Comments on: Chasing the Toyota Prius' 50 mpg nirvana

CNET News' Martin LaMonica, an early buyer of the 2010 Toyota Prius, finds that the car gets good mileage but there's clearly more to learn.

[bwilson4web]

The first thing I did with my 2010 Prius (the same as I did with my 2003 Prius) was to measure the mph vs MPG:

19 mph - 99.9 MPG
25 mph - 99.9 MPG
40 mph - 80.0 MPG
50 mph - 66.0 MPG
60 mph - 62.0 MPG
65 mph - 55.0 MPG
70 mph - 53.0 MPG
75 mph - 49.0 MPG
80 mph - 40.0 MPG (*62F, defroster on by accident)

So I choose to cruise at the speed I can afford the gas and these are with the car "off the dealer lot." This is before using a quality gasoline (Shell 87, E10 in Huntsville AL) and fully inflating the tires (maximum side-wall for better handling.)

I also plan my route so the first 5 minutes are at 25 mph to minimize warm-up fuel burn and the last 1-2 miles at 25 mph to maximize EV mode by cutting through my neighborhood. But otherwise, just drive the car although I prefer to let the cruise control handle speed and I just pay attention to traffic.

Bob Wilson, Huntsville AL

[codynews]

Bleh, I don't care about MPG and not just because I make plenty of money. I care about the GPY someone uses (Gallons Per Year).

I drive a big truck (along with some smaller cars... A BMW M3 and an old Mustang) and I bet I use less gas than some uppity Pirus owner (and without the eco nightmare that comes from the batteries).

Why? I work from home... and I live in the city (rather than the burbs) so I drive very little. Yet even though I'm using way less gas than some greeney driving a sewing machine, I still get nasty looks from them in-between their latte sips.

[owlafaye]

Sounds good cody but you are slightly askew with reality.

[tehooper]

What would happen if you worked from home, lived in the city, AND drove a fuel efficient car? Be careful, you might start drinking coffee with milk in it.

[DaBlackchief]

LOL I aspire to own an E46 M3.I heard the mpg gets better the more you drive it. Is that true?

[dargon19888]

Bingo!
That is the proper thinking!

Live in an urban environment where you don't need to rely on the car everyday. This is how you'll reduce your carbon footprint overall.

[bigmc6000]

Dargon - Living in the city and supporting more people moving to urban areas increases the Urban Heating Effect (a scientific fact) which is largely what is presumed as global warming (although it's really not that global, BFE cities east of any major city haven't seen any noticeable temp changes at all in the past 100 years). So, moving into the city and aiding in the Urban Heating Effect is actually creating "global warming"... What a gotcha huh?

[kevinskrause]

@ DaBlackchief

My 1998 E36 M3 (5 speed of course, 170,000 miles) gets 28mpg highway. May not be as good as the Prius, but the smile on my face when power-sliding through an intersection at 60mph is priceless. Oversteer is a beautiful thing

[Parkmount]

Even though it's not Prius but Camry Hybrid, I have been registering between 5.8 and 6 L/100km for each fill-up here in Toronto, Ontario, Canada for last a few months. Moreover, some days of my drives between fill-ups even give me between 5.2 and 5.7 L/100km. Toyota's original spec indicates 5.7/5,7L/100km (City/Highway). This is translated into approximately 41.5mpg (City/Highway). My oddmeter reading is currently a little over 39,200km (24,500 ml)

[owlafaye]

Excellent choice Mr.LaMonica. I am quite confident that after the break-in and once you have mastered the intricacies and acquired the habits of high/hyper miling, you will be more than pleased with the high 50's mileage most experiencd Prius owners attain. The biggest plus is you bought a car with most amenities as standard equipment and a little research will prove that the Prius is in fact, cheaper than any other similiar cars on the market. Prius-type vehicles are the wave of the future and a lot of them will have less power with higher efficiency as most Americans become accustomed to slower, conservative driving habits. The "Zoom and Varoom" vehicles are fading into the past, thank goodness.

[blarson42]

I'm just curious what kind of mileage you got with your Corolla. Bet that was close to 40 and a much simpler car to build, buy and maintain.

[mlamonica]

I didn't measure my Corolla mileage often but last summer I was getting 29 mpg. I think that says something about my lead-footed ways. I've heard of people getting 40 mpg in a Corolla.

[libertyforall1776]

Yawn -- fun to drive? As if. I will take a new Camaro any day, MPG is NOT the whole equation!

[paulbertman]

We have a previous generation Prius...we are currently getting between 40 and 44.5 depending on mix of city/hwy. Oddly, the mileage seems to improve a lot on hills...which is a bit counter-intuitive.

