Chasing the Toyota Prius' 50 mpg nirvana
At this point, I don't feel like I need to burnish my eco-credentials, given that I write for CNET's Green Tech blog every day. But when it came to buying a car, I got the iconic, even cliched, 2010 Toyota Prius.
Having driven almost 2,500 miles on it so far, I like it, although I have not yet been able to get the advertised 50-plus miles per gallon when I go around town, which is the bulk of my driving. But it's early still, I tell myself, so maybe the Prius can show me the way. (See also CNET's review of the 2010 Toyota Prius.)
Buying a hybrid was not at all my plan. My wife and I were generally content with a 10-year-old Corolla that got us from point A to B with good mileage. As you can tell, fuel efficiency and reliability are high on my wish lists, not luxury features. In fact, what I really wanted to do was hold out for a plug-in electric vehicle.
But a few weeks ago, our well-maintained sedan was totaled by a teenager in an SUV (no serious injuries, thankfully). That meant I needed to get a new car--fast. We went from accident to test drive to transaction in about a week since we needed a new car before we left for a long-planned vacation. Nothing like a deadline to focus the mind.
I was surprised to see how few hybrid options there are. Certainly the Honda Insight was tempting and early reviews were positive. But reviews also said that space in the back seat isn't great, which was a priority for us, while the new Prius improves on interior space.
I also thought of the Ford Fusion hybrid, which I drove this spring. One advantage was the tax rebate I would have gotten for buying a fuel-efficient American car. It gets over 40 miles per gallon in city driving and I liked driving it a second time--it had a comfortingly familiar look and feel, both inside and out, even though it's a hybrid. But with the bigger battery, the trunk didn't seem very roomy and you can't push down the back seats for big loads.
Next stop was the Toyota dealership. The base price of the new Prius is a few thousand dollars higher than that of the Insight but less than the listed base of the Fusion. We took the Prius for a spin and were pleased.
There's not exactly a waiting list for the 2010 Prius, but each car is basically spoken for before it arrives, at least in the Boston area. Our sales guy had one coming in. We grabbed it. Did I mention we were in a hurry?
The day after delivery we started our long drive for vacation. Gas mileage for our roughly 2,000 miles of highway travel in total was about 51 miles per gallon. A limited sample of city driving (less than 100 miles) has me getting in the middle to high 40s.
Different state of mind
The biggest change with driving a hybrid is the feedback system. The 2010 Prius has a few different display options. It's interesting to know what's going on under the covers--how the gasoline engine, generator, and battery coordinate to maximize your mileage.
But so far what I've ended up using is the Eco dashboard, which tells you when you're driving just on the battery and when going out of the super-efficient zone. The big lesson here: don't accelerate aggressively. Picking up speed slowly is the key to fuel-efficiency nirvana, the Prius tells me.
What a difference from my old cars. I've always driven a stick shift, which means a direct sense of controlling your car's functions: put it in gear, hit the accelerator, and you're in control.
The Prius is fly by wire. You tell the computer what to do and it controls the car. The 2010 model has a few modes that you can put it in: all EV, which only works up to about 20 miles per hour; the Eco mode; and the Power mode.
I've used the Power mode to jump onto highways and it works fine. The Eco mode makes it harder to push on the accelerator so my preference is to only use that with cruise control on the highway. With my day-to-day driving, I've ended up not picking a specific mode and just eyeing the dashboard for feedback.
Show me the way, oh eco-indicator. The Hybrid System Indicator coaches you on how to sip gas.
(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)For a far more thorough run-through, I suggest this review by my colleague Wayne Cunningham at CNET Car Tech. If you want to know how the hybrid system works under the covers, check out this video from the CNET Green Show.
Of course, there's the cost of the car. I ended up with a relatively low-end model, which is fine because I don't rely on GPS or need a solar moonroof (the solar panel powers a fan to keep the car from heating up in the sun.)
I don't drive a whole lot of miles per year so I wasn't going to get out a calculator and run an ROI analysis on buying a Prius with 48/50 miles per gallon mileage versus something else.
Hybrid technology just makes sense and it's a feature I wanted, just like getting video on my digital camera. Why should my car be burning gas when it's standing still? And I think it's brilliant that I'm recouping energy for my battery when I'm decelerating or hitting the brake.
