A 2012-2013 Prius V Three is equipped with cruise control, navigation and backup camera. I would like to first start off saying that this car is really easy to drive. But to get the best gas mileage, there are certain techniques that you must adhere to. I'm not here to tell you how to drive for the best gas mileage because you can find that all over the internet! I'm going to tell you how to drive it for max performance + max fuel economy.
Now you see next to the steering wheel, there is the shifter knob that takes the car into four modes, "Brake", "Neutral", "Reverse", and "Drive". The shifter is spring loaded to default into it's parked position which is nothing. All of these have a very specific function and you can shift into neutral, brake and drive while the car is in motion. When you know that you need to slow down, drop the shifter into "brake" mode. It won't put the full force of your brakes, but it'll create resistance which will charge your batteries faster than if you were to completely take your foot off the gas pedal. Very lightly tapping the gas pedal, puts you into a "coasting" mode which your car is neither charging the batteries or using any energy. This is what you should be doing most of the time while your car is in motion.
The car is very aerodynamic and very heavy so that coasting is easily done. Even while going on a slight uphill with inertia...
On freeways, keep a two or three car distance so that you may plan to use the "brake" mode if you need to. Notice that brake mode will charge 2 or 3 bars depending on environmental conditions. Letting go of the gas pedal will always charge to 1 bar. But be careful of using the shift brake if there is someone following you. Your brake lights will not come on while shift braking!
Driving while using cruise control takes all the guess work out of brake mode or depressing the gas pedal on drive mode. It does all the calculations for you. It will even use the engine brake and will increase the engine resistance to maintain your speed on down hill slopes. Most of the time, using cruise control will provide better gas mileage than if you drive yourself because maintaining constant speed throughout your trip enhances fuel economy.
Keeping the car in PWR mode will deplete your battery while powering up steep hills. It is useful, but avoid keeping it there. If your battery is depleted, your car will automatically charge the battery back up. It will do it better and faster if you utilize cruise control and you won't even notice it.
Turn off your AC while going uphills. Your car will need all the horsepower it can get. And keep your windows rolled up. Speeds in excess of 45 mph with the windows rolled down negates the aerodynamics and kills fuel economy. AC doesn't use much power if you keep your car in ECO mode. In PWR mode, AC will deplete your battery faster but blow much cooler.
Learn how to drive in PWR + EV mode in the city. While in PWR mode, the Prius accelerates faster and you also have the convenience of locking in EV mode while in PWR mode so that your gasoline engine does not kick on. But if you accelerate too hard, the gasoline engine will almost always come one. If you learn how to manipulate your gas pedal just right, you can accelerate quickly while in EV mode without having the gasoline motor come on. Of course, your battery depletes much faster, but if you come up to a cruising speed much quicker and when you know a stop is coming up, you can recharge your batteries if you plan it far in advance so that you don't use gasoline at all for short trips.
From what I notice from my trips. Over 5,000 miles of experimenting here are my results. Cruising speed: 79 mph = 38-40 avg mpg, 70 mph = 40-42 avg mpg, 55- 60 mph = 42-47.7 avg mpg
If you can think of anything else, let me know! Thanks for reading and I hope this helps you drive better.
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