[03Jill]

I drive only 1 mile to work and I think I read somewhere here that this will not be enough time to warm the car up to get the really good gas mileage. Is this true? Should I take a little longer route and therefore add about 2 more miles each way. Any answers will be appreciated. I am excited about my new car coming but a little part of me still wishes my husband would have agreeed to a Crysler 300 Touring car. Its a beauty.

Jill

 

[mrv]

my husband has a 1.5 mile commute to work with his 2004 Prius.

run some errands on weekends, take it for a long drive every so often, you should be ok. (biggest issue is to keep the 12v accessory battery charged).

ANY car will get lowered MPG on short trips, especially when started cold.

if you like, you can try the longer route. depending on speed limits and traffic and such, you might find a longer mileage route that takes about the same time to get to work, and might net you a better MPG. or, you might not, but it's worth a try.

MPG for his 2004 is here: http://www.kluge.net/~felicity/prius.php?userid=2 , pretty graph is here: http://www.kluge.net/~felicity/prius.ph ... e&userid=2 Note that we live in a Boston MA suburb, and that the 2004 Prius is our main vehicle that we run all errands and do long trips in... That used to be relegated to my 2001 Prius until the 2004 came in. (I've got about a 10 mile commute to work.))

 

[jfschultz]

I drive only 1 mile to work and I think I read somewhere here that this will not be enough time to warm the car up to get the really good gas mileage. Is this true? Should I take a little longer route and therefore add about 2 more miles each way. Any answers will be appreciated. I am excited about my new car coming but a little part of me still wishes my husband would have agreeed to a Crysler 300 Touring car. Its a beauty.

Jill

While a longer route may improve the MPG you will still burn about the same amount of gas during that first mile. So the extra distance will be more gas being used. The question will be how to make the best use of the gas you are using.

So if you can go 4 weeks on a tank driving just a mile to work but end up getting only a bit over 2 weeks with the longer route you will get about half the benefit even though the MPG might seem better.

 

[Brian]

If you only want a transportation device to get to work and not carry passegers, you could consider getting a Segway. I have one and they are very nice and a ZEV(Zero Emission Vehicle). It is very good at going a short distance and very efficient. The Segway people have it calculated that this electric scooter gets nealry 450 mpg. :idea: They are VERY pricey though. One of those babys are going to take about $4,000 out of your pocket, and that is for the smaller one. :? The bigger one runs for $4,500. The very cool thing is, the tie downs in the back of the Prius are perfect for holding the Segway in place. The only way to make it fit is with the seats down though.

 

[03Jill]

Thanks for the info you guys. You're right, it would not make much sense to drive extra just to get better gas milage.

Brian,

Man that Segway HT is really cool. I opened that link and the thing is amazing. My husband Bill has been fasanated with it for awhile. Oh my, now he is talking about me commuting on a Segway. Lord help me. My hair would be a mess!

Jill

 

[rwb1977]

Suggest you look into doing an EV button mod... some people are able to get about 1 mile once they have entered EV mode and never have the ICE come on. It would probably come on when you return home from work, but this mod could potentially double your commute mileage.

 

[tjl]

I drive only 1 mile to work and I think I read somewhere here that this will not be enough time to warm the car up to get the really good gas mileage. Is this true?

Yes, all cars will get poor fuel economy on short, cold start trips.

One mile is easy walking distance. Walking it will be better for you, your car, and your finances, among other things (environment, national security, trade deficit, local traffic congestion).

 

[BIF]

One mile is easy walking distance. Walking it will be better for you, your car, and your finances, among other things (environment, national security, trade deficit, local traffic congestion).

Hmmm, I'm trying to figure out how Jill's commuting choice affects national security? If anything, walking would likely reduce her own safety and security. Road or traffic conditions may make it unsafe for walking or riding a bike or a Segway. Odds are, she's safer in a car.

We all like Jill. Be safe, Jill!

 

[john1701a]

One mile is easy walking distance.

For 3 years, I parked 1 mile from work. It saved me a ton of money and the walking was good exercise. It also taught me how to dress for even the worse weather conditions, here in Minnesota, since I had to cross a very windy bridge.

By the way... When I rollerblade, a short-trip is 3 miles. When I ride my bike, a short-trip is 9 miles.

 

[nmpriusman]

I know that Virginia can get very cold for much of the year, and I don't know what you carry to work, but if it's just a briefcase, I could imagine 95% of the world's population would laugh at this thread.... Walking or biking like John said is great way to stay in shape and appreciate the outdoors. I found that with cold starts on my Prius with very short trips, I am lucky to get 30mpg. I would just walk or bike to work; that gets infinite mpg I would use the Prius for errands, highway trips, showing to friends, etc...
Best of luck,
nmpriusman

 

[Ray Moore]

Suggest you look into doing an EV button mod... some people are able to get about 1 mile once they have entered EV mode and never have the ICE come on. It would probably come on when you return home from work, but this mod could potentially double your commute mileage.

This is a faulty strategy that will lead to lower overall mileage not higher.

 

[rwb1977]

This is a faulty strategy that will lead to lower overall mileage not higher.

