with the 4% error on the trip) and the worst I had was 38 mpg on the trip (36.5 mpg actual), in the snow in winter, that included running the engine to defrost the front screen a few times.

I am well pleased with these figures as the best mpg I've had before this was from a Mk3 Ford Mondeo 2.0 TDCi MANUAL, that used to get 47mpg (trip) Summer and 39 mpg (trip) winter on my short commute (probably around 5% error on trip).

[Opifex]

The figures being quoted match my experience with lower 50s being achieved on local runs.

A lot of my driving is on French motorways where I normally set the cruise control for about 75mph. Under these conditions the mpg is usually in the lower 60s.

I did once try Tone's recommendation of travelling at 67mph and found that, as he had forecast, the indicated rose from 62 when I left Folkestone to 68 by the time I reached the M4.

Since getting the car in December the average is 53.6mpg over 6,500 miles.

[Opifex]

Now that I have had my Prius for a little over 5 weeks, I can positively report that the statement perpetuated by some that the Prius is no good on short journeys doesn't really have much merit.

Sure, you wont get 60-72MPGs but you still get fairly good performance.

I get around 43-45MPG and my trips in the main consist of small 0.5 to 3/4 mile trips to and from my most common destinations which is the bank and local post office.

I would have thought anybody that is contemplating getting a Prius and does the sort of silly little trips I do would be quite happy with figures like that.

Try using ev mode and be very gentle on the gas pedal.... Your mpg's will soon go up!

Get in the car, press power button to start the car and immediately press the EV button. This stops the ice starting up, if the engine is cold you will only get to about 18mph before the engine cuts in, if it is warm and you are very gentle, you will get to an indicated 29/30 - try it, you may be surprised.

A couple of weeks ago I had to take the car to a place about half mile from home. The Battery looked good so I switched to EV before the ICE started and crept along the road with no trouble. Since it would have been difficult turn the car round I decided to return home via a different route. All was going well until I came to the top of a small dip where I reasoned that if I gained a bit of momentum going into the dip it would help me up the other side. Good theory, except that when the speed got to 25 the engine cut in and all the effort was wasted.

I would just point out that from an economy point of view EV is only useful if you can complete the journey without the ICE starting at all. EV is not recommended for normal use but is ideal if you simply want to move the car a few feet.

[cbcdesign]

EV mode is fine if you don't mind taking it steady but most of the time I am too busy to mess around taking it steady. I switched from a VERY responsive S Type Jaguar to the Prius so I am used to a car that doesn't hang around too.

The point is, driving the Prius like a normal car on very short journeys is returning over 45MPG. I suspect that is still better than most ordinary 2 litre cars will return on similar jouneys thus killing the subscribed theory that the Prius is no good for people who only make short journeys.

[Jan&tone]

I took the Aygo in for its first service today. While I was there waiting I dod the Hybrid challenge... Dismal performance I'm afraid.

A brand new Auris,2k miles only, 5.8 mile mixed journey 54.8 mpg. I was disappointed with that and commented that my Prius would do much better!

To prove it I went back 2 hours later, collected the young lady from the dealers that came in the Auris, did the same 5.8 mile journey and showed her a reading of 68.6 mpg.

On the Auris she recommended the use of the eco button, I didn't use it in the Prius.

short journeys? Pah, no bother!

[Seamaster73]

I think hybrid fuel consumption stats are 20% down to the car and 80% down to the driver. The Prius repays a driver whose driving style is already economical. As many motoring journalists have demonstrated, if you drive it like an idiot, comparatively poor economy is easily achieved.

[britprius]

I to did the hybrid challenge while having my GEN2 serviced at the beginning of may,I did the run in a GEN3 Prius and was informed that I had to use eco mode.I found the the throttle response terrible but was amazed at the end of the run to find I had managed 99.9MPG

[Jan&tone]

I to did the hybrid challenge while having my GEN2 serviced at the beginning of may,I did the run in a GEN3 Prius and was informed that I had to use eco mode.I found the the throttle response terrible but was amazed at the end of the run to find I had managed 99.9MPG

Comparisons from my ECO challenge

Prius - EV mode goes on, and holds, immediately after pressing the start button,

Aueis - EV mode would not hold

Result, first 500 yards, up to 18mph on EV in the Prius, using Petrol in the Auris.

