Sorry for adding another thread but I just had to boast about my 2nd tank averaging 50.6 MPG on combined usage. (first tank doesn't really count as we had to bring the car home from a dealership in Rochester from where I got a sweet deal and it was a complete 370 miles of highway usage, first time the car had seen daylight... i mean road) I commute to work (22.5Miles To, 20.5 miles back) through the Long Island Expressway/Grand Central/Northern State Pkwy. At times, Traffic is free flowing and sometimes its just bumper-to-bumper. So the bottom line is that I've gotten an average city/highway kind of driving feeling over the past 1.5 weeks. I've run the car about 469 miles and the fuel up was 9.265 gallons (with 1 out of 10 bars on the Fuel indicator). The jump from 2 bars to 1 bar came while i was on my way to work between miles 448 and 449 and I fueled up just before reaching work. Just curious how much would the last bar have lasted me? I'm just excited to get inside my vehicle each chance I get. Its awesome. I call it my "space shuttle."
First tank never counts LOL, my son drove mine and MPG went down so my second tank will be my first Congrats Gas is creeping up again.
Ambient temperature is a major factor in Prius fuel economy. I was consistently getting a little under 50 MPG through the Winter, now my MFD is consistently over 50 like last Summer/Fall. It's 53.x average today.
Hi Joe, The gas gauge is just an estimate, made more so by the Gen II's use of a gas tank bladder (Toyota got rid of the bladder in the 2010 Gen III). That's why it's often referred to here as the "guess gauge". If I were you, if you ever let the gas gauge drop to one bar, I'd look to fill up as soon as practicable . And if that one bar starts blinking, I'd get gas ASAP. One more thing: if you ever do run out of gas, you'll need to put in at least 3 gallons to get the car running again. Also, if you drive a lot on the Long Island Expressway in Nassau and/or Suffolk counties, consider getting the Clean Pass which will let you ride in the HOV lane even though there's only you in the car. Finally, I think you might as well apply for the Green EZ Pass. Go to the EZ Pass website and apply for both the Port Authority and the Thruway Authority Green EZ Pass. The Port Authority part gives you off-peak discounts on the bridges and tunnels operated by the Port Authority (e.g., Holland and Lincoln Tunnels) and the Thruway Authority part gives you discounts on the New York Thruway. And it's all programmed into one cool looking, green colored EZ Pass transponder. Congrats and good luck!