I admit, I am not an expert by any means, but please elaborate.

 

[artman67]

This is a faulty strategy that will lead to lower overall mileage not higher.

I admit, I am not an expert by any means, but please elaborate.

Yes please do
I would think only warming the ICE every other 1 mile or possibly every third would be a savings


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Something you could look at as well and will keep you safe
http://www.electroauto.com/

I considered this and if they had a "turn key" ( already built ) option I probably would have done it

 

[Ray Moore]

Except that, the losses from energy conversion hurt enough that when you run the engine on the way home the mileage will be much worse than if you had not discharged the battery. I tried using battery power only for the last mile of my commute to the point of only having 2 or 3 bars left pulling into my garage. The next morning my mileage is always worse than if I use the engine to get me home. This doesn't account for warmup losses I realize but I think that it would still hurt your overall mileage. My opinion only but I would love to see an EV button guy test it out.

 

[V8Cobrakid]

I would recomend learning how to conserve as much gas as possible before learning to rely on electric mode. During warmup period, i try to make my engine work all te time. I won't let the car use electric. this makes my starting mpg around 40.. which, my overall mileage currently is 45. Still waiting for the break in period to stop. (my neighbor has 20k on his car and still gets low mileage)

I've been watching the hybrid system work on the screen. I've figured out two "good" ways to drive.

One: try to keep the gas engine running. At al times, i try to have the generator give back to the battery. Once the battery gets fuller, the motor will assist and your mpg will skyrocket. I mainly use this technique around the city (45mph average.. most do 50 if not faster) So, i guess you could call this faster/highway driving. At times, i've been able to achieve 75mpg on my 5 minute graph. Best would be 65+ for 20 minutes.. till i jumped on highway.

Two: Try to cruise in electric mode Half the time. If you cruise in electric mode all the time, you'll eventualy start waisting gas when your battery runs down to half way. Your engine will work harder to make electricity.. your electric motor will work harder to keep you up to speed. So, alternate. Watch very far ahead of you to see when other cars are slowing down. You may feel strange.. but try to very lightly brake from a longer distance. This uses the regenerative breaking a little more and charges the battery a lot faster.

Using both of these techniques, i don't experiance warm up "bad mpg" and they make up for me having a lead foot. at times i speed a lot, but still manage to get 45mpg. If i didn't speed, i would be achieving somewhere around the epa 60mpg. Maybe one of these days i won't speed. probably not though.

 

[rwb1977]

This has been tested, but not with a standard configuration. One Prius owner that I know quite well installed the EV button mod and added several Ah of extra battery to his vehicle. He was able to get about 3 miles down the road in EV mode, turned around and came back in normal mode with the ICE starting and recharging the battery on the trip home. The next day, he made the same six mile trip without using the EV button. His mileage was only half as good as the first trip.
Now, this is not to say that the EV button mod will double mileage for any trip, in fact, only on extremely short trips will you see an extreme difference in mileage, and even then, not necessarily double.
In the case of a one mile commute, I am hard pressed to see how the mileage could not be dramatically improved with this modification... however, do so at your own risk as it will probably void any applicable sections of your warranty... not for the faint of heart.

 

[artman67]

This has been tested, but not with a standard configuration. One Prius owner that I know quite well installed the EV button mod and added several Ah of extra battery to his vehicle. He was able to get about 3 miles down the road in EV mode, turned around and came back in normal mode with the ICE starting and recharging the battery on the trip home. The next day, he made the same six mile trip without using the EV button. His mileage was only half as good as the first trip.
Now, this is not to say that the EV button mod will double mileage for any trip, in fact, only on extremely short trips will you see an extreme difference in mileage, and even then, not necessarily double.
In the case of a one mile commute, I am hard pressed to see how the mileage could not be dramatically improved with this modification... however, do so at your own risk as it will probably void any applicable sections of your warranty... not for the faint of heart.

ok I will bite

Any other mods ... like charging the battery off of 120 at night

 

[Richard]

I am trying to tune my driving style to get high mileage, and I'm wondering about city driving. Sometimes as I look at the bar graph display (mileage over the last half hour in five-minute increments), I'll see that my five-minute mileage in the city is about 45 mpg. Other times it's over 70 mpg. Why the discrepancy? As far as I can tell, the only trend seems to be whether the car is sufficiently warmed up -- that is, pre-freeway I get under 50 in the city, and post-freeway I get over 60 in the city. Does it really make that much of a difference? Sometimes, though, it fluctuates wildly, going from a five-minute 40 mpg to a 75 mpg back down to a 50 mpg. As far as I can tell, my driving style isn't drastically changing during that time.

Also, which regenerates more electricity: foot off both pedals or lightly pressing the brake over a slightly shorter distance?

 

[rwb1977]

In answer to your question about 120, there are people trying to develop that aspect... look up PHEV Prius on http://www.calcars.org/priusplus.html.

 

[BIF]

...Also, which regenerates more electricity: foot off both pedals or lightly pressing the brake over a slightly shorter distance?

I vote for lightly pressing the brake, but I don't have any evidence to support this.