Prius - rolls easily at 50mph on slight downhill stretch hence using no petrol

Auris - would not roll as freely , had to use gas pedal, even very gently the ice was running

Result Auris used more petrol

Prius - uphill stretch for around 800 yards in normal mode accellerated quickly to 70mph then off the gas and ran freely for another 800 yards to the roundabout

auris - would not pull easily in ECO mode, therefore accellerating harder used more petrol

Result Auris used more petrol

Prius - 40mph for a mile then 30mph - Electric at 40mph (slight downhill) EV mode in the 30mph stretch

auris - needed gas in the 40mph stretch, EV in the 30mph bit

after that it went downhill for both, an uphill stretch for a good while in heavy traffic, Battery ran out on both cars and by the top of the hill both were on petrol.

Then a 1 mile stretch slight downhill back to the garage, but 2 sets of traffic lights which despite an effort at planning we got caught at both.

Result was that my Prius did much better than the dealers Auris.

Quite likely if the Auris had been more run in it would have been better, after all its the same engine and transmission in a smaller body so on paper it should be slightly better.

all in all an interesring experiment.

[Opifex]

A possible explanation, Tone, may be the state of the cars at the start of the runs. Had both cars been given a good run prior to the test to warm up the Battery and ICE, and did they both have fully charged batteries?

[Jan&tone]

A possible explanation, Tone, may be the state of the cars at the start of the runs. Had both cars been given a good run prior to the test to warm up the battery and ICE, and did they both have fully charged batteries?

Indeed a possible explanation. As far as being warmed up, I don't know about the dealers car, possibly it was, it was used by the young lady that came out with me as her own vehicle, t-spirit demonstrator, so it should have been warmed up, as to the Battery charge, again I don't know as it wasn't my car!

Obviously my Prius was warmed up but the Battery was half charged when I Parked it at the dealership to get the young lady.

What I forgot to mention, was that I was told the Auris had no extraneous weight, nothing in the boot, and only about half a tank of petrol and just two people in the car, me and the, rather nice, young lady... When we took my Prius round, There was all the normal toot under the boot floor, a Full tank and three of us in the car 'cos my wife came as a chaperone ...

Still a pretty good test and frankly I'm not sure that if I was a prospective customer trying first an Auris and then the Prius, both dealer demo cars that I would be able to pick between them on performance...

[johalareewi]

The dealer's car may also have had dealer car tyre pressures

[Jan&tone]

The dealer's car may also have had dealer car tyre pressures

very good point! I'm not sure why they do that, always seem to be 3 or 4 pounds less than the label on the door jamb... very strange, unless they know something we dont of course!

(which doubtful perhaps)

[Opifex]

Tone, thanks, by the way, for the details given in your ECO Challenge story. It's always useful to see what people are actually doing to achieve good mileage.

I am interested in the way you used EV mode. I noticed that each time after you had used EV the ICE started (because of the speed or the flat battery) and I would have thought that the ICE would then use more fuel to recharge the Battery, so the fuel saved during EV running is used later. I'm surprised EV made any difference unless by using EV you managed to ensure that the last drop of energy had been squeezed out of the Battery when you reached the dealers.

[Jan&tone]

Tone, thanks, by the way, for the details given in your ECO Challenge story. It's always useful to see what people are actually doing to achieve good mileage.

I am interested in the way you used EV mode. I noticed that each time after you had used EV the ICE started (because of the speed or the flat battery) and I would have thought that the ICE would then use more fuel to recharge the battery, so the fuel saved during EV running is used later. I'm surprised EV made any difference unless by using EV you managed to ensure that the last drop of energy had been squeezed out of the battery when you reached the dealers.

I don't pretend to know, or even perhaps understand, the ins and outs of the hybrid system, or how it in fact works... all I do know is that, after having a gen2 for 2 years and the Gen3 for 9 months, I quite now quite regularly get over 65mpg - I've not made the magic 72 yet, but circumstances traffic and traffic lights will allow me to do so one day...

ECO mode on my gen3, I've yet to use it in earnest, I've chosen a flat road 40mph limit doing 35mph with none of the buttons pressed, pushed the ECO button watching the fuel monitor, absolutely nothing happens, no decrease in fuel consumption at all. I have noticed with ECO mode switched on the throttle response is much less and the pedal has to be pressed much more to get any response, so it does work. What it does I've no idea, it doesn't seem to make any difference so I don't use it.

EV mode - I use whenever I'm doing less than 29mph, not often I'll grant you 'cos where I live is pretty much 50 to 70mph territory, however EV pressed before pulling away from lights, before joining a roundabout (if you have time) and in town centres works wonders... I once travelled from Folkestone to Sandgate along the coast road in EV all the way in my Gen2 - nicely undulating road, what I took out on the rises I put back on the downslopes! One of our local towns has a sharp hill on the approach but then a mile long slightly downhill stretch followed by a half mile hill out of the town centre - all 30mph - all EV mode = no petrol at all!

