MPG drop (57 prius).

[lienb7701]

Hi all. 

My mpg has dropped from 55-60 by about 10-12 mpg. I am averaging 43-47 mpg. I did consider it being winter and having heater on etc, but was wondering if there could be other factors coming into the mix? Tyre pressures are at the factory recommendations...

Thanks in advance.  

[BhxTrev]

Hi Lien, yes you will see a drop in your mpg. At the moment my Gen4, Prius is doing something in the 50s mpg. I have also had mpg returns similar to yours during previous Winters, but bear in mind all cars, especially when doing short cold start journeys, will have their mpg greatly reduced. Compared with other cars I’ve owned the Prius still does a very good mpg return in my opinion, during colder weather. Of course driving style & doing longer journeys will affect  your mpg, no matter what you drive. 

[Ten Ninety]

Conditions are everything. 15-20mpg can go just from weather.

• Cold temperatures - anything below about 5 degrees really starts to impact.
• Wet roads - the extra drag is considerable and wrecks coasting. Easily 5-10mpg gone right there.
• Wind - despite the slippery shape of the car, a headwind can reduce coasting time as well.

Low tyre pressures are a factor, but not as much as conditions. Engine oil type being too thick will drop mpg too. There could also be a problem with the car, obviously, but that's not the first place to look.

Anyway, it could be worse. Last week my average daily mpg was approximately 105mpg lower than last year's summer high...😁

 

[BhxTrev]

Yes Jay you’re right. Interestingly I noticed how wet weather in the Summer really affects the mpg. Also I decided to replace the Toyo tyres fitted to the car for Pirelli Cross Climate tyres & noticed a lower mpg. I guess this is linked to more adhesion/friction with the road surface. 

[Rosgoe]

My corolla has got average of 49.7 at the moment I know it’s not the same car but same engine , I’m hopeful  this will improve soon as it is just coming up to a 1000 miles.

after starting out in this cold weather after approx half a mile and stopped in traffic or at traffic lights I force it into EV by pushing the EV button and the engine cuts out which helps with fuel consumption but as soon as I pull away and get to 25/30 mph the engine cuts back in, I always force it into EV whenever the car allows me to.

since haveing a hybrid since 2015 I find it addictive to try and get as much mpg as possible which I never used to with regular ice engines.

[Duffryn]

Have owned two Gen3 Prius over the past 8 years - both consistently lost at least 10mpg every winter.

[TonyHSD]

Most common posts in our forum this time of the year, poor mpg and dead 12v Battery 🔋😊👍❄️ It’s winter and it’s lockdown 👌

[BhxTrev]

You can say that again Tony, I haven’t been using my Prius much because of the lockdown & it’s caused my Battery to fail! I was giving my car a deserved wash, tried to start it to move position & it was completely dead. Called Toyota Club & they sent the breakdown who diagnosed a ‘dying’ Battery, which would only accept up to a 55% charge. I promptly replaced the Battery but I just wonder if I’d have used the car more whether the battery would have deteriorated to such an extent. The car’s charging at 14+volts & according to the breakdown guy that’s fine. Well thanks to lockdown I reckon it’s cost me the new battery & although I would observe the rules generally I shall certainly be taking my car out regularly from now on! By the way I’ve got a five year guarantee on the new battery but when you buy a new car, I believe motor companies only guarantee the battery for one year!

[TonyHSD]

6 minutes ago, BhxTrev said:

You can say that again Tony, I haven’t been using my Prius much because of the lockdown & it’s caused my battery to fail! I was giving my car a deserved wash, tried to start it to move position & it was completely dead. Called Toyota Club & they sent the breakdown who diagnosed a ‘dying’ battery, which would only accept up to a 55% charge. I promptly replaced the battery but I just wonder if I’d have used the car more whether the battery would have deteriorated to such an extent. The car’s charging at 14+volts & according to the breakdown guy that’s fine. Well thanks to lockdown I reckon it’s cost me the new battery & although I would observe the rules generally I shall certainly be taking my car out regularly from now on! By the way I’ve got a five year guarantee on the new battery but when you buy a new car, I believe motor companies only guarantee the battery for one year!

