The ICE is not running more, and as I mentioned the car is Not going into
the EV mode when I push the override switch.

-----Original Message-----
From: gregmckay@... [mailto:gregmckay@...]
Sent: Thursday, June 05, 2008 6:50 AM
To: ron@...
Subject: Re: [toyota-prius] lower gas milage


that points to something like oil overfill, parking brake, tire pressure....

I would stay away from the EV switch and see if the ICE is running when you
are not moving.


-----Original Message-----
From: Ron Jorgensen <ron@...>
To: gregmckay@...; toyota-prius@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 10:56 pm
Subject: RE: [toyota-prius] lower gas milage


I'm using the AC more but not 8-10 MPG more and yes the ICE is running a
little more, but even when I shut the ac off I'm am still get 35 to 38 MPG.


Ron Jorgensen
Bay Area Studios, Inc.


-----Original Message-----
From: gregmckay@... [mailto:gregmckay@...
<mailto:gregmckay@...?> ]
Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2008 10:14 PM
To: ron@...
Subject: Re: [toyota-prius] lower gas milage


is the climate control being used more often now?

are you really noticing the ICE running more now? or is it just not wanting
to go into EV mode?


-----Original Message-----
From: Ron Jorgensen <ron@...>
To: gregmckay@...; toyota-prius@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 10:21 pm
Subject: RE: [toyota-prius] lower gas milage


I don't feel that my driving habits have changed in the past 30 days. I am
also familiar with the EV mode. But with coasting at 30 MPH with 60%
battery, with the engine warm the ev mode should kick in and it does not.
I don't use the EV mode except when showing off for friends, but now I'm
using it to prove to myself the something is wrong..


-----Original Message-----
From: gregmckay@... [mailto:gregmckay@...
<mailto:gregmckay@...?> ]
Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2008 9:03 PM
To: ron@...
Subject: Re: [toyota-prius] lower gas milage

Ron,

There are conditions where the Prius will not go into EV Mode, certain
constraints it will not violate.

Acceleration
Battery SOC
Speed
and others

....but also be careful about using the EV mode too much because it can
actually hurt your fuel economy.

==========
There are a number of things that pertain to getting good fuel economy that
you may have also seen in history somewhere I wanted to mention:


1. Pulse and Glide
This is a technique where you pulse (accelerate smartly) to a speed just
above your desired speed and then removing your foot from the go-pedal, you
glide, allowing the hybrid system to use less fuel and regen to charge the
battery. This then increase your fuel economy numbers over time.

2. make sure your tire pressure is high enough to help with rolling
resistance.
in our 2006 we keep the tire pressure at 42 front 40 rear and it was
worth 3 to 5 mpg. Although this might seem extreme, you also want to make
sure that you keep the pressure to something under the max cold pressure
rating that is printed on the sidewall of the tire. The OE tires on our
Prius have a max cold rating of 51 psi. We check our tire pressure on the
Prius more than I have on other vehicles because it seems to make a bigger
difference. This has also been shown to increase the tire life by getting
more even wear for the OE tires

3. make sure your engine oil is not overfilled. Every time we take the car
for an oil change they want to over fill it, and this is worth another 3 to
5 mpg. We will now be providing our own oil and giving them 3.5 quarts.
This amount will bring us to a point about a quarter inch below the too-full
line on the dipstick.

4. anticipate stops. ...start stopping (gliding) earlier... your car will
coast with the best of them.

4B. anticipate hill tops. ...don't accelerate all the way to the crown of
the hill, let off a little early and coast across the top.

5. Originally our recommendation would have been to keep your speed at 66 or
less when on the highway, and that will increase your MPG, but now we would
recommend 55mph.. We have found that we can get our mpg to climb beyond 54
if we keep our highway speed to 65mph, we now drive at 55mph on cruise
control and we see the average fuel economy surge to 65+ mpg (and have one
220 mile trip at 68.8mpg). This ends up being a much more relaxing drive as
well.

5B. Use cruise control when you can. There are those that are willing to
really stay engaged in the pulse and glide driving that might be able to get
even better mileage without cruise, but I don't know that the difference is
worth it to us.

5C. Plan your routes to take advantage of gliding, topography and traffic
patterns.

6. be careful with your use of the climate control.... too much heat or AC
and you take a MPG hit. We keep it a little warm in the summer and a little
cool in the winter. We tinted the windows dark to keep it cool in the heat
and we dress a little more warmly in the winter.

7. This one is the most controversial. We let our ICE warm up before we
start driving. We keep the climate control OFF during this short period.
We have found this to lead to better MPG. ...but there are those that will
argue that you should use the fuel being burned to move. We have found that
the decreased fuel economy period is extended when we try to drive during
that warm up.

8. avoid short trips.

8B. avoid cold weather (that one can be tough depending on where home is)

9. Avoid the 42mph transition point. (this is a subtle item to be worried
about after the prior items)
This means we should try and drive below or above this point to avoid
taking a fuel consumption hit as we cross that point. This is important to
remember when using 'pulse and glide'.. You would not want to pulse up to
and above 42 mph when you want to be going 40mph.. and.. You would not want
be gliding down from 50mph and hit the 42mph transition point.

10. Parking Brake
There have been reports that folks have inadvertently hit their parking
brake, leaving it partially engaged and dragging. This should be checked
from time to time.



All this has us getting 52 to 54 in the city and 54+ and 60+ on the hiway.





-----Original Message-----
From: Ron Jorgensen <ron@...>
To: toyota-prius@... <mailto:toyota-prius@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 7:41 pm
Subject: [toyota-prius] lower gas milage


I have a 2008 Prius with 11k. Recently (last 30 days) the mileage has
dropped by 8-10 mpg. Everything seams to be functioning properly except my
after market ev mode switch. The EV mode switch has been functioning fine
but recently fails to go into the EV mode after warm up and under 35 MPG.
Its kind of hit and miss. Its like the Prius is stuck in the warm up mode
sucking up the gas and decreasing the mileage. Occasionally everything works
fine again, including the EV mode, but not to the pre summer 45 MPG. Any
ideas?



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