What kind of mileage is the Prius getting?

I own an '07 Prius. I drive a pretty even mix of city and highway miles, and I get around 50mpg in the summer and 40mpg in the winter here in New York.

The reason why I get better gas mileage in the summer is twofold. The first is that an engine runs more efficiently after it has warmed up. This can be hard to do with the Prius in the New York winter, because the engine is not running all the time the car's moving. So during the summer when it's easier to keep the engine warm, I get better mileage.

The other reason is that the battery works better above 50F.

I'm pretty happy with the mileage I've been getting with the Prius, and this is with normal driving habits. I can get even better mileage if I want to, with slow accels, slow braking, drafting behind trucks and all those tricks, but I don't have the patience to.

It's a fun challenge sometimes though. :-D

Go to:

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/

You can look up all the fuel economy figures you want for cars made over the last 20 years, and not waste time here with questions you could have found out for yourself.

The Prius gets 48 city, 45 highway according to the revised EPA estimates. Hypermilers are easily taking the Prius to over 70mpg on a regular basis.

The prius get 60 city and 50 highway.

Hey lbhietal... Do you really trust the Government figures? If you do, I have a bridge I want to sell you.

The guy is asking for "real" figures not what the Government comes up with...Get a life.

My lady friend's VW Diesel is EPA'ed at 38 yet she gets 50 on the road..This is ONLY time I have seen where the EPA was lower than the actual mileage.

2001-2003 NHW11 model Prius (compact sedan):

current EPA (2008 testing to be more real-world): 42mpg city, 41mpg highway, 41mpg combined

pre-2008 (what was on the window sticker): 52mpg city, 45mpg highway, 48mpg combined

2004-current NHW20 model Prius (midsize hatchback):

current EPA (2008 testing to be more real-world): 48mpg city, 45mpg highway, 46mpg combined

pre-2008 (what was on the window sticker): 60mpg city, 51mpg highway, 55mpg combined

The EPA governmental test cycle is standardized and is performed on ALL cars, so that you can easily compare one vehicle against another. It is not a predictor of your actual fuel economy (as that varies by how/where you drive and how you maintain your car), but if you know how your current driving in your current car compares with the standardized EPA figures, you can use that % difference and apply it to a car that you are interested in to get an approximation of what your actual real-world MPG may be.

Note that the EPA fuel economy testing procedure changed for the 2008 model year. ALL cars are measured in a laboratory under a specified driving pattern by the EPA. The new 2008 testing procedures adds in extra testing for higher speeds/acceleration, colder temperatures, and AC use, which the older tests did not. ALL cars, not just the Prius, had their MPG go down in 2008.

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/ratings2008.shtml

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fe_test_schedules.s...

By law, manufacturers have to advertise/post the governmental EPA ratings on the window sticker. Since the tests changed, the mpg ratings went down (for ALL cars! not just hybrids), and the older model cars have had their EPA results modified to bring them in line/comparable to the new tests at http://www.fueleconomy.gov/ .

As for actual fuel economy on the Toyota Prius, on my 2001, over the last 50,000 miles I've averaged 45.1mpg, with several tanks registering over 60mpg (better than EPA). On my 2004 Prius, up to the time I sold it (for lack of use - I now walk everywhere or take public transit) at 33,200 miles, I was averaging 49.1mpg on it, also with several tanks over 60mpg (better than EPA).

See: http://www.kluge.net/~felicity/prius.php for my Prius' fuel information.

And I'm not alone. On average, most drivers average in the high 40s for MPG, with some far surpassing the EPA ratings (over 60mpg). See what other owners report here:

http://www.fueleconomy.gov/mpg/MPG.do?action=brows... (both models)

http://www.greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/toyota-... (NHW20 model)

http://www.greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/toyota-... (NHW11 model)

Typically, owners of both models report about the same or better fuel economy on the newer NHW20 midsize model as compared to the older NHW11 compact model thanks to the upgraded hybrid system -- which is amazing since this newer hatchback model is larger and heavier than than the previous model.

On my '07 I've averaged 50+ mpg over 10k miles. (Using tire pressures of 42 front, 40 rear probably helps a little).