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Getting there and back in fuel-efficient style. (http://www.philly.com/dailynews/online_extras/24344404.html)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2007_Toyota_Prius.jpgVance Lehmkuhl - Philadelphia Daily News - July 10, 2008

Megabus wins with the Prius a very close second. Now if only one of us could get to Philadelphia to help Vance pull a 70 + segment ;) -- Ed.

With gas at $4.15 a gallon and Manhattan parking nearly as expensive as a Broadway show ticket, what’s the smartest way to travel to the Big Apple? Our eight volunteers tested a range of options: From a gas- guzzling SUV and super-expensive Amtrak Acela to a bevy of buses and lots of ways in between. Here’s what they found…

The Cars

How I Got There:

My 2007 Toyota Prius gas/electric hybrid, which gets 60 miles per gallon city driving and 50 highway - because in stop-and-go traffic, the gas engine switches off and the car runs on a battery that is recharged by the engine. Coasting will keep the battery on and engine off, but braking is also helpful because the friction energy is fed back into the battery.

Fuel Efficiency:

$.06 per passenger mile

My Cost:

$28.53 (that's $13.43 for gas, $6.10 for New Jersey Turnpike, $8 for the Lincoln Tunnel and $1 for parking at an on-street meter.)

My Trip:

10:30 AM. My trip starts at the I-95 on-ramp, and I find the highway jammed with stop-and-go traffic. Excellent! I manage to get as far as the Allegheny Avenue exit just goosing the pedal to stay on battery power, before I have to engage the engine. For the first two miles, my miles-per-gallon average is 99.9. This drops considerably north of Woodhaven Road, where the flow opens up and speeding becomes mandatory, at least according to the huge semi right behind me.

10:55 AM. I cross the Delaware just below Washington Crossing (free bridge!) Upon entering U.S. 1, I see across the street a Raceway and a Valero offering gas at $3.85 a gallon. Seems like a quaint, nostalgic price - a trip down memory lane.

11:40 AM . At New Brunswick I nip over to the N.J. Turnpike, whose "cars only" option is more tolerant of those staying around 65 mph than I-95 was. I take a bathroom break at Grover Cleveland service plaza.

12:30 PM. The span between NJT and Lincoln Tunnel is slow going - around 5 miles an hour- as we're squeezed into one lane. Frustrating for most, but great for the mpg. I have the windows down, enjoying the slight breeze and the panorama of Jersey swampland.

12:50 PM. I arrive in Manhattan, but make the mistake of getting on W. 40th Street, which has a huge jam due to some fire department activity a couple blocks up. Sitting still in traffic is not an mpg killer- the car's gas engine shuts off - but it's trashing what was a good travel time. It's almost 1 p.m. before I complete the last few blocks to Penn Station. I park at a meter on the street a couple blocks away. The mpg gauge reads 57.5 mpg.

3:15 PM. After lunch, my departure is briefly delayed by forgetting where the car's parked. Give me a break, I'm from out of town!

3:25 PM. On the way out there's a huge backup getting into Lincoln Tunnel - maybe Holland would've been the way to go - that costs me at least 20 extra minutes before I can get back on the highway.

6:05 PM. Philadelphia, at last.

Summary: I bet myself that I could drive the Prius to NYC and back with a fuel efficiency of 55 mpg and without anyone honking at me to get off the road for being too slow. It might have been dicey if traffic had flowed perfectly at all times, but I returned, honk-free, with an mpg of 56.3. Yeah!

-- Vance Lehmkuhl … http://www.philly.com/dailynews/online_extras/24344404.html

$1 for parking in NYC? Is that possible?

Vance “Dun Good” squeezing out 56.3 MPG on that PA-NJ-NY Round Robin travel route. Logging 70+ MPG driving from Philly to NYC and Return “without anyone honking…to get off the road for being too slow” is not a doable task.
Hi Catgic:

___I know of at least one that pulled from Chicago to New York right through PA and NY without a problem? Step it up a notch is always a good practice to follow in my book :)

___Good Luck

___Wayne

speeding becomes mandatory, at least according to the huge semi right behind me.

