Prius has terrible mileage for first 10 minutes?

[UltArc]

Is it true that electric vehicles have poor fuel economy while very warm? I heard this from a Prius owner, and would like to learn more.

[ps2fixer]

No experience with a Prius, but my 97 corolla gets around 17-22 mpg within the first 5 mins of driving (40-45mph), at about 15 mins I hit 30mpg average and driving 55-60mph at night (need to learn to leave earlier lol). Trip average for country driving is around 40mpg, summer is around 44mpg. All readings are from a calibrated scan gauge.

[Daox]

Originally Posted by UltArc

Is it true that electric vehicles have poor fuel economy while very warm? I heard this from a Prius owner, and would like to learn more.

Not at all. Warm weather is a EV's friend (as long as you don't overheat the batteries). In general the batteries like to be slightly warmer than humans. Also all the normal things that benefit normal vehicles in the warm weather also benefits EVs (less dense air, lower rolling resistance, etc). Cold weather always reduces efficiency.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Daox

Yep! That was one of the perks I thought of when I took the job last year. I plan on doing some biking next year. I have to work up to it since I've had knee surgery, and I can't just go out and bike 7 miles the without a fair bit of pain.

Electric bike?

[Daox]

I considered it until I saw the prices. I think I'm up to it, I just gotta get off my duff and do more riding.

[P-hack]

How much does a block heater help?

[Daox]

Its hard to say. I normally don't use it in summer time. With the coolant thermos on my 2nd gen Prius my coolant temp is around 100F by the time I leave my driveway. In winter I use it to negate the cold weather penalty more so.

If I had to guess, I'd say it gives a good ~20% increase in those 5 minutes in winter, probably more like 10% in summer.

[Daox]

Another option for those who like to mod is a 'coolant hack' that fakes out the ECU and tells it that it is warmer than it really is. There are several versions out there and all of them have some smarts that measure the actual coolant temp to keep things running properly. I haven't added one of these yet, but I would like to. Not having any experience with it I don't know what kinds of gains there are to be had.

[Frank Lee]

Another vote for electric bikes! For such a short commute, they really are the best tool most of the time.

[Daox]

Alright, I'll look into that.

I started a new thread so as not to muddle this one up anymore: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...les-23799.html