Today I decided to reset my car mileage data and start from scratch. I developed a new driving technique based on feather and quick acceleration methods and think I may have discovered something great.

First of all, let me state that my averages have been from about 43 to about 46. The main reason for this is that I have short commutes to school and back with loads of traffic. However, this is besides the point.

I rewrote the following instructions to make it a bit more concise.



Are you a believer? Maybe, maybe not. Am I? Only time will tell.

• ONLY purposefully charge the battery when:
  (1) your car is warming up,
  (2) you know you have to stop,
  (3) your battery is clearly drained.
• To charge the battery:
  (1) use the engine lightly-to-moderately and the excess energy will charge the battery,
  (2) press very lightly on the brake for maximum efficiency, and only when you know you must stop,
  (3) same as #1
• When driving, try to disengage all energy flow by very lightly pressing the gas and finding the spot between battery discharge and charge.

For best mileage, set the air fan to its lowest setting, close all windows, combine short trips, etc.

 

A quick update: traffic drained my battery and killed my mileage by 8 or so mpg, but I'll try and build it back up. While making a short 15-minute ride round trip to the bank, I cruised around my neighborhood for a minute or two. After accelerating to about 35 or so, I disengaged all energy flow and was able to cut through the air for about a mile, including hills, until I finally had to make a turn. How's that for efficient? Mileage for that segment was about 90, including use of the engine previous to that 1 or 2 minutes.

 

I went back to that same run in my neighborhood and measured it. I got up to about 34mph and then disengaged, cruised for more than .6 mi and was still going 32mph with hills. At that rate, I could cruise for 10 miles without the engine or battery working!

 

cool...i wish i had an extra engine to play with...hmm, that gives me an idea...it really wouldnt be that hard to make a semi-hybrid unit to replace the alternator and a little bit of trunk room...hmmmm

 

I live in upstate NY and our average winter temperature has been 17F for most of the winter. I got my Prius in December and average mileage was about 37 mpg. Now our temperatures are averaging about 40F and my average mileage has jumped to 49 mpg. I have tried all of the techniques you described like the feathering and they worked well, but when it is very cold the ICE runs more often to keep the battery charged. I am looking forward to the warm season to see how much more my mileage improves.


Treehugger

 

Well, it's 80 degrees here at the hottest time of the day. I'm sure I could get 55-60mpg if it wasn't for the short commutes I make every day.

Would you contribute your mileage data to our database?
https://www.greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/

 

I have tried this recently.

I had 46.5 miles after about 252. I spent the day doing pretty much as Jason has suggested. At days end mix of highway and city , I now stand at 372 miles and 50.0 MPG oir almost 60mpg for the last 120 miles. The key is after car is warm and above about 35 mile per hour if you can't disengage all energy flow by very lightly pressing the gas and finding the spot between battery discharge and charge, then next best is ICE plus charging.

Mark

 

Right. I've figured that out, too. Works great, doesn't it?

I'm at 52.7 mpg at about 175 miles.

 

Hi All:

___Might I suggest that you all begin asking questions of Krousdb as well? Take a look at his latest tank if you don’t believe me … This is the highest 04 Prius mileage reported over a tank on the continent that I have read. Anyway, do take notice. He has the goods and I hope whatever technique used is also transferable to my own in the Insight

___Jason, the explore mileage link posted in this thread isn’t working out at this time? 404 error …

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

 

Fixed. I posted it before I changed the Explore section to Compare.

Don't be fooled by the mileage figures. Strategy accounts for about 10-15%. Conditions account for about 50%