2009 Prius Base - $19k

[Matt Herring]

The AMEC Fuel Economy Challenge was a blast! Meeting all the Ecomodders and additional drivers was the highlight of the trip...and I would say the highlight of my summer!

I see pictures of mods on this site all the time but seeing them in person and hearing how they were done added a completely different experience to it...makes you want to start modding your car! Just listening to everyone talk about their cars and experiences was truly an inspiration!

It was exciting to take part in the driving competition and I was pleased with my results...76.0 MFD mpg over 103.4 miles driven. The course was very challenging with huge changes in elevation (if I remember correctly we climbed more than 1000 feet from start to finish)...some very tight turns in spots as well with alot of great coasting downhill sections. Traffic was light overall and the route was very well planned to include a range of skills needed to maneuver through the course.

A great experience for sure and something I'm looking forward to in the future! Thanks to all the Ecomodders and Mike (and his AMEC crew)!

[Matt Herring]

I add some bling to the buggy yesterday...

[Matt Herring]

6 month ownership update...

After driving 10,000 miles in my Prius I have some comparison figures vs. the 4runner I traded in to get the Prius. Over the past 6 months I have saved more than 250 gallons of fuel and more than $700. This has yielded an increase of more than 38mpg driving my Prius vs. driving my 4runner.

Due to a relocation to a new house and higher than normal driving I am not pleased with driving 10,000 miles in the past 6 months but about 2500 miles were unplanned trips due to unavoidable driving. I am normally in the 15,000 mile range and I am planning to curb my driving over the next 6 months as much as possible.

To prepare for the upcoming winter months I will be reinstalling my lower grill block as temps are now in the 45-65 degree range from morning to evening. I have my EBH installed and am currently running 50 psi tires. My goal for the winter months (November - February) are to achieve a minimum of 57 mpg for every tank.

[Matt Herring]

Added full lower grille block to the buggy today so now running full upper and full lower. There are small unblocked areas in the lower grille block on the outermost areas (to allow for a small amount of room for inverter and EBH).

Have not used EBH much since install but will be using heavily beginning in November. Temps have been in the 45-65 degree range over the course of the day so it's time to ramp up the effort to conserve mpg. Will be talking to my living community today to secure a plug in location. On the grounds there is a small greenhouse that the community allows residents to bring their plants inside during the winter months...plenty of energy in there. Don't see why the community will balk at it as the greenhouse is operational 24/7/365 and they allow residents to utilize it cost-free year round (stay tuned for possible wrestle match with the higher ups about this if they balk at the idea of supplying energy for my EBH). Hope I don't have to get into the "be green-friendly" conversation but I'll be glad to do it if necessary.

FYI - Have been fighting to keep ICE at 165+ degrees and EV available during my commutes. I get engine up to temp but then use of EV drops temps below 165 degrees and I'm forced to use ICE to get back up to temp when I would otherwise use EV with neutral coast during some parts of my commute. Just as I learned to drive the car when I first bought it will be learning how to drive it in lower temps now (hopefully EBH helps get up to temp and stay at 165+ degrees in this effort).

[Daox]

I've noticed the same with coolant temps. Leaving in the morning, getting the coolant temp up is hard enough. Then, of course the wife want heat right away. One of these days I'll install my block heater and make some grill blocks...

[Matt Herring]

Daox you should look up Wayne Mitchell over at priuschat.com (Fire Engineer is his handle). He's a Chicago guy but travels all over the country installing EBH's for people...no charge for his service..usually lines up a bunch of people at a central location. He installed mine a few months ago in NH (was only a 30 minute drive from my house). He's closer to you in WI than he is to me in MA!

[Matt Herring]

With temps rapidly dropping I figured I should get motivated to use my EBH as it has been installed since August and I've only used it a few times. I'm currently in the 53-54 mpg range (not using the EBH) with temps ranging from 5-35 degrees so I could use a boost in mpg with the help of my EBH.

Two nights ago I plugged in for 4 hours at work...28 degrees at plug in (20 degrees with wind chill)...28 degrees at unplug (14 degrees with wind chill).

On startup my engine temp was 90 degrees and I was able to get 40 mpg during my first 5 minutes of operation. Comparatively, in similar temps the next day without using the EBH my engine temp was 30 degrees and I only got 25 mpg during my first 5 minutes of operation.

Hopefully this motivates me to use my EBH more. I can only plug the car in while outside at work and it's a painful process (when it's freezing outside) to get the cord out of my trunk, plug it into an outlet on the second floor of my work building, drop the cord out the window and down the side of the building, run it over to my car and plug into the EBH. I'm going to start recording EBH uses in my fuel logs to motivate myself to use it.

[Daox]

Yikes, that does sound like quite the process.

[Matt Herring]

Yeah...it's not a great situation to plug in at work...but it's free and my boss is all for it. At home, I'm still trying to track down a viable source of energy as my parking lot is not plug-in friendly (as in...there are no outlets anywhere near any parking spaces). I'll have to make friends with the maintenance staff to be able to plug in at home.

[MetroMPG]

After the holidays: I want a pic of the cord out the office window.