Now when I drive around I notice the other Priuses. And I keep wondering, are you getting over 50 miles per gallon? Any tips you can share?
Martin LaMonica is a senior writer for CNET's Green Tech blog. He started at CNET News in 2002, covering IT and Web development. Before that, he was executive editor at IT publication InfoWorld. E-mail Martin. 
(Maybe in a few years)
As far as the article, you don't drive many miles per year but hybrid tech "just makes sense"? An extra several grand for a couple mpg on a car already getting high mileage?
We need a lesson on marginal change. 10% better mileage when you're spending $600/year on gas is a wash. But I guess that's feel-good change for you...
I'd rather that extra money go toward the car company that gives the planet new technology than give the money to the gas company that takes away resources. Who knows, we might need this remaining oil for something in the future that we haven't even thought of yet that is far more important than cars.
The Stone Age did not end for lack of stone. The Bronze Age did not end for lack of bronze. The Iron Age did not end for lack of iron...
Maybe we'll make that multiple-order-of-magnitude leap in battery tech that people have been calling for for 30 years, and you can pride yourself on being an early adopter. But until then, you're simply paying several grand extra to haul around a thousand pounds of something with 1% of the energy density of gas, with little benefit over diesel.
If hybrid technology ever does become physically and economically viable, it'll almost certainly be something like a turbodiesel and ultracapacitor...batteries just aren't good mobile energy holders, but a boring old TDI VW doesn't let anyone annoy everyone at dinner parties about the "difference" they think they're making.
The laws of physics don't care what you demand--we've been working on advancing battery tech for decades because it would be nice for all sorts of things and yet they still have about 1% of the energy capacity of chemical storage such as oil. Unless you can think of a way to shrink the electrolytes' molecules a hundredfold or something, that's not changing anytime soon.
Regarding "peak oil", that claim has been debunked as junk science each of the 15 or 20 times it's been claimed since oil was first discovered. Every time some fool has made the prediction, known oil reserves have expanded tremendously. You can't predict tomorrow's yields based on today's knowledge.
Some tips for all, including Martin LaMonica:
Don't accelerate hard. Keep tires properly inflated. Don't tailgate (you end up braking a lot). Keep the trunk clean, so that you're not carrying a lot of extra weight. Do the speed limit or a little under it, because drag is exponential, so it takes more energy to go from 55 to 65MPH, than from 45 to 55MPH. Also, calculate your MPG yourself, don't rely on the car's computer.
A couple of notes: during the winter months, expect lower MPG (batteries and cold temperatures don't mix). If I lived in an area that spends most of the year below 50 degrees F., I would consider something other than a hybrid. Also, while batteries are toxic, they aren't releasing greenhouse gases into the environment.
Basically, stop doing everything that's fun about driving, and you'll get 50+ with it.
Now, I said that harshly, but to me as long as you are doing the speed limit or faster I don't care. Slower than the speed limit and/or riding with your foot on the break pedal (I don't want to see your break lights the whole trip) = road rage waiting to happen. Luckly I'm a peaceful rager and keep to myself.
What I do find amusing is that most traffic lights are timed for a specific road speed. I can't tell you how many times, I have been passed by a guy doing 5 over the limit. While I drive the limit. 90% of the time I find him stopped at the next light. As I roll up doing the speed limit the light turns green I don't need to brake or accelerate. I pass the guy who passed me, only to see him roar up past me again. And we repeat the process over and over, as he roars past brakes hard at the light sits, and grumbles then roars past again.
There was a reason they put the double nickle out there, it was for efficiency and safety. If you are doing 65 and I am doing 60 on a 300 mile trip. You will get there 15 minutes earlier then I. But consume 5-6 $ more in gas. On your average 5 mile city trip it will take me 16 minutes, and you will take 14 if there are no stops.
Now you need to ask how important is that 2 minutes and 15 minutes?
Yes lights are often timed, which is good. So as you go speed limit and get all green lights, I do twice the speed limit and get green lights.
As you go 60 and lose 15 minutes I drive 120 and cut my time in half.
