Prius To Auris Hybrid

[kevin h]

Have i made a mistake. 6 yr old prius t-spirit was achieving 70+ mpg has been traded in for the Auris estate excel hybrid. Am i going to achieve similar mpg. Nobody seems to gwt anywhere near the official 78 advertised. Gulp!!!

[unclepoo]

I managed 72mpg on a long motorway/A road run, involved m1 and m25 too, so stop start traffic at times. But I just happy with the low running and a great car to drive, and forget about trying to hyper-mile.

[FROSTYBALLS]

Generally speaking, for newer models, the gulf between the official EU figures and the consumption owners actually achieve, seems to have got wider. Probably due a number of factors which include the official EU figures being done through a laboratory testing regime, and manufacturers knowing how to get the 'best' out of these tests .....

[YarisHybrid2016]

You might want to look for the EPA figures - they seem far more realistic compared to the EU figures! EU figures are basically the vehicle sat on a test bed, ergo, no wind resistance. Just beware the units for MPG where gallons are US gallons in the EPA figures!

Because the new EU figures vary so widely now from reality, they actually state that it is "for comparison only", and is "not indicative of actual consumption". From what I have seen, you can knock 20 MPG off the book figure.

In my last test drive of the Yaris Hybrid, the computer said I achieved 62 MPG (mostly dual carriageway at good constant speed, but with some mixed in there as well, over about 25 miles). This compared with the showroom sticker of 85 MPG. I pick it up next week, so I'll take it out for a good run and see what it reports.

[cuius]

Checked my accounts and for the 3-years period Jan 2012 to Dec 2014; spent €4143 on fuel or €1381 per annum and do about 20,000km per year at 5.2 l/100km. In UK terms, that's approx £1200 (depending on exchange rate) for 12,500 miles approx at 54mpg. My main journeys are 950 km trips across Spain, normally on cruise control set at 110kph (68mph) - dropping to 100kph may save 10% fuel (optimistic?) but each trip would take an hour longer. So I'd save €138 per year but drive for an extra 12 hours. Comparing the saving against the other costs of motoring, it's easy to overemphasise the affect of fuel consumption

[kevin h]

Travel annually to Germany. Cruise control at 65 mph in the prius would return 72 mpg (actual). Wondering what the auris will achieve

[kevin h]

65 mph

[FROSTYBALLS]

Post 6 edited.

[Duffryn]

Isn't Fuelly your best bet for facts'n'figures?

[kevin h]

Not if you want comments and opinions. I had the prius driving style down to a tee, but on the 24 & 1 hr twst drives, the auris was not so goid. But new engines need bedding in, what do others think.

[YarisHybrid2016]

I think the Auris will return lower gas milage than the Prius, not least due to the higher drag factor of the body.

Prius T-Spirit:

* Drag Coefficient: 0.25

* CO2: 91 g/km

* 73 kW/142 Nm

* 1425 kg

Auris Excel:

* Drag Coefficient: 0.28

* CO2: 91 g/km

* 73 kW/142 Nm

* 1430 kg

Very similar, but the additional drag will show itself long-term. In the end, it is down to how you drive it, and where you drive it.

It's going to be interesting to see what gas milage I get from my Yaris Hybrid. The 62 MPG (computer reported) was after I was ... less than gentle with it. In normal driving I would expect to see 65+ (beats the 32 av. I get now :o ).

When I test drove the Auris Hybrid last year, at one point the computer reported 82 MPG (this was after about 5 miles of mixed driving). Even if it was over-reporting by 10%, that made it 74 MPG. That however wasn't a very fair test. To get even a reasonable idea in one tank you need to do about 50 miles IMHO, otherwise the outliers have a disproportionate effect on the average.

[ecodriver]

My fuel figures for 10,000 miles in a Yaris Hybrid T4 worked out at 55.94 mpg 'brim to brim'. My fuel figures for 9,000 miles in a Auris Hybrid Icon Touring Sports work out at 58.3 mpg 'brim to brim'. Both cars were used on motorways, dual carriageways and country routes with some town use, often laden with luggage and passengers. The on board computer consumption figures usually read more than my own figures. I do try to drive as economically as possible without holding up the traffic!

I am wondering what fuel figures to expect from the Prius Plug-In which I have on order? Anyone have any advice for the best way to drive it?

Thanks.

[MEP's Yaris GS]

Isn't Fuelly your best bet for facts'n'figures?

Agreed, you can actually go into peoples fuel ups also to see how through they are with them to be able to see if their figures are accurate and justifiable or just one incorrect fill up recording after another.

I am wondering what fuel figures to expect from the Prius Plug-In which I have on order? Anyone have any advice for the best way to drive it?

Thanks.

Here's my plug in results on fuelly - http://www.fuelly.com/car/toyota/prius/2013/MEP/303281

If you have a look I record my EV vs HV useage which helps you see how good the MPG is with my usage (which isn't the best suited currently for a PHEV as I do a lot more HV driving than EV).

Personally I try and save EV for town driving if doing a journey that is going to exceed EV range, and if I've anything left on my return to home I empty EV on the last 5-10miles of my journey.

[cobh18]

Small but vital point: the drag coefficient is part of the equation, but lacks the frontal area element which decides the overall drag, aka drag area. It may be that the Prius has a smaller or greater cross-section, but without the total drag area numbers, comparison between Prius and Auris is not possible. However, the C02 numbers suggest they are very similar...

[ecodriver]

Many thanks, MEP's, that is useful information. I often do journeys which will exceed the EV range and had considered your method of using up the EV late in the journey.

[PeteB]

...Prius T-Spirit:

* Drag Coefficient: 0.25

...