[kirkpaulsen]

I'm very happy to report that, with my new 2010 Prius, I got as high as 51.7MPG on my 56 mile commute between Tiburon and Cupertino?driving at the speed limit early one Saturday morning. Driving with traffic at 75MPH I average 48MPG for this same commute that includes both city driving (19th Ave in San Francisco) and highway (280).

[bigmc6000]

So you lost, at most, 3 MPG going (probably) 10 mph faster? That actually seems a little high if traffic is really that heavy because your 2010 Prius has an exceptionally low Coefficient of Friction and can pick up a draft extremely easily. Personally I'd expect at least the same MPG or higher if traffic is flowing well and you're behind a decent row of traffic. In my '08 G6 I'd get 28 mpg going 75 when traffic was a little thicker and I had a truck in front of me and then when the truck switched lanes I dropped down to 25.6 instantly...

[William Crow]

I only wish hybrid automobiles actually were "green" technologies - and not eco-symbolism.

[libertyforall1776]

And WHERE is that Toyota FT-HS -- now THAT would be an interesting car that is a hybrid sports car that COULD compete with a Camaro and interest me at the same time...

[aqeos]

I am in the UK and get 50 mpg going to/from work each day and at least 65 mpg on the motorway doing about 70 mph. I have an ordinary Renault Scenic with a diesel engine. I am not sure what all the fuss is about these Prius things. Just get an efficient car and drive sensibly.

[bridge solution]

:"And I think it's brilliant that I'm recouping energy for my battery when I'm decelerating or hitting the brake. "
regenerative braking has been discussed since the 60s... and as part of mnahattan;s subway system in th 80s...
i added regenerative braking force to a 95 gmc pickup by putting the trailer battery in line with an old ford solenoid operated by the voltage to the brakelights.
much f the lack of progress, as noted by the report above of the Suzuki made 3 banger chevy is American stupidity, not a lack of brilliance.
as shown by 50,pg being some grail, instead of 65...which a diesel chevette got 25 years ago.

[TomMariner]

My head says Prius, but my heart and memory says my 427 Vette with sidepipes that got 20mpg on the road. And the Prius would waste all that battery power driving the speakers strapped to the side of the car to duplicate the loud, raucus sound that dumped out of those three inch pipes.

Do i hear, "Oh grow up?" I promise I will. Some day.

[tangentlin]

One important lesson I have learnt with the help of Prius and GPS is that -- no matter how fast I drive, I cannot save anytime by speeding. In my 4-hour trip from Austin to Dallas, I was almost 20 miles over the speed limit, and based on my GPS' estimation, I only saved 5 minutes in the course of 4-hour long distance drive. Yet, the speeding gave me stress, cost me more money and gas, and brought me a more dangerous trip at night.

Yet, driving fast, by all means, provides only a psychological feeling of being fast, but in reality it is not that fast after all.

[paulbertman]

Um...your math doesn't work here. If you're comparing the speed limit (say 60?) with your 20 over (80?), for a nominal 4 hour drive at 60 (i.e., 240 miles), going 80 would take 3 hours (25% less time). That's the same as 20/80 for convenience. Your GPS is not designed to compare the difference between driving speeds...

:)

[bigmc6000]

I've personally made it from Austin to Fort Worth in 3 hours and 15 mins and I didn't even average 20 over. Drop the GPS and use your brain...

[DV2]

When hybrids first came out there was a lot of talk about how long the battery would last and how expensive it would be to replace. Reading this article reminded me that there should now be a bunch of 1st generation Prius batteries being replaced or nearing replacement age. Does anyone have any stories to share about that? Was it sooner or later than expected, how was cost, anything else a prospective buyer would be interested in? Is there another site that might have reviews of this sort?

[martin1212]

Seems like it is really a non-issue. From this article:

http://www.motorauthority.com/toyota-cuts-price-on-replacement-prius-batteries.html

it states less than 300 replacements out of 2/3 million cars. Other sources I have seen say nearly all of these replacements were required due to accidents. Bear in mind that the warranty is up to 10 years/150k miles. If they failed at anything close to 10 years there would be a huge cost for Toyota, so likelihood is that they will last far longer than that. Toyota states they are intended to last for the lifetime of the car.