Best way to keep your Battery alive is to set the car in Ready mode twice a week by 30-40 min each time, it is also good for the engine too and all components as the car does not like to be sitting around without been used, cars love driving, planes love flying.😊👍 When not in lockdown I drive a lot, my car is on its original both batteries over 10 years old and now I don’t drive but keep doing the same procedure to make sure batteries are happy and everything is working. 

[BhxTrev]

Thanks for that tip about putting it in ready mode twice a week. I’ll certainly try that.

[Mikw]

Or just drive from Supermarket car park to supermarket car park e.t.c.  Well, you're allowed to drive to the supermaket. Wink....

[Catlover]

Sad isn’t it, when the highlight of the week is the possibility of driving to a supermarket car park. Sign of the times, and it isn’t going to end any time soon.

[Duffryn]

Just had my car serviced and MOT'd (collect & deliver), it had covered 1847 miles since last  service/MOT one year ago. Servicing + insurance have cost me nigh 0n £600 in that time. 

Did I read that some insurance companies are offering some kind of a discount for these (temporary) low mileages, or is that just wishful thinking?

[TonyHSD]

47 minutes ago, Duffryn said:

Just had my car serviced and MOT'd (collect & deliver), it had covered 1847 miles since last  service/MOT one year ago. Servicing + insurance have cost me nigh 0n £600 in that time. 

Did I read that some insurance companies are offering some kind of a discount for these (temporary) low mileages, or is that just wishful thinking?

It might be but is it worth the hassle not too sure. £600 insurance is not bad, all they may refund will be £30 at best to correct for the mileage. You can give them try anyway they might offer something better.👍

[BhxTrev]

Tony I insured with Direct Line this year. They wrote to me to offer to give me a discount if I didn’t do the mileage this year. You had to submit your mileage readings to get this discount but that was during last November & my insurance is due just after next month so I didn’t bother. If I use them for my insurance this year & this pandemic continues, I might take them up on this offer. 

[TonyHSD]

22 minutes ago, BhxTrev said:

Tony I insured with Direct Line this year. They wrote to me to offer to give me a discount if I didn’t do the mileage this year. You had to submit your mileage readings to get this discount but that was during last November & my insurance is due just after next month so I didn’t bother. If I use them for my insurance this year & this pandemic continues, I might take them up on this offer. 

Yes you can do. I personally won’t  as once the lockdown is over and I am back to work will cover 1000+ miles a week and so don’t want talk to insurance for mileage for now unless I change the job. I told them 50k a year which is exactly what I do but might a lot less this year. , last lockdown I extended the mot 6 months and ended with 49999 miles in 17 months with large gap without driving within.😊👍

[BhxTrev]

Wow that’s some mileage. My Prius is in its 5th year & I've only done 35600 miles! Good job you chose a Toyota, but with all the mileage you do, have you experienced anything major over the years? Just curious. 

[TonyHSD]

1 hour ago, BhxTrev said:

Wow that’s some mileage. My Prius is in its 5th year & I've only done 35600 miles! Good job you chose a Toyota, but with all the mileage you do, have you experienced anything major over the years? Just curious. 

Touching the wood no problems at all, the car is on everything original, only wheel bearings are recently changed, not because were completely worn out but a bit noisy and I had an offer so decided to change and twice the discs and pads all around because of rust issues, perhaps that was the reason for the noise from the bearings, the car was not used much in our first 3 years of ownership, but since summer of 2018 I covered 100k miles. If the car was used properly since the beginning I wouldn’t need to change brakes or bearings yet for sure. Only regular service every two months, and once a year brake service plus wheel alignment that actually is more like a check as for 5 years there were not any change in the geometry, the mechanic said to me. I also purchased a separate set of wheels with winter tyres so I swap each season and that’s all. I take care of the car and if it last me over 300k miles will buy another Toyota hybrid afterwards .😊🚗👌

[Catlover]

