My son drives the Prius to school; it is roughly 8 miles one way. We get 44-46 mpg on those trips depending on AC use and outside temp. We just hit a short lived sweet spot where it was cool enough(say 68-75) to not need much AC, but the warm up wasn't too long either.He was getting 47mpg on his 8 mile trips then. Now it is cooler, and the mpg has dropped.
We also do lots of 1-3 mile trips-more of them than the 8 mile trips.We get 38-40 mpg on those trips.
Now we don't make any effort to get good mpg-no P&G, no anticipating stops, -he justs drives like a normal American-gas/brake/gas/brake repeat-no gliding.I think 50 mpg is possible on these short trips, but you would have to work VERY,VERY HARD to get 50 mpg on 1-3 mile trips!!
Thanks,
Charlie

 

Good. 38-40 mpg= I can live with.

For instance, the trips are like:

7am- 1.5 mi roundtrip
8am- 3-3.25 mi roundtrip
10am- 3 mi roundtrip

Later in the day, perhaps some 5-10 mi of urban city driving, many 2-3 mi trips chained together.

So I guess the car will stay somewhat warm the entire day.

 

Given the moderate climate, you should do OK. One addition might be to consider a block heater to shorten the morning warm-up. They aren't easy to find but they are available. We can talk later about it.

GOOD LUCK!

Bob Wilson

 

I just did a quick little savings comparison to see if I'd gain any advantage by purchasing a hybrid.

Here are my figures:


Vehicle price (before TTL):

Civic EX, Automatic- $19k

Prius, $24k (after tax credit)

HCHII, $21k (after tax credit)

(Apparently, my earlier math was off...the difference was much more than that. )


Projected Fuel Economy:

Civic EX, 27 mpg

Prius, 38 mpg

HCHII, 38 mpg


Projected Fuel Costs @ $3.00/gal, over 150k miles:

Civic EX- $16,666.67

Prius- $11,842.11

HCH II- $11,842.11


Fuel Savings vs. Additional cost of vehicle:

Prius- $4824.56 vs. $5k

HCHII- $4824.56 vs. $3k

So, I'll questionably, barely break even with the Prius, but for sure with the HCHII with my "optimistic" fuel economy predictions.

 

My HCHII does much better on short trips than the Prius.

 

Describe your driving routine for me...how long are your trips? Are both cars driven by the same person?

 

I used to live about 5 minutes from work, with 2 uphills. I averaged about 35 mpg. A couple weeks ago, I moved and my daily commute is now 8 miles on the highway. I'm now averaging 41 mpg with morning temps between 25-39 degrees.

 

I just averaged 88mpg for a 7 mile trip. It was cold outside. The roads had a few hills, up and down with mostly level travel.

When I owned my Honda Insight CVT the best I got for this same 7 mile trip was just over 70mpg. The Prius electric only mode really is paying off, as I am learning more and more how to cause it to engage.