I need some true hard numbers. I am in Arizona and it is hot here, Does the AC do the job what is the milage say in Florida, Georgia, New Mexico, AZ.

Thanks

I am in Salt Lake City and have had my 2006 Prius since August. I have just over 26,000 miles and overall, during the summer months, I averaged over 50 mpg when temperatures are regularly over 90 and I am running the A/C 100% of the time.

Where I have experienced the biggest drain on FE is during the winter months. The Prius certainly doesn't like the colder weather and the FE drops considerably (into the mid 40s) due in most part to the extended warm up periods.

My mix of driving is 40% city (average speed 35 - 45), 60% highway (average speed 70-75).

FWIW,

UTpiper

The A/C does the job really well, costing at most 2-3 mpg even in hot weather, assuming you do sensible things like opening windows when the car has been sitting in the sun, etc.

Get the window tint that can reflect heat and UV for 75%, it will help the AC.
Right after you start the car, roll down the windows and let the heat get out first for few minutes, then roll up the windows. It may sound "wasting" a bit, but it will help the AC.

I but "Uhber Optink" tint ($649) on the day I got the car Heat rejection of 94.8% and as a retired ME/EE I do let out the hot air first, A also keep the car at home in a AC conditioned garage and if parked so a shopping visit outside I use a full fitting windshield aluminized sun blocker.

I really appreciate any and all advice. I am even running the AC set at 83 and relying upon direct air impingement on me to keep me cool. the mileage still is terrible not at about 28.0mpg 117F peak today here at 5PM only drove for about 38minutes.

Thanks again Don

Is your AC compressor engine belt driven?

The NHW20 Prius and Camry hybrids uses an electric driven compressor. One of the critical elements of hybrid efficiency is the ability to shutdown the engine and run on electric only mode and AC compressor operation defeats that mode.

Many non-hybrid cars use an engine driven compressor running all the time and modulate the temperature by running the heater. For a hybrid, this would be very much the wrong way to go. So let me suggest an experiment, manual "ON/OFF" AC.

Start the car and set the AC to max and max fans to chill the interior. When it gets 'uncomfortable' (direct the fans away from you), leave the fans running at a lower speed, use air recirculate, and turn off the AC. This should give you 10 or so minutes of inertial cool yet let the hybrid drive system work correctly. Then pulse MAX AC to repeat the cycle.

If this works, we can discuss several approaches to mitigate the problem, aside from a different car.

Bob Wilson

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My father has a '06 Prius and lives in Phoenix AZ. He says his mileage averages 46 to 48mpg. He almost always has the AC on and doesn't drive for mpg. He and my Mom both say the AC cools great. They had a Cadillac De Ville, to give you an idea of what they were used to. His driving is about a 50/50 mix of suburban/freeway. I'm actually amazed he gets the mileage he does. He is used to the power of the Northstar V8 in the Caddy, and doesn't hesitate to floor it if he wants to pass someone.

The Nissan Altima Hybrid Has electrically driven, Power steering and Air Conditioner compressor. So no help there. As I said i will dump it. Going to wait until the new Pirus comes out and see what it is. This thing is a joke. I appreciate the encouragement. I have been monitoring a friends Pirus (3 doors away) he gets 36.8 with the AC and same type of driving I do so that is about 22% better. The Altima is In my opinion at least 22% more vehicle, weight, air drag, cross section. tire drag, volume to condition and importantly bigger ICE it all adds up.

I don't believe the technology can do much better than it is doing. We need diesel engine powered Li-Po battery combination to truly achieve the 50-55 in my area and my kind of driving (normal) for a Pirus and about 40-50 in a Altima.

I really would have waited but I am a tech guy (retired NASA and all that stuff) and 72 and don't have time to wait 10 years for the more refined stuff to arrive.

I do believe the battery management could be better and should also be larger. Too many compromises having to be made at this stage. It is a many parted system and that idiot Goshen does not like to spend any money. I need to monitor the Camry site more closely and see how they are doing. I doubt it is more than 1 to 2 mpg better but 1 to 2 is nice. You have to be very carefully what you believe folks tend to extend a bit.

The Altima Hybrid does just as well as the Camry Hybrid. I'm told the components are from Toyota, but that may be just speculation. A black interior will do worse than a light colored one as well, uber optik or not.

Pearl is a
2007 Driftwood Pearl Prius
Package "B" (everything but leather, nav, and rear camera)

I need some true hard numbers. I am in Arizona and it is hot here, Does the AC do the job what is the milage say in Florida, Georgia, New Mexico, AZ.

Thanks

New Mexico reporting in. For short distance, city trips I get about 50 mpg with the A/C on. Oh, on hot days, I open the door, roll down windows for a minute or two then I close up and let the A/C do its job. Research I read suggests that A/C off with windows open does no better as the aerodynamics are spoiled. The added drag of open windows more than off sets the fuel savings from no A/C.

In a related consideration, safety experts suggest that windows up is a far safer configuration than windows down ... the glass keeps your head and neck inside the car in an accident. Partially open windows and guillotines apparently have a lot in common. So drive with the A/C on and the windows up.