70 mpg highway in Prius V and C

I rented a Prius V for a testdrive, and scored 70 mpg in highway driving at 45 miles/hour. I also scored 65mpg combined (highway + 20 miles stop/go in the city). That's really amazing for a car that holds three rows of seats.

I also rented a C which I didn't like at all (no cruise control; no rear speakers; radio sounded bad). It was 70 highway/67 combined.

---> Toyota has really programmed these cars well, in order to get such high numbers. That's almost as good as my 2-seat Insight (80mpg), but much easier to drive. Just set the cruise control to 45 and the computer automagically gives you high numbers.

BTW I agree 45 is too slow.
It was just a test.
At the speed limit (65) I still got 55mpg in the Prius C..... still impressive.

Yes, the Prius can be amazing - especially the PHEV (plug-in). We often average 80+MPG on moderate trips with ours. However, 45MPH isn't really "highway" - it's an in-between driving speed that the Prius is especially good at optimizing. At actual highway speeds (55 - 70MPH) the non PHEV Priuses are closer to 50MPG.

I would have guessed the C would do better than 55 mpg at 65 mph. my Gen 3 Prius did almost that well 54 mpg at 65 mph on our Disney trip and the car was "very" fully loaded

The C uses a smaller engine (1.5) than the Prius G3 (1.8) and therefore gets a lower EPA rating on the highway, because the C engine has to spin faster to maintain speed. The C also has a bigger coefficient of drag (0.27) versus the G3 (0.25).

LeftieBiker said:

45MPH isn't really "highway"

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Well, yes and no. The EPA test (developed in the 1970s and still in effect) uses a speed range from 45 to 55, and they label that the "highway" test.

theaveng said:

The C uses a smaller engine (1.5) than the Prius G3 (1.8) and therefore gets a lower EPA rating on the highway, because the C engine has to spin faster to maintain speed. The C also has a bigger coefficient of drag (0.27) versus the G3 (0.25).

LeftieBiker said:

45MPH isn't really "highway"

Click to expand...

Well, yes and no. The EPA test (developed in the 1970s and still in effect) uses a speed range from 45 to 55, and they label that the "highway" test.

Click to expand...

But remember, in 2006 or 2007, the EPA added the US06 to the testing protocol. So in addition to the HFET test (max 60 mph) from the 70s, the US06 is also used to calculate the the highway mileage. The max speed on the US06 test is 80 mph. This is one of the reasons that the fuel economy stickers became more accurate. I've forgotten the names but the EPA added 3 tests to the old city and highway tests and the those results are blended into the fuel economy ratings and the emissions ratings.

^^^
More info on the EPA tests at http://priuschat.com/threads/car-and-driver-the-truth-about-epa-city-highway-mpg-estimates.67235/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

Even though the above schedules have max speeds of 80 or 60 mph, their AVERAGE speeds are only 48.4 and 48.3 mph. See Detailed Comparison at http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/fe_test_schedules.shtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

FWIW, some Japanese hypermilers were trying to break a 1000 mile on a tank "highway" challenge. Outcome at http://priuschat.com/threads/1000-mile-tank-highway-challenge-by-japanese-hybrid-drivers.62944/#post-869183" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The driving distance was 1677km(1042mile) and the FE was 34.5km/L(81.2mpg) with 22% fuel remained

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From http://priuschat.com/threads/1000-mile-tank-highway-challenge-by-japanese-hybrid-drivers.62944/page-2#post-869962" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, the guy drove at 74 km/h (45.98 mph) or above. This was on a modded Gen 2 (04-09) Prius. The Gen 2 JDM Prius doesn't have a bladder fuel tank so it has more usable capacity than the US Gen 2 Prius.

^^^
Unfortunately, the version we get in the US of the Prius v wagon (has a different name in many other markets) can't be had w/that 3rd row of seats.

To make room for that 3rd row, (for markets that get it) the HV battery was changed from NiMH in the back to a physically smaller li-ion that goes under the center armrest in the front of the passenger compartment.

The Prius Plugin got a lithium battery, so I don't understand why they didn't put lithium in the V. I don't understand why we got a "special" version based-around the NiMH

They have been building the NiMH battery pack for many years and it is inexpensive for them. Beyond that, the NiMH packs are expected to outlast the lithium packs.

Given the above post, I am surprised Toyota put lithium packs in the European & Japanese versions of the V. I am surprised they didn't stick with NiMH and 5 seats like the U.S. version

Always thought it was just cost cutting

theaveng said:

Given the above post, I am surprised Toyota put lithium packs in the European & Japanese versions of the V. I am surprised they didn't stick with NiMH and 5 seats like the U.S. version

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A NiMH pack would have been larger and heavier. It probably wouldn't fit in the center console. ;-)

Re: lack of 7 seater version, I had a heck of time finding http://priuschat.com/threads/hands-on-prius-plus-or-prius-v-toyota%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%E2%84%A2s-first-hybrid-mpv-and-cnbc-video.91025/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;, which I'd originally posted (which quickly got merged by the mods there).

We had all sorts of speculation, such as mine own at http://priuschat.com/threads/hands-on-prius-plus-or-prius-v-toyota%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%E2%84%A2s-first-hybrid-mpv-and-cnbc-video.91025/page-2#post-1281079" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;. And, there's the price/cost at http://priuschat.com/threads/hands-on-prius-plus-or-prius-v-toyota%C3%A2%E2%82%AC%E2%84%A2s-first-hybrid-mpv-and-cnbc-video.91025/page-2#post-1282731" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.