Took my first road trip in my new car to Vegas last weekend and averaged (according to the computer) 52 mpg for the 550 mile round trip. I started with a full charge at home and left vegas with a full charge too. I also drove 80 mph the majority of the time. If the computer was correct it means I used about 10.6 gallons of fuel. With a 10.6 gallon fuel tank in my PiP it would not have been possible for me to do it in one tank with the MPG I got. Has anyone here been able to do it in one tank? How slow did you have to drive?
Just did the trip last week. I didn't try to do it on one tank, since i had tons of in town miles but my round trip averaged 52.4 indicated, 50.3 actual. My speed averaged more like 70-75 rather than 80. I think it is definitely doable at 55-65 mph.
i'll be interested in this to. i'm sure it can be done, but whenever i drive to vegas i drive around a lot too from casino to casino.
I think its doable if you just drive there, turn around ang drive back. But it will also depend on which part of LA you live. I live in the San Fernando Valley and it's approximately 285 miles from my home to the Vegas strip, plus we do a lot of driving while we're there so it's definitely a no-go for me.
No, I've never actually tried to do a roundtrip Los Angeles to Las Vegas with only one tank. Generally I try to fill up my tank as much as possible right before I leave Las Vegas since gasoline prices are about $0.50 to $0.75 cheaper (per gallon) in Las Vegas than Los Angeles. On my last trip during the 2013 Christmas Holiday, my average MPG was about 48MPG from Los Angeles to Las Vegas & 50MPG from Las Vegas to Los Angeles. Average speed was 70-75 MPH, with cold tire pressure set at 42psi (Front) 40psi (Rear) using Michelin Defenders XT.
now that i think about it. you would be a fool to try and do it. gas is so much cheaper in vegas, you'd be (insert dumb joke here) not to get gas before you leave. ever see gas prices at baker, or ghost town, or barstow? they easily rob you of your money, cause you have no choice. but it would be cool to know you can make the trip. plus vegas back to l.a. its mostly down hill overall. so i think you could get a good recharge back on the battery
Vegas to LA has been the only time I've seen my Prius C's battery completely topped off from the downhills. I wonder how much of a recharge we can get on the Plug-in. Looks like I'll need to plan a Vegas trip sometime soon.
The recharge wasn't that impressive. I think I added about 1.5 -2 miles of range according to the computer going down the longest downhill stretch. Even though it's downhill you still have to use some EV power or gas power to keep yourself going 80 mph (except on the steepest decline towards the end of the return). It was nice to know though that the PiP allowed me to take advantage of extra regeneration energy that a normal Prius wouldn't be able to.
And you're all right: you want to arrive in Vegas with as little gas as possible so you can take advantage of gas prices there. So I guess there's no point to attempting this.
