Elevation - 7,000 Feet Total time to ascend - 1 hour 10 minutes (60 miles) 47.5 MPG Total time to descend - 60 minutes (60 miles) 75.9 MPG Average MPG for ascend and descend - 61.7 I had the day off from work and decided to take a trip to Big Bear City. The main reason behind this was because I wanted to see how the Prius handled going up 7% grade. I had no issue climbing up 7,000 feet at 60 MPH. My expectations were very low before I left home and intially thought the Prius would have a hard time climbing up the mountains. I came to this assumption based on an experience with my father-in-law's Ford Fusion Hybrid, which had an extremely hard time climbing up the same road last December. I was also able to use the "B" gear for the first time while I was descending. It functioned exactly as I thought it would. The only issue I had was with the handling, it does not have a good grip compared to my other car. Every turn it felt if the tires were slipping even though I have them set at 40 PSI all around. Maybe I was expecting too much from a car that is engineered to give high MPG. Nevertheless, the trip was fun and I will be looking forward to it in December when I go up with the family. To all those debating the fact if the Prius can climb steep hills or not. I am here to tell you that it can not only climb steep hills but does it with little effort. Few pictures - Rim of the world Raining in the middle of summer Scenic fog HSI display at the top of the mountain Random trees
I went to high school there and family still has property there, so am quite familiar w/ all 3 major ways (and some of the dirt ways) to that area. My folks used to have a 2006, and now a 2010, and regularly make that drive to their weekend home. There's no problem w/ any generation of Prius handling the climb to Big Bear. Don't expect to run w/ the higher-performance cars and pass at every passing lane and still maintain battery charge, especially if you're use CA-38 (aka "The back way"). Your battery SoC will drop, forcing you to slow down if you do. However, maintaining a safe and sane speed (aka 55 or below), however, isn't a challenge for this car - even when full of passengers and luggage.