PWR button - used to scare the sh*t out of Golf drivers at lights - they can't understand why a milkfloat is disappearing in the distance, but that doesn't do consumption any good at all....

Put in a nutshell use the EV button wherever it will work, pretend there is a raw egg under the gas pedal and a full pint glass in the centre console cup holder and the fuel consumption drops dramatically. Oh yes, I run my tyres at the manufacturers recommended levels as per the door jamb, I carry loads of cr*p in the boot and invariably there are two of us in the car.

Having said all that, on the odd occasions I use the Prius instead of the Aygo to go to work, 60mph twisty country lanes, it performs just as well as a Golf, it's as nippy round the corners as the Aygo, it sticks to the road like glue and the fuel consumption drops to around 55mpg! so yes, I can and do drive to the limit when I want to, but occasionally, just occasionally it's nice to prove that the quoted fuel consumption figures are almost obtainable...

[Opifex]

Very interesting.

Your experience contradicts the warning in the manual that 'driving in EV Mode more than necessary may lower fuel economy', and you are able to use EV for more than the 1/2 mile range quoted in the book.

Thanks for the info.

[Jan&tone]

Very interesting.

Your experience contradicts the warning in the manual that 'driving in EV Mode more than necessary may lower fuel economy', and you are able to use EV for more than the 1/2 mile range quoted in the book.

Thanks for the info.

Manuals are written by the people that design the vehicles, not by the people with the experience of driving them

[timberwolf]

Is the mpg being quoted calculated from petrol fill-ups and the mileage traveled, or is it using the car's own computer mpg display?

[Glyyde]

for the journey I am doing, 8-10 miles return a day, uphill to work and downhill back from work, my Prius is giving me a better MPG than Aygo.... Talk about efficiency

[Jan&tone]

Is the mpg being quoted calculated from petrol fill-ups and the mileage traveled, or is it using the car's own computer mpg display?

From the cars display. I checked for the first 4 fillups pump to pump on road trip and it's about even so I stopped worrying and just go by the computer. From memory it was about 10 mpg over estimated over around 1800 miles

I use the road trip app for the Aygo now as it doesn't have a built in computer.

[RobMagpie]

Is the mpg being quoted calculated from petrol fill-ups and the mileage traveled, or is it using the car's own computer mpg display?

From the cars display. I checked for the first 4 fillups pump to pump on road trip and it's about even so I stopped worrying and just go by the computer. From memory it was about 10 mpg over estimated over around 1800 miles

I use the road trip app for the Aygo now as it doesn't have a built in computer.

What sort of journeys are you doing? I travel 7 miles each day to and from work in rush hour traffic and am just getting over 60mpg over the whole tank of petrol. (I only measure fill up to fill up not individual journeys) Still beats the 30mpg if I was lucky in my previous car.

[Jan&tone]

Is the mpg being quoted calculated from petrol fill-ups and the mileage traveled, or is it using the car's own computer mpg display?

From the cars display. I checked for the first 4 fillups pump to pump on road trip and it's about even so I stopped worrying and just go by the computer. From memory it was about 10 mpg over estimated over around 1800 miles

I use the road trip app for the Aygo now as it doesn't have a built in computer.

What sort of journeys are you doing? I travel 7 miles each day to and from work in rush hour traffic and am just getting over 60mpg over the whole tank of petrol. (I only measure fill up to fill up not individual journeys) Still beats the 30mpg if I was lucky in my previous car.

80 percent motorway/dual carriageway. Most of the rest is country lanes with a very tiny amount in towns..

Fortunately (or unfortunately, whichever way you look at it) I live 200 yards from one of the major roads through Essex which I seem to use wherever we go! Apart from that the M25 and I are bosum buddies, virtually all of our journeys take us along one part or another, 2 of the main journeys we regularly do in fact mean a trip of almost half way round it :(

[timberwolf]

Is the mpg being quoted calculated from petrol fill-ups and the mileage traveled, or is it using the car's own computer mpg display?

From the cars display. I checked for the first 4 fillups pump to pump on road trip and it's about even so I stopped worrying and just go by the computer. From memory it was about 10 mpg over estimated over around 1800 miles

I use the road trip app for the Aygo now as it doesn't have a built in computer.

Thanks, I think it is always useful to know whether the mpg quoted is from Toyota's computer or calculated from the petrol pump fill-up method.