Mileage Question from a New Owner

I picked up a brand new 05 Prius Monday night. Here are my MPG observations:

I started with 6 miles on the Odometer leaving the dealership where the average MPG read low, something like 35...
THen I drove 60 miles home and the average MPG went up to 52 at the time I pulled into my driveway.

Monday night and Tuesday night, I was familiarizing myself with the car features without driving anywhere, but rather turning things on and pressing buttons. In doing this, the prius decided it needed to start the ICE and charge the battery a bit. It did this multiple times during my familiarization. The MPG dropped during this familiarization time. I recall that it dropped from 52 down to 46 roughly.

This morning, I took the prius to work, 42 miles.
After a 5 minute warm up, the information display showed that the gas milage never went below 50 mpg all the way to work.
Half the trip was spent in nasty bay area 101 traffic. And DAMN I was impressed! By the time I got to work, my average MPG had gone to 52 MPG! And, that was with a good 20 minutes of stop and go traffic. Also, during a single 5 minute period in the stop-and-go traffic, the MPG was plotted on the info screen at over 75 mpg!

Now.. to validate that the information display's mpg calculations are correct I'll have to fill up the tank a few times and divide miles by real gallons.

My spreadsheet

Since you posted your spreadsheet, I guess it's time to post mine again. Every day, when I'm done driving for the day, I record miles on the main odometer, and MFD mileage. Every fillup, I record as a second entry for the day, plus I include Trip-A miles, gallons, and cost per gallon. I then have to manually edit the 'running total' mileage columns to include the new fillup data. (I then 'autofill' downward with the new formulas.) I'm sure if I knew how to write macros better, I could have it automatically do all of the editing. (Since the 'same day but after fillup' and the 'day after fillup' rows end up screwy without manual editing as well.)

Values in bold are ones where I forgot to record the data. And, I'm about to go on vacation for a week, so I'll have a week of no data. (I'll just use the data from the day I leave for each day, it will get confused on the 'today's mileage' column, but won't mess up the long-term data.)

Yes, there is a breaking in period. I'm still unsure if it's for the
car, or the car training the driver to drive more efficiently...

Some further reading:
* http://www.priusview.com/tips.asp

* Prius Fuel Economy: Explaining the EPA Ratings
Toyota explains what the EPA ratings actually mean, and lists ways to
improve your MPG
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/toy ... sage/71431
http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Pri ... ssage/2742

A brief description of the EPA test cycles is here:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/info.shtml#estimates

* Can I expect to get over 50MPG in the new Prius?
(see question #6): http://www.toyota.com/vehicles/2005/prius/faq.html

* Prius Fuel Economy Factsheet:
http://www.toyota.com/images/vehicles/p ... conomy.pdf


More MPG tips are in the Prius User's Guide:
http://john1701a.com/prius/prius-userguide.htm

Gas Mileage Tips from the EPA:
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/drive.shtml

There are also more MPG tips in your Owner's Manual.

I also suggest reading the following article (with plenty of citations
for source data):
http://www.bluewaternetwork.org/reports ... ehood2.pdf
"FUEL ECONOMY FALSEHOODS: How government misrepresentation of fuel
economy hinders efforts to reduce global warming and US dependence on
foreign oil" by the Bluewater Network, 2002

I am new to this forum, and have an '04 Prius purchased 10/29/03. I turned over the 30,000 mile mark this morning just having left my dealer after the car was serviced. I filled up, and updated my overall mpg since purchase, having kept all receipts. The result: 52.6 mpg, covering all types of driving conditions. I do try most of the time to drive with fuel conservation in mind, but once in a while I use the power mode entering the freeway, etc. I keep an eye on the computer, so I know when I am getting the best mileage. In another message someone suggested accelerating rapidly from a stop and then leveling off at cruising speed. I believe you can do better by gradually picking up speed and easing back on the throttle when you reach the speed you want. I rarely drive over 65, except on a recent trip to Las Vegas, where I cruised at 70 out on the highway. That trip got me 51 mpg, just like they advertise. Most of the time, I find cruising in the 55 to 60 range delivers the best mileage, based on what the computer is showing. Funny thing about the computer is that I rarely am able to match what it shows at the time I fill the tank. I think it is because the tank is actually an expandable bladder, so it is hard to get it filled to the same point each time. Over time, with many fillups, I think it averages out. Finally, I am very pleased with my Prius, and think it is a good value and fun to own and drive. I am a professional chauffeur, and have the opportunity to drive lots of different cars, which I enjoy. But, when I park the Maybach 62, I also enjoy the trip home in my Prius.