Gen 2 04-09 Prius Fuel Economy?

[AndyCCW]

I am considering buying an 04-09 1.5 Prius.  Can they be driven on the flat at 30 mph on electric?  If so, for how long?  What fuel economy do they give in reality?  I only want one for the fuel economy, low tax and insurance.  I dont know anyone with one so I would like to find some info from the real world. Thanks in advance. 

[Anthony Poli]

2 hours ago, AndyCCW said:

I am considering buying an 04-09 1.5 Prius.  Can they be driven on the flat at 30 mph on electric?  If so, for how long?  What fuel economy do they give in reality?  I only want one for the fuel economy, low tax and insurance.  I dont know anyone with one so I would like to find some info from the real world. Thanks in advance. 

Hi Andy,

Would this be your first hybrid?

Have you had a test drive in the car?

From my own experience with my Auris 2010 (generation 3), 36 litres of fuel takes me between 390 (winter) and 490 (summer) miles. The previous petrol only car used to require 56 litres to achieve the same distances  winter and summer.

The way prius hybrids work, the car decides on petrol or electric. There are a number of things that have a bearing on that. Basically, you can drive on a road with traffic lights every so often and set off from the lights using petrol to get uptown speed and then the electric takes over. So far I have managed to stretch this out to about 5 and half miles before the Battery is empty and the petrol takes over to recharge the Battery.

Reading my owners manual, it says the car can drive for about half a mile on just electric. That is the case if you have a heavy right foot, 

I hope this is some help to you.

The most important thing is to have a test drive and see if you take to it. 

[Joseph D]

6 hours ago, AndyCCW said:

...   Can they be driven on the flat at 30 mph (48.28km/h) on electric? If so, for how long?   ...

Yes, it can, but not for long, but you wouldn't deliberately try and force the car to drive this way as it negatively affects fuel economy.  The car is a low emissions petrol vehicle, not an electric vehicle.  Best economy is achieve by letting the car work you the best combination of petrol/electric.

6 hours ago, AndyCCW said:

...   What fuel economy do they give in reality?   ...

My Fuelly badges below shows 1 real life instance of an '06 Prius' fuel economy.  You can search for others on Fuelly too to see real life averages. You will see that there is a good range from very poor to exceptionally high.  Be sure to set the units to UK MPG (by default I think it is set to US MPG) so you see MPG reading in the metric you're used to.

A novice in a reasonably good condition Gen II should be able to achieve 54 - 57 UK MPG without trying, and better results when you drive in an economical fashion, as you would to get higher than average MPG in any normal petrol car.

[Rav4ster]

Hi, my Gen 2 over the last 5years and 55K gave me 51.3 mpg calculated.
MPG drops in winter and even more when wife drives it (she does not understand pulse and glide and cannot be asked adjusting heater).
In summer I get around 55 and in winter around 48 (lots of short journeys, when car does not warm up fully).
Car is driven quite quickly and I am not hiding behind lorries on motorway.