If you're referring to the Gen 3 Prius, the T-Spirit (and T4 for that matter) have a CD of 0.27 - only the T3 & Plug-in (and older T-Spirits with the sun roof) which have 15" wheels are 0.25

[DarrenM]

My journey to work and back is quite hard work with large high speed hills when cold and roads that require heavy acceleration. I get between 55-60 MPG, sometimes just less, sometimes just more. On the motorway with no load and cruising about 60mph I can get into the 70s.

6 months old, 6000 miles done, Auris Icon+ with 16" wheels with the car rated at 85g/km co2

[kevin h]

DarrenM, thank you so much for actually reading and answering my question. My normal comute will be less taxing, so hopefully mpg will be better. Encouraging to hear yout motorway mpg. Thanks

[tonino]

Travel annually to Germany. Cruise control at 65 mph in the prius would return 72 mpg (actual). Wondering what the auris will achieve

55mpg More likely:)

[kevin h]

We shall see!!!!!!

[Sagitar]

My fuel figures for 10,000 miles in a Yaris Hybrid T4 worked out at 55.94 mpg 'brim to brim'. My fuel figures for 9,000 miles in a Auris Hybrid Icon Touring Sports work out at 58.3 mpg 'brim to brim'. Both cars were used on motorways, dual carriageways and country routes with some town use, often laden with luggage and passengers. The on board computer consumption figures usually read more than my own figures. I do try to drive as economically as possible without holding up the traffic!

I am wondering what fuel figures to expect from the Prius Plug-In which I have on order? Anyone have any advice for the best way to drive it?

Thanks.

Plug in consumption depends very much on your journey pattern and in my experience varies much more from summer to winter than did Gen3 Prius that I drove previously.

I filled up with petrol last weekend, something I do only about once in two months and it was interesting to see the huge difference that the cold weather has made, even though it is still very mild.

I drive the plug-in version of the Prius and most of my journeys are short and local. During the summer, this gives enormous advantage and some weeks I can drive without having the ICE start at all. When I topped up last July I had managed 297mpg for the 493 miles that I had done since the previous top-up in May.

In the winter however the tables are turned and irrespective of the state of charge etc. the ICE starts up almost as soon as I switch on in order to warm up all the parts that need to be warm for proper operation (including me). Since I'm doing short journeys the petrol used for warm-up is not balanced by subsequent efficient running over extended mileage as it would be if I were doing longer journeys. So the top-up that I've just done showed only 102 mpg for the 319 miles that I had done since the last fill in October.

The electricity plays its part of course. In a straight hybrid all the costed electricity comes from the petrol tank and so is already taken account of. In the plug in, the majority of the electricity comes from an external charge. In the May to July period that charge cost about £8 and in the October to December period it cost about £7. If you applied these sums to the purchase of petrol it would give a reduced mpg figure, but I'm not really that interested. I just wanted to show how the short journey pattern is good for efficiency in the summer and equally bad in the winter.

It demonstrates very clearly that you cannot just quote an average consumption figure for a plug-in hybrid but must be aware of the driving pattern that applies. It shows also the almost total impossibility of producing a meaningful standard mpg from official tests.

[kevin h]

Hears my point. Prius gen 3 was definitely at least 6 mpg better than Auris with same milage in similar weather. now have 3600 miles on clock and mpg is 58. Pathetic.... Can't waite for a PHEV that will do at least 60 in EV, but has a decent range extender.

[MEP's Yaris GS]

In the winter however the tables are turned and irrespective of the state of charge etc. the ICE starts up almost as soon as I switch on in order to warm up all the parts that need to be warm for proper operation (including me).

The only reason the ICE starts will be due to you having the heating on, or you've a fault.

I never bother with the heater on my short EV journeys in my PiP. That's what a coat and heated seats are for. As a result I don't see as bigger hit as what you do. However temp does seem to effect the total range, possibly something to do with the chemical makeup of the Battery.

[ecodriver]

Thanks, Sagitar. I got the plug-in Prius this October and have done a mixture of short and long journeys. As you say, sometimes the ICE starts up and sometimes it doesn't on short journeys depending on the weather. I was a bit surprised that the expected range when fully charged is between about 10 to 13 miles rather than the 15.5 quoted. Although I believe all plug-ins are like that. Perhaps that will improve in the summer or when the Battery has been charged a few more times. I normally leave it in ECO mode and let it decide when to use the Battery, otherwise you can be too distracted. One thing I do miss from the Yaris and Auris hybrids is a running average mpg on the journey rather than just the average at the end. In 1100 miles I have averaged 68mpg brim to brim, but it really does depend, as you say, on how many short journeys.

[MEP's Yaris GS]

Thanks, Sagitar. I got the plug-in Prius this October and have done a mixture of short and long journeys. As you say, sometimes the ICE starts up and sometimes it doesn't on short journeys depending on the weather. I was a bit surprised that the expected range when fully charged is between about 10 to 13 miles rather than the 15.5 quoted. Although I believe all plug-ins are like that. Perhaps that will improve in the summer or when the battery has been charged a few more times. I normally leave it in ECO mode and let it decide when to use the battery, otherwise you can be too distracted. One thing I do miss from the Yaris and Auris hybrids is a running average mpg on the journey rather than just the average at the end. In 1100 miles I have averaged 68mpg brim to brim, but it really does depend, as you say, on how many short journeys.

As I've mentioned above, ICE will only start if you call for heat, or accelerate hard.

Range is also pessimistic. Will normally do better than that what is indicated. Average journey MPG can be done on the trip, so not sure I follow what you mean about it only being done on the journey summary at the end.