Hi Lien, yours being a 2007 Prius I dont know what was expected from them, is it a 1500 engine?   Are you new to the car and not experienced a winter before?  My experience in a) 2010 1.8 hybrid Auris is a 10 mpg drop in winter compared to summer, just over 60mpg in summer  b) 2009 Gen 3 Prius, same hybrid drive as the Auris, but I got mid 60s, just a few mpg better then the Auris  c) 2017 Gen4 Prius - summer it is easy to get high 70's regularly, with 80's not unknown, winter, that 10mpg less again, very short journeys will be less still.   I run my tyres3-4 psi higher then recomended, that will help.  Driving style varies between drivers but plays a big part in getting good mpg. If you like zipping away from traffic lights only to have to brake hard for the next set on red you can forget getting good mpg - same as any other car.   If you new to hybrids, go to Youy Tube, type in something like driving prius hybrid cars, you get loads of videos, a lot from USE, and loads of tips. If watching American video clips remember their gallon is smaller then ours so they going to get what looks like poor results.

[AndrueC]

17 hours ago, Mikw said:

Or just drive from Supermarket car park to supermarket car park e.t.c.  Well, you're allowed to drive to the supermaket. Wink....

Yeah and it's funny how I always seem to get lost on the way back and take a very circuitous route back home. But I mostly get my groceries delivered anyway. Last night was an exception when due to a power failure they couldn't supply any chilled or frozen stuff. Went to my local superstore at 9pm and it was practically deserted.

First time I'd driven my Corolla since start of lockdown and by the time I got home the dash was showing 57. Prior to Christmas it was knocking on for 60 mpg. But that was just driving a dozen miles to a golf course and back a couple of times.

[johalareewi]

On 1/13/2021 at 3:33 PM, lienb7701 said:

Hi all. 

My mpg has dropped from 55-60 by about 10-12 mpg. I am averaging 43-47 mpg. I did consider it being winter and having heater on etc, but was wondering if there could be other factors coming into the mix? Tyre pressures are at the factory recommendations...

Thanks in advance.  

10-15 mpg drop in winter isn't unusual for a Prius. Click on the gen3 icon in my signature for the fuelly stats where you can see this clearly.  While at fuelly you can browse the stats for other pri. 

[lienb7701]

On 1/15/2021 at 4:13 PM, Catlover said:

Hi Lien, yours being a 2007 Prius I dont know what was expected from them, is it a 1500 engine?   Are you new to the car and not experienced a winter before?  My experience in a) 2010 1.8 hybrid Auris is a 10 mpg drop in winter compared to summer, just over 60mpg in summer  b) 2009 Gen 3 Prius, same hybrid drive as the Auris, but I got mid 60s, just a few mpg better then the Auris  c) 2017 Gen4 Prius - summer it is easy to get high 70's regularly, with 80's not unknown, winter, that 10mpg less again, very short journeys will be less still.   I run my tyres3-4 psi higher then recomended, that will help.  Driving style varies between drivers but plays a big part in getting good mpg. If you like zipping away from traffic lights only to have to brake hard for the next set on red you can forget getting good mpg - same as any other car.   If you new to hybrids, go to Youy Tube, type in something like driving prius hybrid cars, you get loads of videos, a lot from USE, and loads of tips. If watching American video clips remember their gallon is smaller then ours so they going to get what looks like poor results.

Yes its my first winter with this car. Thanks.

[Rosgoe]

On 1/15/2021 at 9:58 AM, BhxTrev said:

Tony I insured with Direct Line this year. They wrote to me to offer to give me a discount if I didn’t do the mileage this year. You had to submit your mileage readings to get this discount but that was during last November & my insurance is due just after next month so I didn’t bother. If I use them for my insurance this year & this pandemic continues, I might take them up on this offer. 

 

1 hour ago, lienb7701 said:

Yes its my first winter with this car. Thanks.

I’m insured with saga for my corolla contacted them about car hardly being used and would they offer a partial refund, no was the answer but they said if I wanted to make any changes to the policy due to covid they would waiver the admin fee big deal!

I’m going to try direct line again in March.