By driving 120mph, as you say, you *waste* fuel (drag increases exponentially, so going from 55 to 65 uses more gas than going from 45 to 55), which increases demand, which keeps gas prices high. Not to mention that you put yourself and innocent people at risk. That's how children act, not adults. It's not a race out there; you don't get a prize for getting there first.
I switched to a hybrid last year myself and I have cut my fuel consumption in half! Now I just watch all the Neaderthals zooming by, wasting their money, causing accidents, getting tickets, and I just laugh at them. All the way to the bank.
In the end, burning all these fossils fuels is doing nothing but destroying the environment. If we don't change our habits, we're going end up fossils ourselves.
So much for progress huh? 25 years later and we are still trying to play catch up.
>> Yes lights are often timed, which is good. So as you go speed limit and get all green lights, I do twice the speed limit and get green lights.
>> As you go 60 and lose 15 minutes I drive 120 and cut my time in half.
Um, really? You'll get green lights if you drive HALF the speed that the traffic lights are timed for, but if you go TWICE as fast, you won't get there any faster because you'll spend half your time waiting at a red light.
With the Civic, the only similarity is minimizing acceleration - the coasting down hills is totally out. You may charge your battery, but you're going to slow down like you threw an car-sized anchor out the back. The computerized auto-tranny doesn't help me either. So with the Civic, I just let go and let Honda manage my mileage. Honda generally achieves 41-42 mpg on the highway.
Don't believe the smoke n mirrors PR on hybrids...you don't need them!
There is one point that someone made. Battery disposal is going to be a nightmare.
I drive an obscene amount of miles (80 per day to/from work) and I average about $2k a year in gas. If you drive much less, your total money spent on the car alone completely outstrips the benefit of increased mileage. By buying a used vehicle you are saving the energy required to produce the new one, remove the old one, and then some. So you might suck a little more gas, but really you are saving plenty.
Back to the parent, if you must have a new car, the new diesels, especially the VW TDI are phenomenal. Don't be fooled, the prius is not going to drive us into a golden era, its simply a marketing tool by Toyota. It's best hope is to be a catalyst for what does become the big change, but owning one will only serve the drivers own ego, not the planet.
All in all , if you want to buy hybrid, all electric, diesel or regular gas,go for it! No one said you had to buy a hybrid just buy a car that gets better mileage than the one you have now!
here are your numbers sir.
we will assume 1000 miles a month, and use todays gas price of $2.61
1000 miles / 30mpg * $2.61 (gallon) = $87 * 12 = $1044
1000 miles / 48mpg * $2.61 (gallon) = $54 * 12 = $648
difference of $396
I can purchase a used 2006 corolla for a bit under $14k
the new prius, 22k.
thats $8k difference. So $8000 / $396 = 20.
that is 20 years to make up the extra gas mileage. And i'm being generous, a corolla would get more than 30mpg.
Fact is, you are doing the environment better by buyiong a comparable used car with good gas mileage. This is your proof.
you are absolutely incorrect. Whomever has released ownership of a car has already done so, or will be doing so regardless of your personal choice. If you then buy a new car, you have incurred the cost of 2 new cars. By not buying a used car does not in any way prevent the previous owner from ditching theirs. That is a horrible strawman, please do not repeat such falsities to anyone.
I run a 20-year old Toyota sportscar. 3.0L turbocharged, fuel injected motor. 17mpg city / 24mpg highway.
It runs just as good on E10 (ethanol 10%) gas as it does on the "ethanol free" gas. Same mileage, no noticeable difference. I drive about 300 miles per week, so you bet I'm keeping track of it!
As for all the supposed negative effects of ethanol in your car's motor, you are wrong. Ethanol actually cleans your engine! It's a better solvent than gasoline, and leaves no oil deposits (like gas does - see imagery from fuel-injector cleaner commercials). Modern vehicles with the Flex-Fuel badging can actually run on straight 100% ethanol. If you were to run ethanol only, your engine would probably last much longer due to the continuous cleaning process of the ethanol passing through it.
As for the propaganda about negative power efficiencies, ethanol is actually positive by a small margin when produced with corn crops. The problem there is a small return. When you look at different crops, such as SUGAR CANE, the efficiency improves dramatically. We are talking about 8 or 9 to 1 ratio, or 800-900% efficiency. Look it up.
