After about three and a half weeks, I finally had to put gas in the Prius. We took a little field trip north to Skagit Valley for what's left of the Tulip Festival (read: not much). I figured I'd wait at least this long to give some impressions, after a couple of weeks of commuting and some longer distance driving.
The big exciting thing to talk about is of course gas mileage, and it did pretty well on that first tank, at 50 mpg. Honestly, I think it might have been higher, but that first week I was still on leave and mostly putting about town. Even then, the efficiency was around 42, but there does come a point where all of the starting and stopping means little opportunity to charge the battery, shifting reliance to gas. Since filling it, on the drive home, I had no problem ending on 53 mpg.
The rules for driving on that first tank of gas were simple: Just drive like I always do. I didn't play the "Prius game" (watching the display that tells you when you're accelerating like an asshole), I just drove. That includes my more aggressive Midwest driver merging and what not. My work commute is about 12 miles or so, more or less flat with some hills at both ends, keeping speeds between 30 and 40. Every day of the commute, the efficiency kept rising.
Driving is a lot of fun. The neat thing about the car that I had not really thought about is how quick it is. In fact, when you put it in "power mode," it seems to just dump gas into the gas engine and push the electric motor. It's not efficient, but holy crap does it move. At the other end of the spectrum, there's an eco mode which moderates your acceleration a bit, but I haven't tried it. I've used the power mode to launch out of turns and various aggressive freeway moves. There's an EV mode that will keep it electric up to 25 mph, provided there's adequate charge. Used that today actually, stuck on the country roads in a sea of cars. Ended up doing about a mile and a half without using a drop of gas. Despite the various modes, mostly you just drive and let the computer figure this shit out.
The interior is like a cavern. I've never been inside of a relatively small car that is so enormous inside. The back seat can actually handle a couple of adults with lots of room to spare. The hatchback is actually something I decided I really like today, as we were able to spread out with Simon, his gear and my camera stuff. I like it much better than a regular trunk, and I suspect that with the seats down, those early Ikea runs we made when moving would've gone a lot smoother! Mike (djonceler) said that in his second gen car he was always amazed at the room, and this third gen seems to stick with that.
I'm somewhat fascinated by the science, balancing the gas and electric motors. At first, the default display that shows the flow of energy is neat, but I find myself putting it on the 1-minute interval graph showing fuel efficiency. Particularly in downhill areas or where there is a lot of coasting, you just get these solid 100 mpg bars on the display. It's also to interesting to see how much energy is recovered in certain instances. For example, out of work, I go down a hill, about 50 feet of elevation, and the braking down the 35 mph road makes for significant battery charging. Once up to speed on the next two miles on flat road, it's almost entirely electric to maintain speed.
The car does have a lot of things in it that I've never spent money on, and some of them I could do without. Alloy wheels seem silly to me, but four-wheel disc is impressive for braking (and charging the battery!). Bluetooth phone is a plus, especially since you can't talk with your hands in Washington. I'm really digging the XM radio, and will probably subscribe once the trial runs out. Also nice to finally have a car with an auxiliary input, so I can plug-in my iPhone and listen to anything I own. Lots of cubbies and drink holders, though the center spaceship console is probably a little unnecessary. I'd still prefer an analog speedometer, but overall the displays are pretty easy to read, and controls comply to human factors in the way I'd expect for a Toyota. The whole wireless key thing is so cool too. They revised the touch sensors on the driver door handle, so putting your hand inside the handle while putting your thumb up top locks the doors.
So far, I'm really enjoying it, and I'm maybe slightly willing to not just view the car as a utilitarian object the way I typically would. The gadget factor is cool, and since it literally has a "high score" for fuel efficiency, you can bet I want to see what I can get out of it. I'd be happy with a 60. For the amount I drive, I'm really only looking at perhaps $260 in gas savings per year compared to the Corolla (at $3/gallon), but it does feel good to use less regardless. That the car is sporty and peppy is fun.
No comments yet.