Why Prius owners drive like that

My wife's 2012 Prius model III. It replaced a 2002 Toyota Highlander that got about 16 MPG in the city. My wife's 2012 Prius model III. It replaced a 2002 Toyota Highlander that got about 16 MPG in the city. Image 1 of / 4 Caption Close Why Prius owners drive like that 1 / 4 Back to Gallery

My car is a 2001 Ford Mustang – six cylinders with a 5-speed standard shift. It was my middle-aged-crazymobile when I bought it, though it's really not too crazy, because even 11 years ago I didn't want the bad gas mileage that came with an 8-cylinder 'Stang.

I don't drive it too aggressively, but I do enjoy its ability to get moving quickly. And when I'm in that mood, I don't particularly want anyone slower in front of me.

I used to get irked with Toyota Prius owners. These guys are notorious for driving below posted speed limits, slowing to a stop far out from a stop sign or light, taking their sweet time when the light turns green or creeping through parking lots so silently that they startle pedestrians. Sure, with my Mustang averaging about 15 MPG in city driving, I envied Prius owners' claims of 50 MPG and better, but really . . . do they have to be so pokey while doing it?

Well, now that we have a Toyota Prius in our household, I know that the answer is . . . Yes!

Now, I'm one of those annoying Prius drivers.

Top Hybrids: Consumers say Prius isn't top hybrid

"I can't believe you," my lovely wife said to me the other day. "You drive like an old man."

Indeed I do. But man, have I got some tasty mileage numbers to show for it!

It's her Prius, bought in October after her 2002 Toyota Highlander began racking up one repair bill after another. It's a 2012 model, the III package, with a solar sun roof, navigation system, Bluetooth audio. It's rated at 51 MPG in the city, and 48 MPG on the road. Yes, that's the reverse of the way all-gasoline vehicles are usually rated by the EPA, but it's common for electric-gasoline hybrids.

Here's the funny thing: My wife doesn't drive like a Prius owner. She still drives the car "normally". But me? I've become that guy I used to hate, and I blame it on the data.

I'm a geek, and I love as much feedback as I can get from my devices. I'm like the proverbial kid in a candy store with the Prius. It turns getting great fuel mileage into a game.

First, a little bit about how the Prius works.

There are two engines in a hybrid vehicle like the Prius – one powered by gasoline, the other by electricity from a series of batteries. Sometimes the gasoline engine is used, sometimes the electric motor, and sometimes they work in tandem. A computer controls this, though you can override it to a certain extent.

Tesla vs. NYT: Tesla CEO calls Times review fake

The electric motor powers the car at slow speeds, and provides an assist when extra power is needed. The gasoline engine does the heavy lifting, moving the car during acceleration and at cruising speeds. But there are times when the gasoline engine isn't used even while the car is moving quickly, and this is the nirvana to which Prius owners aspire. You want the car to use as little gasoline as possible, so Prius owners who play the mileage game strive for this state.

However, there's one complicating factor, and this is what makes driving a Prius more gamelike. Not only do you want to conserve power, but you also want to make sure the batteries stay charged enough so the electric motor can be used. If the battery gets too low, the Prius uses the gasoline engine to charge it – a situation you want to avoid.

So how do you keep the batteries charged? When you coast or brake, the wheels and the braking system turn into a generator, feeding current back into the batteries. Coasting or braking also takes the gasoline engine out of the equation, resulting in high fuel efficiency.

Helping with all this are a series of displays that are chock-full of data. Next to the speedometer on the digital dashboard is a curved bar chart that shows your real-time fuel efficiency in miles per gallon. To the right of that, drivers can choose from displays that which engine is working and whether the battery is charging or discharging; fuel consumption in 5-minute increments; another bar chart showing whether you're driving in an eco-friendly manner. Because I'm fascinated with the batteries' charge levels, I use the engine/battery display most of this time.

Good deal: Unusual reason sparks Chevy Malibu price drop

Here's how all this translates into driving that annoys others.

Prius owners love to coast. On surface streets, this translate on coasting to stop signs and traffic lights from as far out as possible. Ideally, you'd love to come to a stop right at the intersection without tapping the brake. I haven't reached that skill level, but I'm getting there.

You also don't want to do any jackrabbit starts when the light turns green. Toyota recommends slow-and-steady starts from standing stops, but there's another school of thought among advanced Prius drivers. Some argue you should get up to cruising speed as soon as possible, so the gasoline engine runs for as short a time as possible. Once you hit cruising speed, try to get the electric motor to work most of the time to maintain your speed.

On the freeway, Prius drivers try to "glide", a state in which they're still moving at highway speeds but using no gasoline engine at all. The Prius can achieve decent mileage at 55 mph, but as it goes, faster mileage drops precipitously. That's why Prius owners tend to be the ones in the right lane, letting everyone else pass them while speeding. (And fellow Prius owners, please stay out of the left lane on the open road, OK?)

If you're not hell-bent on achieving top mileage numbers, you can do pretty good if you just use the cruise control, which maintains a good electric/gasoline balance. On a recent trip to Missouri, I averaged 46 MPG, including doing the speed limit in places where 75 mph was the legal maximum. That's not bad at all.

I have to admit, I do feel a little guilty when I'm poking along, or coasting from half-a-block away to a stop sign. I'll look behind me and if there are other vehicles, I'll think twice about it. I'm most happy, though, when I look in the rear-view and see another Prius. Surely, that driver will understand.

Of course, the way you drive in a Prius is actually the way you're supposed to drive, according to every defensive driving class I've been forced to attend. When I want to drive the way most normal people do, I hop in my Mustang.

But now my Pony Car is getting long in the tooth, and I'll expect I'll be replacing it soon. One of the cars I'm looking at is a Prius C, the new, smaller Prius that gets even better gas mileage. If I do buy one of those, I'll be an annoying driver all the time!