Therein lies the problem. :(

The really sad part of the article is that most (I think all, but I may have missed some) of the mass transit options were late arriving at their destinations. I wonder why: when I lived in Switzerland, it took something like a major flood to make the trains run even a second off their schedule. Even the busses were almost always within a couple of minutes of being on time.

The Washington Metro area has Megabus and a variety of other options.

From Philly, I would have opted for the Septa/NJT route.

The figures for the car are understated because I did not see the ownership costs and fixed costs such as payment, insurance, and averaged costs of maintenance and repair.

Hi Catgic:

___What you may have also missed was the Prius Marathon Attempt when there was no such thing as a ScanGauge-II. Secondly, your Prius is already equipped with half the tools for excellent FE as the above achievement. I do not know what a purist has to do with it but the Ranger with a ScanGauge-I (simple a and iFCD and less instrumentation than your Prius) pulls some darn decent numbers. I hope you can go out on a clinic sometime with a rated driver in your area to show you what you are missing.

___I personally do not believe in pseudo anything but laying out the way it works no matter the vehicle driven as the best possible answer available. I have spken with Vance and if I can find a way out to Philadelphia for cheap, we may just do the run again and pull that 70 + needed to really place the Prius in a better light vs. the trains and busses. That trains and Megabus sure sounds like a winner to me on a mpg/person fuel consumption basis with the Megabus doing exactly what it should on a $/mile basis!

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Hi Catgic:

___I do not know who Aunt Martha is but I do know the hundreds of drivers CleanMPG members have helped train through clinics over the years and they are all pretty darn fuel efficient drivers in their own right. If you do not believe in a ScanGauge, that is all of our loss and not just yours :(

___As I hinted in your earlier threads, you have a lot to learn and when you are ready, you will go out with a rated driver and he or she will teach you to drive your Prius more fuel efficiently than you are currently. Afterwards, you will be ready to fight terrorism with the weight and the might that the Prius has to offer. Currently however, you are a Prius driver that has yet to discover what it really has to offer and until you break down the impediments that you yourself have built, you will not see what many of us have seen for at least the previous 4 years let alone since 9/11.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

It's a shame to see people getting Yaris numbers in a Prius and thinking they are rated drivers.

I've been averaging over 52 MPGs on my last 4 tanks over 3400 kms involving my daily commute, short jaunts and no long distance trips in an automatic Yaris sedan which is all oem and using no scanguage. I can only imagine by how much I could beat the 56 mpg posted by the Prius in a MT Yaris with no scanguage.

A rated driver in a Prius would not be challenged by a rated driver in a Yaris. Wayne is only trying to give help and encouragement to refine people's skills and that's a rare gift which should be welcomed.

Summary: I bet myself that I could drive the Prius to NYC and back with a fuel efficiency of 55 mpg and without anyone honking at me to get off the road for being too slow. It might have been dicey if traffic had flowed perfectly at all times, but I returned, honk-free, with an mpg of 56.3. Yeah!

I beat him!

I just got home from visiting with my sister on Long Island. It's around 325 miles one way for me.

With some mild hypermiling, I got 57.5 mpg.

On the way there, I got stuck in a horrendous traffic jam approaching the Throgs Neck Bridge, which lasted more than an hour. I still got 57.5 mpg when I arrived at my destination. I turned off my AC and rolled down the windows to preserve battery SOC. I live in a very rural area, so this was the first time I've driven the Prius in a world-class traffic jam. I'm very happy with the results, to put it mildly. I can just imagine how much gasoline all those SUV's used while starting and stopping for over an hour, creeping forward just a short distance each time. The traffic jam was the perfect showcase for the Prius, which spent at least 95 percent of the time in electric-only mode. Starting and stopping the engine in a conventional car would have involved literally hundreds of engine starts.

I also got stuck in an hour-long traffic snarl approaching the Tappan Zee Bridge on the return trip, and my ending mpg for the trip remained at 57.5 mpg.

Harry

@Catgic

Considering that I got 41 mpg in a v6 rental malibu from nashville to atlanta and back with the ac and radio on, 56mpg in a prius doesn't seem like much of a squeeze.