Quote:
Originally posted by onewhippedpuppy
I don't see how a Prius is any better than a Yaris. It's basically a Yaris with eco-snob appeal. From what I've seen of the interior, I wouldn't rate it any better than a Mazda 3, which is quite high quality for it's price range.
The numbers you use are higher than I have seen quoted, but Prius MPG can vary highly with driving habits. 40 is the number I have often seen for mixed driving, normal habits. I know that Prius owners like to make a game of it, and master the "skills" of high MPG.
Also, the quotes of higher MPG rating for the highway are the exact opposite of what I have seen. My understanding was that hybrids get better MPG in the city, where the regenerative braking charges the batteries. Thus, the car is able to spend more time under electric power. On the highway, with no braking, it is just a gas motor. Even the Toyota site has a 9 MPG lower rating on the highway.
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Personal tastes vary, so if you like the Mazda 3 / Yaris / Accent / other $13K car, well, to each his own.
I'm giving you MPG numbers from my personal experience. True, I am trying to learn the tricks of maximizing MPG. But, embarassingly, my wife actually gets similar mileage just driving normally.
I had also expected the Prius to get better mileage in the city than on the highway, for the reason you gave. But it turns out the reverse is true, in the real world.
One reason, I think, is that on the highway the Prius is a very aerodynamic car (Cd 0.26, lower than almost any other production car, and frontal area is small, so CxA is very low) with a pretty tiny gasoline motor (only 70hp) and low-rolling-resistance tires. So it gets high MPG, at normal highway speeds anyway.
In the city, the aero doesn't help much, and the car's weight is more of an issue (2900 lbs, vs 2600 lbs for a Corolla) as it has to be accelerated and braked. Only a part of the energy used to accelerate can be recaptured in the regenerative braking - estimates I've read are that at most 50% can even theoretically be captured under perfect circumstances. In practice I assume it is significantly less. And if you do drive "from the battery" too much, so that the gas engine has to run to recharge the battery, that is also inefficient. (That is a mistake I often make).
Anyway, city driving does result in lower MPG than highway driving. The highest MPG potential is probably in rural / near-rural backroads where you can go for miles with no stoplights or traffic, but at 40 MPH instead of 70 MPH. Prius drivers with commutes like that can get well over 60 MPG. I'll never see that, with the routes we drive.