Fuel efficiency: you will get less MPG on pure ethanol than regular gasoline. Pure ethanol engines, tuned correctly, will get 20-30% less fuel economy versus gasoline. But what if the ethanol cost about $1/gallon? If gas is $2/gallon, there's no contest. And these figures are entirely possible. Sugar cane production dedicated to ethanol manufacture could easily provide America with $1/gallon ethanol fuel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethanol_fuel
^^ see the part about "Comparison of key characteristics between the ethanol industries in the United States and Brazil" about 2/3 of the way down. Brazil produces ethanol via sugar cane crops.
And sure, ethanol might be cheaper, but that is completely ignoring how much it has made the cost of everything else go up. Practically everything in the US is somehow derived from corn, and we've seen prices for just about everything, especially most foodstuffs, go up in the past few years, especially as the previous administration showered ethanol companies with funds. Ethanol is bad for the economy and bad for the country. We can't keep funding an industry that will raise the overall cost of living for everyone.
Note, you don't have to drive like an old man-- I get >50mpg at 65mph. The car seems to hold speed at about 1gph, so you'll get 50mpg at 50mph and 60mpg at 60mph with the same amount of gas. If you accelerate really slowly (once the engine comes on), you'll use more gas than accelerating moderately and getting past the high fuel consumption zone sooner. Of course, don't drive like a teenager and floor it, except when accelerating onto a highway, etc.
When a Japanese car is sold here, the profit goes directly to japan. It is another chip off the US automaker tree. This is one thing bringing them to the brink of shutting down. I'm probably one of only a few people who has never owned a foreign made car,(I'm 57 and have owned over 20 vehicles).
My current car is a 2008 Dodge Caliber. it does everything it is supposed to do good, not great. But then again the base price was only $14500.00. I knew at the time there were what many would say are better cars out there for the money, but then if I bought a foreign brand, I wouldn't be supporting my local dealer, the small machine shops selling parts to the manufacturer, or the manufacturer itself and all the thousands of Americans working at one of the above.
I imagine I will get slammed for this by many people, but as more and more of our country is absorbed in one fashion or another by foreign interests,(banking, leasing highways, real estate, manufacturing, media ownership), maybe enough Americans will wake up and smell the Columbian coffee.
Excuse me? Ford is doing better then most of them including foreign companies.
GM and Chrysler are coming back up newer sleeker cars and electric vehicles.
Trust me these guys will be here for years to come.
Anyway, if the American cars actually looked decent and not like junk then yeah maybe. Times have changed and no one wants a boxy sqaure car that isn't pleasing to the eye anymore. Ford is getting there but it is still ugly and cheap looking. The new focus isn't too bad looking.
They have alot of work to do to turn around their negative 'fleet/rental' image that many Americans have. At least American made trucks look decent. By the way, I currently own a Dodge Ram 1500, and it's nice and doesn't look as bad as say a Honda Ridgeline :P
Looks mean alot, sometimes more than build quality or other things. Even if people aren't rich they want to feel like it with a car that looks nice on the outside.
There is one bright spot in all this. Tesla has taken large steps in creating innovative cars that are even more advanced than the Prius and is American. Sadly they are at an early stage of getting established and their current car offering is too expensive for most. On the other hand, someone passionately wanting to buy American as you do could benefit future American jobs and profits by supporting Tesla.
Buying gas guzzlers doesn't really help all that much because it encourages the local manufacturers to make and sell cars that are bad for the planet due to their lesser fuel efficiency and increasingly there will be less and less people willing to do that. American manufacturers desperately need to embrace a green future for their self preservation as much as for future profits.
But then you need to remember a lot of those foreign companies are actually local companies. They pay tax, pay wages and contribute to the local economies. And, pay a fee back to head office. So most of these Foreign cars are designed and built in the good old US of A. The companies pay Local Workers, pay local tax's and support the local economy.
Now the US has not owned itself for what about 100 years now? I do understand what you are saying though, but I think you should look more to off shoring as a major loss for US and Canada. And again this is most likely going to change a lot with peek oil, and the shrinking of a global economy to a local economy.
I will give you a simple example. My father use to be a Manager at a very large local brewery *Labatts* in my home town we had 4 major Breweries. And although these breweries were national companies they also brewed specific local brands. These companies also were very busy in the local economy and local social net. The workers where well paid and typically had jobs for life.
