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Winter Driving In My 2010 Prius
How well does your Prius III handle the snow, ice, and winter driving conditions?
December 21st is the first official day of winter but somebody forget to tell Mother Nature. Here in the Midwest, we’ve already seen over 17 inches of snow. That is more than half of our average annual snowfall (32″ where I live) and it seems we are just getting started. For the past few years, I’ve owned several different all-wheel drive sport utility vehicles during the winter driving season, but with the purchase of a 2010 Toyota Prius this past summer – I’m now getting used to driving a front-wheel drive car again.
Most of you who live in New England are also relearning how to drive on snow and ice. With this weekend’s snowstorm dumping 10 to 20 plus inches in Virginia, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and surrounding states – road conditions are poor at best. And with well over one million Toyota Prius on U.S. roadways, I have lots of company sharing my hybrid driving experience.
I’ll admit that I debated even buying a new Prius because I wasn’t sure how it would handle the snowy roads, but it had nothing to do with it being a hybrid-electric vehicle. My concern was mainly about moving from a 4 wheel drive truck with 10″ of ground clearance to a 2 wheel drive car with about 5″. Right before the blizzard hit, I decided to do a few online searches to see what others were saying. That’s when I discovered there is a lot of debate surrounding how the Prius does in snow and in cold weather driving.
On sites like PriusChat.com and GreenHybrid.com, most of the negative comments center around poor traction from the Prius’ stock (factory OEM) tires, a big drop in fuel economy, and issues with the traction control reportedly causing the Prius to stop on slippery hills. Comments are all over the board, ranging from those who claim the Prius is one of the best FWD small cars they have driven in snow to those who say it’s nearly useless. The majority of people commenting on these forums own a second generation Prius (2004-2009 model years) but my guess is the experience is similar in the 2010 Prius 3.
Although I have less than 2 weeks of history driving my Prius in the snow, I’ve been impressed with how well it’s done so far. I don’t see any major traction issues yet, but I haven’t had to climb any large hills either. Most of my winter driving with the Prius has been in town as well. What I have noticed more than anything is the big change in gas mileage. For the first 10,000 miles I averaged 50 m.p.g. in my 3rd generation Prius. Driving on snow and in temperatures ranging from zero to 32 degrees (Fahrenheit), I am averaging only 37 miles per gallon. Again, some of that has to do with the fact that I haven’t been on the highway during this time, but it is still about 10 mpg less than what I got during the summer and fall. From what I’ve read, a 20% drop in fuel economy is normal for most cars under these driving conditions.
If you own a Prius, we’d love to hear how yours handles in the snow!
Comment by Heijx on 7 April 2010:
Ok, here goes.
My previous cars have all been Volkswagen: A Jetta 1, a Polo and 2 Golfs.
I took delivery of my Prius on november 1st, on Yokohama 215/45VR17 summer tyres. On the first day of winter, which in the Netherlands was dec 17, I had an appointment for winter tyres. On the way to the shop I must say I felt it skid a bit, but no more than I had in the past with my 96 Golf on 195/50VR15 Toyo’s. Summer tyres, especially V or higher rated, do not cope very well with snow, much less with ice. After the Dunlop winter tyres were fitted on the rims, handling has been exemplary. Traction control kicked in only on rare occasions and I felt secure as a brick on the road. Oh and did I mention that we had 9 or 10 snow episodes this year?
One final thought on winter tyres: These Dunlops managed all right, but the Vredestein Snow Trac 2 I had on my last Golf were so much better.
Comment by BobK on 20 June 2010:
Anyone who says that the Prius is anything less than dangerous in slush and snow just hasn’t driven it in the conditions that cause every Prius – even with great snow tires – to come to a complete halt and unable to move. I have a 2004 Prius and have driven it through 6 New England winters. The simple fact is that if you find yourself in any situation that causes the wheels to spin in slush or snow the traction control will apply braking to the wheels. If you are on a flat or only slightly inclined surface the intermittent braking will allow the wheels to regain some traction after briefly braking them when wheel spin is sensed. this will allow the car to move haltingly forward. However, if you find yourself going up a steep incline or in snow 4-5 inches deep, the traction control will keep applying/releasing the brakes every couple of seconds,thereby slowing the momentum you need to power up the hill or through the deeper snow even with some wheel spin – as every other car will allow you to do. So, when the system finally brings you to a complete halt on an icy hill, and you try to accelerate, of course the tires are going to need to spin a bit to pull you from a dead stop to a forward motion on a slippery surface. In a normal car, not a big deal. But in a Prius – forget it. The second the wheels spin the brakes are applied and so you go nowhere! One result is that you block every car behind you making it so that they too lose momentum and must try to pass you from a dead stop up a snow hill – which on a road with a single lane in each direction means they must somehow cross in to opposing traffic and pass you from a dead stop on an icy steep hill. This doesn’t make you very popular.
In addition, may people don’t know that the Prius can only move in reverse in electric mode – the CVT transmission is not capable of applying engine power in reverse. This means that in situations where the car is parked on ice or snow and must reverse to get out, the electric motor does not have the power to back you up – especially if parked on an incline. On top of that, if the electric motor engages the wheels and they spin, the brake is automatically applied, leaving you pushing on a wet noodle of an accelerator pedal.
The situation I have described is not just a description of my unique experience, it is an engineering fact and limitation of all Prius’ that goes way beyond snow tires. Sure, good snow tires will help the wheels spin less and thereby not engage the traction control as frequently, but no snow tires can eliminate all wheel slippage. So, I have to conclude that those who rave about Prius in snow have not yet found themselves a steep icy hill with traffic behind them.
I know much has been made of the electronic braking anomaly in the 2010 Prius and Toyota then recalled them – after first denying the problem existed. But I believe that the traction control problem in snow is an extremely dangerous flaw and should also require a recall.