Joe Levi:
a cross-discipline, multi-dimensional problem solver who thinks outside the box – but within reality™

Maximizing Mileage in your Toyota Prius

HybridCars.com has put together a very comprehensive article on how to maximize your mileage when driving your Prius that I found very informative.

One item the article did not note was use of the “electric only button” mode (they did make reference to “electric only mode” or “warp stealth” as some Priusers call it, which is tweaking with the “gas pedal” to get the car to use only battery power). The use of the “electric only button” requires a hack in the US of A, but is relatively easy to do and takes are of that “quick run to the convenience store” or getting into and out of your neighborhood or parking lot (you know, where your speeds are sub 30 MPH). This is very fuel economic because you’re not unnecessarily running the engine at very low fuel efficiencies, however, it does place additional use on the batteries, which Toyota warns could decrease the usable life of said batteries.

An item that I take exception to is their comments about acceleration, and that accelerating moderately (rather than gingerly or “gunning it”). In my humble opinion (shared by other Priusers) is that you need to accelerate as quickly as you can, getting up to speed, then engage the cruise control. The theory being if you accelerate for 30 seconds at 20MPG to get up to cruising speed, why not accelerate for 15 seconds at 10MPG to accomplish the same? Now, the real numbers aren’t quite like that, surprisingly accelerating twice as fast DOESN’T cause your MPG to drop in half, it’s less than half. Why? Your electric motor kicks in to “pulse” you up to speed, drawing power from your batteries to do so. Power that you’re replenish by “cruising” once you’re up to a more fuel-economic speed.

In my experience, get off the line quickly and get cruising because the longer you spend accelerating, the lower your MPG will be.

But, back to the article, the MOST important factor to high MPG in your Prius is coasting; watch the traffic ahead of you and cancel your cruise (by pulling back on the cruise stick) when you see traffic slowing (or a stop light, or a stop sign, etc.). Once you’ve equalized yourself with the traffic ahead tap the cruise stick down to set the new speed, allowing enough following distance to allow for more corrections as needed.

But overall, have fun! The Prius is a sporty car with a lot (and I mean a LOT) of get-up-and-go. So don’t be afraid to accelerate when you need to, but get her up to speed and set the cruise. Let me know what kind of difference it makes in your MPG.

Share

You may also like...

Leave a Reply