In the 80's and 90's as fuel got real cheap, they as many other companies did, decided to go with mega breweries. So instead of having 20+ across the country each they had 1 or 2 each. The premise was to save money and keep prices down.
So each one of these companies did this, did we as the end user see a price drop? Nope, but suddenly these brands where not in your face every day. You never saw them at the local sports clubs, simple things like fishing derby sponsorship vanished. The local communities hurt.
And, suddenly brand loyalty vanished, sales dropped and new *foreign* competitors showed up in the market. And as trucking and fuel prices went up so did the good old beer price.
We can repeat the above example with almost every industry from the 70's forward, and find the same thing. If your home town happens to be a mega factory then your lucky as they promote your local economy.
But I believe we will see the reversal soon, and see alot of these monsters shut down and return to there roots.
My Focus does.
Car was cheap, parts are abundant, and no batteries in a landfill when they're done. Huzzah!
And yes, accelerating slowly and coasting often is good for mileage in _any_ car, not just a Prius. Worth noting that a cop can pull you over for not having the car in gear though.
this comment is Win
Lots of power, clean and very little maintenance required.
Most of the rest of the world figured this out a while ago - here we are just starting.
Even BMW, Audi and Mercedes now offer high MPG clean burning diesel versus hybrids.
Interesting that no one wants to think about the unbelievable environmental and ecological damage that is done just acquiring the raw materials to manufacture the batteries, etc. that goes into making these hybrids.
From the TDI vs. Prius sound, vs. torque, and mpg = fun in front of 2 neighbors house.
They always get some funny commercials together.
I just heard the Diesel fuel quality compare to Europa is not as good.
Please dont view this as a personal attack. Freedom means we have the right to choose without recourse. You made your choice without regard to ROI and chose a foreign manufacture, you have that right. You also gained a little trunk space and the peace of mind associated with the nameplate.
I would have choosen the Ford even with the trunk space issue. Why? I too have the right to choose!
Like you ROI isn't much of a factor, I make plenty of money. I would have chosen the Ford because of the peace of mind associated with the name plate and a general concern about the American Automotive Industry. I worry about my childern and want them to enjoy the financial freedom that I enjoy as an American. I believe our automotive industry needs the support of Americans more now than ever.
So I want to thank you for your blog. You have helped me decide which hybird I'm going to purchase. If the Ford was good enough for an opinion leader, trunk space aside, its the car I want! The real ROI for me is the future of the Ford & GM.
Please be mindful that I only took the time to write this response so your readers could hear my opinion.
Scott Hadley,
(Just as an FYI I've been done with my teens for quite a while now so it's not some self serving point)
- by Ruester July 10, 2009 11:44 AM PDT
- What about the new VW Jetta - it reportedly gets 60 mpg? (record breaker)
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- by Sausagebiscuit July 10, 2009 12:22 PM PDT
- It's also not fugly like the Prius.
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- by bwilson4web July 10, 2009 12:24 PM PDT
- It does poorly in the city. The only way a Jetta TDI gets 60 MPG is:
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- by Renegade Knight July 10, 2009 3:01 PM PDT
- Too bad they don't have a Jetta TDI hybrid. That would get some MPG.
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- by owlafaye July 10, 2009 6:08 PM PDT
- Thats the VW Jetta DIESEL...excellent car and the highest mileage car sold in America...worth every penny. Comes in 2 door, 4 door and station wagon. Automatic is just as efficient as manual transmission. Well thought out...of course, they had Europe to test it on for many a year. America has its head up its butt when it comes to emissions laws.
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Showing 1 of 5 pages (210 Comments)1) must be a manual transmission
2) must be on the highway
Otherwise, it is a fine car although without the space as a 2010 Prius. In fact, it is not even in the same EPA class of vehicle. Compared to a Honda Insight, I would take a Jetta. But I would rather have a real sports car AND my 2010 Prius.
Use the Prius for your job and ordinary things in life. Use the sports car (or motorcycle or light airplane) for weekend fun. With the Prius you can afford the gas for the sports vehicle, which then doesn't have to suffer any compromises.
Bob Wilson