[raywkirk]

A few comments not previously stated:
1) The cost to the taxpayer includes certain hidden variables such as WAR. If we can reduce our consumption of gasoline by 15-20%, we can stop buying oil from hostile countries. That will definitely reduce your taxes in the long run. And make you safer. And will save the lives of our precious youth.
2) The batteries won't end up in landfills any more than current car batteries do. Both are very effectively recycled.
3) Why do you buy a car? Look at the issues and prioritize them. Then decide. Here's a list in no particular order:
a) To get there
b) Safety
c) Economy
d) Comfort
e) Style
f) Reliable
g) Patriotic (American jobs)
h) Environment (low pollution, low manufacturing and parts impact)
i) Speed (I want to get there NOW. Beam me up, Scotty.)
j) Maintenance (cost of lifetime maintenance)
YOU decide the order of importance of the above issues, weigh each in 1-10 importance, and then get a car that best answers your needs (wants) by weighing each issue in 1-10 importance that describes how the car fulfills the need. Simple. Does the Prius win? For some, yes. Not for all. For me, yes. Best car I ever owned. 63,000 COMPLETELY trouble-free miles. 46 mpg avg at 73 mph, 25 mi each way each workday. But let's stop with the idiotic, childish, biased and unsubstantiated remarks. They aren't helpful.

[baconstang]

We will NOT tolerate such logic on these boards!

[dargon19888]

And Slim Pickens (Ok T Boon Pickens) wants you to drive cars based on Natural gas. Gee I wonder why? Could it be that he's got the corner on that market?

Really the key is moving back towards an urban environment culture where you can walk or take public transportation to work and not rely on the car everyday.

Looking towards nuclear energy as your energy source means that you can make an all electric car for short haul driving a reality. (Think of the draw on power from this new use...)

If you didn't have to drive, could take high speed rail and better commuting rail/bus service, then your car would only be required for trips to the in-laws, grocery store runs, etc ...

[kevinskrause]

a) To get there = 6
b) Safety = 9
c) Economy = 5
d) Comfort = 7
e) Style = 8
f) Reliable = 8
g) Patriotic (American jobs) = 1
h) Environment (low pollution, low manufacturing and parts impact) = 1
i) Speed (I want to get there NOW. Beam me up, Scotty.) = 10+
j) Maintenance (cost of lifetime maintenance) = 8

Looks like I just bought another BMW. I'm happy.

[wahoospa]

My 1999 Chevy Metro gets over 53 mpg on the road and 48 around town. It's a three cylinder with air conditioning and a five speed and carries 4 people. Why don't the car manufactures still make cars like that?

[monkeyfun14]

Because its a gruesome sight when they're smashed between a escalade and a expedition.

[bigmc6000]

Monkey - if that's true why in the world do they make the Smart Car? It's just as bad in a wreck but costs 10 times as much and doesn't even get the same gas mileage...

[kevinskrause]

@ monkeyfun14

Yeah, probably an Escalade or Expedition flying at 80mph up I-95. Exactly what that car was NOT designed for. I'm not sure which I despise more, the automobile or the idiot that drives it. I say all SUV and Truck drivers should have a licensed "for work" only permit and be subjected to MPH caps and stricter fines. There is no reason for a 5'4" stay at home soccer mom to be driving to and from the grocery store in an H2.

[xrxix]

I drive a 7800 pound truck and its a 2002 4 door F-250 7.3 liter diesel and get 26 mpg going 75 on highway and i can pull an 17000 pound camper and only drop down to 18 mpg but i have a performance chip and exaust and intake which help and all three were given to me and it even has leather heated seats.

[xrxix]

DV2 i repaired a prius for a friend once the battery was 10,000 dollars and there is only one charger in the world for it other than the generators in the prius it self.

[martin1212]

Battery replacement cost is $2300 to $2600 depending on model:

http://blogs.edmunds.com/greencaradvisor/2008/09/toyota-lowers-price-on-prius-replacement-batteries-says-business-slow---for-now.html

Sounds like I should get into the Prius repair business if I can get a friend to part with $10,000 for a battery. :-)

[ikramerica--2008]

by changing your driving habits to get better mileage from a hybrid, you distort the actual efficiency of the CAR, as instead, you are changing the efficiency of your driving.

These techniques that people espouse would work equally well in a non-hybrid car to greatly increase mileage. Slow acceleration, engine braking vs. hard braking, driving slower than traffic, etc. A TDI driven this way gets stellar mileage.

Having driven a hybrid quite a bit (Prius and Highlander), they are still quite efficient when driven "normally." And yes, it can be fun to try to get better mileage, like a game, but if you drive using some of the techniques described above, you are creating a road hazard. You increase your chance of either having or causing an accident. Especially if you focus your attention on mileage, that takes attention off the road and other drivers.